Nebraska Community Blood Bank has declared a second blood emergency this summer, saying supplies have dropped below a two-day inventory. Officials blame stormy weather, extreme heat and a seasonal slowdown in donations. Type O donors are especially needed. The Blood Bank asks those who can, donate as soon as possible. A healthy blood supply is typically five to seven days.
A Council Bluffs hospital is ending labor and delivery care. CHI Health Mercy Council Bluffs says that it will close its labor and delivery department as well as its Level Two NICU services on August 31st. Patients will be transitioned to CHI Health facilities in Omaha.
Around 60 animals have confiscated by the Nebraska Humane Society from an Omaha home. They included a zebra, emu, and ostrich. After receiving an anonymous tip, NHS got a search warrant to investigate the home on the city's westside. Dogs, chickens, geese, ducks, ponies, goats, pigs, and more were found emaciated and lacking appropriate living conditions. Most of the animals will be housed and cared for on NHS properties, with specialized partners for the animals that the Humane Society is not equipped to take care of.
Former University of Nebraska wrestler A.J. Ferrari is out on bond after being arraigned in court. The 24-year-old is charged with third-degree assault by strangulation or suffocation of a pregnant woman, third-degree domestic violence assault and first-degree false imprisonment. The charges come after he was accused of assaulting a pregnant woman in Lincoln this past May. The judge set Ferrari's bond at ten-percent of 200-thousand dollars before he was released Wednesday. He will be back in court on August 13th.
No one is injured after a tree landed on a home in Papillion. A call went out to the home near East 7th Street and Donegal Drive around 10 p.m. Wednesday. This happened after heavy rain and strong winds hit the Omaha metro. The incident remains under investigation.
Thursday marked the anniversary of one of the worst natural disasters in Iowa history. Heavy snows in early 1993 followed by summer rainstorms prompted flooding to begin that July 9th.The Raccoon River submerged Des Moines Water Works leaving 250,000 people without running water for nearly two weeks. Thousands evacuated the city, and the entire state was declared a disaster area with three-billion dollars in damages.
Nearly 80 Iowa National Guard members are being deployed to Europe. The troops will serve for a year in Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania as part of Operation Atlantic Resolve.