(AP) — Lincoln police have identified a man whose body was found in a city park as a 27-year-old Lincoln resident.
Police identified the man as Jarvis James Long.
His body was found Thursday morning in Peter Pan Park, a neighborhood park that typically filled with children.
Officer Katie Flood says the body had obvious wounds, but police declined to release additional details.
The death is Lincoln’s first homicide of 2014 and the first killing in the city since Dec. 1.
(AP) — It took firefighters several hours to extinguish a stubborn field fire kept alive by gusty winds that at one point threatened the community of Bradshaw.
Firefighters were called to the fire about 11:15 a.m. Thursday in a field filled with corn stubble.
Crews fought the fire for about three hours as wind gusts topping 50 mph pushed flames toward U.S. Highway 34. Because of smoke, officials directed traffic along part of the highway.
Bradshaw Fire Chief Todd Hellerich says firefighters would douse the flames, but the wind would ignite embers. He feared those gusts would carry embers into Bradshaw and threaten buildings, but crews managed to finally extinguish the fire.
Bradshaw is a city of about 275 people. It’s 14 miles west of York.
(AP) — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has compared past “Summer of Mercy” anti-abortion protests in Wichita to the state’s abolitionist movement that helped end slavery.
Brownback made the comparison Wednesday evening in his annual State of the State address. The speech was broadcast statewide on public television and radio.
The Republican governor is a strong opponent of abortions. He said the “Summer of Mercy” protests in 1991 and 2001 arose when Kansans could no longer tolerate what he called the death of innocent children.
The protests were held outside the Wichita clinic of Dr. George Tiller, who was killed in 2009 by a man professing strong anti-abortion views.
Planned Parenthood of Kansas and Mid-Missouri CEO Peter Brownlie called Brownback’s remarks insensitive and said many Kansans saw the protests as an embarrassment.
(AP) — The third suspect in an Omaha homicide has been arrested.
Police said Thursday that 27-year-old Amber Perez had been booked into Douglas County Jail. She’s charged with first-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony.
Perez and two other people are suspected in the Oct. 8 slaying of 31-year-old Rodney Hunt.
Perez remains in custody. Online court records don’t list the name of her attorney.
(AP) — A 29-year-old Lincoln man has been given 20 to 42 years in prison for robbery and trying to persuade his girlfriend not to testify against him.
Online court records say Dustin Langenberg was sentenced Wednesday in Lancaster County District Court. He’d been convicted on one robbery count and two of witness tampering.
Authorities say Langenberg and two other men attacked a 33-year-old Lincoln man at his home on Nov. 4, 2011. Authorities also say Langenberg tried to persuade his girlfriend not to testify against him regarding what he’d said before and after the robbery.
(AP) — A Nebraska inmate who robbed a Beatrice bank while out on work release has been given more time in prison.
32-year-old Lucius Turner was sentenced on Thursday in Gage County District Court. Judge Daniel Bryan Jr. gave Turner 30 to 40 years, which will be served after his other prison sentence has been completed. Turner pleaded guilty in November as part of a deal with prosecutors. The deal includes his assignment to the state prison in Tecumseh.
Prosecutors say Turner robbed a Pinnacle Bank branch on Aug. 16 while on work release granted by the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. Investigators say he and another man slipped a teller a note demanding money. The other man has yet to be charged.
(AP) — Federal officials have designated portions of 11 western and central states as primary natural disaster areas because of a drought.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s announcement Wednesday includes counties in Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Kansas, Texas, Utah, Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, Oklahoma and California.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said in a statement that he sympathizes with farmers and ranchers who are dealing with the lack of rain and snow, and assured them that the USDA will stand by them.
The designation means eligible farmers can qualify for low-interest emergency loans from the Agriculture Department.
Counties adjacent to those that are affected also are eligible for assistance.
The United States Drought Monitor reports that while storms have dumped rain and snow in the East, droughts are persisting or intensifying in the West.
(AP) — State officials could travel Nebraska in a new airplane if an upcoming proposal in the Legislature becomes law.
Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha told the Legislature’s Executive Board on Thursday that he will introduce a bill to buy a new state plane, which would cost as much as $3.8 million.
Lawmakers rejected Gov. Dave Heineman’s budget request for a plane last year so they could study their options. The Department of Aeronautics had asked to purchase the 2001 Beechcraft Super King Airplane from the University of Nebraska Foundation for $2.2 million. State officials had previously leased the plane, which has since been sold.
The bill would also require the state to sell its 1982 Cheyenne plane.
A legislative study concluded that a new aircraft would be safer and last longer.
(AP) — The University of Nebraska-Lincoln will pay a Lincoln man $20,000 to settle a federal lawsuit accusing the university of illegally closing down handicapped parking stalls on campus during Nebraska home football games.
Richard Norton Jr. sued UNL in 2012 after he says he was not allowed to park in a handicapped stall outside of the University of Nebraska State Museum during a home football game in 2010. Norton says he was told the handicapped spots were being held for university donors.
Norton, who suffers from a physical disability, says he was forced to park several blocks away, and the walk hurt him to the point of having to seek medical treatment.
Norton’s attorney, Kathleen Neary, says the settlement was reached in December, and a judge dismissed the lawsuit Thursday.
(AP) — Economic growth will likely slow in rural parts of 10 Midwest and Western states in the months ahead.
A monthly survey of rural bankers released Thursday shows the region’s overall economic index falling to 50.8 in January from December’s 56.1.
The index ranges from 0 to 100, and any score above 50 suggests growth in that factor in the months ahead.
Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says declining farm prices are hurting the economy.
And most bankers say they expect the economy to be hurt by the Environmental Protection Agency’s decision to reduce the amount of ethanol that must be blended into gasoline.
The report covers rural parts of Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.
