Week Rewound

Bellevue annexes 12 subdivisions

The largest annexation by the City of Bellevue in a decade added an estimated 5,400 residents to the city, reported the World-Herald. The population of Bellevue is now more than 53,000.

The subdivisions included in the annexation, effective Dec. 31, are Blackhawk, Daniell Crossing, Fairview, Leawood Oaks, Lookingglass Heights, Oakridge, Offutt Towers, Quail Creek, Stonecroft, Sunrise (Phase II), Two Springs and Two Springs II.

Outdoor drinking in C.B.? Maybe

After several bar owners in Council Bluffs requested the law that prohibits outdoor consumption of alcohol at taverns be revised, the C.B. City Council may consider voting to change the law in the near future, according to the Daily Nonpareil.

After smoking was banned inside businesses, it leaves many drinks unattended when patrons step out for a smoke break – or it leads to many patrons breaking silly laws.

The hope that a bar-garden type setup, where patrons can smoke and drink legally within a confined space outside a bar, will be made legal.

Council, Cook bring change to unicameral

Brenda Council and Tanya Cook will be the first two African-American women to hold seats in the Nebraska unicameral. Council claimed the seat held for so long by Ernie Chambers and Cook won Nebraska’s 13th district.

The two women told KETV-7 that they believe the results of the presidential race outweighs the significance of their own races, but all together the messages of hope and change ring loud and clear.

Daub 2009

Who’d of thunk it? Former Omaha Mayor Hal Daub officially announced he’ll be running for Mayor next year, after he told various media outlets he would likely do so months ago.

The World-Herald reported that Daub, a Republican, wants to fix the city’s current problems, instead of revisiting his former term as mayor. Daub, who basically pushed the Qwest Center to fruition, said he’s going to tackle Omaha’s “serious financial problems,” if elected.

Other potential mayoral candidates include City Councilman Jim Suttle, former mayor P.J. Morgan and Council President Dan Welch.

Safe haven count hits 30

Yet another teenager was left at an Omaha hospital Monday, thanks to the help of the state’s safe haven law, which permits kids ages 19 and younger to be literally abandoned legally at designated locations, according to WOWT-6.

This came just days before the Nebraska Legislature is set to change the Safe Haven Law.

The latest two cases involve a 17-year-old boy, a Douglas County resident, dropped off at Creighton Medical Center on Monday morning and an 18-year-old Lincoln girl dropped off at Bryan LGH West Hospital in Lincoln on Sunday night.

STDs on the rise in Omaha

Since 2004, the number of reported STD cases have increased substantially, according to WOWT-6.

Valda Ford, community response coordinator for the Douglas County Community STD Initiative, told the news station that the area is in the midst of Chlamydia and gonorrhea epidemics. She also said that Omaha, when compared to the national average, has a 62 percent greater amount of Chlamydia per 1,000 people.

A little advice: wrap it up and get tested regularly.

Lincoln bus hit by SUV

On Tuesday afternoon, a StarTran bus was hit head-on by an SUV near South 62nd Street in Lincoln, the Journal-Star reported, sending the bus off an embankment. The bus driver and the sole passenger were not injured. The driver of the SUV suffered minor injuries.

According to the Journal-Star, a police officer at the scene said the driver of the SUV was not paying attention when making a turn.

Mac ‘n’ cheese-induced violence

North Platte resident Donald J. Jacobs Jr., 48, was arrested by North Platte police for second-degree domestic assault after he allegedly hit his live-in girlfriend with a cooking pot. He was upset when she made him macaroni and cheese for dinner, the North Platte Telegraph reported.

A North Platte police investigator said the woman had a cut on the bridge of her nose and bruises on her face. Fearing her life, she locked herself in the bathroom as she called police.

An unemployed Jacobs Jr., intoxicated at the time of the arrest, faces a maximum five years in prison and a $10,000 fine. His bail is set at $5,000.