Investigation nets
26 drug warrants
By Josh Funk
Senior staff writer
Twenty-six people suspected of
drug dealing received an unexpected
wake-up call at 7 a.m. Thursday.
In a joint operation Lincoln
Police, state patrol and Lancaster
County sheriffs served 26 arrest war
rants on suspected street-level drug
dealers.
The warrants are the result of one
year of undercover investigations,
which began in July 1997.
Fourteen of the warrants resulted
from a state patrol investigation and
the other 12 came from a LPD inves
tigation. Sheriffs assisted in the
arrests.
“We’re just rounding up the usual
suspects,” LPD Narcotics Capt.
Duane Bullock said.
The warrants were all served at
the same time to keep dealers from
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spreading the word that police were
on the prowl.
“We work together to make the
best impact we can,” State Patrol Lt.
G.T. Griess said.
The warrants were divided among
charges for marijuana, crack cocaine and
methamphetamine, all felonies.
LPD also issued one ticket to a
suspect already in custody.
Bullock said methamphetamine
is still the main problem in Lincoln.
Bullock would not comment on
whether any of the warrants were
related to recent indictments.
The state patrol made arrests on
10 of their 14 warrants Thursday,
Griess said.
Troopers also made some addi
tional arrests of people with out
standing warrants who were found at
the homes of these dealers.
Police hope some of the suspects
arrested Thursday will lead them to
larger suspected dealers.
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Police cite driver, passenger
Some creative driving led
University Police officers to cite two
men on drug and alcohol charges
Wednesday afternoon.
Officers saw two men in a car exit
Q4Quik convenience store, 17th and
Vine streets, and drive east in the
westbound lanes of Vine Street to get
around the median, University Police
Sgt. Mylo Bushing said.
Officers stopped the car in the
Beadle Center parking lot.
As he walked toward the car, the
officer saw the passenger trying to
shove something under the back of
the driver’s seat.
When he reached the driver’s win
dow the officer could see a beer can
half under the driver’s seat pouring
beer on the car floor.
The officer also noticed part of a
clear plastic bag hanging out of the
passenger’s pocket, and the bag held
a small amount of a substance sus
pected to be marijuana.
The passenger, a minor, was cited
for possessing alcohol and less than
an ounce of marijuana.
The driver was cited for buying
alcohol for a minor.
Prescription prompts arrest
A Lincoln woman was arrested
for trying to prescribe her own
painkillers Thursday afternoon.
The woman called into Winter
Drug, 2756 O St., saying she worked
at a doctor’s office to prescribe
Tylenol 3 and Xanex, Lincoln police
Sgt. Ann Heermann said.
Tylenol 3 is a strong painkiller
with codeine, and Xanex is ap anti
anxiety drug that acts to depress the'
central nervous system.
When the pharmacist called the
doctor’s office to confirm the pre
scription, the doctor said he had not
prescribed it. _
So the pharmacist called police,
and when the 34-year-old woman
from Hastings came in to pickup the
prescription, which she said was for
her sister, she was arrested.
The woman was charged with
pharmacy fraud, a misdemeanor, and
police found a drug pipe in her purse,
another misdemeanor charge.
Renovation proposal
OK’d for Love Library
By Lindsay Young
Senior staff writer
The university Friday obtained
the last level of approval necessary
for a $12.6 million project to renovate
UNDs Love Library.
The state’s . Coordinating
Commission for Postsecondary
Education unanimously passed the
proposal to allow die renovation of
Love Library South on the
University of Nebrasfca-Lincoln’s
City Campus.
The commission is a state agency
whose members are appointed by the
governor. It is in charge of coordinat
ing Nebraska’s public colleges and
universities.
Renovations include improv
ing the air conditioning and venti
lation systems, complying with
fire safety codes and Americans
with Disabilities Act require
ments, and removing asbestos,
Project Manager Clark deVries
said. He is a registered engineer
for Facilities Planning and
Construction at UNL.
“The mechanical renovations
will help protect the collections,” he
said. Temperature and humidity can
cause damage to books, but with a
new mechanical system in place,
“we will be able to even that out,” he
said.
The project will renovate about
158,334 square feet. The design
will be completed by May L999,
and construction will start in July
1999.
The work will be done in phases
over 2Vi years so people can contin
ue to use the area, deVries said.
The proposal passed with little
discussion at the Friday meeting, said
Patsy Martin, the commission’s
spokeswoman.
Equal amounts of state tax
funds and student tuition sur
charges are financing the project
as part of a larger bond issue
authorized under LB 1100, which
passed in the 1998 Legislative
Session.
This bill gives $5.5 million a year
for the next 10 years to pay for
deferred maintenance to NU campus
buildings, including Love Library.
NU matches dial amount.
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