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ADDS: GATES FOUNDATION-RAIKES
GIRL KILLED
OMAHA—An Iowa man facing charges that he sexually assaulted and killed a 3-year-old Nebraska girl will be moved from a county jail to the tighter security of a Nebraska prison, pending more hearings. Terry Kern, the Dakota County corrections director, said De Jesus Melisio-Camacho was headed Wednesday to the Nebraska penitentiary in Lincoln. Because of the nature of the crime Melisio-Camacho is accused of, there were concerns about whether he’d be safe from other jail inmates. By Nelson Lampe.
AP Photo AH201.
CSI-BLOOD EVIDENCE
PLATTSMOUTH—A crime-scene investigator accused of mishandling blood evidence in a 2006 double murder case made his first court appearance on Wednesday. David Kofoed was arraigned in Cass County Court on one count of evidence tampering in the investigation of the shotgun slayings of Wayne and Sharmon Stock in their farmhouse near Murdock. By Eric Olson.
LEGISLATURE:
WIND ENERGY
LINCOLN—Nebraska lawmakers scrapped a new tax break for nonprofit health clinics Wednesday to free up money for a tax incentive for new wind-power projects. Sen. Galen Hadley of Kearney took the unusual step Wednesday of asking for his bill (LB420), which lawmakers approved last week, to be delayed until next year. Hadley says he agreed to pull his bill so there’d be money available for a sales-tax exemption in a wind-power bill (LB561) that lawmakers approved shortly after agreeing to delay Hadley’s bill. By Josh Funk.
ABORTION-ULTRASOUND
LINCOLN—Nebraska lawmakers bill have tweaked a bill designed to ensure that a woman seeking an abortion is first given a chance to see an ultrasound of the fetus. In a voice vote Wednesday, the Legislature advanced the bill (LB675), introduced by Sen. Tony Fulton of Lincoln, so that it’s ready for a final vote. Gov. Dave Heineman would need to sign it to make it law. By Jean Ortiz.
With:
— GANG LAWS—Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman has signed a bill that promises stiffer penalties meant to reduce gang violence.
BUSINESS:
GATES FOUNDATION-RAIKES
SEATTLE—The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation spent billions of dollars exploring the idea that smaller high schools might result in higher graduation rates and better test scores. Instead, it found that the key to better education is not necessarily smaller schools but more effective teachers. Some people might cringe while recounting how much money the foundation spent figuring this out. But the foundation’s new CEO, Nebraska-born Jeff Raikes, smiles and uses it as an example to explain that the charity has the money to try things that might fail. By Donna Gordon Blankinship.
AP Photos WAET108-109.
HOME SALES
WASHINGTON—Buyers who were brave enough to dive into the market for a bargain-priced house helped provide a modest boost to sales last month. Sales of inexpensive foreclosures and other distressed low-end properties have even sparked bidding wars in places like Las Vegas, Phoenix and Miami. But the market for high-end properties is at a virtual standstill, mainly because it remains difficult to get a mortgage for expensive homes. By Real Estate Writer Alan Zibel.
AP Photos OHAS203, OHAB201, GFX808.
With:
— HOME SALES-MIDWEST CITIES—Sales of existing homes in the Midwest fell 10 percent in April from a year ago as the uncertain economy kept all but first-time home buyers and steely investors on the sidelines. By Business Writer David Twiddy. AP Photo NYBZ156.
SPORTS:
YANKEE-NEBRASKA PIPELINE
MOOSIC, Pa.—Zach Kroenke is from Nebraska. He pitched for the University of Nebraska. He’s a Yankees prospect. But no, he is not anything like Joba Chamberlain. Kroenke, who was Chamberlain’s teammate for one season with the Cornhuskers, isn’t really that tight with his old—and very possibly future—teammate. By Arthur Staple.
AP Photo NENH101.
— BRONCOS-BUCKHALTER—A convicted marijuana dealer in suburban Philadelphia whose trial brought up Denver Broncos running back Correll Buckhalter has been sentenced to four to eight years in prison.
ALSO GETTING ATTENTION:
— RAPE CHARGE—A 25-year-old Lincoln man accused of raping a woman who had passed out has been charged with first-degree sexual assault.
— CONCEALED CARRY-YORK—The York city attorney says the city’s ban on concealed weapons doesn’t conflict with legislation signed by the governor earlier this month.
— BODY FOUND—Authorities have identified a man whose body was pulled from the Missouri River at Bellevue.
The AP, Omaha.
