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City of Beatrice, mayor seek to have lawsuit dismissed

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The city of Beatrice and its mayor are asking a judge to dismiss a lawsuit by a former mayoral candidate who says his property was condemned as retaliation for his criticisms of the mayor.

Ronald Hasley filed the lawsuit in December 2013, a little more than three years after he lost the Beatrice mayoral election to current Mayor Dennis Schuster. In the lawsuit, Hasley says he was targeted by Schuster and city officials when a house he owns in Beatrice was condemned as uninhabitable within weeks of his failed 2010 election bid.

On Wednesday, an attorney for the city and mayor, Thomas Culhane, filed a motion seeking to have the lawsuit dismissed, saying Schuster has qualified immunity and that there was probable cause for city officials to condemn the property.

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