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Defense Hints Towards Insanity Plea in Omaha Killings

Nikko Jenkins
Nikko Jenkins

(AP) — The attorney for an Omaha man charged with the shooting deaths of four people is strongly hinting at an insanity defense.

Douglas County Public Defender Thomas Riley interrogated police investigators Tuesday during the preliminary hearing for Nikko Jenkins, asking whether they were aware Jenkins might have mental health problems. The investigators doggedly rebuffed the questions, but a Douglas County Sheriff’s Office investigator said he had seen at least one reference to Jenkins’ claims to have heard voices.

Riley also grilled investigators about their interview of Jenkins, in which they say he confessed to the killings. In particular, Riley questioned whether investigators were aware that Jenkins had invoked his right to an attorney days before the interview and whether investigators lied to him about the evidence they had.

Bubbles, Scooter in Running for Toy Hall of Fame

toy-hall-of-fame(AP) — The National Toy Hall of Fame is getting ready to induct its class of 2013.

On Tuesday, the hall revealed its 12 finalists, two of which will be enshrined at the Rochester, MN museum Nov. 7.

The finalists are: Bubbles, chess, the board game Clue, Fisher-Price Little People, little green Army men, the Magic 8 Ball, My Little Pony, Nerf toys, the Pac-Man video game, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the scooter and the rubber duck.

A national selection committee will vote on which two will take their place alongside last year’s winners: dominoes and “Star Wars” action figures.

Anyone can nominate a toy for induction. A museum committee compiles the list of finalists based on a toy’s longevity, innovation and other attributes.

Q: What’s your favorite toy of all time?  (Share your memories in the “comment” section)

Judge Orders Trial in Four Omaha Slayings

Nikko Jenkins
Nikko Jenkins

(AP) — An Omaha man has been ordered to stand trial in four Omaha slayings committed just weeks after he was released from prison.

The judge found sufficient evidence for trial but didn’t set the start date for 26-year-old Nikko Jenkins at Tuesday’s preliminary hearing.

Jenkins is charged with four counts of first-degree murder.

They include the Aug. 21 death of 33-year-old Andrea Kruger, a mother of three who was heading home from work when she was fatally shot at an intersection on the west side of Omaha.

Two days earlier, the body of 22-year-old Curtis Bradford was found outside a garage in north Omaha. On Aug. 11 the bodies of 29-year-old Jorge Cajiga-Ruiz and 26-year-old Juan Uribe-Pena were found inside a pickup near a city pool in southeast Omaha.

Nebraska Can’t Enforce Order in Law Firm’s Patent Case

Judge Joseph  Bataillon
Judge Joseph Batallion

(AP) — A federal judge has barred the Nebraska attorney general from enforcing a cease-and-desist order issued against a Texas law firm.

Judge Joseph Batallion (buh’-TAL’-yuhn) ruled Monday that the order violated the constitutional rights of Activision TV, which had hired the law firm of Farney Daniels. Farney Daniels, of Georgetown, Texas, has been representing Activision in patent cases against businesses in Nebraska and other states.

Attorney General Jon Bruning said in July that the law firm appears to represent companies that bought up patents just so they could threaten lawsuits and collect settlements.

Bruning said Tuesday that the judge’s order addressed a relationship between Farney Daniels and its client. He says nothing in the order stops his office’s “investigations into patent trolls and law firms that represent them, specifically Farney Daniels.”

Girl Hit on Head by Bell Flown to Omaha Hospital

dewitt-ne(AP) — A kindergarten-age girl has been flown to an Omaha hospital after being hit on the head by a bell.

The accident occurred Sunday afternoon during a youth football game at Tri County Public Schools’ football field about four miles south of DeWitt in southeast Nebraska. The game was not a school event.

The bell is usually rung after a touchdown is scored at high school games.

Tri County Superintendent Randy Schlueter says he didn’t know how much the bell weighs or how the accident occurred.

Schlueter says the district buildings and grounds superintendent has already examined the field to see how the district could ensure the area and equipment would be safe for future use.

The girl’s name hasn’t been released.

Omaha Woman Accused of Robbing Fremont Bank

fremont-police(AP) — A 19-year-old Omaha woman has been arrested, accused of robbing a Fremont bank.

Fremont National Bank was robbed around 10 a.m. Saturday by a woman who escaped with an undisclosed amount of cash. No injuries have been reported.

Fremont officers and FBI agents investigated the robbery. The woman who was arrested on Monday was identified as Kimberly Babbitt. Police say Babbitt used to live in Fremont.

Online court records don’t list the name of her attorney.

Nebraska Man Pleads Guilty to Misbranding Meat

dept.-of-justice(AP) — A 62-year-old northeast Nebraska man has made a deal with prosecutors and pleaded guilty to allegations that he sold uninspected meat to Omaha schools.

Paul Rosberg, of Randolph, pleaded guilty on Friday. The deal ensures he won’t be sentenced to more than 18 months in prison.

In return for the plea, federal prosecutors agreed to drop a charge that Rosberg tried to have two witnesses killed and obstructed justice. Prosecutors also agreed to reduce the charge against Rosberg’s wife, Kelly Rosberg, to a misdemeanor.

Paul Rosberg agreed to dismiss lawsuits he’s filed against three witnesses.

Court records say the Rosbergs’ company, Nebraska’s Finest Meats, sold 2,600 pounds of ground beef labeled USDA inspected to Omaha schools in fall 2011. It hadn’t been inspected.

Congress Plunges Nation Into Governmental Shutdown

government shutdown memo
(Click to Enlarge)

(AP) — A bitterly divided Congress has plunged the nation into a partial government shutdown as a deadlock over President Barack Obama’s health care law stalled a temporary funding bill, forcing about 800,000 federal workers off the job and suspending all but non-essential government activities.

The shutdown, the first since the winter of 1995-96, closed national parks, museums along the Washington Mall and the U.S. Capitol visitors center. Agencies like NASA and the Environmental Protection Agency will be all but shuttered. People classified as essential government employees — such as air traffic controllers, Border Patrol agents and most food inspectors — will continue to work.

The military will be paid under legislation freshly signed by Obama but paychecks for other federal workers will be withheld until the impasse is broken.

5 Hikers Killed by Colorado Rock Slide

ambulance(AP) — Five hikers were killed by a rock slide on a trail in south-central Colorado on Monday, and another was pulled out with injuries and flown to a hospital, authorities said.

The Chaffee (CHAY’-fee) County Sheriff’s Department confirmed the deaths and said recovery would wait until Tuesday to make sure the area is safe.

The slide occurred at about 11 a.m. on the trail to Agnes Vaille (VAYL) falls in the Pike and San Isabel National Forest, an easy day hike about a 2 1/2 hour drive southwest of Denver.

A 13-year-old girl who survived the slide was flown to a hospital in Denver for treatment. There was no immediate identification of the victims.

Naked Man Flashes Wedding Guests in Lincoln

lincoln-police(AP) — A man who stripped naked within view of wedding guests at a Lincoln church has been cited.

Lincoln police spokeswoman Katie Flood says the incident occurred Saturday outside St. Mary’s Catholic Church across from the state Capitol.

Witnesses told officers a man who wasn’t invited to the wedding pulled up in a pickup and stopped outside the church. He got out with a head of lettuce and said he was going to feed the animals.

Flood says the man got back in the truck, drove 50 yards down the street and stopped before getting out and undressing. She says he’d gotten back into his truck by the time officers arrived.

The man was cited for driving the wrong direction on a one-way street and arrested on suspicion of indecent exposure.

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