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DEVELOPING: BUFFETT LETTER, EARNS-BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY, BKW–T25-MISSOURI-NEBRASKA, BKC–TEXAS TECH-NEBRASKA
PASSION FOR ART
FREMONT—Barb Tellatin can tell a tint. Tellatin can tell a tale, too. She spent early life in a jail, she tells. She lived there temporarily after an electrical fire damaged her family’s home in Savannah, Mo. By Debra Jacobsen of the Fremont Tribune. Eds: A Nebraskaland Feature. Moved in advance for weekend use.
HIS TOUGHEST YEAR
BLUE HILL—Jason Kort was little more than two weeks removed and just out of a coma from a near-fatal car accident this time last year. At 12:15 a.m., Feb. 1, 2009, he was driving a four-door Oldsmobile when he lost control of it and drove off the left side of a road. By Tony Herrman of the Hastings Tribune. Eds: A Nebraskaland Feature. Moved in advance for weekend use.
WAHOO WORLD TRAVELER
WAHOO—To Samantha Ahrens, there really is no place like home in Wahoo—even though her career has taken her all over the globe. The 2004 graduate of Bishop Neumann High School in Wahoo is a model who has appeared in numerous ads and in catalogs—and more recently on the cover of Elle Mexico magazine. By Tammy Real-McKeighan of the Fremont Tribune. Eds: A Nebraskaland Feature. Moved in advance for weekend use.
BUSINESS:
BUFFETT LETTER
OMAHA, Neb.—Billionaire Warren Buffett focused his latest annual letter on Berkshire Hathaway’s guiding principles and results, but the revered investor sternly also urged that CEOs and the boards that hired them should pay a steep price if their companies get into trouble with risky investments. Berkshire delivered a 61 percent jump in net income because the value of its investments and derivatives improved significantly in 2009, but its businesses’ exposure to housing construction caused its performance to lag the S&P 500 for the first time since 2004. By Business Writer Josh Funk.
AP Photo NYBZ172.
With:
EARNS-BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY
OMAHA—Berkshire Hathaway Inc.’s fourth-quarter profit bounced back sharply, thanks largely to an unrealized $1 billion gain on derivative contracts and investments. Warren Buffett’s company said Saturday that its insurance and utility divisions performed well enough to help offset weakness in subsidiaries hurt most by the weak economy, such as NetJets, Acme Brick and other manufacturing and retail businesses. By Business Writer Josh Funk.
HEART ATTACK-CONAGRA
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark.—When Dean Lowder, 48, was getting ready to start his shift as a robot operator at ConAgra Foods’ local plant, he never realized his life was going to change. He was talking to friends, getting ready to start a new shift and going through his routine when the unexpected happened that Monday in late January. By Cara Bailey of the Arkansas Courier News. Eds: An AP Member Exchange. Also moving on general news lines.
SPORTS:
BKW–T25-MISSOURI-NEBRASKA
LINCOLN, Neb.—Coming off a Big 12 championship-clinching win at Oklahoma, third-ranked Nebraska tries to stay unbeaten when Missouri visits. Tigers are last in the league and have lost eight straight, but they played the Huskers to within four points on Feb. 13. Game starts 8 p.m. EST. By Eric Olson.
BKC–TEXAS TECH-NEBRASKA
LINCOLN, Neb.—Nebraska tries to end a seven-game losing streak and Texas Tech a four-game skid when the teams meet at the Devaney Sports Center. Game starts 3 p.m. CST. By Eric Olson.
BKC–BRADLEY-CREIGHTON
OMAHA—Creighton hosts Missouri Valley Conference rival Bradley on Senior Day. Game starts 2:05 p.m. CST.
ALSO:
— BKW–NEBRASKA SCHOLARSHIP—The Nebraska Athletic Department has announced the establishment of the Kathy Branchaud Memorial Women’s Basketball Scholarship Fund to honor the life of a former player and booster-club member. Eds: Also moving on general news lines.
ALSO GETTING ATTENTION:
— FOOTBALL-PONZI SCHEME—A former adviser to Michael Vick and several NFL players accused of stealing $3 million in a Ponzi scheme has had her trial delayed until June. Eds: Also moving on business and sports lines.
— OMAHA-CAR FUMES—Authorities say neither foul play nor suicide is suspected in the carbon monoxide poisoning of two Omaha women.
— UNMC DEAN RESIGNING—The dean of the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s college of medicine has announced that he will step down this summer to return to a faculty post.
— NEB DEAL BRANDING—Trying to make the best of a bad political situation—and to get people to forget the snappy term that helped his detractors publicize it—U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson has come up with his own catch phrase.
— PENGUIN HABITAT—Lincoln zoo officials have begun a fundraising drive so they can adjust an old harbor seal pool into a new home for some Humboldt penguins.
The AP, Omaha.
