LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill to widen the use of private meetings for governing bodies pits leaders of Nebraska’s media outlets against the state’s public school boards.

A legislative committee heard testimony Wednesday on a measure by Sen. Roy Baker of Lincoln that would allow school boards to hold private sessions when narrowing down job applicants. Current law only allows for closed sessions if they are necessary to prevent “needless injury” to reputation.

School officials say good candidates deserve confidentiality during the selection process and school boards need privacy to engage in honest discussions.

Members of the media say in many areas the school superintendent is the highest paid position, and taxpayers deserve to know who is being considered for the role.

The committee took no action on the bill.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Four University of Nebraska-Lincoln fraternity members accused in the alcohol death of another member have appeared in court.

The four students charged with felony counts of procuring alcohol for a minor resulting in death appeared for a preliminary hearing Wednesday. Those charged are 22-year-old Vance Heyer, 22-year-old Cory Foland, 19-year-old Thomas Trueblood and 22-year-old Ross Reynolds.

Eighteen-year-old Clayton Real was found dead at the FarmHouse Fraternity house on Sept. 5. Documents show he died of acute alcohol intoxication, and his blood alcohol content was .365. Investigators say the four members purchased alcohol, brought it to a party and served it to underage attendees, including Real.

A judge is expected to rule March 31 on whether the charges will move to district court.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have detained a second suspect in connection to an Omaha slaying in January.

Police said in a news release Wednesday that 19-year-old Ary Soto was jailed on suspicion of first-degree murder and use of a weapon to commit a felony in the Jan. 22 shooting death of 20-year-old Roberto Gonzalez in southeast Omaha. Police say 20-year-old Angell Ortega is accused of helping to kill Gonzalez and was arrested Jan. 23.

Two days after the shooting, police issued a warrant for Soto’s arrest. Police say Soto was located in San Antonio, Texas on Jan. 31 and was then extradited to Omaha.

Online court records do not list an attorney for Soto.

 

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say careless smoking caused a boarding house fire that killed two people in southeast Omaha.

The Omaha Fire Department said Tuesday that improperly discarded smoking materials started the fire in some clothes on Dec. 23.

The department says a witness reported that he and another person had been smoking in the basement room where the fire started. The unnamed witness escaped. But 27-year-old Eddie Valentine and 37-year-old Demetria Sanchez died later of smoke inhalation.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 12-year-old boy who has recently moved to Nebraska may end up on the state’s public Sex Offender Registry even though juveniles aren’t normally listed.

Nebraska’s registry does not require juveniles to register. But state’s Sex Offender Registry Act applies to any person who enters the state after Jan. 1, 1997 and was required to register under the laws of their previous residence.

The boy recently moved from Minnesota, where juvenile offenders are required to register. That list is only available to law enforcement. When the boy moved to Nebraska, his probation officer and the Nebraska State Patrol determined that he would have to register as an offender.

The boy’s family is fighting the move. And a federal judge has agreed to block the Nebraska State Patrol from adding the boy to the list while the civil case is pending.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police say a man applying for a job in Omaha threatened to kill an interviewer when he was told he needed to shower in order to continue with the process.

According to an Omaha Police Department report, the potential employee arrived at an employment agency for an interview “with a foul smell about him.” Following the interview, the interviewer told the applicant that he must shower before returning for orientation.

The interviewer says the man smelled worse when he arrived for orientation and was told he couldn’t proceed until he cleaned up. The report says the applicant left but returned soon after threatening to shoot the interviewer.

Authorities advised the agency on how to obtain an arrest warrant following the incident last month.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Emergency personnel and a bomb disposal expert have determined that a suspicious “banana” hanging in a pine tree in Nebraska is simply a harmless geocache.

A utility worker spotted the device wrapped in yellow tape and attached to a wire on Tuesday in northeast Lincoln.

The worker called 911.

Police, firefighters and a bomb technician determined the “banana” wasn’t a bomb, but a prize hunted by people on geocaching quests.

Geocachers across the world use GPS devices to track and find the hidden objects.

Lincoln fire investigator Chuck Schweitzer says city bomb technicians have been out on similar calls through the years as geocaching has grown in popularity.

RALSTON, Neb. (AP) — A meat processor in Ralston is accused of stealing from a program that provides deer meat to hungry families.

65-year-old Thomas Salistean is charged with theft and unlawful sale of game animals. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission says in a court affidavit that Salistean fraudulently recorded donations to the Hunters Helping the Hungry program and illegally sold deer meat.

The affidavit says 26 of the 69 deer carcass donations Salistean reported during the 2013-2014 hunting season were either fraudulent or violated his contract with the state program or Nebraska statutes.

The program pays contracted meat processors $85 to process each deer carcass donated for the poor.

Salistean’s attorney in another case didn’t immediately return a call Wednesday from The Associated Press.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A prisons administrator who shared blame for hundreds of miscalculated inmate sentences has resigned from Nebraska’s corrections department.

A prisons spokesman says Kyle Poppert stepped down Monday.

Poppert served as records administrator in the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. He was initially suspended without pay for two weeks for his role in the sentencing miscalculations, which led to the early release of hundreds of inmates.

A report by the U.S. Department of Justice concluded that Poppert’s division was plagued by poor communication. Department employees told investigators they weren’t properly trained for their jobs, and couldn’t rely on Poppert to answer their questions.

Two department attorneys, George Green and Sharon Lindgren, retired from the department under the threat of being fired. Attorney Kathy Blum was suspended for one day.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have arrested one man in connection to a triple homicide that occurred at a house party in Omaha last month.

Police say 21-year-old Trenelle Miller was arrested Tuesday on charges of possession of a gun by a prohibited person.

According to a news release, an arrest warrant had been issued for Miller following the fatal Jan. 24 shooting. Nineteen-year-old Jakela Foster, 24-year-old Latecia Fox and 26-year-old Cameron R. Harris were killed.

Miller was one of five other people wounded by gunfire at the party. He was taken to Nebraska Medical Center for treatment and was later released.

Officials say investigation is ongoing.