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Lancaster Co. Prosecutors Aid Race Equity Study

Joe Kelly
Joe Kelly

(AP) — Lancaster County prosecutors will be opening their files and allowing special access for a group that will check racial equity in the prosecutors’ decisions.

County Attorney Joe Kelly says the New York-based Vera Institute of Justice has been engaged. The group gathers and analyzes data to help ensure the justice system is fair to all and more effective.

Kelly says he doesn’t know of any problem areas and is entering the project without expectations. The study could take as long as a year to finish.

Federal Judge: Women Should Tone Down Dress

Judge Richard Kopf
Judge Richard Kopf

(AP) — A federal judge is catching some heat for referring to himself as “a dirty old man” and suggesting in his personal blog that young women attorneys need to dress more conservatively in court.

Senior U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf weighed in on the topic Tuesday, relaying a story about a local female attorney in her late 20s who “wears very short skirts and shows lots of her ample chest.” The woman, he said, is the source of scorn among local female law clerks.

Kopf then goes on to offer “rules” for appropriate court attire, including that, “You can’t win. Men are both pigs and prudes. Get over it.”

Comments on the judge’s blog range from support to those calling him sexist. Kopf apologized on the blog to those he offended.

Appeals Court Overturns 1 Conviction in Neb. Arson Case

ne-court-of-appeals(AP) — The Nebraska Appeals Court has reversed one conviction of a 62-year-old Neligh (NEE’-lee) woman found guilty in an arson case.

The court said in a decision released Tuesday that there wasn’t enough evidence to convict Daphne Hansen of aiding consummation of a felony. That reversal will eliminate the sentence of six to 12 months in prison she was given. But Hansen still faces 24 to 30 months in prison for arson and conspiracy. She was convicted in May 2013.

Investigators say Hansen claimed a financial interest in a Neligh home and that she conspired with two other people to have the house burned down. No one was injured in the June 2010 blaze.

Hansen denied any involvement in the fire.

Police: Bullets Hit No One in Beatrice Robbery

beatrice-police(AP) — Beatrice police suspect a drug dispute is involved in a home invasion.

Three shots were fired inside the house early Tuesday morning, but no one was injured.

Police Lt. Mike Oliver says two men broke into the house and tied up four people there. Officers believe the men were searching for drugs or money. No arrests have been reported.

Oliver says the four people who’d been tied up were not cooperating with investigators.

Delegation from Ukraine to Visit Nebraska Capitol

ne capitol(AP) — A delegation from Ukraine is set to visit the Nebraska Capitol for lessons in democracy.

Staff members from Ukraine’s parliament will meet with Nebraska state senators and other officials on Wednesday.

The visitors were selected by the Open World Program, run by the Library of Congress. The program was created to bring future leaders from former soviet republics to the United States to learn about democracy.

The program has hosted more than 17,000 young leaders from Eurasian countries since 1999, including mayors, lawmakers, judges, educators and entrepreneurs.

The Nebraska visit is hosted by the group Friendship Force of Lincoln.

Omaha Police Say Slain Suspect Had Gun in Car

omaha-police(AP) — Omaha authorities say a wanted man had made threats and had a loaded handgun in his car when he was fatally shot by officers.

In a news release issued Tuesday night, Omaha police gave more details about the death of 30-year-old Willie Michalak (muh-HAH’-lihk) on March 19.

Officers sent to arrest Michalak that evening spotted him in a car parked on a driveway. Police say officers ordered Michalak to keep his hands in view, but Michalak cursed, threatened to shoot officers and said they’d have to shoot him. Police say Michalak then took his right hand off the steering wheel and reached toward his waistband. Police say that’s when five of the officers fired several shots.

Police say a loaded handgun was found on the car floor in front of Michalak.

Willa Cather Center Planned for Nebraska Hometown

willa-cather(AP) — A new National Willa Cather Center is being planned for the author’s Nebraska hometown of Red Cloud.

The Willa Cather Foundation said Tuesday the center will include a public museum, archive and arts and cultural center.

Documentary filmmaker Ken Burns is honorary national chairman for the public fundraising effort. The foundation must raise $144,000 by June 30 to meet a $400,000 challenge grant offered by the Peter Kiewit Foundation of Omaha.

Cather is celebrated as the author of “O Pioneers” and other books influenced by her life in Nebraska and Virginia and her travels. She’d been born in 1873 in Frederick County, Va., and lived for nine years in Back Creek Valley before moving with her family to Nebraska. The family resettled to Red Cloud in 1885.

Neb. Dog Dials 911 on Owner’s Smartphone

sarpy-co.-sheriff(AP) — When Sarpy County emergency dispatchers picked up a recent call, all they heard were the sounds of breathing and scratching.

Dispatchers were worried — until they learned the noises were coming from a dog that dialed 911.

Sarpy County 911 Assistant Director Marilyn Gable said it’s the first time a dog has called the emergency center.

The dog’s owner, Melissa Acosta, says she thought her 2-pound Japanese Chin, Sophie, was trying to curl up next to her on the couch, then realized Sophie was scratching at Acosta’s smartphone with her paw.

Then Acosta heard a voice from the phone asking for an “address of the emergency.”

Acosta says the whole thing is “a little embarrassing.” Sophie, of course, had no comment.

NSP Looks for Suspects in Nuckolls County Baseball Bat Assault

state-patrol-logoInvestigators with the Nebraska State Patrol Troop C-Grand Island are asking the public for help in locating two suspects and a pickup truck believed to be connected with the assault of a Davenport man.

Just after 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 25, investigators with the Nebraska State Patrol responded to a request for assistance from the Nuckolls County Sheriff’s Office reference an assault which occurred in a home under construction north of Oak, in Nuckolls County.

The victim, identified as Steven Reinke, 62, of Davenport, told investigators he was working alone in the residence one mile north of Oak, when two males entered the home around 12:30 p.m., and assaulted him with a wooden baseball bat.  He walked to a neighboring residence after the attack, and let himself in when no one answered the door. He was discovered around 4:00 p.m., on the kitchen floor by the residents when they returned home.

Reinke, who suffered a skull fracture, a broken arm and a broken leg, was transported by ambulance to the Hebron hospital, before being flown by medical helicopter to BryanLGH-West in Lincoln.

Investigators are looking for two suspects, both identified as white males.  One suspect is said to be approximately 55-years of age, 5’8’’ tall, 165 lbs. with a sandy blonde or light gray beard and mustache, and short sandy blonde or light gray hair. He was wearing a green camouflage shirt, desert camouflage pants, boots and a brown military style hat. The second suspect is described as a white male, in his 40’s, approximately 5’8’’ tall, 190 lbs. with a stocky build. He was wearing a black ski mask, dark glasses, a red shirt under a black zip-up sweatshirt, black sweat pants and black or gray hiking boots.

The suspects were believed to have left the home in a southerly direction, driving an older boxy 1996 style green Dodge Dakota pickup, with a matching green topper and a possible red pinstripe on both the pickup and the topper.

Anyone with information that could aid in the investigation of this crime is asked to call the Nebraska State Patrol Troop C Headquarters in Grand Island at (308) 385-6000.

UNO Student Arrested for Having Guns in Dorm

uno(AP) — A 20-year-old University of Nebraska at Omaha student has been arrested after three rifles, magazines and bullets were found in his dorm room.

The resident adviser at Scott Village reported to campus police around 2 a.m. Saturday that Ned McNally had the weapons.

Police say McNally told officers the guns and ammunition were his. He faces a felony charge for unlawfully possessing firearms on school property. Online court records don’t list the name of his attorney.

The university said Monday that having firearms on campus also would violate several university policies.

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