COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — A lengthy ice jam is causing flooding in part of eastern Nebraska’s Platte County.
The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for southeastern Platte County, saying flooding is occurring on both sides of the Loup River. The warning runs through Monday morning.
Platte County emergency manager Tim Hofbauer told The Columbus Telegram that the jam is on the Platte River, “but it backs up into the Loup, which is causing the majority of the problems.”
CENTRAL CITY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say one driver was fatally injured and several other people were hurt in a collision on a state highway in eastern Nebraska’s Merrick County.
The collision occurred around 8:15 a.m. Wednesday on Nebraska Highway 92. The Merrick County Sheriff’s Office says a westbound car crossed the center line and rammed into an oncoming car.
The sheriff’s office says the 64-year-old man driving the westbound car was pronounced dead at Merrick Medical Center in Central City. His passenger and two people in the other car were hospitalized as well.
The names of those involved haven’t been released.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska judge is deciding whether an inmate’s right to a speedy trial was violated as prosecutors scramble to keep him in prison for a 1995 slaying.
A hearing is scheduled Friday in the case of Jack Harris, the Omaha World-Herald reported. Harris was sentenced in 1999 to life in prison for the shooting death of Anthony Jones during a drug robbery.
Harris, 47, sought an appeal after a witness recanted, alleging that police intimidated him into testifying. Judge William Zastera granted Harris a new trial in September 2017. Zastera retired shortly after the decision.
The Nebraska attorney general’s office appealed, arguing that no evidentiary hearing was held. The case has been in limbo for months because no replacement judge was immediately appointed.
Judge Jodi Nelson took over the case in July. Nelson said Harris wasn’t tried within six months of Zastera’s order, in violation of his right to a speedy right. Nelson also criticized the state for failing to take steps to move the case forward.
“The state could have done several things,” Nelson wrote. “It could have asked for another district judge to be appointed, it could have begun preparing to retry Harris. … It could have done all of the above. … Instead the state apparently did nothing.”
The state argues that prosecutors filed a motion to reconsider and an appeal and that the time those motions were pending shouldn’t be counted as part of the speedy trial considerations.
“The Attorney General believes the significant and complicated issues should be reviewed by an appellate court before the defendant’s case is discharged,” Suzanne Gage, spokeswoman for Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson, said in a statement.
Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said the situation is alarming.
“This is a big deal; the defendant was somebody we were very concerned about,” Kleine said. “Now, 20 years later, a judge grants a motion for absolute (dismissal). It’s a very troubling turn of events.”
Lancaster County District Court records say 32-year-old Jesse “JJ” Wilson entered pleas Wednesday to charges of second-degree murder, theft and two firearms counts. The records don’t show that a trial date has been set.
Prosecutors say he shot 42-year-old Stacy Talbot on Oct. 18 last year as they drove around Lincoln with two other people, 35-year-old Sherry Thomas and 28-year-old James Howard.
Thomas and Howard have been charged with being accessories to murder. Thomas has pleaded not guilty to the accessory charge and to theft. Howard hasn’t entered a plea yet. His attorney, Sandy Pollack, said Thursday that Howard would be pleading not guilty at his arraignment later this month.
DEWEESE, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say a 40-year-old man has been killed by a bull in a south-central Nebraska field.
The Nuckolls County Sheriff’s Department says a woman called around 7:15 p.m. Tuesday to report that her boyfriend hadn’t returned from checking cattle. A deputy met the woman on a rural road about 2 miles (3 kilometers) southwest of Deweese, and she told the deputy that she’d found the man’s body in a nearby field.
The department says an investigation showed the man was carrying a bucket and checking cows when the bull attacked, and the man couldn’t get away.
Nuckolls County Attorney John Hodge identified the man as Kenneth Volz, of Fairfield.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police say a man was killed and a woman was wounded by gunfire just a few blocks apart from each other.
Officers found 18-year-old Elijah Foster’s body near a vehicle in northeast Omaha Tuesday evening. About three blocks away, 20-year-old Erica Robinson was found wounded.
Investigators are trying to determine whether there is a connection between the two victims.
Foster has a record of several juvenile crimes. Douglas County court records show convictions for theft, unauthorized use of a vehicle and third-degree assault.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha man has been arrested on a warrant charging him with animal cruelty after officials say he starved two pit bull dogs to death.
The Omaha World-Herald reports that officers with the Metro Area Fugitive Task Force arrested 43-year-old Shane Palmer on Tuesday morning following an investigation by the Nebraska Humane Society.
Officials say the carcasses of two male dogs were found Jan. 9 after they had been thrown into a ravine east of Palmer’s house in north Omaha. Officials say one of the dogs had been microchipped, which led investigators to Palmer.
A necropsy showed the dogs, named Pokie and Boss, died primarily of starvation, with hypothermia as a secondary cause.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Twitter account that has been criticizing about a southeast Nebraska school district since last fall disappeared shortly after the district filed a lawsuit seeking the critic’s identity.
The person behind the anonymous @friend_bulldog account on Twitter posted another critical comment about the Friend School District Tuesday morning, but the account was gone by midday.
The school district filed a lawsuit last week because officials want to learn who is behind the account. The district’s lawyer, Justin Knight, said the site has made false and defamatory statements about Superintendent David Kraus and other school officials.
Knight says the district plans to continue pursuing the lawsuit .
A Twitter spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to questions about whether the social media company had removed the account.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A former pharmacy director has pleaded guilty to stealing more than $4.6 million from an Omaha hospital.
Federal prosecutors said Monday that 49-year-old Lisa Kwapniowski, of Omaha, pleaded guilty to committing wire fraud. She’s scheduled to be sentenced April 29. The prosecutors say Kwapniowski will be ordered to pay restitution as part of her sentence.
Court records say that sometime before 2010, Kwapniowski submitted to Children’s Hospital & Medical Center fraudulent invoices from legitimate pharmaceutical suppliers. She later submitted reimbursement requests utilizing fraudulent invoices from a company she fraudulently created.
Prosecutors say she also submitted fraudulent invoices that appeared to come from a legitimate drug vendor and used fraudulent means to obtain payments.
She was fired in June after accusations arose.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A southeast Nebraska school district wants a court to help it learn who is behind a Twitter account that has targeted the district and superintendent.
Friend Public Schools says the unknown person behind the Friend Bulldog account has made false, libelous and defamatory statements accusing Superintendent David Kraus or the district of public indecency and other offenses. The account has been active since last fall.
In a Jan. 7 post, Kraus’ face was positioned over actor Jim Carrey’s in a poster for Carrey’s movie “Liar Liar.” Another post from September of last year compared Kraus to Adolf Hitler.
The district’s attorney, Justin Knight, also said in the lawsuit filed last week that the Twitter account might be mistaken for the district’s official one because it uses a picture of the Friend Bulldog mascot.
“The goal is to clear the reputations of the individuals that have been targeted in the account,” Knight said.
District officials made other efforts to contact the online critic and resolve the issue — including an open invitation from the school board — but those weren’t successful. Knight said the district didn’t decide to file the lawsuit until after several other district employees were singled out. The district in Friend, Nebraska, is about 40 miles southwest of Lincoln.
The Lincoln Journal Star reported on the lawsuit first.
On Saturday, the person behind the Twitter account posted, “The name’s Doe, John Doe.” The individual later added, “I can’t believe you guys guessed my real name!”
The person didn’t immediately respond to a Twitter message that The Associated Press sent Monday seeking comment.
A spokeswoman for Twitter said Monday she was looking into the case and couldn’t immediately comment. But the social media company describes online how it handles legal requests for user information. Twitter says it tries to notify users about a request and then reviews the request before deciding whether to comply or object to it.
