Nebraska state Sen. Mike McDonnell has announced that he’s switching party affiliation from Democrat to Republican, citing his Christian faith and views on abortion. Mr. McDonnell made the announcement in an April 3 statement to local media outlets, citing the Democrat Party’s opposition to his pro-life stance. “When I ran for reelection in 2020 I […]
Former President Donald Trump is cheering an effort, led by Republicans in Nebraska, to switch the state’s electoral college system to a purely winner-take-all contest. Nebraska is currently one of two U.S. states that award some of their presidential electors to the winner of district-level contests, with Maine being the other state to follow a […]
BLAIR, Neb.—A man accused of killing a priest in a small Nebraska town pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other charges on Thursday. Kierre Williams, 43, of Sioux City, Iowa, also is accused of using a deadly weapon to commit a felony, burglary, and possession of a weapon by a prohibited person. His next […]
Voters in Plattsmouth, Nebraska this week decided to recall one of their school board members after she tried to remove books from school libraries. In a mail-in election on Tuesday, more than 1,600 Plattsmouth voters supported recalling Terri Cunningham-Swanson, while 1,000 residents voted against, the Omaha World-Herald reported. Ms. Cunningham-Swanson led an effort to have […]
Iowa will not participate in the 2024 Summer Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) for Children, state officials announced on Friday. “Federal COVID-era cash benefit programs are not sustainable and don’t provide long-term solutions for the issues impacting children and families. An EBT card does nothing to promote nutrition at a time when childhood obesity has become […]
FORT CALHOUN, Neb.—The grisly killings of a retiree and then a priest has shocked everyone in tiny Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, including Sheriff Mike Robinson. He’s lived in the community just north of Omaha for 62 years and can’t recall a single homicide before these two. “It really is out of character,” Mr. Robinson said. “It’s […]
FORT CALHOUN, Neb.—The suspect in the stabbing death of a Catholic priest in eastern Nebraska had no connection to the priest or the small town where the stabbing occurred last weekend, prosecutors said during a court hearing Thursday. Kierre Williams, 43, was ordered held without bond while he awaits trial on first-degree murder, burglary and […]
OMAHA, Neb.—Moments after a Nebraska priest called 911 to report that a man was standing in his kitchen with a knife, a dispatcher on the line heard screaming and a struggle. A deputy arriving a few minutes later heard the priest shout, “Help me,” before he found the man lying near the kitchen, bleeding profusely, […]
FORT CALHOUN, Neb.—The fatal stabbing of a Catholic priest inside the church rectory where he lived has rocked the eastern Nebraska community of Fort Calhoun, a one-stoplight town where people tend not to worry if they forget to lock their doors at night. The Rev. Stephen Gutgsell, who served at St. John the Baptist church, […]
OMAHA, Neb.—A man has been arrested in the stabbing death of a Catholic priest who was attacked over the weekend in a church rectory in a small Nebraska community, authorities said. The Rev. Stephen Gutgsell was assaulted Sunday “during an invasion” of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Fort Calhoun, Nebraska, the Archdiocese of […]
OMAHA, Neb.—A Nebraska woman bagged a marriage proposal earlier this month along with a big buck during a recent deer hunting trip. Samantha Camenzind’s boyfriend not only gave her the first shot at the deer they had spotted on a trail camera south of Lincoln, but then surprised her by popping the question in the […]
Nebraska health officials are testing hundreds of preschoolers for tuberculosis after an active case was confirmed at a day care in Douglas County. The Douglas County Health Department declared a public health emergency after more than 500 people were possibly exposed to the disease. The agency said the exposures may have happened at the Westview […]
Authorities in Nebraska arrested a 25-year-old suspect early on Friday two days after former senator Martha McSally of Arizona reported being sexually assaulted while she jogged along the Missouri River in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The Council Bluffs Police Department said in a statement on Nov. 10 that Dominic Henton of Papillion, Nebraska, was taken into […]
McCOOK, Neb.—A single-engine plane crash in a southwestern Nebraska town killed one person and injured another on board and left a nearby house uninhabitable, officials said. The crash happened just after noon near the McCook airport on Monday, McCook City Manager Nate Schneider said in a news release. One person on board was declared dead […]
A Texas county commissioner is facing a possible felony charge in Nebraska after accidentally shooting his 12-year-old grandson during a wedding he was officiating. The shooting happened Saturday evening at a wedding being held outdoors near the small town of Denton in southeastern Nebraska, when Michael Gardner, 62, of Odessa, Texas, pulled out a revolver, […]
A Nebraska mother who pleaded guilty to giving her teenage daughter pills for an abortion and helping to burn and bury the fetus was sentenced Friday to two years in prison. Jessica Burgess, 42, pleaded guilty in July to tampering with human remains, false reporting, and providing an abortion after at least 20 weeks of […]
OMAHA, Neb.—Investigators say the blast that prompted evacuations near Union Pacific’s massive railyard in western Nebraska last week appears to be accidental, but it’s not yet clear what caused it. The Nebraska State Fire Marshal’s office is working with the railroad and experts from the Federal Railroad Administration to determine what caused a stationary container […]
OMAHA, Neb.—An explosion inside a shipping container at the world’s largest railyard prompted evacuations in western Nebraska Thursday because of the toxic smoke generated when one of the chemicals aboard caught fire. Around noon, an explosion occurred inside an intermodal container on a railcar at Union Pacific’s Bailey Yard in North Platte, though it wasn’t […]
LINCOLN, Neb.—A man who killed six members of a Nebraska family nearly 50 years ago has died after complaining about chest pain. Erwin Charles Simants, who was 77, died Thursday at a Lincoln hospital, his attorney, Robert Lindemeier, told the Lincoln Journal Star. Mr. Simants initially was sentenced to die in the electric chair for […]
A car driving with a bull in it was pulled over by police in northeast Nebraska’s biggest city. Don’t worry, he didn’t steer. Norfolk Police Capt. Chad Reiman said it didn’t take long for officers to track down the modified Ford Crown Victoria sedan with a bull riding shotgun after a 911 call about it […]
