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JournalStar.com • March 1 2025

Candidate filing deadlines for Lincoln's spring elections near

The filing deadline for Lincoln's spring elections is coming up, with seats on the Lincoln Board of Education, City Council and Airport Authority up for grabs.Nonincumbent candidates running for the Lincoln Board of Education must file by 5 p.m. Monday. The incumbent filing deadline has already passed. Seats in districts 1, 3, 5 and 7 are on the ballot this year.Those running for Lincoln City Council and Lincoln Airport Authority have until 5 p.m. March 7 to file. There is no separate incumbent...

JournalStar.com • March 1 2025

Nebraska state fire marshal stepping down to take city admin role in Norfolk

Cordes, who was appointed by Pillen in January 2023, is stepping down after accepting a city administrator role in Norfolk, according to a news release from the governor's office. His last day as fire marshal will be March 7.“I will be forever grateful for that," he said. "I will cherish the relationships and experiences I encountered over the course of nearly 43 years of my life devoted to the Nebraska fire service and public safety.”“Scott has dedicated his career to the fire service in multip...

JournalStar.com • March 1 2025

Lincoln police use Taser on woman involved in domestic dispute

Lincoln police arrested a 51-year-old woman Saturday who ignored officers' request to leave a residence during a domestic dispute and had to be subdued with a Taser.Lincoln police responded to a verbal domestic situation Saturday morning to a residence near the 1100 block of South 40th Street just before 9 a.m.Police say the owner of the residence asked Mahoney to leave and not return, but she refused. Officers asked Mahoney to leave, but she also refused.Mahoney later resisted officers' attempt...

JournalStar.com • February 24 2025

'I'd love to stay': UNL’s Russian language program set to be eliminated

“The university has decided to eliminate the program because it isn’t in a position to refill the faculty position and doesn’t anticipate being able to do so in the near future,” Reed said.Baughman, a senior history and Russian major, said the program's coordinator and lone professor, Olha Tytarenko, left after the 2022-2023 school year. Since then, the university made little effort to keep the program alive, Baughman said. Students have not been allowed to major or minor in Russian since Tytare...

JournalStar.com • February 23 2025

Gates Foundation awards NU $3.5 million to expand irrigation access for small farmers

The Gates Foundation has awarded the Daugherty Water for Food Global Institute at the University of Nebraska a three-year, $3.5 million grant to support a research project on the impact of irrigation as a service for small-scale farmers.Irrigation as a service provides farmers access to irrigation equipment through a subscription model. Irrigation can increase crop yields, reduce climate-related agricultural risks and improve food security, but many small-scale farmers don't want to or can't inv...

JournalStar.com • February 22 2025

South Lincoln house fire causes $75K in damage

Lincoln Fire and Rescue were called to a house fire near South 45th Street and Old Cheney Road in South Lincoln on Friday.Crews were dispatched to the 5800 block of Barjona Place just after 6 p.m. Battalion Chief Jeremy Gegg said the fire was put out shortly after firefighters arrived. Battalion Chief Drew Endicott said the fire started from the exterior of the house before moving to the interior. LFR remained on scene until about 8 p.m.Gegg said the fire caused about $50,000 in damage to the ho...

JournalStar.com • February 22 2025

Nebraska State Patrol release names of married couple in Clay County homicide

On Sunday, the Nebraska State Patrol released the names of the victim and the suspect in the homicide that occurred Friday in rural Harvard, about 33 miles south of Grand Island.The victim has been identified as 35-year-old Heather Gray, and the suspect has been identified as 39-year-old Toby Gray. The two were married.The State Patrol said in a news release that the Clay County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call about a domestic disturbance at a residence in rural Harvard around 8:30 p.m. Fri...

JournalStar.com • February 22 2025

Nebraska State Patrol release names of married couple in Clay County homicide

On Sunday, the Nebraska State Patrol released the names of the victim and the suspect in the homicide that occurred Friday in rural Harvard, about 33 miles south of Grand Island.The victim has been identified as 35-year-old Heather Gray, and the suspect has been identified as 39-year-old Toby Gray. The two were married.Upon arrival, deputies found a dead woman with a gunshot wound and a man suffering from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the State Patrol release. Three youn...

JournalStar.com • February 22 2025

Nebraska nurse's license revoked; elderly vet patient died after choking

A Bellevue nurse has had her license revoked following the death of a patient at the Eastern Nebraska Veterans' Home in Bellevue last year.The Nebraska Attorney General's Office announced Friday that Nebraska's chief medical officer, Timothy Tesmer, revoked the license of licensed practical nurse Curlee Schneiders due to an incident that caused an elderly veteran patient's death in 2024.On June 2, 2024, an elderly male patient at the Eastern Nebraska Veterans' Home in Bellevue requested a snack...

JournalStar.com • February 21 2025

1 in critical condition after south Lincoln crash

The driver of the pickup sustained life-threatening injuries, police said. The driver of the sedan has non-life-threatening injuries. Both were taken to local hospitals. One has been released, while the other is still in critical condition.Westbound lanes on Old Cheney Road and northbound lanes on 40th Street were closed following the crash.As of Sunday at 12 p.m., no citations have been issued and the cause of the crash is still unknown. No alcohol was suspected for one of the drivers, while re...