JUDGE DENIES MOTION TO QUASH DEATH PENALTY IN BLOOMFIELD NEBRASKA DOUBLE HOMICIDE CASE
BLOOMFIELD, NE (KTIV) – A man accused of murdering two people in a Northeast Nebraska town could still get the death penalty after the latest ruling from a judge.
In court documents, the lawyer for Alias Reed filed a motion to quash Nebraska’s death penalty and declare it unconstitutional. Reed is accused of fatally shooting two people in Bloomfield at a local bowling alley.
The motion was filed in October 2024 and on Jan. 6, 2025, a judge overruled it, saying the defense failed to show the unconstitutional nature of the death penalty.
The defense had several points for declaring the death penalty unconstitutional, including arguments about how it was prejudiced in some situations, did not have enough involvement from the jury and how it “violates evolving standards of decency that mark the progress of a maturing society.”
According to the judge, several of the defense’s points have been addressed in previous cases, meaning the death penalty would not be quashed in this case or be declared unconstitutional.
Reed is facing two counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of 77-year-old Curtis Strom and 49-year-old William Reffett. Under Nebraska law, those convicted of first-degree murder can be given the death penalty or life in prison without parole. If Reed is found eligible for the death penalty, a three-judge panel would have the final decision.
Reed’s next court date is Tuesday, Jan. 28 at 9 a.m. where he’ll have his arraignment and enter his plea. He was previously deemed competent to stand trial after having a mental evaluation.
BODY OF MAN WHO WENT MISSING ON HUNTING TRIP FOUND IN HANSON COUNTY
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (Dakota News Now) – A Sioux Falls man who went missing while on a hunting trip has been found deceased in northeast Hanson County.
According to the Hanson County Sheriff’s Office, Metro Communications in Sioux Falls contacted them on Monday morning for assistance in locating a missing person.
A 66-year-old man from Sioux Falls had left on Sunday to hunt and did not return home.
The Sheriff’s Office, along with Game, Fish and Parks, began to search the public hunting areas in the county.
The man’s truck was located on Highway 25 north of 246th Street, which is south of Epiphany, South Dakota.
During a search of the area, the man’s body was located.
At this, the man’s name has not been released to allow for the notification of family members.
Hanson County Sheriff’s Office said the investigation remains open and no further information will be released.
RURAL SOUTH DAKOTA HOSPITAL ENDS LABOR, DELIVERY SERVICES
WINNER, S.D. – Come February, no more babies will be delivered at Winner Regional Health.
The hospital recently announced they would be suspending its labor and delivery services on February 1 after struggling to hire permanent doctors.
“We can’t afford the additional cost of more traveling doctors, so we had to make the difficult decision to suspend these deliveries until we’re able to recruit physicians that can provide the service,” said WRH CEO Brian Williams.
In 2024, just over 100 babies were delivered at the hospital. Winner’s rural location in south-central South Dakota means patients come from all over the area for their labor and delivery.
“I just hope that we’re able to bring it back very quickly because it’s a huge blessing to our community,” Williams said. “It’s a huge blessing to the region. I mean we get people coming from Bonesteel, we get people coming from Rosebud.”
Williams said they’re working with expecting families to create an alternative birth plan at neighboring hospitals with labor and delivery services. The Chamberlain Medical Center is an hour away from Winner, hospitals in Pierre and Valentine, Nebraska are about an hour and a half away and Mitchell is two hours.
Winner isn’t the only hospital struggling to recruit and retain physicians, especially in rural areas. Williams noted that the problem is regional and national.
The Sanford School of Medicine at the University of South Dakota is working to combat the lack of physicians in rural South Dakota by recruiting potential medical students from rural areas, sending students in their program to rural hospitals to shadow and setting them up with rural residency programs after they get their medical degrees.
“They’re South Dakota residents, or they have a strong tie to South Dakota, meaning they’re more likely to come back and practice in the state,” SSOM Dean Tim Ridgway said. “Throughout our four-year curriculum, we expose them to rural practice opportunities that increase the chances of them coming back.”
Ridgway said the program receives over 1,000 applications every year, but most of the students they accept are from South Dakota and have expressed an interest in working in rural healthcare.
“I really believe that we at the school are making an impact, but we have a ways to go and Winner is a prime example,” Ridgway said. “My hope, my goal is that they won’t be without practitioners for a long period of time.”
Williams said the closing announcement they made on social media has actually helped spread the word and he’s already had a few physicians express interest in Winner.
“There’d be nothing more I would love than in a week to come out and say, ‘Due to events, we will no longer be suspending labor and delivery,’ but I can’t guarantee that because I don’t have any signed contracts.”
RECLASSIFICATION OF SMALL NEBRASKA SCHOOL DISTRICTS OPENS THE DOOR TO ARMING SELECT STAFF MEMBERS
LINCOLN, NE – A new state law could lead to greater efficiency in setting rules, regulations and safety standards for some of Nebraska’s smallest school districts.
Nebraska Education Commissioner Brian Maher reclassified or shifted roughly 80% of the state’s 245 school districts to new, smaller levels at the beginning of the year.
State Sen. Dave Murman of Glenvil, the sponsor of Legislative Bill 1329 from 2024, said his legislation could lead to more efficiency in creating laws or regulations that include the districts with fewer than 5,000 total residents.
“I’m just trying to make a more efficient way of addressing the needs of different sized districts and different demographics,” Murman told the Nebraska Examiner.
Firearms and school safety
One of the immediate effects of the law gives school boards of smaller districts the option to authorize select school security personnel to carry firearms on school grounds.
That change, also included in LB 1329, applied to private schools beginning last July.
State Sen. Tom Brewer of north-central Nebraska introduced the measure last year for school districts of all sizes before working with Murman and other senators on a narrower approach.
Brewer had said smaller school districts are more often farther away from emergency services in crises, such as in a school shooting, when every second matters. He said those districts usually don’t employ an armed school resource officer as many larger districts do.
The State Board of Education in December adopted a model policy regarding the firearms law created in consultation with the Nebraska State Patrol.
It suggests general guidelines for how a district can authorize who would be allowed to carry firearms, including proper storage and training and evaluation requirements.
In December, the Education Department distributed $10 million to more than 120 public school districts and 43 private schools to improve school safety and security infrastructure as part of a different law from State Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont.
Efficiency of state requirements
Murman led LB 1329 as chair of the Education Committee and said during a 2024 hearing that district size can impact how new laws, rules or regulations are implemented.
For example, pre-K-12 enrollment in the current school year ranged from McPherson County Schools with 60 students to the Omaha Public Schools with more than 52,000 students, according to most recent Education Department tallies.
Prior to Jan. 1, nearly every public school district was a Class III district, meaning the districts had up to 200,000 inhabitants, with the exception of the larger districts of Lincoln Public Schools (Class IV) and Omaha Public Schools (Class V), which has a separate public retirement system.
Of 243 districts that had been in Class III, 193 were reclassified as Class I (up to 1,500 residents) or Class II (up to 5,000 residents).
Murman said his aim was in part to better tailor regulatory requirements on some of the state’s smallest school districts.
“It’s just not logical to tell a district that is about 2% of the size of the other district that all of your staff need to complete this training program,” Murman said as an example at his 2024 hearing.
The new classifications could potentially factor into ongoing discussions to reduce unfunded or underfunded mandates on K-12 schools as goals to reduce local reliance on property taxes.
Murman said he’s not looking to consolidate or change school district boundaries, just to ensure the system makes a little more sense.
“If we’re better equipped to be able to classify schools, we will be better equipped to make rules that fit each district’s needs, rather than a nearly one-size-fits-all approach,” Murman said.
Here’s a breakdown of some other education-related laws set to take effect later in 2025:
Modernized parental involvement policies — School districts must update policies regarding how parents and guardians can access certain school materials or be involved in their children’s education by July 1. This includes access to testing information and curriculum and explaining how a child could be excused from specific instruction or activities. (LB 71 of 2024, from State Sen. Rita Sanders of Bellevue).
Dress code protections — K-12 school boards must adopt written student dress codes and grooming policies by July 1. The push came after a school secretary cut two Lakota girls’ hair in the spring of 2020 without parental consent. The State Board of Education passed a model policy in August 2024 (included in LB 298 of 2023, from State Sen. Terrell McKinney of Omaha).
Tribal regalia protections — Indigenous students are explicitly protected in wearing tribal regalia in public K-12 schools and postsecondary education institutions after July 1 (included in LB 43 of 2024, from Brewer, a member of the Oglala Lakota Tribe).
Computer science and technology education — Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, school districts must offer computer science and technology courses in elementary, middle and high schools. By the 2027-28 school year, students must have at least five high school credit hours to graduate (LB 1112 of 2022, by McKinney; amended by LB 705 of 2023, by Walz).
Free menstrual products — A pilot program for schools to distribute free menstrual products in bathrooms, including tampons and pads, beginning in the 2025-26 school year. Priority goes to school districts classified as “needs improvement” or in which more than 40% or more of students are poverty students. The program is subject to available funds, up to $250,0000 (included in LB 1284 of 2024, from State Sen. Danielle Conrad of Lincoln).
Increased financial support for schools — Beginning in 2023, the Legislature gave public school districts roughly $1,500 per student as new “foundation aid.” Another bucket of funds, “equalization aid,” is calculated from a district’s needs minus resources. In the next school year, the state’s calculation of a district’s resources will include 60% of foundation aid, rather than 100%, increasing the “needs” side of the equalization aid formula (LB 583 of 2023, from Sanders).
The Legislature returns Wednesday. Legislative proposals can be introduced in the first 10 days.
