Spitting ordinance passed "
The council also voted 6-0
Monday-to pass an ordimmce-that
would ban spitting on people.
Lincoln Police Chief Tom Casady
had asked the council to consider the
ordinance because people sometimes
spit on police officers who are arrest
ing them.
I - -x
Council votes to ban cell
phones during meetings
The City Council voted 6-0
Monday to stop the use of cellular
phones during council meetings.
The ordinance prohibits the
“audible use of any mobile, portable
or wireless communication device”
during meetings.
The council voted to put the word
“audible” in the ordinance because
Councilman Jonathan Cook said the
ordinance was too broad.
Without the word “audible,” the
ordinance would ban vibrating beep
ers and wireless Internet connections
of laptop computers during meetings.
^ Councilman Jerry Shoecraft-said
the council should check with the
ordinance’s sponsor, Councilman Jon
Camp, to see if he would approve the
change. Camp is in China with Gov.
'Klike Johanns on a trade mission.
— - “I wonder if that would be accept
able to Jon,” Shoecraft said. “Maybe
we should ask him,” he joked, hold
ing up-a cellular phone.
Lincolnite asks
for sidewalk repair
Lincoln resident Glenn Cekal
asked the council Monday to repair
sidewalks in downtown Lincoln.
Cekal said he walked to Kimball
Recital Hall to see the “O Pioneers!”
opera last weekend and disliked the
sidewalks on 14th Street south of the
Capitol. He said he had asked the
council before to fix the sidewalks.
“I have complained a number of
times about the situation ... blast it
all,” he said.
“If it sounds like I’m reprimand
ing you, I am. If we can build all
kinds of things including baseball
diamonds, as sure as ‘H’ we can build
sidewalks.”
Council Chairwoman Coleen
"Seng^ asked City Engineer Roger
Figard to give the council an update
on sidewalk repair at next Monday’s
meeting.
Figard said after the council
meeting that the city fixes Lincoln’s
worst sidewalks first. Lincoln has
been spending $250,000 a year for
sidewalk repair.
‘‘That doesn’t go Very far,” Figard
said.
Ordinance to increase size
of fast-food signs OK’d
The council voted 6-0 Monday to
pass an ordinance that w&uld increase
the size of fast-food restaurant drive
thru signs. McDonald’s Restaurants
asked for the ordinance because it
wanted to put more pictures on its
signs.
Councilman Jeff Fortenberry said
he thought the signs would be too big.
“It does seem quite large, and it’s
very difficult to visualize this without
a prop,” Fortenberry said.
Councilman Cook said he thought
the signs would be OK.
“Overall, I think the impact is
small enough that it looks like a rea
sonable request,” he said.
Compiled by staff writer
Sarah Fox
Sheriff’s office begi ns move
■ First agency begins
settling into the newly
renovated Justice and Law
Enforcement Center.
By Jake Bleed
Senior staff writer
The Lancaster County Sheriff’s
Office began moving Monday into
the Justice and Law Enforcement
- Center;-575.S. 10th St.; the first of
several agencies to move into the ren-_
ovated building.
The Justice and Law Enforcement
Center, formerly the County-City
Building, will eventually house the
Lincoln Police Department,
Lancaster County and District courts,
' offices of both the city and county
attorneys and the juvenile court.
> The last agency to move in, the
Lincoln Police Department, is sched
uled to tnove in January 2000.
Sheriff’s office records were
• moved Monday. Civil division and
administration will be moved today,
followed Wednesday by the patrol
and investigation units, Sheriff Terry
Wagner said.
The office’s phone number will
not change, Wagner said. Calls to the
department can now be answered at
both the new location and the sher
iff’s old home, 1033 O St., Wagner
said.
The move will not interrupt ser
vices, Wagner said, because the
patrol division, which fields the
majority of calls,, will work through
out the move.
Records such as accident reports
may not be available while records
are being moved to the new location
but should be available later this
wpek, Wagner said.
I The sheriff’s office wad housed in
Gold’s Galleria, 1033 O St., for about
two years, Wagner said. During that
time, deputies were stationed at five
different locations throughout the
county.
The new move will bring most of
the deputies under one roof, increas
ing the office’s efficiency, Wagner
said.
“We’ll all be back under one
roof,” Wagner said. “That’s one of the
big advantages. We’ll have a lot more
efficiency which means we’re saving
more money.”
Deputies posted with Lancaster
County district and juvenile courts
will follow when the courts move to
the new location.
A deputy posted at the title
inspector’s office at 46th and R streets
6(
We ’ll all be back
under one roof that’s
one of the big
advantages. We ’ll
have a lot more
efficiency...”
I Terst Wagner |
sheriff
will remain after the move, Wagner
said.
Wagner said the courts will be
closer to the sheriff’s office, allowing
deputies to reach the courts quickly if
needed.
Courtrooms disrupted often
require additional officers to contain,
Wagner said.
The sheriff’s office will also be
hiring new staff to guard the security
gate on the new building’s front door,
Wagner said.
Eight to 10 part-time employees
will be at the metal detector gate,
which Wagner described as being like
those found in airports.
Education Week
inspires students
By Lindsay Henshilwood
Staff writer
American Education Week kicks
✓ off this week, but UNL students and
athletes were busy last week visiting
schools and promoting education.
Keith Zimmer, director of life
skills in th^ NU Athletic
Department, said the University of
Nebraska-Lincoln had been
involved in American Education
Week for the eight years.
students from groups such as
Golden Key and Pi Lambda Beta
honor societies, as well as the NU
Athletic Department, were involved
in the week, Zimmer said.**
Last week the group of UNL stu
dents traveled to nine schools in the
area, concentrating mainly on sev
enth- to ninth-graders, Zimmer said.
“Every year the involvement of
UNL students seems to have been a
success,” Zimmer said.
“They encourage the children
and provide them with insights into
what it is like to be a student in high
er education. The sharing of person
al experience is particularly valu
able;”^
Fungai Tongoona, a sophomore
international business major and NU
tennis player, took part in last week’s
visits.
Tongoona, along with four UNL
students, spoke to Lefler Middle
School students about goal-setting
and why students should not drop
out.
“They were very interested in
what I had to say and asked a lot of
questions, but I think some of them
had a little difficulty in understand
ing the concept,” Tongoona said.
Although UNL’s involvement in
u—
The involvement of
UNL students seems
to have been a
success”
Keith Zimmer
director of life skills
for NU Athletic Department
American Education Week took
place last week, schools in the area
are holding the main events for the
rest of this week.
“The aim of the week is to draw
attention to the importance of educa
tion to the children in school at the
moment,” said A1 Koontz, assistant
director of communications for the
Nebraska State Education
Association.
“It is important to make sure that
children in school at the moment
realize just how important education
is because they are our future.
“We are doing this by trying to
encourage older members of the
community, such as parents and
politicians, to get involved.”
The week was established in
1921 after some returning soldiers
from World War I were found to be
functionally illiterate.
Koontz said the National
Education Association and the
American Legion set up the week,
and now 13 national organizations
are involved, such as the American
Association of School
Administrators and the National
School Boards Association.
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Original Sauce Spaghetti, Plus a lHp
Tto Our Garden Fresh Salad Bar &
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Offer good lor Lunch or Dinner. /Qt
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i
_in
U.N. offices
liUon fire-in -
Afghanistan
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) -
Protesters angered by U.N. sanctions
burned a U.N. office to the ground
Monday, set effigies of President
Clinton ablaze and scuffled with
Taliban troops guarding the world
body’s buildings and equipment.
The United Nations accused the
religious army of not doing enough
to stop the violence, which has gone
on daily since the U.N. decided to
slap sanctions on the country over its
refusal to turn over suspected terror
ist Osama bin Laden.
Bin Laden, a Saudi exile who
lives in Afghanistan, is accused of
masterminding last year’s twin U.S.
embassy bombings in East Africa,
killing 524 people.
^ U.Nroffices were closedand U.N.
workers confined to their homes on
Monday.
