Lincoln Journal Star from Lincoln, Nebraska • 4

SATURDAY. JULY LINCOLN, NE. JOURNAL state- Tornado struck with little warning Iff 6:1 necessary to attract the most qualified people it can." Hannon's hearing on the new trial motion will be Friday. Hastings teachers agree on contract HASTINGS (AP) Hastings teachers have reached tentative agreement with the school board on a 1988-89 contract that includes a 7.95 percent overall salary increase, officials said Under the agreement, the base salary grows from $14,562 in 1987-88 to $15,385, up 5.65 percent Including fringe benefits, state retirement and Social Security increases, the total increase was 9.5 percent said Superintendent Joseph Scalzo. The Board of Education is scheduled to ratify the agreement Monday.

If ratified it takes effect Aug. 22. Grant to encourage rental housing work WASHINGTON (AP) Nebraska will receive a $349,000 rental rehabilitation grant frfon the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Sen. David Karnes, R-Neb, said Friday.

The grants are awarded to states to encourage rental housing rehabilitation and rental subsidies for lower-income tenants, Karnes said Enrollment expected to increase in Omaha OMAHA (AP) The Omaha School District expects slight enrollment increases in the next few years, but overall enrollment is expected to remain stable, the district research director said "During the last four years, we've had an influx of young parents with children moving mostly into the older parts of the city," said Research Director Irv Young. New trial sought in Ewing ed suit O'NEILL (UPI) The Ewing Education-Teachers Association has filed a motion for a new trial in its lawsuit against the Ewing school board The association acted after Holt County District Judge Edward Han-non dismissed its lawsuit alleging the board had hired several new teachers at more than the beginning salary under the wage schedule. Ewing Superintendent Tom Huster said the board was pleased -with Harmon's June 28 dismissal of the suit A school board spokesman said the board "periodically, as an inducement to employment, under its policies advances new teachers one step for one year on the salary schedule." The spokesman said the action "is FromNewsWIres Bonnie Nusser was upstairs with her-three children when a tornado ripped through their Council Bluffs home. Thirty seconds later, the house was destroyed but the family was safe under a pile of rubble in the back yard "We were in the hallway upstairs and the house just started sliding. I just grabbed for the kids and held on," she said Friday.

"I had two of them with me so the thing I was thinking was, 'Where's the "We landed outside in the back yard under a pile of rubble. My son was under that pile of rubble where the stairs were," she said pointing to where her home used to be. 'Heard him scream' "We could hear him scream so we knew he was alive. We went to the next house and they were fine so we went to the next house and they were fine, too," Nusser said At least 64 people suffered minor injuries and more than 100 houses were damaged but no deaths or life-threatening injuries were reported when the tornado swept through about a two-mile stretch of western Council Bluffs parallel to Interstate 29 along the Missouri River. Police said the Nussers' home was in the center of the hardest-hit area.

The house on one side of the Nussers' house also was destroyed while two others to the north suffered major damage. Denny Nusser, 17, suffered a cut arm. Bonnie Nusser, her daughter Jillian, 11, and son Bobby, 14, were not hurt. Denny said he was walking into the shower when the house collapsed Started praying i ii rir A i)it Jeff Fuller of Clinton, Iowa, helps clear the rubble from his uncle Jerry Fuller's home in Council Bluffs after a tornado ripped through the area late Friday afternoon. Jerry Fuller was out of town on vacation when the twister hit.

Two names sent to Orr for workers' court post By Leslie Boellstorff Journal Writer James R. Coe, 39, an Omaha attorney, and John R. Thompson, 60, an assistant attorney general, were nominated Thursday for the Worker's Compensation Court judgeship established in April by the Legislature. Gov. Kay Orr has 60 days to choose one of the men for the judgeship.

Coe, a partner in the Omaha law firm of Carpenter, Rowen, Fitzgerald and Coe, was the only person from Omaha to apply for the job. In his application, he stated his experience in litigating personal injury cases and worker's compensation law qualified him for the position. He said he has practiced that law in every court of jurisdiction in the state and federal system. Thompson, who has been responsible for general torts, worker's compensation and labor relations matters for the state since joining the attorney general's office in 1976, probably has tried more cases before the Worker's Compensation Court than any other lawyer in the state, sources said He formerly was senior house counsel for Central Telephone and Utilities, where he worked from 1959 until 1976. "AH remember Is almost getting blown away.

I grabbed the body of the truck. The doors flew open and glass and debris was flying all over," she said Duff ack said Dick Latino "ran out and grabbed me." People in the restaurant hid in bathrooms and walk-in coolers in the kitchen, owner John Caniglia said The restaurant lost a rooftop air conditioner, exhaust fan and some ornamental pieces, he said Vance Alien, a waiter at Caniglia's, was going to work when the twister struck. A tree blew out in front of him and he struck a barrel in the road Motel damaged At the motel east of Caniglia's, a glass wall on the west side of the indoor pool blew in and the north-side glass wall blew out into the parking lot The pool was filled with debris, including deck chairs, aluminum framing, ceiling insulation and potted plants. A workman, Vera Nelson, had to have four stitches in his arm but no other injury was reported at the inn, Manager Phyllis Rajcevich said "We have a weather alarm here. When it went off we notified everyone by telephone," Rajcevich said Most went downstairs.

Rajcevich and employee Donan Vinci were up front when the tornado struck. "I went to the door, heard a whistle, the sound of a train and heard a boom," Vinci said She said she grabbed Rajcevich and they hid under the desk. "We were just praying everyone was safe," Rajcevich said Management supervisor Terry Geer of Omaha said about 30 rooms sustained damage. The roof was peeled away on the inn's west side and the main hallway was strewn with debris. "Thank God nobody was (seriously) hurt," Geer said The southwest wing evidently escaped damage, he said Next door at the Superior Honda car dealership, Manager Kevin Woodard said some of the 150-200 cars on the lot were damaged From Davey were driven into the ground sideways, about 6 to 8 inches.

It was all we could do to pull them out," she said Suzanne Short said the force of whatever hit the area could be seen in a destroyed row of 60-year-old cottonwood trees in her pasture, some of which were uprooted and some broken in half. Tree damage on the farm was tremendous, she said The Shorts' two young daughters, who were home during the storm, told her everything was "blowing wildly" before they headed for the basement, with the porch swing stretched straight out, Short said Windows were blown out of other buildings on the farm and a metal machine shed was buckled and torn apart, Short said Owner cried Nelma Riddle said she cried when she came home from work Friday and saw the damage to her farm. "I've never seen anything so sad in my life. It took me a while to realize the house was still standing," she said A barn built in the 1800s was flattened and a corn crib and chicken house were destroyed she said Things like a hog feeder were picked up and moved 30 feet, and a large tree in the yard was knocked over against the house. Riddle said one neighbor lost the roof off his home, and another lost the roof off his barn.

fr ASSOCIATED PRESS the picture window as the large down in Council Bluffs. "It just Goecker said. ASSOCIATED PRESS Saturday. A weak cool front reached across northern Iowa and central Nebraska into Wyoming early Saturday. Hot and humid conditions will continue to the south of the front along with a chance of showers and thunderstorms.

National Guard sent to storm area By Associated Press Gov. Terry Branstad dispatched the Iowa National Guard and Iowa State Patrol reinforcements Friday to help Council Bluffs deal with the aftermath of the tornado. Branstad aide Dick Vohs said the 50 Guard members and 25 patrol officers will help regulate traffic in the city without street lights due to power outages from high winds and lightning. The state crews will also help maintain security in neighborhoods where about 100 homes where damaged by the tornado and wind gusts, Vohs said against the Nashville Sounds. The Ak-Sar-Ben cancellation was the first at the track in six years, officials said Lightning and high winds also knocked at least one area radio station off the air and the Council Bluffs Nonpareil was forced to use Omaha World-Herald presses to put out a regular Saturday edition newspaper when Council Bluffs' power was knocked out by the storm.

A wind gust of 92 mph was reported at Omaha's Eppley Airfield at 4:21 p.m., the National Weather Service reported 1 James Payne is convicted in theft-by-deception case "All I know is somebody upstairs is looking out for us. I just started praying real quick," Denny said "I screamed and everything turned white," said Jillian. Sherm Collier of TombalL Texas, was visiting friends a block away from the Nusser home. "I looked out the front window and could see the tail going right through the houses," he said "I'd say you had about a minute warning." It was the second tornado Collier has seen the last in Texas in 1984 and he doesn't hope to see another. The roof was ripped off the sanctuary of the Shepherd of the Valley Lutheran Church across the street from the Nussers' house, but other buildings in the area were undamaged Birthday excitement Also in Council Bluffs, David Latino, 10, said his birthday turned pretty exciting when the tornado skipped over the Council Bluffs building he was in and ripped up a motel and car dealership nextdoor.

His father, Dick Latino, braved flying debris and the tornado's suction to rescue Tent Duffack from in front of Cani-glia's restaurant David said he and his father were in the restaurant at 36th Street and West Broadway when the tornado struck a fence west of the restaurant and slammed into the Heritage Inn motel east of the eatery. Saw funnel cloud About 12 people were in the restaurant and six reported seeing a funnel cloud Duffack was delivering parts for Bluffs Toyota when she said the storm forced her to pull over in front of Caniglia's. She tried to make a run for it but was forced back by high winds. i Mi.if,.M: Tiffca trim From Weather telephone lines but that utility crews worked through the night to try to restore power. High cloudiness decreased over southeast Nebraska overnight following the severe thunderstorms.

Skies were generally clear elsewhere in the state early From Storms praying very hard. Emphasize that we were praying real, real hard," said Council Bluffs resident Lu Guzenhauser, who was baby-sitting for two children when the storm hit her west-side neighborhood about 4:30 p.m. Guzenhauser and the children were not injured. However, part of the tool shed behind her house was hanging from power lines after the storm Five blocks away two houses were destroyed Tornado sightings Possible tornadoes and funnel clouds were reported throughout the Omaha area as Douglas and Sarpy counties in Nebraska and Pottattamie County in Iowa were under a tornado warning for nearly an hour. More than 2 inches of rain caused street flooding in parts of Omaha and hail was reported throughout the area.

Trees as thick as 48 inches in diameter snapped in half in Council Bluffs and others as tall as 100 feet were uprooted at Dodge Park Golf Course in Omaha. In the worst-hit area, a two-mile stretch in Council Bluffs, the tops of hundreds of trees were sawed off by the twister, sidewalks uplifted and roofs blown off houses. Clayton Mott 20, Omaha, was in serious condition Saturday at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, hospital spokesman Tom O'Connor said Mott and another man, Brian McCoy, 27, Omaha, were driving in a car in central Omaha when the tree crashed on the roof. McCoy was in fair condition with back and chest injuries. Struck by lightning United Press International reported that Dennis Kalina, 34, who nearly was knocked to the ground by lightning, also was admitted to the Omaha hospital and kept overnight for observation.

He was reported in good conditioa Twenty-three people were treated for injuries at Jennie Edmundson Hospital in Council Bluffs and 14 were treated at Council Bluffs' Mercy Hospital, including one who was admitted Roberta Miller, assistant manager of a Council Bluffs convenience store, said she had locked the store and was heading for shelter in the bathroom when she saw a youngster knocking on the door, trying to escape the storm. "The suction was so hard I couldn't get the door open," Miller said "It twisted the door so bad that my key busted off in the lock. We just made it to the bathroom. Then glass started flying." Her husband Wayne, ran to the store from across the street. The storm severely damaged the store, but no one inside was injured Races canceled Horse races at Ak-Sar-Ben in Omaha and dog races at Bluffs Run in Council Bluffs were canceled Friday night, as was the Omaha Royals' baseball game Before then, he was in private practice in North Platte.

Some bar members have expressed concern that Coe belongs to the same law firm as one of the nominating commission members, J. Michael Fitzgerald of Omaha. The business relationship between Coe and Fitzgerald was discussed in the public portions of Thursday's nominating commission hearings. Supreme Court Chief Justice William Hastings, who headed the nominating commission, and Fitzgerald could not be reached for comment Attorney Richard Endacott of Lincoln, another member of the commission, said the confidentiality of the discussions of the candidates precluded him from comment "I don't think there's anything to hide," he said Thompson and Coe were among seven people who applied for the job. The others were: Yvonne Norton Leung of Lincoln, state risk manager; Charles F.

Noren of Lincoln, a lobbyist; Kenneth W. Payne, an assistant attorney general; Richard H. Williams of Lincoln, an attorney; and Stephen W. AM of Lincoln, also an attorney. and disappeared court records show.

Payne was arrested in Norman on Nov. 2 when he tried to cash the remainder of the checks. Police have recovered $125,000 worth of checks, with $109,500 in checks still unaccounted for, said Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Jan Sharp. The remainder of the missing money was in cash. Sharp told the jury Thursday that even if Payne and Marlatt thought money would arrive by Monday and be put in the NBC account they still cashed the check on Friday knowing there were insufficient funds in the account at that time.

The jury received the case late Thursday afternoon and deliberated until 3 p.m. Friday before reaching its verdict An arrest warrant for Jackson was filed in Lancaster County Court in November, but he has not been arrested Marlatt and Payne are free on bond David City resident drowns in farm pond DAVID CITY (AP) A 26-year-old David City man drowned when his small fishing boat overturned on a farm pond northwest of David City, Butler County Attorney Robert Bierbower said Friday. Bierbower said Steven Roundtree's boat overturned about 10:15 a.m. Thursday. Roundtree's wife, who was on the bank of the pond reported the accident and Roundtree's body was recovered by authorities within an hour, Bierbower said ByValSwinton Journal County-City Bureau A Lancaster County District Court jury Friday convicted James Payne, 34, of theft by deception for stealing $261,500 from Provident Federal Savings Bank in Lincoln.

Payne, 2101 South St, will be sentenced Aug. 19 by Judge Earl Witthoff. According to police reports and court documents, Payne persuaded his girlfriend Jill Marlatt a teller at Provident to cash a $261,500 check written on a National Bank of Commerce account in which both knew there were insufficient funds. Marlatt who has been charged with theft by deception, is to be tried in September. During his trial, Payne claimed that in April 1987 he met a man named Jimmy Jackson at the Ak-Sar-Ben race track in Omaha.

Jackson carried large amounts of cash and claimed to have made his fortune in gas and oil leases, according to documents filed in Lancaster County District Court In October, Jackson persuaded Payne that he was going to buy an oil business in Oklahoma but needed cash immediately or the deal would fall through. Marlatt agreed to cash a check, written to Payne on the NBC account on a Friday at Provident and to keep the check from reaching NBC until Monday. Jackson had promised that by then money would have been telexed to him to be deposited in the NBC account Carrying the money in traveler's and cashier's checks and in cash, Jackson and Payne went to Norman, Okla, in October supposedly to complete the deaL Jackson took $109,500 of the money I 4 i- I -r i Harold Goecker, pictured walking up his front steps, watched from tree tell onto the roof of his home Friday when a tornado touched kinda fell real slow, but it left a good-sized hole above the bedroom," Court says 8 nursing homes acted too late in Medicaid case By Leslie Boellstorff Journal Writer the Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday decided one aspect of a massive Medicaid reimbursement case that could end up costing the state as much as $13 million to $15 million. In a unanimous decision written by Judge John T. Grant the high court said a 90-day statute of limitations barred eight nursing homes from seeking retroactive reimbursement from the state Department of Social Services for funds they were denied through a 1982 Medicaid cost-containment measure that later was declared un- and violated the U.S.

Constitutioa However, because the 11th Amendment forbids a federal court from assessing damages against a the health care facilities were forced to seek retroactive reimbursement from state agencies. The claims could involve as much as $13 million to $15 million, Rumbaugh said DAS Director Larry Bare is considering whether DAS has jurisdiction to consider the claims. The simultaneous claims with Social Services, DAS and the Claims Board are part of a multifa-ceted approach by attorneys for the Nebraska Health Care Association, Rumbaugh said The DAS decision would be appealable to the courts. The Claims Board decision would not he said The nursing homes Golden Years Nursing Home, Tabitha Home, Village Manor Nursing Home, Good Samaritan Center-Wymore, Parkview Haven Nursing Home, Elms Health Care Center, Good Samaritan Center-Superior and Martin Luther Home sought reimbursement through admhustrative procedures of the Department of Social Services. Social Services, later upheld by the Lancaster County District Court and the state Supreme constitutional However, those eight homes remain among approximately 200 nursing homes and hospitals with claims pending before the State Claims Board and the Department of Administrative Services, said Social Services General Counsel Michael Rumbaugh and Assistant Attorney General Royce Harper.

The health care facilities' claims arose from a July 1984 decision by VS. District Judge Warren K. Urbom that two Nebraska Medicaid cost-containment laws, including a 3.75 percent lid imposed in 1982, were "arbitrary and capricious" Court, denied money damages because the homes failed to appeal within 90 days after a 3.75 percent lid was imposed on Aug. 1, 1982 (for the 1983 fiscal year) and Jan. 1, 1984 (the 1984 fiscal year).

The homes had argued they should have been given 90 days after the Social Services audit division finished calculating reimbursement rates in the summer of 1984. The high court disagreed saying that the audit didnt affect when the 3.75 percent limitation was imposed i.