OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Fourteen students and a school bus driver escaped serious injury when a collision with a utility lift truck sent their bus through a fence and down a hill into an electrical substation area in northwest Omaha.

Police say the children, ages 5 to 8, and the bus driver were taken to hospitals as a precaution after the Wednesday afternoon crash.

The children attend Adams Elementary.

Witnesses say the bus driver managed to keep the bus upright and avoided colliding with high-voltage equipment.

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — Authorities are investigating what they say is the suspicious death of a man on the north side of Bellevue.

Omaha station KETV reports that officers found the body in a home around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday.

The man’s name and other details have not been released. No arrests have been reported.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska Natural Resources District is opening Omaha’s newest park and lake after spending nine years developing the $44 million project.

The Papio-Missouri River district will open Flanagan Lake on Wednesday. The area also includes 475 acres (192 hectares) of parkland, recreational trails and a flood-control reservoir.

The lake will reduce the floodplain and likely eliminate or reduce flood insurance rates for area homeowners.

The district broke ground on the project almost three years ago. It will turn the park and lake over to the City of Omaha to operate. The city named the recreation area after the Rev. Edward Flanagan, the founder of Boys Town.

The grand opening this week will include a ribbon-cutting ceremony and a contest with prizes.
tion from: Omaha World-Herald, https://www.omaha.com

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln officials are inviting residents to help test out an all-electric, driverless shuttle bus for a pilot program that could bring more autonomous vehicle services to the city.

The public will have a chance to reserve a 15-minute ride on the bus starting Thursday. The shuttle will be conducting trial runs at the Nebraska Innovation Campus in

Lincoln until mid-July. The city will collect feedback on riders’ experience.

Lincoln was loaned the self-driving shuttle with a $100,000 grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies. The city is participating in a challenge with the charity organization and could potentially acquire up to six shuttles for a 2019 pilot program.

Mayor Chris Beutler says the innovative technology can positively impact transportation by reducing costs, lessening traffic congestion and improving air quality.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — A 24-year-old man has been convicted of murder in Grand Island.

A jury deliberated less than five hours Monday before finding Ahmed Said guilty of second-degree murder. Court records say he fatally beat 41-year-old Abdulma Khamis on April 12 last year at Pioneer Park.

A portion of the crime was captured on security video from a nearby car dealership.

Said is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 28.

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say two people have been killed in a Sarpy County collision.

The collision occurred just before 4 p.m. Monday on Nebraska Highway 50, a few miles west of Papillion (puh-PIHL’-yuhn). The Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office says a northbound minivan crossed a median and ran into a southbound pickup truck. Two other vehicles sustained only minor damage after their drivers took evasive action.

The minivan driver and his female adult passenger were pronounced dead at the scene. A 5-year-old girl with them was taken to Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

The pickup driver was taken to another Omaha hospital. The Sheriff’s Office says the people in the two other vehicles weren’t injured.

The names of those involved haven’t been released.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A jury has convicted a former Lincoln High School girls basketball coach of child abuse but acquitted him of sexually assaulting a student in a classroom.

Lancaster County District Court records say the verdicts were rendered Friday for 34-year-old Marcus Perry. His sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 2.

Police say a 17-year-old student told school officials and officers that Perry touched her genitals in an in-school suspension room on Dec. 7. She testified that she didn’t consent to the contact but also testified that she didn’t get up and leave or tell him to stop.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have begun a homicide investigation in northeast Omaha.

Police say in a news release that officers sent around 8:10 a.m. Monday on a call described only as “nature unknown” found a body inside a residence.

Homicide investigators have been called in.

Later Monday, the victim was identified as 37-year-old Wesley Brayman.

No other details about the case have been released, and no arrests have been reported.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A macaw that flew away from Omaha’s zoo after apparently being spooked by the Goodyear blimp has been found in a nearby neighborhood.

The macaw, named Cayenne, was out during the zoo’s Birds of Flight show Sunday morning when it was startled by the blimp drifting past. The bird flew out of an amphitheater and past the zoo’s boundaries.

Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium staff sought the public’s help, and on Monday morning a nearby resident tipped them off about the bird’s whereabouts.

Staffers spotted the bird, and after flying to another tree it came down when called.

The red, green and blue bird, which is a member of the parrot family, was returned to the zoo and quickly joined her sister in eating treats.

One person was killed in a crash between a motorcycle and a deer on Highway 6 near Ashland on Sunday afternoon.

The crash occurred at approximately 2:30 p.m. when a deer ran out of the north ditch in front of a westbound 2013 Harley Davidson motorcycle. The rider, Aaron Roth, 31, of Omaha, attempted to avoid the deer, but there was a collision. The motorcycle then lost control, caught fire, and hit a guardrail.

Roth was pronounced deceased at the scene.