THE LATEST NEWS FROM KHWK/HAWK TV
Monday, January 24th 2022
State and Local News
A man’s dead after a late-night shooting at a North Omaha sports bar. Police say three people were shot at JET Sports Bar on North 30th Street just before midnight Sunday. Police say 20-year-old Vincent Burns died at the scene. The two other victims were taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries. No arrests have been made. Anyone with information is asked to call Crime Stoppers.
The latest wave of coronavirus could be subsiding. The seven-day averages of new cases and hospitalizations are dropping. In Nebraska, coronavirus numbers look to be dropping after nearly doubling their peak from 2020 earlier this month. Nebraska coronavirus hospitalizations have stayed below their peak from November 2020.
Omaha is starting to see an increase in gas prices. According to Triple-A, the average price for regular unleaded in Omaha is three-dollars and ten-cents a gallon. That’s up eight-cents from this time last week. However, the average in Omaha is a few cents below the statewide average in Nebraska. Across the river in Council Bluffs the average is three-oh-nine a gallon.
Omaha city leaders say thieves are targeting copper wiring used for streetlights on Interstate-80 exit ramps. The city says the thefts started in early December and have continued through mid-January, costing the city over 170-thousand dollars. The Nebraska State Patrol says it’s increasing patrolling in the areas where the thefts have occurred. Anyone who sees anything suspicious is asked to call police.
NATIONAL NEWS
Stocks are on a wild ride to begin a new week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell by more than eleven-hundred points at times today before gaining back the vast majority of its losses. The Nasdaq and S&P 500 are falling slightly as investors eye corporate earnings and a Federal Reserve decision on possibly raising interest rates. Names including Visa and Johnson & Johnson are dragging the Dow into the red. Netflix is continuing its slide as the streaming giant’s stock price is now below 400-dollars a share.
The Pentagon is ordering a state of heightened military readiness due to the growing threat of a Russian invasion of Ukraine. Eighty-five hundred U.S.-based troops have been put on standby. Spokesman John Kirby said the NATO alliance, including the U.S., can rapidly deploy forces if NATO interests are threatened. Ukraine is not a member of NATO. President Biden is considering whether to deploy additional U.S. forces to Eastern Europe and the Baltic region. White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki [[ SAH-kee ]] noted U.S. forces have had a presence in the region for decades.
It’s the start of tax season and the IRS is asking everyone to read up on changes. New Jersey-based financial advisor Kristin O’Keeffe Merrick says if you want a refund quickly, you should file electronically and as soon as possible. The IRS still faces significant backlogs from last year because of the pandemic. In addition, even though there might be delays in refunds, taxes are due April 18th. Officials also say there are no current plans to extend the deadline like last year.
A federal prosecutor says the three former Minneapolis Police officers who helped Derek Chauvin detain George Floyd committed crimes when they ignored Floyd’s pleas for help. Federal prosecutor Samantha Trepel said “each made a conscious choice over and over again” and they “chose not intervene and stop Chauvin as he killed a man.” The three former officers are charged with deprivation of rights under color of law for allegedly not giving Floyd medical aid. Chauvin agreed to plead guilty as part of a deal in December. The trial comes not quite two years after Floyd, a Black man, was restrained and pressed into the pavement until he died.