TOBIAS, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a driver was killed in a rollover crash off a highway in southeast Nebraska’s Saline County.
The accident occurred a little after 1:30 p.m. Tuesday on Nebraska Highway 74 on the north end of the village of Tobias. The Saline County Sheriff’s Office says 30-year-old Tobias resident Samantha Isack was driving alone and headed east when her car ran off the roadway and rolled, ejecting her. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
The crash is being investigated.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A former treasurer has been sentenced for stealing from the Jewish Federation of Lincoln.
Federal prosecutors say Jennifer Rosenblatt, of Overland Park, Kansas, was sentenced Tuesday in Lincoln to six months in a residential re-entry center and six months of home confinement. She also was ordered to pay nearly $107,000 in restitution.
Prosecutors say Rosenblatt, formerly of Lincoln, was treasurer of the federation from 2009 through June 2016. They say Rosenblatt made payments to her personal credit card accounts from funds in the federation’s bank accounts.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A federal jury has awarded $1.2 million to a Lincoln firefighter who claimed the city’s fire department retaliated against him after he reported a female recruit had been harassed.
The Lincoln Journal Star reports firefighter Troy Hurd wasn’t in the Omaha courtroom Tuesday afternoon when the jury announced its decision. Hurd still works for Lincoln Fire and Rescue and was on duty Tuesday.
Hurd filed a formal complaint alleging that firefighter trainer Eddie Mueller treated firefighter Sara Khalil differently because she’s a woman born in Iraq. After the complaint, Hurd says he was passed up for promotions and written up for issues that didn’t lead to discipline for others.
After an investigation, the city concluded the department had retaliated against Hurd, prompting the city to conduct two training sessions and remove the disciplinary actions from Hurd’s file.
At the trial, a city attorney disputed that Mueller, who is now a captain, treated Khalil different and argued the fire department had only been inconsistent in its discipline.
Acting City Attorney Chris Connolly says the city was reviewing its options.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — An assistant U.S. attorney has denied allegations that federal agents and prosecutors wrongly kept a man arrested in an August immigration raid from seeing his attorney.
A law firm hired to represent Eric Beringer, a supervisor for Elkhorn River Farms in north-central Nebraska’s Holt County, made the allegations earlier this month. John Berry says a lawyer from his firm was told he couldn’t see Beringer until the day after the Aug. 8 raid. Berry is moving in court to suppress anything Beringer said to federal agents or prosecutors.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lesley Woods says in a court filing that Berry had called her office that day but didn’t say who his law firm would be representing. Woods also says Beringer didn’t indicate he wanted an attorney present after being read his rights and agreeing to speak.
Woods says the lawyer from Berry’s firm was told he couldn’t speak with Beringer because other suspects were being processed and for “security and logistical concerns.”
BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska mayor is warning that his city could lose property tax revenue if county officials move ahead with their choice for the site of a new mental health crisis center.
Bellevue Mayor Rusty Hike tells The Omaha World-Herald that the nearly 7-acre (2.8-hectare) property would be better used for private development, and that the city would loses out on potential revenue because the crisis center will be tax-exempt.
Sarpy County Board Chairman Don Kelly says he plans to meet with Hike on Thursday to discuss the issue.
The board selected the site last week. The center would serve as a short-term emergency facility where people can get voluntarily mental health and substance abuse assessments. Officials hope the center will alleviate burdens on hospitals and the county jail.
VESTA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say one person has been killed in a southeast Nebraska house fire.
The fire was reported around 5:20 a.m. Sunday in Vesta, which sits about 7 miles (12 kilometers) west of Tecumseh in Johnson County. Fire officials think the person who died in the fire lived in the home. The person’s name hasn’t been released. An autopsy was ordered.
The fire cause is being investigated.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Omaha school district’s policy on reporting suspected abuse differs from state law that requires all school employees to report abuse to law enforcement.
The Omaha World-Herald reports the district’s policy is being scrutinized because an Omaha elementary school principal has been charged with failing to report suspected abuse by a teacher.
The district policy requires staff members to report abuse to the principal but it’s somewhat unclear on who reports the incident to authorities.
Prosecutors in Douglas and Sarpy Counties told the newspaper that it’s not enough to report an incident to a supervisor.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say the father of a Nebraska Supreme Court justice was pronounced dead at the scene of a traffic accident in Lincoln.
Police say 79-year-old Thomas F. Funke was driving his sport utility vehicle west on Nebraska Highway 2 around 9:35 a.m. Thursday when it rammed into the rear of a semitrailer that had halted.
Funke is the father of Nebraska Supreme Court Justice Jeffrey Funke. The elder man lived in Nebraska City.
Police say the truck driver wasn’t injured.
The crash is being investigated.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A woman has been imprisoned for killing a man whose body was found in a vehicle in an Omaha police station parking lot.
Douglas County District Court records say 19-year-old Tyjanae Allen was given 20 to 40 years Wednesday. She’d pleaded no contest to second-degree murder after prosecutors lowered the charge and dropped another.
Prosecutors say Allen and 29-year-old Julio Cesar-Ortega arranged to meet for sex on Nov. 8, 2017, but Allen stabbed him and then robbed him of $100. Cesar-Ortega died after driving himself to the station in northeast Omaha .
A man accused of helping Allen is scheduled to be sentenced March 13. Court records say 20-year-old Govenor Tate pleaded guilty to conspiracy and to use of a weapon.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — A police department in central Nebraska has started a free sticker program that aims to improve interactions between officers and people with developmental disabilities.Grand Island residents who enroll in the program launched Thursday are given stickers to place on their vehicle and home to alert emergency personnel that there may be a person with a developmental disability inside who needs special considerations, The Grand Island Independent reported.
People with family members who have a developmental disability, such as autism, Alzheimer’s, dementia, Down syndrome, hearing impairment or epilepsy are eligible to sign up.
The registration process asks for information on medical issues, how to deescalate a situation if a person becomes agitated and specific triggers, such as bright lights or loud noises. Applicants are also asked to provide information on how to best communicate with someone who is nonverbal, such as through sign language, pictures or written words.
Officers Michael Belleci and Michelle Anderson developed the program. Belleci said he was inspired after interacting last year with an autistic 10-year-old boy who was being bullied and an older autistic man.
“If we can help our community and show them that we care, then that’s what we’re going to do,” Belleci said.
The department has 750 stickers available for distribution, Belleci said.
