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Making Coke at Home? Keurig Introduces ‘Kold’ Machine

keurigNEW YORK (AP) — Making a glass of Coke at home will soon be possible, if you don’t mind paying more than $300 for a machine that sits on your kitchen countertop. Plus an extra dollar or so per drink.

Keurig says it will start selling a machine Tuesday that makes single servings of cold drinks including Coke, Sprite and flavored seltzer. The machine is similar to Keurig’s brewers, which let people make cups of coffee and tea by inserting a pod into the machine and pressing a button.

Coca-Cola is betting big on Keurig Kold, too; the company owns a minority stake in Keurig Green Mountain.

Keurig CEO Brian Kelley says the machine is a way for people to have a variety of drinks at their disposal, without the cans and bottles.

5 California Teens Suspected of Nebraska ATM Fraud

atm_problemLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Five California teenagers have been arrested in Nebraska, suspected of operating an ATM fraud scheme.

The five remained at the Lancaster County youth detention center Monday after their arrests Friday. The Associated Press generally doesn’t name juveniles accused of crimes.

Court documents say Pinnacle Bank staffers found on three of its ATMs electronic devices that surreptitiously record bank card numbers and PIN information. Lincoln Police Chief Jim Peschong says forgers use the information to create new cards for looting the accounts.

Police staked out the ATMs and soon arrested two boys who’d returned to remove the devices. Cellphone information led police to the three other teens.

Investigators suspect the five might be tied to a national criminal enterprise composed mainly of Romanians citizens.

Police: Kansas Man Arrested for Using Jumper Cables to Shock Teen

wichita-policeWICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 58-year-old man has been arrested after police say he attached jumper cables to the ears of a 15-year-old Kansas boy to get information about a robbery.

Wichita police Lt. James Espinoza says the boy was walking early Sunday when he said someone placed a gun at his back. Espinoza says the suspect took the teen to a garage, tied him to a trailer hitch, then attached jumper cables to his ears and shocked him repeatedly while questioning him about a recent robbery.

Police say the man’s wallet had been stolen and he believed the teen knew who was responsible.

The suspect eventually released the boy, who ran home and told his father what happened. He was taken to a hospital.

The man faces charges of aggravated battery and kidnapping.

3 Groups Will Use $5.9M to Train Firefighters for Oil Trains

transportation-departmentOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Three groups will receive $5.9 million in federal grants to train first responders to handle railroad incidents involving crude oil, ethanol and other flammable liquids.

The U.S. Transportation Department announced the grants Monday.

Concerns have been growing about these shipments because the number has surged, and there have been several fiery derailments involving crude oil in recent years.

Railroads carried about 500,000 carloads last year, up from 9,500 in 2008.

The worst derailment happened in July 2013 and killed 47 people in a small Canadian city just across the U.S.-Canada border from Maine.

Officials estimate the grants will pay for training for roughly 25,000 firefighters, police and other responders nationwide.

The grants are going to the International Association of Fire Chiefs, Center for Rural Development and the University of Findlay.

Nebraska Utilities Exploring New Options for Buying Power

power-lineOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — As Nebraska’s utilities decide whether to sign new long term deals with power suppliers, they have new options that didn’t exist the last time they decided where to buy electricity.

A handful of local utilities in the northeast corner of the state are switching from the Nebraska Public Power District to a different supplier to take advantage the flexibility offered by the region’s power grid today.

The utilities making the switch — South Sioux City, Northeast Nebraska Public Power, Wakefield and Wayne — believe they will save some money. But mainly they wanted a shorter contract and more flexibility to buy renewable energy from other providers.

All 75 of NPPD’s wholesale customers are weighing their options this fall because the state’s largest utility wants them to sign new 20-year contracts.

Lancaster County Truancy Project Boosts Grades, Attendance

schoolLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Lancaster County Truancy Diversion Project is seeing success in improving grades and attendance among students at the six participating schools.

The program allows students facing truancy petitions from the county attorney’s office to avoid possible legal punishments by participating in the program. The program requires students to avoid further unexcused absences or suspensions, attend counseling services and demonstrate passing grades.

Students who achieve perfect attendance, improved grades and commitment to therapy are now able to skip bi-weekly truancy diversion court hearings.

The program began in January 2011 at Park Middle School. Since then, average daily attendance at the school has increased from 94.2 percent to 95.5 percent.

Internal Probe Clears Deputy in Shooting Near Nebraska Capitol

lancaster-county-sheriffLINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Lancaster County sheriff says an internal investigation shows a deputy followed department protocol in shooting an armed 18-year-old, ending a chase across a street from the Nebraska Capitol.

Sheriff Terry Wagner said Monday that Deputy Jeffrey Moeller acted within the scope of the policy on use of force. Wagner says Moeller and a deputy U.S. marshal shot Tareik Artis after Artis pointed a loaded .45-caliber handgun at them. Artis was fleeing from a Lincoln officer after a traffic stop. Lincoln police say the officer saw that Artis was carrying the gun, so the officer called for more aid.

The U.S. Marshals Service hasn’t named the deputy marshal involved. The agency and Lincoln police also are investigating the shooting.

Man Charged with Assaulting Autistic Boy, Pulling Teeth Out

child-abuseNORRISTOWN, Pa. (AP) — A man has been charged with assaulting a 4-year-old boy with autism, including pulling three of his teeth out, while baby-sitting him last summer.

Authorities in Montgomery County said 27-year-old Nicholas Kernechel of East Greenville was charged with aggravated assault, endangering the welfare of a child and related offenses.

Authorities said the child’s mother brought him to Upper Perkiomen police in July along with a plastic bag containing the three “bloody but intact” teeth.

They said Kernechel hit the boy, identified only as “JN,” and took the teeth out.

Defense attorney Patrick McMenamin Jr. on Monday called the child’s injuries “an unfortunate accident” that occurred when he slipped as Kernechel was helping him out of bed to use the bathroom.

Gene Test Finds Which Breast Cancer Patients Can Skip Chemo

Medical-Chart(AP)–A new study finds that many women with early-stage breast cancer can skip chemotherapy without hurting their odds of beating the disease. The study shows the value of using a gene-activity test to gauge each patient’s risk.

The test accurately identified a group of women whose cancers are so likely to respond to hormone therapy that adding chemo would do little if any good. In the study, women who skipped chemo based on their gene test scores had less than a 1 percent chance of cancer recurring far away, such as the liver or lungs, within the next five years.

Results were published online Monday by the New England Journal of Medicine and discussed at a European cancer conference.

Police: 66-Year-Old Woman Stabbed in Omaha Home

stabbingOMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities are investigating after a 66-year-old woman was stabbed in her Omaha home.

According to police, Charlotte Jones was stabbed by an intruder around 12:45 a.m. Sunday. Jones was transported to a hospital with cuts to her hand, torso and ear. Authorities say her injuries are not considered to be life-threatening.

Police have not made any arrests in the case.

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