Week Rewound

It’s just a test

Offutt Air Force Base in Bellevue is conducting on-base exercises Wednesday through Friday this week. Expect loud noises from ground-burst simulators and clouds of smoke from smoke grenades. You might also hear emergency sirens. It’s all part of training, so don’t freak out.

Mom sent to prison

Jennifer Strong, 29, who was accused of intentionally fracturing her newborn’s skull has been sentenced to four to seven years in prison.

Strong was at Alegent’s Lakeside Hospital when a nurse found her and her 2-day-old baby boy crying. Stong claimed the baby fell off the bed, but fractures on the infants head suggested otherwise.

The baby was in the process of being adopted and is now living with his adoptive parents.

Safe Haven totals continue to rise

A 15-year-old girl dropped off at a local hospital by her legal guardian is the 27th child left under Nebraska’s unique safe-haven law.

In case you’re just tuning in, Nebraska was the last state to enact a safe-haven law, which is intended to protect unwanted newborns from being abandoned. However, unlike other states Nebraska’s law uses the word “child” without any age limit, which many have assumed includes teens.

Gov. Dave Heineman has called a special session to deal with Nebraska’s safe-haven law in hopes that legislatures will amend the law to be only for infants 3 days old or younger.

Park to walk tough

Thousands of people have visited the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge since it opened to the public four weeks ago. However, parking woes have likely kept some would-be walkers away.

“When the bridge initially opened, we did have a lot of problems with people that were parking illegally, but part of the problem was that it wasn’t posted very well,” Omaha police Lt. Darci Tierney told KETV. “Since then, we’ve gotten signs out to tell people where not to park, so the issue has been a lot better lately.”

Deer gone wild

Broken glass and furniture were left in the aftermath of a breaking-and-entering in two Lincoln homes last week. The suspect: a deer.

According to a report from KETV, Monnie and Harvey Maske came home from church Sunday to find their home in shambles.

“We thought somebody tried to trash the place. We walked into the living room and Harvey saw the window broken and he said it had to be a deer,” Monnie Maske told the station.

They found a set of deer antlers outside of a broken window. Three miles away, another house was damaged by a deer that crashed through a window.

Efforts to locate the deer were unsuccessful.

Wanted: bell ringers

The Salvation Army is looking for volunteers to ring bells this holiday season.

The SA needs hundreds of volunteers for a variety of locations and shift times to ring bells at the familiar red kettles.

The money collected during the six-week campaign goes towards supporting Salvation Army programs and services throughout the year, including food, clothing and housing.

Roid rage at the gym

Ricke Masterson Jr., who had been banned from the Goodyear Fitness Center in Lincoln, was arrested Monday after allegedly starting a fire in the bathroom.

An employee at Goodyear Fitness Center recognized Masterson and followed him to the men’s restroom where he discovered a burning trash can.

Masterson was arrested and jailed on suspicion of first-degree arson.

UNL student wields toy gun

A University of Nebraska-Lincoln student was arrested this week after he entered a campus building and waved a toy gun while yelling, “Get down on the ground,” according to Lincoln police.

Now, Ryan Labenz, 24, a senior art major, faces a charge of making terroristic threats. Labenz, who ran from the scene, was arrested at his home a short time later.

No one was injured.

Gas dips below $2!

For the first time since February 2005, prices for regular unleaded gasoline fell below $2 on Tuesday. It was $1.99 at the Buckey’s Amoco at 50th and Dodge streets.