AUBURN, Neb. (AP) — A Nemaha County commissioner is defending his colleague who publicly apologized for using a racial slur during a Thursday board meeting in Auburn.

Commissioner Bob Hutton had used a racial expletive at a meeting Wednesday as the council discussed the use of decorative rock over mulch for the courthouse lawn. Hutton, concerned that children would sling the rocks at the courthouse windows, described slingshots using an expletive. Board Chairman Dennis Witmann and County Clerk Joyce Oakley had reprimanded Hutton during the meeting.

In a written statement issued Thursday, Hutton apologized and said he spoke without thinking. He described the expletive as a term he had heard as a child.

Commissioner Marvin Bohling disputed claims Thursday that his colleague was a racist. Bohling doesn’t believe any more disciplinary action is needed in the case. But he promised the board would take additional actions if constituents express more concerns.

MISSOURI VALLEY, Iowa (AP) — Police have arrested an Iowa teen accused of setting the same vacant house on fire three separate times last year.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety says 19-year-old Coty Cates, of Missouri Valley, is charged with three counts of second-degree arson in connection with the October fires.

The house is a complete loss.

A message left for Cates’ attorney Friday seeking comment on his behalf went unreturned.

Authorities say they’re investigating other possible arson cases in the area, including another vacant house fire in March, which resulted in the arrest of former Missouri Valley Fire Chief Johnnie Walker. He pleaded not guilty to interference with official acts and reporting false information.

Investigators say there’s no known connection between Walker and Cates.

HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — A Hastings High School teacher has been arrested, accused of sexually assaulting a student.

38-year-old Johnathan Shafer was arrested on a warrant Thursday evening. Online jail records say he remained in custody on Friday. Court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could be contacted to comment on Shafer’s behalf about the allegations.

Hastings police Sgt. Steve Murphy told the newspaper that investigators think the student was 15 when the sexual contact occurred but is 18 now. Under Nebraska law, people 19 and over cannot have sexual contact with people under 16.

Hastings district officials say Shafer has been removed from his duty as a science teacher.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Emergency workers have been swamped with overdoses of synthetic marijuana in Lincoln.

Lincoln Fire and Rescue Division Chief Roger Bonin said at a news conference Friday that medics have handled 76 overdoses of the substance in the past week, including a dozen on Thursday. The substance goes by several names, including K2 and spice.

No deaths have been reported, but officials say CPR was required by at least one person whose heart stopped.

Officials warn that synthetic marijuana is not a harmless substitute for real pot. Besides its potential to kill, the synthetic product can cause vomiting, seizures, heart problems, kidney and brain damage.

Investigators are looking for the link and source of the Lincoln overdoses.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Scientists have spied a vast reservoir of hot, partly molten rock beneath the supervolcano at Yellowstone National Park. It’s big enough to fill the Grand Canyon 11 times over.

The gigantic magma chamber is four times bigger and much deeper than the previously known chamber above it. The upper chamber was responsible for three ancient volcanic eruptions that coated much of North America in ash.

The discovery fills a missing link in Yellowstone’s volcanic plumbing system. But scientists said it doesn’t increase the risk of an eruption, which is estimated to happen every 700,000 years.

Researchers at the University of Utah mapped the new reservoir by doing the geological equivalent of a CT scan. The findings were published Friday in the journal Science.

HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — A Hastings high school teacher is accused of having an improper relationship with a student.

Superintendent Craig Kautz says the teacher, who wasn’t identified, has been removed from the classroom. School administrators are working with police in their investigation.

Kautz wouldn’t say when the teacher was removed from duty. He said that a substitute teacher is in place to conduct classes through the rest of the semester.

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say an 8-year-old girl who was involved in a Fremont collision had been fatally injured at her home when a television fell on her head.

The Fremont Police Department released autopsy results Thursday on the body of Eva Imus, who died March 25 at a hospital. She was already being rushed to the hospital by her brother when his car struck another.

Fremont Police Chief Jeff Elliott says autopsy results show the girl died from head injuries. Elliott says Eva apparently was trying to open a dresser drawer when the old, tube-type television atop the dresser toppled forward onto her.

 

WINDSOR, Colo. (AP) — Investigators are trying to determine if a shooting on Interstate 25 about 60 miles north of Denver that left a 20-year-old woman wounded is related to three similar incidents in the area.

The Fort Collins Coloradan reports that the sheriff’s office says it does not appear she was specifically targeted.

Authorities said the attack on Wednesday night came a day after a sheriff’s van transporting prisoners was hit by a projectile about 20 miles away, shattering a passenger window.

On Thursday, a driver in Weld County said his front driver’s side window had been broken and might have been shot out near Interstate 76. Another man said his rear window was shattered Wednesday in Loveland.

Larimer County Sheriff Justin Smith said drivers should be aware and report suspicious behavior.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has reaffirmed that public school districts are not prohibited by state law from using lease-purchase agreements to fund building projects.

The decision Thursday came in a lawsuit filed by taxpayers in 2012 after the after Scribner-Snyder Community School district entered a lease-purchase agreement with a bank to pay for building several classrooms. That came after voters rejected a $7.5 million bond proposal by the school district for the work. The taxpayers did not seek a temporary restraining order to try to stop construction.

The high court found that the taxpayers’ claims moot, because the work has already been done. But it issued a “public interest” ruling, finding that state law does not prohibit use of such lease-purchase agreements.

NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) — A 24-year-old woman has been accused of starting a small fire in a hallway at a Norfolk apartment complex.

The Norfolk Police Department says Johna Richards was arrested Wednesday and booked into jail on suspicion of arson and terroristic threats. Online court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could be contacted to comment on Richards’ behalf.

Police say the charges stem from a Dec. 29 fire at a complex on South Hickory Street. A resident used a rug to put out the flames, and another resident told officers about threatening messages he’d been getting on Facebook.

Police say investigators eventually were able to obtain information from Facebook about the person believed to have posted the messages, and Richards was arrested.