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DEVELOPING: SEX OFFENDER APPEAL, DEBTOR DEAL, FBC–BIG 12 PREVIEW, FBC–NEBRASKA PREVIEW,
SEX OFFENDER APPEAL
OMAHA—A man convicted more than 10 years ago of using a 16-year-old girl as a prostitute is asking the Nebraska Supreme Court to reverse an order that he register as a sex offender. John Ways Jr. was convicted in 1996 of pandering in the case of the girl and has had a string of run-ins with the law since. By Margery A. Gibbs.
BUSINESS:
DEBTOR DEAL
OMAHA—More than 2,800 Nebraskans will benefit from a $148,625 settlement that a debt-collection firm agreed to pay because of questions about its practices. The class-action settlement has already gained preliminary approval from a federal judge. If the deal gains final approval in October, Cincinnati-based Unifund will compensate all the individuals who qualify. By Business Writer Josh Funk.
ALSO:
— NEBRASKA PUBLISHER RESIGNS—The publisher of the Columbus Telegram has resigned, and a new publisher of the Lee Enterprises newspaper will be announced soon.
SPORTS:
FBC–BIG 12 PREVIEW
DALLAS—There may be no more difficult road to a national championship than through the Big 12 South. Ask Texas, which was 11-1 in the regular season last year and didn’t even make the Big 12 championship game because of a three-way tiebreaker. It could be that tight again in the division that had four teams together in the AP Top 10 for several weeks last season. In the Big 12 preseason media poll this year—league coaches don’t do one—Texas and Oklahoma were tied for first. It’s Nebraska in the Big 12 North. By Stephen Hawkins.
FBC–NEBRASKA PREVIEW
LINCOLN, Neb.—Bo Pelini isn’t about to try to engage in the scoring contests that have become weekly fare in the Big 12. At Nebraska, it’s all about defense. To ask a defense to dominate in the offense-rich Big 12 is to ask a lot. But with the Cornhuskers breaking in a new starting quarterback, the defense is going to have to be pretty good if they’re going to live up to their billing as Big 12 North favorites. By Eric Olson.
With:
— HUSKERS-SPANO—The question of who will back up Nebraska’s presumptive starting quarterback Zac Lee has taken another turn with news that Kody Spano has reinjured an already tender knee.
— FBC–NEBRASKA GLANCE.
ALSO:
— BIG 12-NEBRASKA—The Big 12 volleyball coaches have picked Nebraska to finish second to Texas this season, and three Cornhusker players have been named to the preseason all-conference team.
ALSO GETTING ATTENTION:
— GANG SPECIALIST SENTENCED—A former Omaha gang member turned gang intervention specialist is going to prison for selling crack cocaine near his office at the Boys & Girls Club.
— MOTORCYCLE FATAL—Arraignment is set for Sept. 16 for a Papillion man accused of vehicular homicide in a collision last week.
— NEBRASKA STANDOFF—A northeast Nebraska man was arrested after a five-hour standoff with officers.
— UNPAID HOLIDAYS—Hall County leaders looking to balance the budget have decided to cut paid holidays for the county’s 300-plus employees.
— HEBRON FISH KILL—Norder Supply is cooperating with a state investigation of a fertilizer spill that killed thousands of fish in the Little Blue River late last month.
— HUSKER DIVERSION—A Nebraska football player has begun pretrial diversion instead of going to court on a charge of minor in possession. Eds: Moved on state news and sports lines.
— STRANDED TRUCKER—A North Carolina trucker who has been stranded in Nebraska for more than a month is back near home, trying to recover from a paralyzing illness.
— BLAMING ZOLOFT—A Nebraska inmate serving time for his girlfriend’s murder has kept his lawsuit against the makers of Zoloft alive by filing an appeal.
— SHEEHY ELECTED—Nebraska Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy has been elected as one of three officers leading the National Lieutenant Governors Association.
— ED BOARD SEAT—The deadline to apply for the Nebraska State Board of Education’s vacant seat is almost here.
— GAYS IN MILITARY—Groups that want the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy for gays to be repealed will visit Lincoln and Omaha as part of a nationwide tour highlighting the policy’s flaws.
— NEB SWINE FLU—Nebraska health officials say they are changing how they report the state’s outbreak of swine flu to better track its spread and impact.
— SIREN GRANT—A federal grant will help Indianola buy a new siren to protect its residents.
— JUDICIAL TASK FORCE—A legislative task force is holding a public hearing to discuss the issues of sentencing and repeat offenders in the Nebraska judicial system.
— EDITORIAL RDP—Excerpts from recent Nebraska daily newspaper editorials on topics of statewide interest.
The AP, Omaha.
