OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A federal appeals court has reversed the lone conviction against a Lincoln woman accused of helping smuggle cigarettes from Vietnam.

In an opinion Tuesday, a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said federal prosecutors did not present sufficient evidence to show that Tang “Janny” Nguyen knowingly trafficked in contraband cigarettes.

Nguyen was one of five Lincoln people accused in the scheme. Prosecutors said the group had more than 10,000 cigarettes shipped to homes in Lincoln and Nebraska City, and then resold them without paying state and federal taxes.

In 2012, a jury found that Nguyen wasn’t actively involved in the operation, but had possessed contraband cigarettes.

Nguyen’s argued that Nguyen didn’t know it was illegal to get cigarettes from Vietnam and didn’t intend to defraud anyone.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Lancaster County Board of Commissioners is considering paying $75,000 to settle a lawsuit filed over the suicide of a 16-year-old in county custody.

The settlement is scheduled to be reviewed by commissioners at Tuesday’s meeting.

The lawsuit was filed by the father of Jonathan Kennedy. The boy hanged himself in the county’s Youth Services Center on Feb. 26, 2012, and died later at a Lincoln hospital.

The lawsuit argues that staffers should have realized the boy had mental problems and should have more effectively supervised him. He had been a state ward since April 2011 and had been sent to the center because of drug usage and self-harming behavior.

STROMSBURG, Neb. (AP) — A 20-year-old Stromsburg woman has died after her car collided with a farm machine at a rural intersection in eastern Nebraska’s Polk County.

The Polk County attorney’s office says the accident occurred about 4:30 p.m. Saturday about four miles west of Stromsburg on County Road 125. The office says Lindsay Larson was driving her car west when it was struck by a self-propelled corn tassel chopper that was northbound on County Road I.

County Attorney Ronald Collins says it appears the 17-year-old driver of the farm machine didn’t halt at a stop sign, so the machine collided with Larson’s car in the intersection.

The crash is being investigated.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Eastbound Interstate 80 traffic in Lincoln is scheduled to be diverted this week so a contractor can work on lanes near the bridges.

The Nebraska Roads Department says the lanes will be temporarily closed between Exit 405 and Exit 409. They will be closed Tuesday and Wednesday nights at 11 p.m. and be reopened at 6 a.m. the next day.

Daytime closures of one lane and other nighttime closures are also possible in the area.

The work is expected to be finished in three days.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha man has been accused of intentionally crashing his pickup truck into a utility pole in a collision that killed his girlfriend.

26-year-old Nicholas Marescalco appeared Monday in court bruised and in a wheelchair. He faces a manslaughter charge. Court records do not list an attorney.

Prosecutors say Marescalco was driving and arguing with his girlfriend, 25-year-old Sharlee Arnett, when he intentionally crashed the vehicle on July 6. Neither he nor Arnett were wearing seat belts.

Police have found no signs that Marescalco used the brakes on his car before the crash.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska man who’s already serving a life sentence for shooting his ex-wife to death has pleaded no contest to killing the attorney who represented him in his divorce.

Hall County officials say 58-year-old Michael Petersen of rural Glenvil pleaded no contest to first-degree murder on Monday as part of a deal with prosecutors.

In return for Petersen’s plea in the Nov. 13 shooting death of 52-year-old attorney Todd Elsbernd, prosecutors dropped a weapons charge and agreed not to seek the death penalty.

Petersen was sentenced in May for killing 58-year-old Nancy Petersen outside her home in rural Buffalo County.

Defense attorney Jeff Pickens has said Petersen was bitter about the financial terms of his 2005 divorce, and he had lost much of his remaining savings to two scams.

GLENWOOD, Iowa (AP) — A body found earlier this month in the Missouri River in southwest Iowa has been identified as that of a Council Bluffs man.

Authorities identified him as 49-year-old Robert Jensen. His body was found around 4:45 p.m. on July 1 in the river at Lincoln’s Landing campground, near the U.S. Highway 34 bridge that connects Mills County to Plattsmouth, Nebraska.

Relatives of Jensen contacted law enforcement after reading some reports about tattoos on the body.

Jensen’s death is still being investigated.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A fire investigator suspects arson in a fire that damaged a Lincoln apartment.

The four people in the apartment awoke Sunday to find walls and a refrigerator door scorched. No injuries have been reported.

Lincoln Police Capt. Danny Reitan estimated the damage at $500.

 

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Pictures of billionaire Warren Buffett and Paul McCartney enjoying ice cream together in Buffett’s hometown of Omaha are popping up online.

Buffett and McCartney grabbed ice cream Sunday night in Omaha’s Dundee neighborhood after dining out together.

Fans of the investor and the former Beatle snapped pictures of the two men as they enjoyed their treat on a bench outside the ice cream shop.

McCartney is scheduled to perform Monday night at Lincoln’s new downtown arena.

Buffett is chairman and CEO of the Berkshire Hathaway conglomerate.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — A portion of a downtown Grand Island building has collapsed during a fire.

Authorities say one firefighter suffered minor injuries fighting the blaze, which was reported about 8 p.m. Sunday and extinguished about four hours later. Some firefighters remained on the scene to combat hot spots. The building housed Ron’s Transmissions and other businesses.

Fire Chief Cory Schmidt says fire crews and trucks from the Grand Island Rural Fire Department and from Hastings and St. Paul helped his firefighters.

The fire cause is being investigated.