| Gunman kills eight as Christmas shopping is turned into bloodbath
Christmas shoppers at a department store in Omaha, Nebraska, fled in terror yesterday as a young man opened fire from a balcony, killing eight people and wounding five before turning the gun on himself. Two of the injured were in a critical condition last night. The assailant was identified as Robert Hawkins, aged 19. A police officer said that Hawkins’s mother had found his suicide note in their home. KETV, an Omaha television station, reported that in the note he wrote that he wanted to "go out in style". The Omaha World-Herald newspapers reported that Hawkins, who left school last year, had a military-style haircut and a black backpack, and wore a camouflage vest. As he wrought carnage, dozens of traumatised shoppers and shopworkers ran out of the Westroads Mall with their hands up.
DNA leads to arrest in 1997 murder
Boulder police have arrested a suspect in the brutal sexual assault and murder of a University of Colorado student a decade ago after Wyoming authorities submitted his DNA to a national database. Detectives arrested Diego Olmos Alcalde, 38, at his mother's Aurora home on Saturday. Alcalde, from Chile, allegedly bludgeoned Susannah Chase, 23, with a baseball bat and left her to die in an alley a block from her Boulder home on Dec. 21, 1997. Boulder and Aurora police, working on information that Alcalde had family in the Denver area, arrested him Saturday on a parole violation, Boulder Police Chief Mark Beckner said. On Sunday he was served with charges in Chase's death. "Our emotions have run the gamut since we first heard of the DNA match in Susannah's case.
City awards contract to repair coliseum
The city has hired a company to complete about $100,000 in repairs to keep Memorial Coliseum from further deterioration despite not knowing what will become of the city-owned site, which has been vacant since 2004. The contract was awarded to Alpha Building Corp. for roof patching, plywood window covers and removal of the ticket booth and concrete awning. Alpha volunteered to remove rusted railings from the building last summer. City Council approved the contract by a 7-1 vote Tuesday, but several members questioned the process to decide what should be done at the bayfront building, which has been the task of a committee of three council members and residents that formed in June. Mayor Henry Garrett expressed frustration at how long the city has been trying to get something done at the site.
Officials beef up Oakdale prison's perimeter
Security worries at the Oakdale state prison near Iowa City are prompting state officials to spend $2 million to install new high-tech fences and outdoor lighting to prevent escapes.
Construction on the new double-barrier fence is under way and should be completed by late spring or early summer, Deputy Corrections Director Larry Brimeyer told the Iowa Board of Corrections on Friday. .
Regal moves record number at boat show
Regal Marine Industries Inc. set a company record with the sale of 60 boats at the 10-day Toronto International Boat Show. Orlando-based Regal Marine designs and builds luxury performance boats ranging from 19 to 53 feet. Crate Marine Sales, Crate's Lake Country Boats and Buckeye Marine, which are Regal Marine's Ontario region dealers, made the sales. Regal Marine is a family-owned and privately held company and last year received the J.D. Power and Associates Award for highest in customer satisfaction in the categories of express cruisers (24 to 33 feet) and small runabouts (16 to 19 feet). .
Hughes second after eventful week on speedskating circuit
There's no need to feel the roof is falling in on Winnipeg's Clara Hughes, even if it actually might have. Canada's two-time Olympic speedskating medalist put on a strong performance Saturday to take second in the women's 5,000 metres behind winner Martina Sablikova of the Czech Republic at a World Cup event in Kolomna, Russia. Clara Hughes skates to a second-place finish in the women's 5,000 metre race at the World Cup meet in Kolomna, Russia on Saturday. (Mikhail Metzel/Associated Press) Kristina Groves of Ottawa was fifth and Cindy Klassen of Winnipeg was sixth. The event had been moved earlier in the week when engineers in Moscow found major structural problems with the roof suspension system at the nearly new Krylatskoye Ice Arena. With the victory, Sablikova leads the overall standings in the 3,000-5,000 metre division with 300 points, ahead of four-time Olympic champion Claudia Pechstein of Germany (180) and Hughes (170).
State of the Schools event moved
The annual State of the Schools Breakfast, scheduled for 7:30 a.m. Feb. 12, has been moved to King’s Fork High School. The event, sponsored by Suffolk Public Schools and the Suffolk Education Foundation, was switched from King’s Fork Middle School to accommodate the primary elections. It will include a video presentation and remarks by school officials. Admission is $15. Call (757) 539-1265 for more information. - Hattie Brown Garrow .
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