The supervisor in Omaha starting at 6:30 a.m. is Nelson Lampe. Eric Olson takes over at 3:30 p.m. If you have a news tip or questions about the report, call (800) 642-9920 or (402) 391-0031.
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XGR–BUDGET WOES
LINCOLN—Nebraska lawmakers will reach deeper into a record-sized savings account, rely on more federal stimulus dollars and probably anger the University of Nebraska to balance the budget if a key committee has its way. After a round of difficult, 11th-hour negotiations on Monday, the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee advanced a proposed budget with those and other measures meant to close a large budget gap—$94.5 million, to be exact. By Nate Jenkins.
With:
— XGR–DEATH INVESTIGATIONS—County attorneys forced to double as coroners in Nebraska could get more help for a job some say they aren’t equipped to handle.
— XGR–SCHOOL MONEY—A Nebraska school funding impasse could be broken because of a key lawmaker’s decision to bring a bill back up for debate.
SWINE FLU-NEBRASKA
OMAHA—Nebraska, which updated its pandemic flu plan on Thursday, is testing more than a dozen samples to see whether swine flu has spread to the state. As of Monday, Nebraska officials had not confirmed any cases. Precautionary tests were still being conducted at the state’s public health laboratory, which is based at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. By Timberly Ross and Nelson Lampe.
MURDOCK MURDERS-LAWSUIT
OMAHA—Troubles continue to mount for a Nebraska crime scene investigator accused of tampering with blood evidence in a double-murder case. David Kofoed (KOH-fode) faces a second federal lawsuit from another man who was wrongfully charged in the shotgun slayings of Wayne and Sharmon Stock in their rural Cass County farmhouse. By Anna Jo Bratton.
INTERNATIONAL CUSTODY FIGHT
OMAHA—A national advocacy group and the Guatemalan government have joined a Nebraska court case involving a Mayan Indian woman trying to regain custody of her children. By Jean Ortiz.
IOWA-GAY MARRIAGE
DES MOINES, Iowa—Same-sex couples in Iowa began holding hastily planned weddings Monday as the state became the third to allow gay marriage, a leap that even some supporters find hard to grasp in the nation’s heartland. Within hours of a state Supreme Court ruling legalizing gay marriage taking effect, several same-sex couples had exchanged vows on the steps of the Polk County Administrative Building. By Amy Lorentzen. Eds: Note Nebraska mention. Version also moving on national lines.
AP Photos IACN108, IACN102, IACN104, IACN105, IAMAS101, IAMAS102.
BUSINESS:
— MISSING CARS—Executives of a Scottsbluff auto dealership face additional charges in the disappearance of 86 vehicles. Eds: Moving news and financial lines.
— SPROUTS-SALMONELLA—Government health officials are telling people to avoid eating raw alfalfa sprouts, because they could be contaminated with a strain of salmonella. Eds: Note Nebraska mention. Moving on state and national news and financial lines.
ALSO GETTING ATTENTION:
— MOTORCYCLE CRASH—A Gibbon man has died following a motorcycle crash northeast of Kearney. The Buffalo County sheriff’s office says 66-year-old Robert “Bob” Mitchell crashed his motorcycle in a field on Sunday afternoon.
— STIMULUS-TRIBAL LANDS—U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson has announced the Department of the Interior will provide more than $800,000 to the state to support construction and maintenance projects on tribal lands as a part of the economic stimulus package.
— LINCOLN SLAYING—A Lincoln man has been sentenced to 40 years in prison for killing his ex-girlfriend.
— NAKED DRIVER—A Grand Island man was arrested after authorities were tipped off about a reckless—and naked—driver on Interstate 80 in central Nebraska.
— HOME INVASION RAPE—A Lincoln woman says an armed man forced his way into her apartment and raped her while her 3-year-old son slept in a room nearby.
— CWS STADIUM—The city of Omaha plans to sell $64 million in bonds in May for the city’s new ballpark north of the downtown area.
— TAX BREAK EXILE—A geranium grower says he’s leaving Nebraska in part because he’s lost an agricultural exemption on his Lancaster County property taxes.
The AP, Omaha.
