TECUMSEH, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say an inmate has assaulted a staff member at the state prison near Tecumseh.
The Nebraska Department of Correctional Services says the attack occurred Tuesday. The officer was treated at a local medical facility and released.
The department didn’t release the names of the officer and inmate or any details about the attack. The department says it will investigate and submit its findings to local prosecutors.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Red-light cameras are widely hated, but a new study says getting rid of them can have fatal consequences.
Traffic deaths from red-light-running crashes go up by nearly a third after cities turn off cameras designed to catch motorists in the act, according to a study by the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. The institute is funded by auto insurers.
While cities continue to add cameras at intersections with traffic signals, at least 158 communities have ended their red-light camera programs in the past five years, the study said.
Researchers compared trends in annual crash rates in 14 cities that had ended their camera programs with those in 29 cities in the same regions that continued their camera programs.
They found that, after adjusting for other factors, red-light-running crashes went up 30 percent.
CUSHING, Okla. (AP) — Investigators are trying to determine how a Kansas skydiver was separated from her parachute harness during a jump in Oklahoma.
The body of 26-year-old Sheralynn Neff of North Newton was found Monday by authorities south of an airport near Cushing, Oklahoma.
Neff was reported missing on Sunday after she made a jump with the Oklahoma Skydiving Center.
Cushing police Chief Tully Folden says Neff’s parachute harness was found in a tree about 5 miles away.
The Oklahoman reports the Federal Aviation Association is assisting with the investigation. FAA spokesman Lynn Lunsford has said the agency’s main focus is determining whether the parachute was packed properly and if the harness was in good shape.
Neff graduated from Hesston College in 2011.
She was a high-achieving student who was involved with many different areas of campus life, according to a media release. She earned an associate of arts degree in Bible and Ministry with Dean’s List honors, served as a ministry assistant during her second year and participated in both choir and concert band.
CLAYTON, Mo. (AP) — A man accused of shooting a suburban St. Louis police officer, leaving him paralyzed from the neck down, is already jailed on $500,000 bond, and prosecutors want the amount to be even higher.
A Wednesday hearing on the request to increase the bond amount was postponed until Monday to allow the public defender representing 31-year-old Antonio Taylor more time to prepare.
Taylor, of St. Louis, is accused of shooting Ballwin officer Michael Flamion in the neck during a traffic stop earlier this month. He is charged with first-degree assault of a law enforcement officer and other counts.
Ed Magee, spokesman for the St. Louis County prosecuting attorney’s office, says Flamion’s severe injuries and Taylor’s long criminal record are reasons the bond increase is being sought.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — A state appeals court has rejected a lawsuit challenging how Missouri obtains the lethal drug used in executions.
The Western District of the Missouri Court of Appeals on Tuesday upheld a lower court’s decision to dismiss the case. The suit claims the state violates state and federal law by using an illegal prescription to obtain pentobarbital from a compounding pharmacy.
Justin Gelfand, the attorney for the plaintiffs, called the ruling disappointing. He stopped short of saying an appeal would be filed but said all options are being considered.
The suit was filed on behalf of four taxpayers — former lawmakers Joan Bray and Jeanette Oxford, Baptist minister Elston McCowan and Mary Ann McGivern, a member of the Sisters of Loretto.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Republican candidates for Missouri governor are debating Wednesday for the last time before next Tuesday’s primary.
Businessman John Brunner, former Navy SEAL Eric Greitens, former prosecutor and state House Speaker Catherine Hanaway and Lt. Gov. Peter Kinder are facing off at 7 p.m. in a debate sponsored by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and KMBC-TV, which will broadcast the event.
In previous debates, the candidates outlined plans for improving relations between communities and police and affirmed their support for gun rights and against abortion. Hanaway and Kinder emphasize their experience, while Brunner and Greitens emphasize that they are outsiders.
In the Democratic primary, Attorney General Chris Koster has not debated his lesser-known gubernatorial rivals.
The primary winners will face off in the Nov. 8 general election.
BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The Army Corps of Engineers has approved most of the final permits needed for the $3.8 billion Dakota Access Pipeline from North Dakota to Illinois.
American Indians in North Dakota who’ve been protesting the project for months say they’ll continue their non-violent efforts to oppose it.
The 1,172-mile pipeline planned by Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners will pass through the Dakotas and Iowa on its way to Illinois. Corps spokeswoman Eileen Williamson said the agency has approved crossings of the Missouri and Mississippi rivers.
Williamson said Energy Transfer Partners still needs approval of three more easements for corps property — one in South Dakota and one in Illinois.
The pipeline will carry nearly half a million barrels of crude from North Dakota’s Bakken oil fields each day.
Forbes pleaded no contest to charges that included involuntary manslaughter. Forbes initially was charged with felony murder in the May 2015 shooting death of 17-year-old Allie Saum. His sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 9.
In a separate hearing, Woodring said he pleaded no contest to felony murder because he felt pressured and didn’t believe he would receive a fair trial. The judge will rule Aug. 10. If the plea stands, Woodring would be required to serve 25 years of a life sentence before he’s eligible for parole.
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A 75-year-old eastern Kansas woman who is unable to get a replacement for her lost Arkansas birth certificate has been certified as a U.S. citizen, allowing her to vote.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that the state Election Board issued the ruling Monday after meeting with Jo French of Osage County. Evidence of her citizenship included a record of her birth in a family Bible and Census records.
The rare meeting comes amid ongoing legal challenges to Kansas’ proof of citizenship voting requirement.
French said that although she agreed with the requirement, she “just couldn’t imagine having to go through this procedure.”
Secretary of State Kris Kobach said the Election Board has only met a handful of times to review citizenship evidence since the proof of citizenship law was adopted.
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A Missouri bank’s former vice president has been ordered to spend three years in federal prison for his role in two fraud schemes that prosecutors say totaled $22 million.
Fifty-one-year-old Richard Newman Delong of Newburg was sentenced Tuesday in Jefferson City.
He pleaded guilty in 2014 and last year to fraud-related charges in the cases. He also was ordered to pay more than $4.2 million in restitution.
Authorities say Delong led a $4.1 million plot to defraud the Small Business Administration and participated in an unrelated $18.2 million scheme to bilk the U.S. government while awaiting sentencing for that earlier scheme.
Prosecutors say Delong was executive vice president and chief lending officer at Mid-America Bank in Dixon.
