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About The daily Nebraskan. ([Lincoln, Neb.) 1901-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 28, 1995)
Routine stops risky for police OMAHA (AP)—Traffic stops for improperly registered license plates are too common to routinely call for backup, police in Nebraska’s largest city said. Omaha Police Officer James Wil son Jr. was killed Aug. 20 when he pulled over a van with license plates registered to a different vehicle. Wil son did not even have a chance to leave his cruiser before he was shot.in the head. Seven people have been charged in Wilson’s killing. Training officers in Minneapolis, Denver and Portland, Ore., say li cense plates registered to a different vehicle are a danger sign that makes it advi sable to have two or more officers present before stopping a vehicJe, the Omaha World-Herald reported. But Nebraska authorities say the high cost of registering vehicles here coupled with a low fine for improper registration make such stops a daily occurrence for Omaha officers. * Wilson was alone in his cruiser. A 1992 consultant’s report on the Omaha Police Department says research has shown that two-officer cars tend to increase officer injuries and citizen complaints of overly aggressive po lice conduct. _ The report recommended that the department develop written policies on what kind of situations required more than one patrol car. Omaha police officials have said written policies exist. On Friday, they declined to disclose the policies or discuss training in detail. “We have people out there trying to kill us,” said Lt. Mark Sundermeier, head of the training unit. “Our officers are safer if the criminals know less about what we do.” Vehicle stops are considered par ticularly dangerous because officers often have little idea of whom or what they will be facing. McMenamin reward increases By The Associated Press A reward for information that would help solve the killing of an Omaha woman has grown to $12,550. Martina S. McMenamin, 18, was found dead in her southeast Lincoln apartment July. 25. She had finished her freshman year at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln last year.. Police reports indicated that McMenamin had been repeatedly stabbed. Investigators have not iden tified any suspects. The latest contributors to the County rejects tribe’s attempt to build homes By The Associated Press The Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, stripped of its land by Congress de cades ago, has been turned down in its attempt to build five homes for needy families in Lancaster County. The tribe has $4 million in a grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to build the homes, and it has the land picked out in west Lincoln. But the tribe’s attempt to obtain tax-exempt status for the property it wants to build on was rejected last week by the county’s Board of Equal ization: “It was the county’s opinion that the exemptions did not qualify under the law providing exemptions,” said Keuy Eagan, chief county adminis trative officer. The law allows tax exemptions for religious, charitable or educational organizations with property. “The statutes are very specific about who gets exemptions and who doesn’t,” Eagan said. “There’s noth ing about providing exemptions to an Indian housing authority.” Mark Peniska, the tribe’s housing commissioner for Lancaster County, said he believed the board acted un fairly. What s really so frustrating is our program mirrors the public housing program in Lincoln here,” he said. “We get federal funds to build hous ingjust like the city housing authority. It’s exactly the same thing.” - The Ponca have worked to find housing for some of their needy fami lies in Nebraska since the federal gov ernment restored its tribal status in 1990. The status came without land. The tribe was split in 1878 be tween Nebraska and Indian Territory, which later became Oklahoma. In 1962* Congress terminated the north ern Ponca tribe and dissolved tribal lands and holdings. The Ponca have tried to bui Id hous ing in five counties where tribal mem bers live: Lancaster, Douglas, Madi-. son, Knox and Boyd. In all, there are plans to build 40 homes, including some in Charles Mix County in South Dakota. Officials in Douglas County and the city of Omaha gave the tribe ap proval to build 13 homes in Omaha. Peniska said officials there agreed that the tribe met the letter of the law when they formed the Northcm’Ponca Chari table Housing Corp. \ , Knox County also approved the construction of seven houses in Niobrara, the northeast Nebraska town where the tribe has its headquarters. Madison County commissioners rejected the tribe’s request for tax exempt status earlier this month. CrimeStoppers reward were the em ployees and owners of Lazio’s and Jabrisco restaurants in the Haymarket and the state CrimeStopper’s organi zation, Lt. Lee Wagner said. Restaurant employees raised $275, and restaurant owners matched that amount. Lazio’s senior manager John Wade said management of the two restaurants frequently did charity work, but never before had contrib uted to a CrimeStoppers reward. “We were just kind of concerned,” Wade said..“We'hadn’t seen a lot in the news lately, and we were afraid it i-— was kind of being shoved aside- and was being forgotten about. Hopefully, somebody might come forward.” The state CrimeStopper’s board contributed $1,000. Wagner said the state board decided to donate because young people from all over the state attended UNL. The Lincoln-Lancaster County CrimeStoppers Board originally ap proved its maximum $1,000 reward. Family and friends of McMenamin’s added $9,000 to the fund, and Godfather’s donated $1,000. McMenamin worked at Godfather’s. Get No Service Charge Checking And A FREE Gift From FirsTier! Get a terrific FREE gift when you open any personal checking account at FirsTier. We' - have seven smart checking plans to meet your needs, including our popular No Service Charge Personal Checking Account. Keep a low $100 minimum balance, and there are: • No monthly service fees • No per check charges • No limit.on the number of checks you write! And for 24-hour access to your money, every FirsTier checking account comes with a FirsTier Teller ATM card. 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