OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police say someone has been shot at Standing Bear Lake in northwest Omaha.
Officers responded to a report of a shooting around 2:50 p.m. Monday. The person who was shot was transported to the Nebraska Medical Center in serious condition. Police remained at the scene to search for a suspect.
No arrests have been made at this time. No further information has been released.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An attorney for an Omaha event planning company says customers who purchased travel vouchers from the business won’t be reimbursed any time soon.
Steve Lefler, attorney for the owner of Creative Creations, said Monday that consumers shouldn’t expect refunds or for unused vouchers to be honored. Creative Creations purchases the vouchers for airline flights at a reduced rate and resells them to the public.
The vouchers sparked protest last week when hundreds of customers discovered their vouchers wouldn’t be honored because the company had overbooked flights. Only a limited number of vouchers can be redeemed each month.
The Better Business Bureau says more than 500 complaints valued at nearly $500,000 had been received as of Monday morning.
Lefler says it wasn’t the company’s intent to take advantage of the customers.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Four journalists arrested during last summer’s protests over the Ferguson shooting death of Michael Brown are suing St. Louis County’s police department for civil rights violations and unlawful detention.
The lawsuit filed Monday in St. Louis also names 20 unidentified St. Louis County officers.
Plaintiffs include two journalists who were covering last August’s protests for German publications, as well as a freelance reporter and a journalist for an online investigative publication. The suit describes them as U.S. citizens.
The lawsuit alleges that the journalists’ arrests for failing to disperse when ordered by police was unjustified and was an infringement of constitutionally protected freedom of the press.
A St. Louis County police spokesmen referred questions Monday to the county counselor, who did not immediately return a message seeking comment.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A federal agency has fined Douglas County for violating child labor laws by letting four teenagers load a wood chipper last summer.
The U.S. Department of Labor issued $3,100 in fines after discovering that four underage employees operated a wood chipper while temporarily working on a maintenance crew for the county engineer. Child labor laws allow only adults to do this.
The Douglas County Board is slated to approve payment of the fines Tuesday.
Construction and maintenance manager Tom McDonald said the permanent employee in charge of the wood chipper didn’t know minors weren’t allowed to load it.
McDonald says a workers’ compensation claim filed after one of the teens bruised a finger prompted the Labor Department’s investigation and subsequent fines.
COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — Parents, community members and the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod churches in Nebraska are considering opening a Lutheran high school in Columbus.
An informational meeting was held last week to gauge interest in the school. There are Lutheran schools in Columbus, but they do not teach students beyond the eighth grade.
Melanie Gustafson, a mother of four, said a conversation with other parents sparked the idea for a high school.
The process for creating the school includes seeking approval from the church councils and conducting a feasibility study to gauge interest in the school and evaluate what resources are available. The study will also establish if there are enough students to sustain the school.
It is not currently known where the school would be located or what the cost of tuition would be.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln City Councilman Trent Fellers has proposed revamping the city’s audit advisory board by giving the City Council more control over the group, and ensuring that it conducts at least one performance audit per year.
The proposal calls for the new audit committee to do performance audits, rather than financial audits so the council will have a better view of departmental operations. The proposal will be introduced Monday, and discussed at a public meeting at an April 6 council meeting.
The original audit advisory board was created at the suggestion of Mayor Chris Beutler after he took office in 2007. That group was only used for four audits since its creation and has not had any assignments for a year and a half. The board sent the city a memo in mid-March that offered suggestions for future audits.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 63-year-old woman has been killed in a hit-and-run collision in north-central Omaha.
Omaha police say Kathleen Benes, of Valparaiso, died at the scene of the accident Sunday afternoon. She was driving east on Maple Street when her car was struck from behind by another sedan. The impact knocked her car into oncoming traffic, where it was struck by a westbound pickup. The pickup driver was hospitalized.
Police say the sedan driver drove away, followed by a witness in his car. The witness called 911 and shared information that led officers to the sedan. They arrested the sedan driver, who was identified as 35-year-old Justin Ayers, of Omaha. He remained in custody on Monday. It’s unclear whether he has a lawyer who could be contacted to comment about the accident.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha police have released the name of a man who was fatally stabbed in a boardinghouse.
Officers who were sent to the boardinghouse a little after 9:15 p.m. Sunday found a man suffering from wounds made by a knife or other cutting instrument. He was taken to an Omaha hospital, where he died. A news release from Officer James Shade identified the dead man as 27-year-old Shane McKinley.
A suspect already has been booked into jail on suspicion of second-degree murder and use of a weapon. He was identified as 49-year-old Edward Pokorny III. It’s unclear whether Pokorny has an attorney who could be contacted to comment on his behalf.
HARLAN, Iowa (AP) — A hazardous materials incident at Farm Service Co-op in western Iowa has injured two workers, who were sent to an Omaha, Nebraska hospital for treatment.
The incident happened Friday in Harlan, Iowa.
Harlan Fire Lt. Jason Wickiver says the employees were working on a semi tanker believed to contain anhydrous ammonia Friday morning when they were injured. Details of how they were injured have not been released, but exposure to anhydrous ammonia — used by farmers as fertilizer — can burn the eyes, throat and damage lung tissue.
Ron Kinkel with Farm Service Co-op said the workers were taken to Shelby County Hospital and then flown by medical helicopter to the Nebraska Medical Center.
Their names and conditions have not been released.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — One of the five American aid workers being monitored in Nebraska for exposure to Ebola has been hospitalized after developing a heart problem while jogging.
The Nebraska Medical Center this individual was jogging near the Omaha hospital Saturday when the cardiac issue developed, and a health care worked delivered aid.
The individual was in stable condition at the hospital Sunday.
Dr. Phil Smith, who oversees the hospital’s biocontainment unit, said this individual tested negative for Ebola again Saturday.
Smith says this case doesn’t present any risk to the health of people treating the individual or the public.
The five were exposed to Ebola in Sierra Leone when one of their colleagues became ill with the deadly virus. They were all doing well and nearing the end of the monitoring period.
