OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police have arrested a teenager on a warrant charging him as an adult with two counts of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of two men over the weekend.

Court records show that 16-year-old Charles Trotter was also charged with two weapons counts in the warrant issued Monday. Police say Trotter was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of murder in the Saturday night deaths of 25-year-old Dexter Joseph and 26-year-old Marcel Lovejoy.

Both men were found dead in a north-central Omaha apartment; both had been shot.

The deaths marked Omaha’s second and third homicides of 2015.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say one person has been sent to a hospital after a garage fire in north Lincoln.

The blaze broke out a little before 7 p.m. Monday. People inside the garage were able to escape, but one of them was hospitalized for treatment of smoke inhalation.

The fire cause is being investigated.

 

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The superintendent of Omaha Public Schools has apologized to a parent, saying he didn’t intend to restrict the parent’s speech regarding complaints about a principal.

Superintendent Mark Evans briefly addressed the matter at the school board’s Monday meeting.

Parent Alex Gates had asked board members on Oct. 6 to create a process that lets people formally request an investigation and removal of an ineffective principal. He said parents have sought for years to replace a school principal.

Gates says Evans approached him the next day after the school board meeting, threatening him with legal action for defamation or slander. The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska sent a letter to Evans reminding him of the parent’s free-speech rights.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska State Patrol says a 69-year-old man from Iowa was killed after his vehicle hit a semitrailer in Dixon County.

Charles Earnest Woods of Spencer, Iowa, was driving a pickup on Monday afternoon in the northeastern Nebraska county.

Authorities say Woods died after he passed a snowplow and struck the tractor-trailer near the intersection of U.S. 20 and Nebraska 116. Paramedics pronounced Woods dead at the scene.

State patrol investigators say the driver of the semitrailer was uninjured.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new school-based program has been opened at Northeast High School to give students a safe place to go after classes instead of heading to an empty home.

It’s named Rocket House and it’s another offshoot of the Lighthouse after-school program that opened in 1990 as a haven for middle and high school students. Lighthouse and Southeast High School officials teamed up three years ago to create Knight House, which last year served nearly 1,200 students.

The Sowers Club of Nebraska Foundation provided $16,700 for Rocket House expenses this year and will do the same next year. Then the school will cover the costs.

COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — The Columbus City Council has agreed to let staffers develop a long-term, big-picture plan for improving the council chambers.

Council members discussed ideas for about 30 minutes on Monday night before agreeing to seek a construction and financing plan that would be put to a council vote.

Councilman Jim Bulkley says the renovation plan must look at the big picture, but he wants the city to take smaller steps in targeting areas where improvements are most urgent. Councilman Terry Reardon says improvements to the council chambers should be prioritized.

The ideas discussed included changing the council seating arrangement; purchasing new, portable cabinets; upgrading a nearby bathroom to make it accessible to people with disabilities.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska doctors treating an American health care worker who was exposed to the deadly Ebola virus in Sierra Leone won’t discuss the case because of privacy concerns.

Nebraska Medical Center spokesman Taylor Wilson said Monday that the patient wants the details of his or her care to remain private.

If the patient does test positive for Ebola, public health officials would report that. But the patient was not ill or contagious when he or she arrived at the Omaha hospital on Sunday.

The patient will be observed throughout the virus’ 21-day incubation period. Doctors and nurses are taking precautions as if the patient had Ebola

The Nebraska Medical Center treated three people with Ebola last fall. Two of those patients recovered, and one patient died.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A former acting director of cyber security at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for engaging in a child pornography enterprise.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Nebraska says 56-year-old Timothy DeFoggi, of Maryland, was sentenced Monday on charges of engaging in a child exploitation enterprise and related charges. He was convicted in August.

Prosecutors say DeFoggi used an anonymous computer network in 2012 to access child pornography and exchange private messages about illegal activity involving children. The network’s users used advanced technology to try to avoid identification.

DeFoggi is the sixth person to be convicted as part of an investigation into three child pornography websites — including one based and administered from Nebraska.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a Lincoln driver was drunk when he hit several cars and crashed into a fire hydrant.

Lincoln police say 37-year-old Wesley O. Heiser was arrested Sunday afternoon following a series of hit-and-run crashes. None of the drivers in the other cars were seriously injured. Heiser’s car became inoperable after he ran over a fire hydrant.

Heiser was taken to the Lancaster County jail. He faces several charges, including driving under the influence, leaving the scene of an injury accident and reckless driving. Court records do not list an attorney.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Jury selection has begun for the sister of a man convicted of killing four Omaha residents in 2013 within weeks of his leaving prison.

Erica Jenkins is accused of first-degree murder and other crimes in the Aug. 19, 2013, slaying of Curtis Bradford. A court official says jury selection began Monday. Her second murder trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 26 in the robbery and slaying of Andrea Kruger on Aug. 21, 2013.

Jenkins’ brother, Nikko Jenkins, has pleaded guilty to killing Kruger, Bradford and two more men. A judge has ruled Nikko Jenkins not competent to participate in the sentencing phase of his case. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.

Serving time at the York prison for robbery, Erica Jenkins has waived her right to attend her murder trials.