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Legislature Approves Purchase of New Neb. Airplane

dave-heineman(AP) — State officials are one step closer to being able to fly around in a new airplane.

Lawmakers passed a bill Monday that would allow the Department of Aeronautics to buy a new aircraft.

A legislative consultant has recommended buying a new twin-engine King Air model that can carry five passengers and two pilots. It would cost as much as $3.8 million, though money from other aircraft sales would likely reduce that cost. The plane would replace the state’s current, 1982 Piper Cheyenne aircraft.

Last year, lawmakers rejected Gov. Dave Heineman’s budget request to spend $2.5 million on a 2001 Beechcraft King Air, saying they hadn’t yet studied the alternatives.

Online Giving Course Adds Actor Patrick Dempsey

learn-by-giving-foundation(AP) — An online course on effective giving plans to offer lessons from actor Patrick Dempsey along with advice from Warren Buffett and other prominent philanthropists.

Students in the class that’s now scheduled to start in early April will be able to help decide how to give away at least $100,000 of Buffett’s sister, Doris’, money.

Dempsey agreed to join the Buffetts, baseball legend Cal Ripken Jr. and other philanthropists in sharing lessons they learned from their own charitable efforts.

The class is backed by Doris Buffett’s Learning By Giving Foundation and Northeastern University. Anyone interested in the course over the age of 13 can sign up now at www.learningbygivingfoundation.org .

This will be the second time the course is offered. Last summer, students helped pick 40 nonprofits to share $130,000 in grants.

Nebraska Veteran Recalls Pain of Being Shot

Korean War (AP) — A Fremont man remembers well the pain and shock of being wounded more than 62 years ago during the Korean War.

Charles Shipman expects to join other veterans who will board one of three honor flights so they can visit memorials and see other sights in Washington, D.C.

Organizer Bill Williams says 460 veterans from 200 communities around the state and family members and volunteer guardians will fly out early Tuesday morning and return late Tuesday night. Around $500,000 was raised to charter three planes and cover other expenses for the travelers.

Shipman said it felt like he’d been kicked by a mule when the two bullets pierced his body

Southwest Airlines OKs Omaha to Los Angeles Route

Southwest-Airlines(AP) — Southwest Airlines will soon start daily, non-stop service from Omaha to Los Angeles.

The airline made the announcement Monday. The service begins on June 9.

The Boeing 737 aircraft will depart from Eppley Airfield at 2:50 p.m. daily and land in Los Angeles at 4:10 p.m. local time. There will be a different schedule on Saturdays. The plane can seat more than 140 passengers.

The airline originally announced plans for Saturday-only flights from Omaha to Los Angeles. They changed plans due to strong demand.

Mountain Lion Shot in Sheridan County

Mountain-LionA Sheridan County landowner on March 21 shot a young mountain lion that had approached his chicken coop. The lion did not flee when the landowner walked within 15 yards of it.

The mountain lion was a 30-pound female. No evidence of additional mountain lion activity was found at the time of the incident. The landowner immediately called the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, as required by law.

Landowners are allowed to protect their livestock from predators, including mountain lions.

Anyone with photographs or other evidence of mountain lions should contact Game and Parks.

Man Flees Safely from Lincoln House Fire

Lincoln Fire Dpt(AP) — A man has fled to safety from an early morning house fire in southwest Lincoln.

Fire officials say the fire was reported a little after 2:15 a.m. on Monday. Fire Capt. Jeremy Gegg says the fire destroyed one house and damaged another nearby. No injuries have been reported.

The cause of the fire is being investigated.

Neb. Lawmakers Approve Bills to Update Neb. Budget

ne-legislature-13(AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have approved changes to the state’s two-year budget, including new money for property tax relief.

The $7.8 billion package passed on Monday includes new funding for Nebraska’s property tax credit program, water projects, and state park renovations. It also allocates money for job-training programs and pediatric cancer research.

The bills now head to Gov. Dave Heineman, who can sign or veto them as a whole or use a line-item veto to strike specific spending items.

Heineman and some state senators have complained that the budget doesn’t go far enough to lower taxes. They also have criticized some projects, such as $2.5 million for fountains at the Capitol.

Supporters say the budget provides a responsible balance of state priorities.

Transparency Bill for Neb. County Boards Advances

Sen. Russ Karpicek
Sen. Russ Karpicek

(AP) — A bill designed to prevent Nebraska county supervisors from making decisions behind closed doors has won first-round approval in the Legislature.

Lawmakers on Monday voted 28-0 on a proposal that would define a quorum as a simple majority of board members. Current state law defines a quorum as a two-thirds majority.

Sen. Russ Karpisek of Wilber says the current law allows four supervisors on a seven-member board to discuss county business in private, without triggering Nebraska’s open meetings law. That majority could then approve measures as a formality during official meetings.

The bill was supported by the Nebraska Association of County Officials, Media of Nebraska Inc., and the Nebraska Press Association.

2 Killed in Neb. Rollover Accident

fatal-accident(AP) — Nebraska authorities are investigating a rollover crash that killed two people over the weekend.

47-year-old Tami Wagner and her passenger, 49-year-old Lisle “Raymond” McGinty were both killed in the crash on Sunday afternoon.

The Pawnee County Sheriff’s office is investigating the accident that was discovered by another driver on a rural road southeast of Lewiston.

Both the victims were from Burchard. Neither was wearing a seatbelt, and they were both thrown from Wagner’s 2007 Pontiac when it rolled over.

Grand Island Man Gets 7 1/2 Years for Child Porn

sex-offenders(AP) — A 57-year-old Grand Island man has been given 7½ years in federal prison for receiving and distributing child pornography.

James Haugh was convicted in December following a three-day trial in Lincoln’s federal court. He was sentenced last week.

Prosecutors say Haugh received and distributed videos of child pornography on different occasions from Jan. 3, 2009, to Dec. 28, 2012.

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