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Arrest made in 2017 death of southwestern Nebraska man

PLATTSMOUTH, Neb. (AP) — State prosecutors say a man has been arrested in the death last year of a southwestern Nebraska man.The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office says 42-year-old Darin Mason was arrested Wednesday on a warrant charging him with first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit robbery. Mason is being held in the Cass County Jail in Plattsmouth.

The charges come in the death of 49-year-old Todd Miller, whose body was found Aug. 16, 2017, in his Culbertson home. Court records say Miller was killed during a robbery attempt and that Mason bought items used in the crime.

Other court records detailing Miller’s death and Mason’s suspected role have been sealed from public view.

Man sentenced to federal prison for robbing Lincoln bank

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Federal prosecutors say a man has been sentenced to nearly three years in prison for robbing a Lincoln bank earlier this year.

U.S. Attorney for Nebraska Joe Kelly says 30-year-old Kevin Brown was sentenced Thursday in Lincoln’s federal court. Brown was also ordered to pay nearly $85,000 in restitution.

Prosecutors say Brown and at least one other person robbed a Great Western Bank branch on Old Cheney Road in Lincoln on June 22.

Police determined the robbers left the bank in a car rented from an Omaha business. Brown was arrested the day after the robbery when he returned the car. Police found a mask and other items believed to have been used in the robbery on Brown.

Lincoln police pursue new $5M garage project

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Lincoln Police Department plans to spend $5 million to replace its decades-old garage after struggling to fix roof leaks, termite damage and a collapsing back dock.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that the police department has already purchased a 13,000-square-foot warehouse with plans for an 18,000-square-foot addition.

Fleet superintendent Pat Wenzl says the extra space will accommodate expected growth in the city’s police vehicle fleet.

Department officials say city money is better spent on a new garage since estimated roof repairs alone have totaled about $600,000. The garage services police cruisers and the city’s more than 600 light-duty vehicles.

Wenzl says plans for the new garage are still being designed. He says the department hopes to seek bids on the project in January and potentially finish in 2020.

Nebraska county approves request to collect wind-energy data

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MADISON, Neb. (AP) — A northeast Nebraska county has approved a request for a wind company to begin recording wind-speed and weather data in preparation for a possible wind farm.

The Madison County Board of Commissioners approved a conditional-use permit Tuesday for Emerick Wind to construct a tower to collect the information.

The site of the temporary tower is on land about 8 miles south and 1.5 miles west of Meadow Grove.

The company Lincoln Clean Energy is developing the project for Emerick Wind.

2 Indiana men indicted in Nebraska pharmacy robberies

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Two Indiana men have been charged in federal court with robbing Nebraska pharmacies for prescription drugs.

A news release Wednesday from federal prosecutors says 23-year-old Javonn Lewis, of Indianapolis, is accused of robbing a Lincoln pharmacy in March, and 19-year-old Michael White, of Muncie, Indiana, is accused of robbing an Omaha pharmacy in February. Both are charged with two counts: robbery and robbery involving controlled substances.

If convicted, each faces up to 20 years in prison on each count. There is no parole in the federal system.

The pair also face similar charges in Minnesota for pharmacy robberies in that state.

Probation recommended for man who fatally hit pedestrian

AURORA, Neb. (AP) — Prosecutors will recommend probation for a Missouri man convicted of fatally hitting a pedestrian with his vehicle on Interstate 80 in central Nebraska.

29-year-old Victor Genetti, of Sugar Creek, Missouri, has pleaded no contest to motor vehicle homicide in the March 1 death of a 26-year-old India Marie Simpson, of Waxhaw, North Carolina. In exchange for his plea, prosecutors will ask for a sentence of two years’ probation.

Simpson had been a passenger in a vehicle that had broken down near Giltner. Investigators say she was walking along the interstate shoulder to a tow truck when a semi driven by Genetti hit and killed her.

Nebraska city keeps paying Kobach to defend immigration rule

By JOSH FUNK ,  Associated Press
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An eastern Nebraska city will continue paying Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach at least $10,000 a year to defend its immigration ordinance even though the last legal challenge to the rule ended in 2014.

Fremont’s City Council unanimously approved its annual agreement with Kobach on Tuesday. Since 2010, the city has paid the Republican, who lost his bid to become Kansas governor this fall, a total of $101,817.29.

Fremont Mayor Scott Getzchman said the city wants to maintain its contract with Kobach, so he could defend the ordinance against any new challenges.

Fremont voters twice supported the rule that bans renting homes to immigrants living in the country illegally and requires employers to use a federal online system to check whether prospective employees are permitted to work in the U.S.

Nebraska man acquitted in sex assault case involving boy, 14

Esteban Bueno
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska man has been found not guilty of charges that he sexually assaulted a 14-year-old boy he met through a social networking app.

Esteban Bueno was acquitted at his second trial in Lancaster County District Court. His first trial ended in a mistrial.

His accuser told investigators Bueno sexually assaulted him after the two met on the Grindr app. The boy says he was looking for a friend, not sex.

Bueno consistently denied that anything sexual happened, saying he went to meet a person he had been texting in January 2017 and discovered he was just a boy. Bueno says the boy threatened to tell police that Bueno had done inappropriate things to him if he didn’t pay $100.

Teacher in child sex assault case faces new accusations

Gregory Sedlacek

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha elementary teacher accused of sexually assaulting a 7-year-old student faces new accusations of assaulting four other students at the school.

The news of the new investigations comes as the Omaha Public Schools district announced Tuesday that Fontenelle Elementary School Principal Eric Nelson has been placed on leave.

That announcement came a week after 30-year-old Gregory Sedlacek was charged with two counts of sexual assault of a 7-year-old girl. Sedlacek was arrested after other teachers reported seeing him molest the girl on the school’s playground.

Police say they are now investigating accusations that Sedlacek molested four other students, all 6 years old, this year. Sedlacek has taught at the school for three years.

Man gets 3 months behind bars and an order to pay back banks

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A northeast Nebraska man has been sentenced for defrauding banks in Iowa and Nebraska.U.S. District Court records say 32-year-old Joshua Huffman, of Lyons, was given three months behind bars and five years of supervised release. He also was told at an Omaha hearing Monday to pay restitution to Washington County Bank in Blair and United Bank of Iowa in Ida Grove, Iowa. He’d pleaded guilty.

Prosecutors say Huffman gave false and fraudulent financial statements to the banks to obtain loans for his farming operation from December 2014 through May 2015.

He defaulted on the loans, so United Bank of Iowa suffered a loss of about $320,000, and Washington County Bank suffered a loss of almost $14,000.

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