Local News

Last updated at 3:51 pm on November 21, 2008

LINCOLN -- Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman has signed into law an age limit of 30 days on children who can be dropped off at hospitals under the safe-haven law.The law goes into effect at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. Heineman signed the bill on Friday afternoon without fanfare and did not immediately issue a statement on the law. The Legislature, meeting in special session, gave its final approval earlier Friday. Nebraska has been the only safe-haven law in the country without an age limit. Designed to prevent newborns from being dumped in trash bins or worse, the law instead led to the drop-off of 35 children since September, none of them infants. They have mostly been preteens and teenagers as old as 17.

NORFOLK -- Nebraska’s Attorney General Jon Bruning held a WEBSAFE conference in Norfolk Friday morning. The conference was held to train local and county law enforcement in cases against internet predators. Bruning said today’s training was designed to give local enforcement the confidence to make cases on their own, rather than depending on the Attorney General’s Office. Bruning says in recent years, multiple laws have already been changed to enhance internet safetyand new bills will be offered when legislature convening’s this January, to increase penalties for internet predators. One way in doing so is by making state penalties very similar to federal penalties.

NORFOLK -- Organizations throughout the nation, including AseraCare of Norfolk and Oneill, are informing individuals and families about National Hospice and Palliative care month this November. Both Hospice and Palliative care are programs directed at individuals who are towards then end of life. Examples include those who may be dying of terminal cancer, heart failure, or lung disease. Associate Medical Care Director of Norfolk’s AseraCare Hospice, Julie Fletcher, says awareness of the programs is one of the most important factors and the programs are designed to create comfort for patients and families. Today there are more than 45 hundred hospice programs and 12 hundred palliative care programs nationwide.

NORFOLK-- Norfolk fire fighters were called to a house fire late Thursday afternoon. Shift Commander Steve Bettendorf says they were called to 12-05 Grant avenue where they found a single family home filled with smoke. A fire was located and quickly extinguished in a portable space heater. No-one was home at the residence which is owned by Angela Osborn. Cause of the fire was determined to be a malfunction in the space heater. Damage to the home and contents is estimated at 40 thousand dollars.

NORFOLK-- Following news that Nebraska’s College Savings plan was ranked as one of the worst in the country, State Treasurer Shane Osborn has announced details of a new and improved plan. While in Norfolk Thursday, Osborn said the State will sever ties with Invesco AIM and has developed a partnership with Oppenheimer Funds to establish a new version of the State Farm College Savings Plan. Under the new plan, Osborn says account holders will see a significant decrease in applicable fees. Osborn says "We cut the fund fees by an average of 47 basis points. We got rid of the 25-dollar account fee, and that equates to a 53 percent savings for the average State Farm account holder.” The plan also includes a 5-thousand dollar State tax deduction. Osborn says even with 14-thousand new accounts opened in the past year, nearly 90 percent of Nebraska’s youth are still without a college savings plan. He hopes the new opportunity and its benefits will spark some new interest.

NORFOLK -- After being accused of stealing over 10 thousand dollars from two exchange students, a search warrant was issued to attain bank records of 34 year old Fayette Klug of Norfolk. Mike Bowersox of the Madison county Sheriff’s Office filed the warrant for account activity between August 4th and November 6th. Klug faces two counts of theft by deception and two counts of unauthorized us of a financial transaction devise, all of which are felony charges. A preliminary hearing will be held Monday in Madison County Court.

WASHINGTON-- The nation’s three leading automobile manufacturers are not getting much support from law makers on a proposed 25 billion dollar bailout plan being heard by congress this week. The auto industry is facing the same type of collapse as the financial industry saw earlier this year before congress approved a 700 billion dollar bailout. Nebraska Senator Ben Nelson is in favor of a bailout for Ford, General Motors and Chrysler but he does not condone writing the industry a blank check. Nelson told reporters today that a similar plan like the one President Carter used in the 1970’s to save Chrysler should be employed. Things are looking bleak for the bailout plan on capitol hill. Democratic party leaders say if congress can not agree on a bailout package it will be up to the Bush Administration to save the industry from total collapse and the loss of millions of jobs nationwide.

ATLANTA-- The Madison county chapter of the American Cancer Society’s Relay for life campaign was recently honored among the top ten in the nation for per capita dollars raised in like sized communities. Madison County’s May 30^th Relay For Life event raised over 228 thousand dollars which was 6^th best in the nation for counties with populations of 35 to 40 thousand people.