Nebraska Update

In death penalty case the defense attorney, Todd Lancaster, argues the defendant, Bailey Boswell, was not in her right state of mind at the time of the murder of Sydney Loofe. He uses witness testimony to argue against the death penalty.

Niobrara River outfitter had good year amid social distancing; still going strong

Firework related-injuries and deaths were up in 2020, according to a yearly report done by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

The commission found that at least 18 people died in 2020 from a firework-related injury, up from 12 in 2019. The number of injuries increased as well, with at least 15,600 firework injuries being treated last year. That’s an increase of 56% from 2019. In the past 15 years, about 9 people have died each year from firework-related injuries.


“A review of data from telephone follow-up investigations showed that the typical causes of injuries were due to both the misuse and malfunction of fireworks,” the report says. “At the time of the telephone investigation, which was conducted typically 1 to 2 months after the injury, most victims had recovered from their injuries. One of the 7 respondents interviewed reported that the injury will be long term.”

Of those injured, the majority were men and between the ages of 25 and 44. Young adults between the ages of 20 and 24 were the most likely to be injured.

The most common parts of the body that were injured were the hands and fingers, followed by head, face and ears. Burns were the most common injury.

Due to the nature of gathering information on deaths, it’s possible that some deaths are not yet counted, so the organization considers that the latest statistics should be treated as minimums. Many of the deaths that occured last year were from using commercial grade fireworks. Drugs and alcohol were found in the bodies of several of those killed.

The C.P.S.C. recommends that young children stay away from fireworks, and that water be accessible in case of any mishaps.

In testimony at Boswell’s sentencing hearing the head of the state’s prison system conceded there currently is no plan in place to accommodate a case of this sort.
“If a female were to receive such a sentence, we would ultimately draft policy language specific to whatever those needs were,” said Director of Correctional Services Scott Frakes told judges in Saline County District Court on Thursday morning.
The testimony came during the second phase of a hearing before a three-judge panel convened to determine if Boswell’s crime met the criteria for capital punishment.

Having a small child with a terminal disease is difficult and traumatic for any parent. Two families, one from North Platte and the other from Pittsburgh, are now linked thanks to the organ donation from a dying child. The kids' mothers met for the first time on a Facebook Live event earlier this week, six years after Olivia's death and Lucas’ new life.

The hearing to determine whether twenty-seven-year-old Bailey Boswell will be the first woman to be sentenced to death in Nebraska opened this morning at the Saline County Courthouse. A jury found the woman guilty of assisting Aubrey Trail with killing and dismembering Sydney Loofe in the couple’s apartment in Wilber.
Boswell’s attorney, Todd Lancaster, told the court he intends to raise questions about whether the Nebraska’s prison system has the capability of housing an individual woman in isolation without violating the constitutional prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment.

Today (Thursday) marks a big change in college athletics: It’s the first day student athletes can monetize their name, image or likeness. In today’s Signature Story, Will Bauer of Nebraska Public Media News has more on what it means and what it will look like in the state. The idea wasn’t new in Nebraska, but it’s now possible here and everywhere else. Student athletes, under interim NCAA bylaws, are now able to monetize their name, image and likeness. It’s uncharted waters for everyone involved.

BLAKE LAWRENCE 1: “When name image and likeness legislation changes go into effect, it'll forever change college athletics.”

That’s Blake Lawrence. He’s a former Nebraska football player and now CEO of Opendorse, a Lincoln-based company that works with athletes all over the country with endorsements and social media. He’s been at the heart of name, image and likeness or NIL since he founded his company in 2012. For Lawrence, the obvious impact on the horizon of college athletics? What makes it unique: recruiting.

Young dancers from various Nebraska ballet companies piled into the Lied Center's main stage today (Wednesday), in preparation for a class with a Master of Dance. The session was taught by Carlos Gonzales, a dancer with the prestigious New York-based American Ballet Theatre company, which is in town this week to kick off its ABT Across America Tour

A prison staffing emergency is forcing Nebraska corrections officials to move to 12-hour shifts at two Lincoln-area facilities. The head of prisons in the state says a tight labor market is making it tough for him to hire anyone.

The Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department is investigating the first case in their region of the highly contagious Delta COVID-19 variant. It was first detected in India, which caused a major outbreak in the Asian country and the U.K. Health Director Myra Stoney says the variant came to Nebraska because of travel and urges everyone to get vaccinated.