LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — An Indiana man who fell from a golf cart at a car racing event in Lincoln earlier this month has died.
Lincoln Police Officer Katie Flood said Anthony “Tony” Rietdorf died Sunday at a Lincoln hospital.
Rietdorf suffered a traumatic brain injury on Sept. 4 during the fall from the golf cart. He had been competing at the Sports Car Club of America’s Solo Nationals in Lincoln.
The 36-year-old from Fort Wayne, Indiana, was married with a young son.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha Public Schools is testing a new grading scale that makes it harder to pass a class.
About 12,000 elementary, middle and high school students across all schools in the district will participate in the field test.
The new grading scale is the latest round of changes to the district’s standards-based grading system, which has been tweaked several times since a shaky rollout in 2010 confused teachers, parents and students.
The district has sent letters home and emailed all families in the district as well as compiled brochures, videos and other materials.
Staff, parents and students will be able to provide feedback throughout the semester that could determine whether Omaha Public Schools decides to adopt the adjusted grading scale districtwide for the 2017-2018 school year.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln woman faces up to a year in jail when she’s sentenced in November for vehicular homicide.
Online court records say 47-year-old Arnetta Cooper was convicted Friday in the traffic death of 53-year-old Alan Kitto Jr. Police say Cooper’s sport utility vehicle struck Kitto and his scooter on Aug. 5 last year at a Lincoln intersection.
Cooper’s sentencing is set for Nov. 4.
HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — A federal safety agency has proposed more than $411,000 in penalties against the operator of a south-central Nebraska grain elevator where a worker was killed.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said in a news release Monday that Cooperative Producers Inc. was being cited for three egregious willful and three serious violations following the agency’s investigation. OSHA says 41-year-old Jason Weston died March 16 at the CPI elevator in Prosser after his lifeline tangled in an unguarded, rotating auger.
A CPI spokesman didn’t immediately return a call from The Associated Press.
OSHA has placed the company in its Severe Violator Enforcement Program, which focuses on employers that the agency says commits willful, repeat or failure-to-abate violations.
The company has 15 business days to contest OSHA’s findings.
COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 40-year-old Columbus man has been killed while walking north of the city.
The accident occurred just before 1 a.m. Sunday, about a mile and a half north of the city limits. The Platte County Sheriff’s Office says Shawn Hassler was walking south in the southbound lane of 48th Avenue when he was struck by a southbound car.
The Sheriff’s Office says Hassler was pronounced dead at the scene. The car driver and a passenger received minor injuries. Their names haven’t been released.
HOUSTON (AP) — Four years after they were supposed to take effect, federal guidelines intended to prevent prison rape in part by separating young offenders from adult inmates are proving difficult to adopt in the nation’s crowded jails and penitentiaries.
Since 2012, states have been working to meet the standards set forth by the Prison Rape Elimination Act, or PREA. It was partially inspired by the 1996 death of Rodney Hulin, an undersized 17-year-old inmate who hanged himself in Texas after his requests for help following repeated rapes by adult inmates were denied.
Texas sheriff’s offices say separating the two populations has been a challenge because of overcrowding and steep financial costs.
The law was also supposed to provide for better staff training, better investigation of sexual assaults and more money for research.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — City officials are considering letting bicyclists back on the sidewalks in downtown Lincoln.
The idea is part of a review of city bike ordinances.
City Attorney Jeff Kirkpatrick says pedestrians still would have the right of way and the bicyclists wouldn’t be allowed to ride recklessly. If they did, they would be ticketed. The proposal also would allow skateboarders and scooters on the downtown sidewalks.
The proposal is being shared with bike groups and with people who live and work downtown. It’s expected to later be presented to the City Council for a public hearing and vote.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Federal authorities are launching an investigation into the death of a truck driver at an Omaha meatpacking facility.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration said the man was working at a loading dock Thursday at Greater Omaha Packing when he was pinned between two trailers. OSHA spokesman Scott Allen says a preliminary investigation indicates that the brakes were not set on a semitrailer, causing it to move and pin the man. The agency has up to six months to complete its investigation.
Greater Omaha Packing attorney Mark Theisen identified the man as 29-year-old Robert Williams II, of Aurora, Colorado.
The company declined to comment on the OSHA investigation.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Douglas County’s top prosecutor says the fatal shooting of a suspect by two deputies was justified.
County Attorney Don Kleine made the determination Friday in the shooting death of 25-year-old David Anderson.
Police investigators say Anderson twice rammed a sheriff’s vehicle as he was approached Tuesday by several deputies trying to arrest him on a warrant, and two deputies fired at least nine shots. A 19-year-old woman with Anderson also was treated for minor injuries, but was not shot.
Police say the deputies, 37-year-old Michael Jones and 33-year-old Scott Kuzminski, feared for their lives and the lives of their colleagues when they shot Anderson.
Under state law, Anderson’s death will also be reviewed by a grand jury.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha woman who sold thousands of worthless airline vouchers has pleaded guilty to 16 counts of wire fraud in federal court.
In exchange for her pleas Friday, federal prosecutors dropped nine counts of money laundering against 31-year-old Patricia Urbanovsky.
Urbanovsky now faces more than six years in federal prison under the agreement.
Urbanovsky was the owner of Creative Creations in Omaha. Authorities say she ran a scheme through her business to sell discounted airline travel vouchers, which turned out to be worthless.
Authorities say her company sold about 36,000 vouchers for airline flights at a reduced rate, but had purchased only about 7,000 of the discounted vouchers from airlines. Most customers had their travel plans ruined when the vouchers weren’t honored.
