OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A federal appeals court has ruled that six people wrongly convicted in a 1985 slaying of a woman in southeast Nebraska should have a chance to argue that the officials who prosecuted them acted improperly.

Monday’s ruling from the 8th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals revived the group’s complaint against Gage County and the officials who built the case against the six in the 1985 killing of Helen Wilson in Beatrice.

The initial trial in the lawsuit ended in mistrial in January.

The wrongly convicted individuals — known as the Beatrice Six — served a combined 77 years in prison before DNA testing cleared them in 2008.

The individuals have argued that Gage County investigators recklessly strove to close the case despite contradictory evidence, rather than seek justice.

 

FARGO, N.D. (AP) — A Nebraska woman accused of visiting hundreds of medical facilities around the country to obtain unnecessary prescription drugs with her Medicare benefits has pleaded guilty to fraud.

Lowie Norma Christie entered the plea in federal court in Fargo on Monday. She faces up to 10 years in prison and also has agreed to pay more than $107,000 in restitution.

In exchange for her guilty plea, prosecutors dropped five other counts against her. She’s to be sentenced on March 23.

Authorities say Christie caused about 1,830 claims to be submitted to Medicare for prescription drugs between January 2007 and July 2013. She was accused of obtaining prescriptions at four hospitals in North Dakota.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A teacher at Marian High School in Omaha has challenged his senior sociology class to learn about homelessness by spending a night in a car.

Teacher Tom Baker’s assignment is part of the homelessness and poverty unit in his class. Baker says it was a way for students to experience the reality of being homeless on a regular basis in a simplistic way.

Baker’s students were allowed to sleep in cars in their garage or driveways and have their phones or car alarm in case of an emergency, as well as a pillow, blanket and water. They were urged not to turn on the heat or air conditioning. Students had a two-week window in October to compete the assignment.

Students had to write a reflection paper about their experience and there was a class discussion after the assignment.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police have identified a suspect in the fatal shooting of a 2-year-old girl and a woman and the wounding of three other women at a northwest Omaha apartment.

Omaha police said Monday that 23-year-old Dontevous Loyd is being sought on a warrant that lists two counts of murder, three counts of attempted murder and six weapons counts. No arrest has been reported. It’s unclear whether Loyd has an attorney who could comment on his behalf.

Police say the five people were shot around 11 p.m. Sunday. Authorities say 2-year-old Kenacia Amerson-Straughn and 22-year-old Destacia Straughn were pronounced dead at the scene. Eighteen-year-old Jamie Latner, 21-year-old Larrion Williams and 22-year-old Kachelle Roby were taken to Omaha hospitals for treatment.

AURORA, Neb. (AP) — Construction is scheduled to begin this week on video camera towers near Aurora in south-central Nebraska.

The Roads Department says the cameras installed on each will be added to others on the system that monitors highway conditions throughout the state.

One tower will be situated along Interstate 80 at the O Road overpass. The other will be built where Nebraska Highway 14 crosses the interstate. Minor shoulder closures will occur during the project, which is expected to be finished this month.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police are investigating a shooting that killed a 2-year-old girl and 22-year-old woman and critically injured three other women in northwest Omaha.

Officer Michael Pecha says the victims were shot in an apartment complex around 11 p.m. Sunday.

The victims who were alive when firefighters arrived were taken to two local hospitals. The others were determined to be dead on the scene.

Police had not released the victims’ names Monday morning. The critically wounded women are 18-, 21- and 22-years-old.

Police did not announce an arrest early Monday.

This is Omaha’s sixth double homicide of the year. There has been one triple homicide.

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — Police in the Omaha suburb of Bellevue are investigating after an elementary school employee found a weathered backpack on school grounds full of ammunition.

Bellevue police called on the Omaha Police Department’s bomb squad for help, which X-rayed the bag.

Police say the backpack, which was found Thursday under brush by a fence at Bellaire Elementary School, contained 107 rounds of ammunition. The ammo included .38 caliber, .44 caliber and .308 caliber shotgun shells.

Police say the ammunition appeared to be weathered, and it was unclear how long the bag had been there.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Doctors treating a man found incompetent last year to stand trial for the stabbing death of his son-in-law say the 78-year-old man is unlikely to become competent again.

Police say Bayapa Lingala stabbed 46-year-old Sujay Nooka on Aug. 5, 2014 at a birthday party for Nooka’s daughter.

Doctors treating Lingala this year initially found that he could understand the charges against him after he was given medication for a mental illness. But now, the doctors said Lingala suffers from dementia and significant memory impairment and is no longer competent to stand trial.

The doctors’ latest conclusion could lead to Lingala’s civil commitment or, potentially, his release.

Prosecutors have asked for a delay in Lingala’s upcoming competency to get another opinion.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A judge has thrown out a lawsuit challenging a Nebraska law that allowed a Canadian oil company to obtain the Nebraska governor’s approval for its Keystone XL pipeline route through the state.

Holt County District Judge Mark Kozisek tossed the lawsuit on Friday, agreeing with TransCanada’s argument that the issue was rendered moot by the company’s decision to abandon plans to move forward on the project.

That means the law will remain on Nebraska’s books, for now.

The landowners who filed the suit had urged the judge to allow them to proceed, suggesting that TransCanada or another company could try to use the law to get a governor’s approval for another pipeline at some point in the future.