COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — A 37-year-old Schuyler police officer has pleaded not guilty to two misdemeanor counts of domestic assault in Columbus.
On Tuesday a Platte County judge took Scott Wimer’s plea and scheduled a pretrial hearing for Nov. 10. Court documents say Wimer clashed with his estranged wife on Oct. 1 and July 12 at their home in Columbus.
The Columbus Telegram reports (https://bit.ly/1ZFrDx2 ) that Schuyler officials won’t comment on Wimer’s job status.
23-year-old Jackson Hedrick pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual assault on Wednesday. Prosecutors say the first-year teacher at Irving Middle School exchanged sexually explicit text messages with a 14-year-old girl and engaged in sexual acts with her. Under Nebraska law, people 19 and over cannot have sexual contact with people under 16.
Hedrick faces one to 50 years in prison. He is scheduled to be sentenced in December, but remains free on a $200,000 bond.
FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — Dodge County Sheriff’s officials are investigating a fiery crash on U.S. Highway 30 in eastern Nebraska that killed at least one person.
The crash occurred late Wednesday morning outside of Fremont. The sheriff’s office did not release any more information about the crash.
The newspaper spoke to a Schuyler couple who witnessed the aftermath of the crash and helped pull an injured driver from the wreckage.
Paul Dirkschneider and his wife, Chris, say they were headed west on Highway 30 when they saw smoke and flames coming from a semitrailer hauling a combine. They say a larger vehicle also was involved in the crash.
Paul Dirkschneider and two other passers-by helped pull the semitrailer driver from the truck before the flames reached him.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Federal investigators say an Omaha rail car cleaning company blatantly ignored warning signs of an explosion when it sent into a rail car two employees who were killed in a blast.
Two workers, Dallas Foulk and Adrian LaPour, died in the April 14 explosion. A third employee was injured.
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said in a release Wednesday that before the blast, a check of the air quality inside the car indicated serious risk of an explosion. OSHA says that despite the warning, the company sent Foulk and LaPour into the car to work without continuously monitoring for explosive hazards, as required, or providing the employees with safety equipment.
OSHA has cited Nebraska Railcar Cleaning Services for 33 violations. The company now faces penalties of $963,000.
FALLS CITY, Neb. (AP) — Owners of two farms near Rulo say they can’t reach some of their fields, so they want Richardson County to reopen a closed bridge for them.
A letter from a law firm says the farm owners want $400,000 in damages unless the bridge is reopened.
The bridge north of Rulo is on a minimum maintenance road near the Missouri River. It connects no residences.
Commissioner David Sickel said Tuesday that access depends on the agreeability of other landowners and the use of a flood levee.
The state closed the bridge in 2006 for safety reasons, and Sickel says a replacement isn’t in the county’s one- or six-year road plans. He also says Richardson County doesn’t have authority to reopen the bridge.
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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The FBI says two underage victims have been rescued and three pimps arrested in the Omaha area as part of a nationwide crackdown on human trafficking.
In all, the FBI said Tuesday, 21 people were arrested in Omaha as part of the Operation Cross Country IX. The effort was led by the FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The Omaha Police Department, Douglas County Sheriff’s Department and various other local departments in the Omaha area worked as part of the task force in the effort.
The FBI says the national sting was conducted in 135 cities. Altogether, authorities rescued 149 minors and arrested 153 pimps.
HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — A 31-year-old Florida woman involved in a police chase through three southern Nebraska counties has been sentenced to time served.
Keri Ansley was given 216 days in jail at her sentencing on Tuesday in Adams County District Court. She’d been convicted of drug possession after making a plea deal with prosecutors.
She and her companion in the chase, 34-year-old Christopher White, also of Milton, Florida, led officers through Adams, Kearney and Webster counties in March before running out of gas. Officers say the two had a firearm and methamphetamine with them.
White also made a plea deal and was convicted of distribution of a controlled substance, attempted possession of a firearm by a felon and operating a motor vehicle to avoid arrest. His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 12.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Chief Industries has cut 30 positions from the workforce at its Chief Fabrication plant in Grand Island.
Chief Industries chairman and CEO D.J. Eihusen says the workforce adjustment was a result of reduced demand from its customer base in the agriculture industry. The plant still will have about 160 workers on the payroll.
10 of the workers have taken jobs in other Chief Industries divisions. Eihusen says that, “When it’s all said and done, we’ll probably retain about 50 percent” of the 30 workers.
Chief Industries started as a small construction company in 1954 and grew into a diverse corporation with 12 divisions and subsidiaries employing about 1,400 people.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln man wanted for violating his supervised release has been arrested in southwest Omaha.
According to Supervisory Deputy U.S. Marshal William Iverson, 29-year-old David L. Erickson was arrested Tuesday by the Metro Fugitive Task Force.
Authorities had been searching for Erickson since Oct. 5. He had served time in federal prison for gun and drug charges, and was believed to be armed and dangerous.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have apprehended a 53-year-old Indiana man wanted in the deaths of two people in Omaha over the weekend.
A statement from the Omaha Police Department says U.S. marshals in Mesa, Arizona, arrested Michael A. Nolt of Fort Wayne, Indiana, on Tuesday afternoon.
Nolt is a suspect in the shooting deaths of 26-year-old Malquan King and 23-year-old Arelius Hassell early Saturday. A 25-year-old woman was also wounded by gunfire.
An arrest warrant was issued Monday for Nolt on two counts of first-degree murder, one count of attempted first-degree murder and weapons charges.
Police have said Nolt knew the three victims but haven’t discussed a motive.
A police spokesman told the Omaha World-Herald that Nolt would be extradited to Nebraska in the next couple of days, barring any other legal matters.
