OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 34-year-old man has been killed in a traffic accident in west Omaha.
Omaha police say the accident occurred a little before 1:30 a.m. Friday in the eastbound lanes of West Dodge Road near 183rd Street. Witnesses told officers the car was speeding when it ran off the roadway and struck a metal sign. The driver was partially ejected and was pulled from the burning vehicle by witnesses.
The driver was alone in his car. He was identified as Stephen Pache, of Omaha.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Trial is set to begin Friday in Lincoln on a lawsuit by the author of a book about an executed Nebraska child killer to try to force the state prison system to release the condemned man’s disturbing drawings.
Mark Pettit, a former investigative reporter, says the drawings of John Joubert depict Joubert’s fantasies to kill more children. Joubert was executed in the state’s electric chair in 1996 for killing two young boys in the Bellevue area in the 1980s.
Pettit is the author of “A Need to Kill: The True-Crime Account of John Joubert, Nebraska’s Most Notorious Serial Child Killer.”
Pettit’s lawsuit seeks to force the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services to release the drawings, which has refused to do so citing confidentiality laws.
GOLDEN, Colo. (AP) — Authorities say three people are wounded following a shooting outside a Denver-area concert.
The Jefferson County Sheriff’s office says the Red Rocks Amphitheater was shut down late Thursday night after the violence erupted in the parking lot as the concert ended.
The office says a suspect or suspects are being sought and all cars are being searched as concertgoers leave the facility.
The three wounded traveled by car into nearby Denver where they were located by police and taken to a hospital. There office says it doesn’t know their conditions.
No arrests have been made.
The Denver Post says the concert featured Nas, Schoolboy Q and Flying Lotus.
Almost two hours after the conclusion of the event, there were still many people on the scene.
Well-trained American Red Cross client caseworkers are meeting with residents who have been affected by the tornadoes that touched down earlier this week to create individual recovery plans.
The Red Cross is also participating in the Multi-Agency Resource Center (MARC) that has been established at Wisner-Pilger High School. The MARC provides an easy, one-stop shop atmosphere where affected families are able to visit with multiple agencies to receive a combination of services.
“Affected families are welcome to come in to see Red Cross trained volunteers at the following 3 locations: Wisner-Pilger High School, Red Cross office in Wayne and Red Cross office in Norfolk,” said Jill Orton, Region Disaster Officer. “Red Cross workers continue to evaluate damage, giving out snacks and hydration while meeting with homeowners to their specific recovery needs needs in the areas of Wakefield and Coleridge.”
Five emergency response vehicles are in these hard hit communities and have delivered nearly 10,000 meals, snacks and waters. Since the tornadoes passed, more than 100 well-trained Red Cross disaster workers have been hard at work distributing hydration, snacks, work gloves, trash bags, rakes, giving comfort and hope to all.
The emergency shelter in Pilger will remain open and will serve as a place for residents and workers to gather a safe place to stay, a meal, minor first aid, and a shoulder to lean on should they need it.
A suspect involved in a domestic disturbance is dead after shooting at a Nebraska State Patrol Trooper.
Just before 1:30 a.m., Friday, on June 20, a trooper with the Nebraska State Patrol responded to assist with reports of a domestic disturbance involving a man with a gun in the 4200 block of East 3rd Street in Columbus. While responding to the scene, the trooper encountered a vehicle matching the description of the suspect’s vehicle, near Southeast 36th Street in Columbus. The trooper initiated a traffic stop on the vehicle, a black 2012 Dodge Ram pickup. As the trooper approached the passenger side of the vehicle the lone male driver fired shots at the trooper. The trooper returned fire, and the pickup sped away.
The trooper, who was not hit by the gunfire, returned to his vehicle and a pursuit ensued. The pursuit lasted approximately 10 minutes and ended when the trooper lost sight of the suspect vehicle as it headed northbound on a county road.
The Nebraska State Patrol helicopter, additional troopers and local law enforcement responded to the area. Just before 3:00 a.m., the suspect’s pickup was spotted by a trooper on Highway 30 on the east edge of Columbus. The trooper attempted to stop the vehicle which took off eastbound. The NSP helicopter followed the pickup from the air, directing troopers and law enforcement on the ground as the vehicle traveled county roads north and east into Colfax County. The pickup ran over two sets of spike strips before coming to a stop on Old Highway 30 on the west side of Schuyler.
The pickup stopped briefly, before taking off again, traveling only a short distance before ramming head-on into a Platte County Sheriff’s Office patrol unit parked along Old Highway 30. Additional officers responding to the scene were stopped behind the pickup near the intersection of County Road 10, when the driver put the pickup in reverse, crashing into two other law enforcement vehicles.
At that time, officers opened fire on the suspect vehicle. The suspect, whose name has not been released, was pronounced dead at the scene.
No law enforcement officers were struck by gunfire. A Schuyler Police Officer hit by flying glass was treated and released from a local hospital.
“This was a very dangerous situation,” said Colonel David Sankey, Superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol. “We had an individual who was intent on causing harm and through the efforts of these dedicated law enforcement officers we were able to prevent him from taking any innocent lives.”
The Nebraska State Patrol was assisted by Police Departments from Columbus and Schuyler and Sheriff’s Offices from Platte, Colfax and Butler Counties.
The investigation into the incident continues. An autopsy will be conducted. Investigative reports, once completed will be forwarded to the Colfax County Attorney. Nebraska Law requires a grand jury be convened anytime someone dies while in custody or in the process of apprehension.
Additional questions reference the investigation, should be directed to the Colfax County Attorney.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Omaha Public Power District board has decided to phase out coal to generate electrical power at its Omaha plant.
The board said in a news release Thursday that the changes will let the utility comply with government regulations to reduce future greenhouse gas emissions.
The board has approved a plan to retire three units at its north Omaha plant by 2016. The two remaining generating units would remain on coal but be retrofitted with more emission controls. They eventually would be altered to run on natural gas by 2023.
OPPD serves nearly 789,000 people in eastern and southeast Nebraska and covers all or part of 13 Nebraska counties.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska at Omaha says no students, faculty or staff were affected when an outside entity tried to gain unauthorized access into a campus server.
The school said in a news release Thursday that no data was accessed in the incident, which was discovered in early May during a routine security scan.
School officials say they took the unauthorized access attempts seriously because the server had personal information.
The school’s Information Security Office and national forensics experts have completed an investigation into the incident.
BLAIR, Neb. (AP) — Federal regulators have appointed a new senior inspector at the Nebraska nuclear power plant that recently reopened after nearly three years offline.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Wednesday that Max Schneider will be the new senior resident inspector at Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant.
Fort Calhoun resumed generating power in December after a prolonged outage to address regulators’ safety concerns and make sure flood damage was repaired. Fort Calhoun is owned by the Omaha Public Power District.
The NRC keeps at least two inspectors at every nuclear power plant. Schneider will join resident inspector Jacob Wingebach at Fort Calhoun.
The NRC says its inspectors at Fort Calhoun can be reached at: (402) 426-9611.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 31-year-old Ohio man has been sentenced to a Nebraska prison for vehicular homicide while driving drunk.
Evan Shiplett, of Zanesville, Ohio, on Wednesday was given six to 10 years in prison. He’d pleaded no contest and was convicted in March.
Police say Shiplett was driving fast when his vehicle went out of control and rolled as it left Interstate 480 in eastern Omaha on Sept. 6 last year. One of his passengers, 19-year-old Matthew Doty, of Council Bluffs, Iowa, was killed. Another passenger, 18-year-old Jacob Levene, of Neola, Iowa, left the scene but was taken to a hospital later.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha police say speed was a factor in a fatal crash involving a motorcycle and a vehicle.
Authorities say a motorcycle was traveling at a high speed Wednesday afternoon when it failed to follow the curve of the roadway. The motorcycle went out of its lane and struck the front of a vehicle in the opposite lane.
The driver of the motorcycle, 38-year-old Wesley B. Wiebe, died early Thursday due to complications from his injuries. The driver of the car, 69-year-old Lois M. Wells, was not injured.
