Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
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JOHANNESBURG (AP) — French-led forces have wrested control of three key cities in northern Mali from al-Qaida-linked militants, but the fighters have escaped with their weapons into a desert region the size of Texas and are poised to mount counterattacks. New military strategies will be needed to rout the jihadists from their desert hideouts. When the French leave their former colony, armed extremists are still likely to remain. No one has yet publicly announced a campaign to hunt them down in the Sahara and in Mali’s villages, where they are...
SANTA MARIA, Brazil (AP) — The owner of a nightclub in southern Brazil where more than 230 people died in a fire last weekend deflected blame to “the whole country,” as well as to architects and inspectors charged with making sure the building was safe, his lawyer said Wednesday. Attorney Jader Marques said his client, Elissandro Spohr, “regretted having ever been born” because of his grief over the fire, but still blamed Sunday’s tragedy on “a succession of errors made by the whole country.” Police investigating the blaze have said it likely...
WASHINGTON — In a dramatic appeal, wounded former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords urged Congress on Wednesday to enact tougher curbs on guns, saying, “too many children are dying” without them. “The time is now. You must act. Be bold, be courageous, Americans are counting on you,” she told the Senate Judiciary Committee at Congress’ first gun control hearing since 20 elementary school children were shot to death in Newtown, Conn., late last year. She spoke haltingly, a result of the wounds suffered when she was shot in the head in an attempted a...
Stanley Karnow, the award-winning author and journalist who wrote a definitive book about the Vietnam War, worked on an accompanying documentary and later won a Pulitzer for a history of the Philippines, died Sunday morning. He was 87. Karnow, who had congestive heart failure, died in his sleep at his home in Potomac, Md., said son Michael Karnow. A Paris-based correspondent for Time magazine early in his career, Karnow was assigned in 1958 to Hong Kong as bureau chief for Southeast Asia and...
CINCINNATI (AP) – Leroy “Sugarfoot” Bonner, frontman for the hit-making funk music band the Ohio Players, has died. He was 69. The Ohio Players, known for their brassy dance music, catchy lyrics and flamboyant outfits, topped music charts in the 1970s with hits such as “Love Rollercoaster,” ‘’Fire,” ‘’Skin Tight” and “Funky Worm.” A spokeswoman for a Newcomer Funeral Home in the Dayton suburb of Kettering said Monday morning that the family hadn’t scheduled any public services. There was...
NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball said it is “extremely disappointed” about new allegations of performance-enhancing drug use against Alex Rodriguez and other players contained in a newspaper report. The Miami New Times, a popular alternative weekly, said in a story Tuesday that it had obtained files through an employee at a recently closed clinic in south Florida that show Rodriguez purchased HGH and other substances. Rodriguez, the New York Yankees slugger currently recovering from hip surgery, has admitted using steroids from 2001-...
NEW YORK (AP) — Passing another milestone on the nation’s long journey back from the Great Recession, the Standard and Poor’s 500 index closed above 1,500 for the first time in more than five years Friday after a wave of good earnings reports. It took scores of incremental gains, several stalled rallies and a few sickening falls, but the widely watched S&P, one of the broadest measures of the American stock market, finished at 1,502.96, up 8.14 points. The index had not closed above 1,500 since December 2007, the start of the worst econo...
A sheriff who released a radio ad urging Milwaukee-area residents to learn to handle firearms so they can defend themselves while waiting for police said Friday that law enforcement cutbacks have changed the way police can respond to crime. In the 30-second commercial, Milwaukee County Sheriff David Clarke Jr. says personal safety is no longer a spectator sport. “I need you in the game,” he says. “With officers laid off and furloughed, simply calling 911 and waiting is no longer your best option,” he adds. “You can beg for mercy from a violent...
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln man’s Colorado conviction for driving while impaired can’t be used to enhance his Nebraska sentence for drunken driving, the Nebraska Supreme Court said Friday. The state’s high court ordered a new sentencing hearing for Travis Mitchell, 39, who was sentenced in 2011 to three to five years in prison for a fourth-offense drunken driving conviction. Lincoln police determined Mitchell was drunk in 2010 when he wrecked his car in Lincoln, and he was convicted the next year. At his April 2011 sentence enhancement hearing...
HONOLULU (AP) — Houston running back Arian Foster says players are going to step up at the Pro Bowl this year, but don’t expect 100 percent effort. Foster said Friday after practicing with his AFC teammates that it’s unrealistic to expect full effort from the NFL’s top athletes when they’re limited in the plays they’re able to run. “This isn’t basketball — you can’t go play a pickup game of football,” Foster said. Foster said if the NFL expects 100 percent effort from its stars and league officials are willing to cancel the game if they don...
A lookahead of what to be aware of when the Baltimore Ravens and San Francisco 49ers meet in the Super Bowl on Feb. 3 in New Orleans: 1. LIVE OR LIP SYNC? Don’t walk away at halftime! Unless, of course, you want to miss Beyonce in concert. And who wants to do that? Watch closely to see if she’s really sings or lip syncs. Beyonce hasn’t said which she did when she performed the national anthem at President Obama’s inauguration. 2. DANCE, DANCE, DANCE Ravens fans will rock the building during Ray Lewis’ pregame Squirrel Dance, a YouTube s...
From France’s Joan of Arc to female resistance fighters in World War II and the black-clad women warriors of the Viet Cong, history is filled with stories of women fighting alongside men. In many modern armies, however, ground infantry combat is still largely a male preserve — either by regulation, practical issues such as physical requirements of living space or personal preference in volunteer forces. But change is afoot. Wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, where supply troops, clerks and military police have ended up in battle regardless of gen...
LONDON (AP) — The British government published a bill to legalize same-sex marriage Friday, and said lawmakers will get their first vote on it in Parliament next month. The Marriage (Same Sex Couples) Bill extends marriage to gay couples but excludes clergy in the Church of England — the country’s official faith — from having to carry out the ceremonies. That is intended to placate religious opponents of same-sex unions — though it has not stopped criticism of the bill from religious leaders. “We feel that marriage is a good thing and we shou...
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Standing outside the Cathedral Basilica as thousands filed inside to pay their respects, Stan Musial’s grandson was thankful. “Just seeing all this,” Brian Schwarze said, “and I got to play catch with him.” “I mean, he was my grandfather. But I really do believe I’m starting to understand somewhat what he meant to the whole community,” he said. Many visitors seemed to treat Thursday’s six-hour public visitation as if it was Stan the Man’s final game day, decked out in team at...
NEW YORK (AP) — The person Manti Te’o says was pretending to be his online girlfriend told the Notre Dame linebacker “I love you” in voicemails that were played during his interview with Katie Couric. Taped earlier this week and broadcast Thursday, the hour-long talk show featured three voicemails that Te’o claims were left for him last year. Te’o said they were from the person he believed to be Lennay Kekua, a woman he had fallen for online but never met face-to-face. After the first message was played, Te’o said: “It sounds like a girl, do...
NORFOLK (AP) — Some northeast Nebraska farmers are facing new irrigation rules. The rules were adopted Thursday night by the Lower Elkhorn Natural Resources District Board at its meeting in Norfolk. The district includes parts of Madison, Pierce and Wayne counties. The rules bar expansion of irrigation to new areas as well as bar offseason irrigation. There are irrigation educational requirements, and irrigators must install groundwater water monitors. Some of the irrigators will have annual limits on how much water they can pump. The board h...
ALLIANCE (AP) — A 40-year-old man accused of setting his western Nebraska home on fire has pleaded not guilty to an arson charge. Authorities say Isaac Gonzalez ignited a fire Dec. 13 in the basement of a house he rented in Alliance. Alliance officers pulled Gonzalez to safety through a window. He was hospitalized in Scottsbluff. After his release he surrendered to police on Jan. 8. He’s free on bond. The Class 3 charge carries a maximum prison term of 20 years. Gonzalez is due back in court on April 1. Damage of $100,000 to the house and its...
WASHINGTON — They seem right out of a Hollywood fantasy, and they are: Cars that drive themselves have appeared in movies like “I, Robot” and the television show “Knight Rider.” Now, three years after Google invented one, automated cars could be on their way to a freeway near you. In the U.S., California and other states are rewriting the rules of the road to make way for driverless cars. Just one problem: What happens to the millions of people who make a living driving cars and trucks — jobs that always have seemed sheltered from the onslaug...
HASTINGS – Nebraska astronaut Clayton Anderson said plans for his future were up in the air after his retirement from a 30-year career with NASA. Over his time with the agency, Anderson spent almost 170 days in space, including nearly 40 hours on spacewalks. Anderson confirmed to the Hastings Tribune what he posted on his Twitter account: he’s leaving the national space agency. “Anything is a possibility,” the 53-year-old Anderson said. “No doors are closed.” He and his family will remain in Houston for now, he said, but they could move back t...
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — With a steady din coming from the sea of orange behind the visitors’ basket, No. 1 Duke had a tough time making a shot. The Blue Devils went more than 8 minutes without a field goal in the first half Wednesday night, and a sellout became a blowout for No. 25 Miami, which delighted a boisterous crowd with a 90-63 victory. The defeat was the third-worst ever for a No. 1 team. The last time Duke lost a regular-season game by a bigger margin was in January 1984. “It wasn...
DHAKA, Bangladesh (AP) — When fire ravaged a Bangladeshi garment factory, killing 112 workers, dozens of their families did not even have a body to bury because their loved ones’ remains were burned beyond recognition. Two months later, the same families have yet to receive any of the compensation they were promised — not even their relatives’ last paychecks. An official with the country’s powerful garment industry said DNA tests must first be conducted to confirm the losses of more than 50 families. He would not say why the families have not...
(AP) – Add Junior Seau’s family to the thousands of people who are suing the NFL over the long-term damage caused by concussions. Seau’s ex-wife and four children sued the league Wednesday, saying the former linebacker’s suicide was the result of brain disease caused by violent hits he sustained while playing football. The wrongful death lawsuit, filed in California Superior Court in San Diego, blames the NFL for its “acts or omissions” that hid the dangers of repetitive blows to the head. I...
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Chicago Cubs scout Sam Hughes watches Colin Kaepernick nowadays and still wonders what the strong-armed NFL quarterback might look like on a pitching mound, as a power arm in the pros. It’s hard not to, seeing the zip and accuracy on each throw, the competitive fire and fierce focus. The Cubs never even watched Kaepernick throw a baseball before drafting him in the 43rd round almost four years ago. They did watch him throw a football for Nevada, and decided that college game told them more than enough. Ultimately, the...
NEW YORK (AP) — Amy Freeze can talk football and forecasts. So with the Super Bowl coming to New York next year, and with local temperatures stuck in the teens, the WABC-TV meteorologist was all set to look ahead. “Football fans like a little winter weather,” she offered on a windy Wednesday. OK, but exactly how wintry? Try this long-range reckoning for the matchup at MetLife Stadium, from the soon-to-be printed Farmers’ Almanac: “An intense storm, heavy rain, snow and strong winds. This could seriously impact Super Bowl XLVIII.” Predicts ed...
NEW YORK (AP) — Manufacturers have been using technology to cut blue-collar jobs for years. Now, they’re targeting their white-collar workers, too. Factory Automation Systems makes machines that help companies cut, bundle and load products faster and cheaper than humans can. But it didn’t realize how much technology could help its own business until the Great Recession hit. To save money, the Atlanta company cut nine workers doing administrative tasks, like booking flights, answering phones, managing employee benefits and ordering parts and s...
