OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha officials and residents are discussing a possible youth curfew following a gang shooting that led to a bystander being killed.
City Council Vice President Chris Jerram is talking to constituents about introducing a youth curfew to apply only during the summer. He says he’s looking into a 10 p.m. curfew for youth under 16 and an 11 p.m. curfew for those under 19, with exceptions.

The discussions come after a shooting earlier this month between gang members that killed a bystander and injured six others.

Experts disagree on how effective curfews are at reducing crime.

Mayor Jean Stothert says the city would need to analyze juvenile crime statistics and other data to show that a curfew is warranted. She says the city couldn’t impose a curfew based on “one isolated incident.”

VALLEY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say they’ve recovered the body of a man whose pontoon boat was found adrift on an eastern Nebraska housing development lake.

The body was found Monday morning at Ginger Cove, a lakeside residential area between Valley and the Platte River, in western Douglas County. The man’s name hasn’t been released. He was a Ginger Cove resident.

He was last seen around 1 a.m. Saturday. The search began Saturday afternoon and resumed Sunday morning. It was called off around 2 p.m. because of the heat’s effect on searchers.

His death is being investigated.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld a $28.1 million judgment against Gage County and two law enforcement officials for a Nebraska case involving six people who were wrongfully convicted of murder.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to overturn the jury’s 2016 verdict in a ruling issued Monday.

The verdict was awarded to the group, known as the Beatrice Six, for their wrongful conviction in the 1985 rape and killing of 68-year-old Helen Wilson. They spent more than 75 years combined in prison until DNA evidence cleared them in 2008. The evidence instead pointed to an Oklahoma City man who died in 1992.

The lawsuit alleged that law enforcement officials recklessly strove to close the case despite contradictory evidence.

COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — A police officer and a man he was trying to arrest were wounded when they exchanged gunshots at a house in eastern Nebraska, police said Friday.

The gunbattle broke out Thursday evening when two officers arrived at the Columbus home to serve an arrest warrant. One took up a position at the rear of the house. A woman leaving the house told the other officer to go in the front door, police Capt. Todd Thalken said Friday, but the officer soon saw the man he sought, holding a handgun.

Thalken said it appears the man fired first, setting off the gunbattle, with the man switching to a rifle.

The man was hit five or six times and the officer at least twice, Thalken said. The officer stationed at the rear of the house reached the front as the shooting died down, so he never fired his weapon and wasn’t injured, the police captain said.

Thalken identified the wounded officer as Sgt. Brad Wangler, a 19-year veteran of the Columbus force, and the man as 24-year-old Jorge Robledo. Court records also list his first name as Jorje. The arrest warrant listed drug charges and other crimes in Hall County.

Both men were treated at Columbus Community Hospital before being transferred to Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. A hospital spokesman refused to comment.

Wangler was in stable condition, Thalken said and is expected to undergo surgery on his throat, where one bullet went in and then out. Thalken said he didn’t have any information about Robledo’s condition.

It’s unclear whether the woman who told Wangler to go in the house knew Robledo was armed, Thalken said. Her actions will be investigated by Columbus police and the Nebraska State Patrol, he said.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Department of Education plans to spend more than $420,000 on consulting services for state interventions in low-performing “priority schools.”

The state is contracting with a North Carolina-based firm and one of the state’s educational service units to continue work in three schools: Druid Hill Elementary in Omaha, Santee Middle in Niobrara and Loup County Elementary in Taylor. The Omaha school was taken off the priority list last year but will continue to be monitored.

Schuyler Central High School near Fremont was designated a priority in February. The department is finalizing a plan with the school, despite pushback from district leaders who compared the priority label to a “scarlet letter.”

Education Commissioner Matt Blomstedt dismissed that notion, saying: “Priority school, to me, is that you’re our priority at the department of education.”

“We aren’t the regulators on the outside saying ‘get better,'” he said. “We are partners and regulators.”

State lawmakers established the priority school system in 2014 after a law mandated classifying schools and districts by performance and intervening in three with the lowest classification.

The designation identifies schools that are demographically shifting and low achieving so state officials can diagnose problems and try to fix them.

Each institution is selected because it represents a category of Nebraska schools that face similar challenges, such as urban schools, Native American schools, small community schools and demographically shifting schools.

The education department plans to divert $118,000 to Schuyler to focus on English-language learners. The school has experienced a dramatic demographic change over the past 18 years, which is attributed to a nearby meatpacking plant.

About $21,000 of the consulting work will go toward ensuring that Druid Hill Elementary, though off the priority list, can maintain the progress it has made.

The department designated $60,000 to Loup County Elementary to bolster instructional leadership and $114,000 to Santee to build a school culture for students and staff.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police have announced an arrest in the shooting death of a man at a northwest Omaha convenience store.

A news release Friday afternoon from Omaha police says homicide detectives arrested 25-year-old Keiandre Kellogg on suspicion of first-degree murder and weapons counts in the late Thursday shooting.

Officers were sent to the Bucky’s store around 11:40 p.m. Thursday and found 22-year-old Jeremiah Plater shot near the gas pumps.

Police say Plater was taken to Creighton University Medical Center-Bergan Mercy, where he died.

United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced today the filing of criminal complaints against two New Jersey men as a result of a seizure of over 118 lbs of Fentanyl – an extremely potent and dangerous opioid.   The seizure of the fentanyl occurred during an April 26 traffic stop by Nebraska State Patrol Troopers along Interstate 80,  just outside of Kearney, NE.  The seizure of the foil-wrapped Fentanyl was initially suspected to be cocaine. This fentanyl seizure is the largest ever in Nebraska, surpassing the seizure of more than 36 lbs in October 2017 in Omaha.  Fentanyl is an opioid drug, 40-50 times more potent than heroin.

The individuals arrested have been identified as Nelson Nicolas Nunez-Acosta, age 52, and Felipe Genao Minaya, age 47, both of Newark, New Jersey.  They are charged with knowingly and intentionally possessing with the intent to distribute fentanyl, a Schedule II controlled substance. In violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 841(a)(1) and Title 21, United States Code Section 841(b)(1).  The penalty for these charges is 10 years to life.

“Heroin is one of the most potent and addictive drugs known to man—and fentanyl can be up to 50 times as powerful,” Attorney General Sessions said. “It is alarming but true that we are seeing more and more of this drug smuggled into this country and sold on our streets. Synthetic opioids like fentanyl killed more Americans than any other kind of drug in 2016; in response, the Department of Justice tripled our fentanyl prosecutions in 2017. In this case, our fabulous partners with the Nebraska State Patrol conducted the largest fentanyl seizure in Nebraska history, seizing 118 pounds of fentanyl. I have no doubt that these outstanding law enforcement officers have saved lives—and that this case will help us get closer to ending this unprecedented drug epidemic.”

“The diligence of these two Troopers is incredible,” said U.S. Attorney Kelly. “The interdiction of these opioids saved countless lives.  This is a multi-faceted problem that we are addressing through enforcement, prevention, and treatment.  This is an exceptional example of the enforcement work making our streets safer.”

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) – A police captain says authorities are searching the Missouri River south of an Omaha suburb because a man told officers he dumped his wife’s body there.

Sarpy County prosecutors have charged 37-year-old Brandon Norton with second-degree murder, and he’s being held without bail. Court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for him.

Police say he told Bellevue officers what he’d done after surrendering Tuesday evening, but authorities have been unable to find 32-year-old Jennifer Norton or her body.

Police Capt. Tim Melvin said Thursday that investigators think Norton killed his wife Monday evening and then hauled her body to the river south of Bellevue. Melvin says Brandon Norton has told investigators how he killed his wife, but Melvin wouldn’t share the information.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Authorities have released the name of a man killed by a carbon monoxide buildup at a mobile home in north Lincoln.

On Thursday police identified the man as 57-year-old Ruben “Javier” Moreno Campos.

Police and medics were called to the home around 3 a.m. Wednesday. Fire Battalion Chief Jim Bopp has said a first responder’s carbon monoxide detector went off while there. Bopp also said Black Hills Energy workers blamed the deadly gas buildup on a water heater venting problem.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a buildup of carbon monoxide gas has killed one person and caused three others to be hospitalized in Lincoln.

Police and medics were called to a north Lincoln home around 3 a.m. Wednesday. Officer Angela Sands says four people found there were taken to a hospital, where one of them died. No names have been released.

Fire Battalion Chief Jim Bopp says a medic’s carbon monoxide detector went off at the home. Bopp also says Black Hills Energy workers blamed the deadly gas buildup on a water heater problem.