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Police ID woman fatally shot in north Omaha

omaha-policeOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police have identified a woman fatally shot in north Omaha as 35-year-old Suzanne Pope.

Omaha police say officers were called to the area of Kansas Avenue and 39th Street around 4:35 a.m. Saturday for a report of a shooting and found a man and a woman suffering from gunshot wounds.

The man, who has not yet been identified, was taken to an Omaha hospital for surgery. His condition has not been released.

Police say Pope was pronounced dead a short time after being found.

No arrests have been reported.

Event will focus on what American Indians used for medicine

homestead-national-monumentBEATRICE, Neb. (AP) — An event next month at the Homestead National Monument will offer the chance to learn more about the medicines and foods American Indians used.

The monument will host Jerome Kills Small for a talk on the topic on Nov. 13 at 2 p.m.

Kills Small will talk about medicinal plants and foods that can be found growing on the Great Plains, in the Missouri River valley, and in the Rocky Mountains.

He will also describe what Native American tribes believes about those plants.

The monument sits four miles west of Beatrice, along Nebraska Highway 4. All activities are free of cost and no park permit is required to visit Homestead National Monument of America.

Lincoln officers cleared in shooting death of suspect

officer-involved-shootingLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A grand jury has cleared Lincoln police officers of wrongdoing in the June shooting death of a man suspected of shooting two other people.

The grand jury found on Friday that the officers acted lawfully in the June 26 shooting of 22-year-old Germichael Kennedy, of Lincoln.

Investigators say the officers confronted Kennedy and shot him when he pointed a handgun at them. Investigators believe Kennedy had fatally shot 20-year-old Marlene Rashidi and wounded 23-year-old Dezarae Mann as the women were sitting in separate cars earlier that day.

Officials say Kennedy broke away and pulled a gun when Sgt. Mario Robinson tried to arrest him. That’s when Robinson and Officer Josh Atkinson fired multiple rounds, killing Kennedy.

Omaha zoo announces birth of white-handed gibbon on Oct. 15

henry-doorly-zooOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha’s award-winning zoo has announced the birth of a white-handed gibbon.

The Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium said Friday that the gibbon was born Oct. 15 in the Lied Jungle’s Asian rainforest. The gender of the gibbon is not yet known.

The small, tree-dwelling ape is now on display with its family, including 17-year-old mother, Chewie; 24-year-old father, Stevie; and sister Mei, born in 2011.

White-handed gibbons, also known as lar gibbons, are native to the rainforests of southeast Asia and dwell in high canopies where they forage for fruits, leaves and insects and live a primarily monogamous lifestyle among family groups.

White-handed gibbons are listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species due to habitat destruction and illegal hunting.

Goodwill Omaha CEO resigns following newspaper investigation

goodwill_logo2OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The CEO of Goodwill Omaha has resigned in the wake of an Omaha World-Herald investigation showing the charity’s top executives being paid more than Goodwills nationwide — a practice that drastically ate into funds for its job programs for the needy and disabled.

64-year-old Frank McGree announced Friday his resignation and plan to take early retirement. McGree had led the Omaha charity for 30 years. Goodwill’s board accepted his resignation Friday.

The newspaper’s investigation showed McGree received total compensation of $933,444 in 2014.

Also, 13 of the nonprofit’s executives were paid more than $100,000 in 2014, so a significant portion of the $4 million generated from Goodwill’s stores in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa went to administrative costs instead of its job-training programs.

Police: Man killed after falling from moving vehicle

beatrice-policeBEATRICE, Neb. (AP) — Beatrice police say a man has died after falling out of a vehicle on a Beatrice city street in southeastern Nebraska.

Beatrice Police Sgt. Brian Carver said the man died Thursday when he fell from a vehicle making a turn and was apparently run over by the vehicle.

Neither the name of the man or the woman driving the vehicle has been released.

Carver says investigators are not sure how fast the vehicle was going when it was making the turn. The driver was not arrested, and Carver says the investigation is continuing.

An autopsy has been ordered.

Omaha jury rules former doctor eligible for death penalty

Anthony Garcia
Anthony Garcia

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Jurors have determined a former doctor should be eligible for the death penalty after they convicted him of killing four people with ties to an Omaha medical school.

The jury that convicted Anthony Garcia this week took only 30 minutes Friday to find aggravating factors in his crimes, including the heinous nature of the killings. Under Nebraska law, a three-judge panel must unanimously decide to impose the death sentence.

Garcia, of Terre Haute, Indiana, was convicted Wednesday of first-degree murder in the 2008 stabbing deaths of the 11-year-old son of a Creighton University medical school doctor and the family’s housekeeper, as well as the 2013 killings of another Creighton doctor and that doctor’s wife. Prosecutors say Garcia was motivated by revenge over being fired by the doctors in 2001.

Police say crews recover body discovered in Omaha lake

body-foundOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have pulled a body from a southwest Omaha lake.

Police say the body was discovered Friday morning in Zorinsky Lake by a person who then called 911.

Authorities say the body was found just off shore near the South 168th Street entrance and recovered around 9 a.m.

The person’s identity and other details, such as the cause of death, have not yet been released by officials.

Conviction, sentence upheld for man who killed grandson

Peter Draper
Peter Draper

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has upheld the conviction and more than 100-year sentence of a man who killed his 2-year-old grandson.

Peter Draper, of Naponee, was convicted last year of intentional child abuse resulting in death and intentional child abuse resulting in serious injury. An autopsy concluded Joseph Rinehart Jr. died on April 30, 2012, of several injuries, including a perforated bowel, fractured skull and pelvis.

It was the second time Draper was convicted in the case, after the Nebraska Supreme Court ordered a new trial for him because prosecutors wrongly called his wife as a witness.

In its ruling Friday, the high court found no merit to Draper’s arguments that there insufficient evidence to convict him and that his sentences were excessive.

Nebraska woman accused of creating disturbance at Wal-Mart

norfolk-policeNORFOLK, Neb. (AP) — A woman in eastern Nebraska has been accused of creating a disturbance at a Wal-Mart that involved an employee injury and damage to a coin machine.

Police in Norfolk say 35-year-old Melinda M. Tyler of Bloomfield was at a local Wal-Mart early Friday when witnesses reported she was seen yelling and hitting a machine that collects coins.

A police report says Tyler at some point threw a glass pipe at a Wal-Mart employee. That caused a cut to the worker’s wrist.

Officers responding to the scene say Tyler appeared intoxicated and resisted arrest. She is accused of pulling her arms away from handcuffs and kicking two officers.

Tyler faces multiple charges including assault, possession of a controlled substance and disturbing the peace. Court records do not list an attorney.

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