OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The National Weather Service has confirmed that five tornadoes touched down in eastern Nebraska and one in western Iowa but caused little damage.
Each spotted during Monday’s powerful thunderstorms Monday caused no injuries, only minor damage and was rated EF-0, with winds from 65 through 85 mph.
Three were in areas around Louisville and Murray. One touched down near Elk Creek and one near Table Rock, and the sixth was spotted west of Thurman in Iowa.
SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A trial has been rescheduled for a Nebraska resident accused of stabbing to death a woman in northwest Iowa.
Court records show the attorney for 20-year-old Melissa Camargo-Flores, of Dakota City, Nebraska, wanted more time to prepare her defense. The new trial starting date set Tuesday is Sept. 18 in Woodbury County District Court. The former date was July 10.
Camargo-Flores is charged with first-degree murder in the Sioux City slaying of 24-year-old Kenia Alvarez-Flores on April 8. Court documents say Camargo-Flores admitted stabbing Alvarez-Flores and told investigators she’d been involved in a relationship with the victim’s boyfriend.
Authorities say the two women were not related.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a robber shot a convenience store clerk in Omaha.
The robbery occurred around 3:30 a.m. Wednesday on the southeast side of the city.
Police say the robber walked in and demanded cash. The clerk took some from the register. The robber took it and then fired once as he left the store.
Police say the bullet struck one of the clerk’s forearms and hips. He’s expected to survive his wounds.
No arrest has been reported.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Hearings are scheduled to begin Wednesday on whether a former doctor should be executed for killing four people connected to an Omaha medical school.
A three-judge panel in Omaha will determine whether Anthony Garcia will be sentenced to death or to life in prison. He was convicted in 2016 of killing the 11-year-old son and a housekeeper of Creighton University faculty member William Hunter in 2008 and killing pathology doctor Roger Brumback and his wife in 2013.
Prosecutors say Garcia blamed Hunter and Brumback for his 2001 firing from Creighton’s pathology residency program.
The jurors who convicted Garcia already found evidence of several aggravating circumstances that could lead to his execution.
The sentence isn’t expected to be announced for at least a month.
On Friday, June 8, Investigators with the Nebraska State Patrol Troop C and officers from the Grand Island Police Department conducted an undercover operation to target and identify individuals soliciting prostitution in the Grand Island area.
This was an operation of the Central Region of the Nebraska Human Trafficking Task Force. The effort resulted in the arrest of seven individuals for soliciting prostitution.
In addition to attempting to rescue those being trafficking against their will for commercial sexual activity, other key tenants to the Human Trafficking Task Force are to attempt to reduce the demand for commercial sexual activity by conducting undercover investigations targeting and identifying sex buyers.
The following individuals were arrested and lodged in Hall County Corrections for Solicitation of Prostitution: Brandon Stickley, of Cairo, Craig Jones, of Kearney, Jesus Oliveros, of Grand Island, Buckley Haag, of Bartely, Michael Smidt, of Glenvil, Steve Cole, of St. Paul, and Mike Aipperspach, of Hastings.
HUMBOLDT, Neb. (AP) — State health and environment officials have issued a health alert for toxic blue-green algae at Kirkman’s Cove near Humboldt in the southeastern corner of Nebraska.
Officials say in a news release Friday that the alerts were issued following tests of the lake water.
Skin exposed to the toxin from certain strains of blue-green algae can develop rashes and blisters. Someone who drinks water containing the toxin is at risk for headaches, nausea and muscular pain.
Nebraska lakes will continue to be monitored weekly throughout the 2018 recreational season. Sampling results for harmful algal blooms and bacteria will be updated every Friday and posted on the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality’s website at https://deq.ne.gov .
BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — The body of a Bellevue woman whose husband confessed to police that he killed her has been found in the Missouri River.
The Omaha World-Herald reports that the body of 32-year-old Jennifer Norton was pulled from the river around 9:30 p.m. Friday, following a three-day search.
Bellevue Police Capt. Tom Dargy says an autopsy has been scheduled.
The woman’s husband, 37-year-old Brandon Norton, is being held without bail on a charge of second-degree murder.
He was arrested after walking into the Sarpy County Jail on Tuesday evening to tell authorities that he had killed his wife the day before and dropped her body from a bridge into the river.
Authorities have said Brandon Norton told investigators how he killed his wife, but officials have not released that information.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Two longtime suspects in the killing of a 24-year-old Lincoln woman have been charged with first-degree murder.
Authorities announced the charges Monday against 51-year-old Aubrey Trail and 23-year-old Bailey Boswell, both of Wilber.
Trail has publicly acknowledged that he’s responsible for the death of Sydney Loofe, who went missing in November. Loofe’s body was found in a rural Clay County field in December.
Trail and Boswell have been in the Saline County jail on unrelated charges since late November and have long been considered suspects. They also were charged Monday with improper disposal of human skeletal remains, a felony.
Boswell and Trail will appear in Saline County District Court on Tuesday. Attempts to reach them for comment Monday were unsuccessful.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 33-year-old Omaha man has been sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison for swapping child pornography.
U.S. Attorney for Nebraska Joe Kelly announced that Owen Drew was sentenced Friday to 70 months in prison. He’ll be required to register as a sex offender when he’s released from prison.
Officials say that over a year’s time ending in May 2017, Drew knowingly received a visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct involving a minor. In April 2017, FBI officials identified Drew through his use of peer-to-peer file exchange software in which an undercover agent downloaded multiple child pornography files being shared from Drew’s computer. Officials say a subsequent search of Drew’s laptop turned up multiple child pornography videos.
WAVERLY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a man died after his motorcycle collided with an oncoming sport utility vehicle in eastern Nebraska.
The collision occurred around 5 p.m. Sunday on U.S. Highway 6 just east of Waverly. The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office says the eastbound motorcyclist rode into the westbound lane and struck the SUV.
The motorcyclist has been identified as 51-year-old Ronald Corum Jr., who lived in Greenwood. An autopsy was ordered.
The SUV driver has been identified as 44-year-old Mark Leavitt, who lives in rural Lincoln. He and one of his six passengers were treated for minor injuries. The others weren’t hurt.
