View of the tornado from 3800 Cornhusker HWY from Friday, Apr. 26, 2024. (Will Wilson/KFOR News) LINCOLN–(KFOR Apr. 26)–Tornadoes touched down Friday afternoon in eastern Nebraska, leaving behind major damage between the state’s two largest cities. The first tornado reported happened in the area closed to 84th Street between Highway 6 and Havelock Avenue in the far northeast corner of Lincoln around 3pm.  Tornado warnings were issued well in advance of the touchdown, but social media posts started blowing up with video and pictures of the funnel.  The twister moved away from Lincoln ..read more

The aftermath of a large tornado that ripped through the Elkhorn area of northwest Omaha on Friday, Apr. 26, 2024. (Courtesy of Omaha & Sarpy Wx/NOSS Media/Twitter) OMAHA–(AP/KFOR Apr. 26) — A tornado plowed through the western suburban area of Omaha on Friday afternoon, damaging hundreds of homes and other structures as the twister tore for miles along farmland and into subdivisions. Some injuries were reported but it wasn’t yet clear if anyone was killed in the storm. Photos on social media showed ravaged homes and shredded trees. Video showed homes with roofs stripped of shingles, in a ..read more

Damage at Garner Industries LINCOLN–(KFOR Apr. 26)–A tornado damaged a Lancaster county business Friday afternoon with a reported 70 people inside. Lancaster County Chief Deputy Ben Houchin said Garner Industries was the building damaged located near N 98th Street and Cornhusker Highway. The building reportedly collapsed with multiple people inside. Three people were injured and taken to area hospitals but the injuries are apparently non life threatening. See photos of the damage below: Damage at Garner Industries/Photo courtesy of Seth KorteMore damage at Garner Industries/Photo courtesy of S ..read more

Credit: MGN DALLAS (AP) — Get ready for changes in boarding and seating at Southwest Airlines. The airline says it’s studying possible changes as it looks for new sources of revenue. Airline officials said this week they won’t have anything to announce until September, and that’s leading to lots of speculation about whether Southwest might ditch things like picking your own seat after you board the plane. CEO Robert Jordan says the airline is studying customer preferences, which might be changing as flights get more full these days. Jordan says any changes must generate new revenue and can’t s ..read more

Credit: MGN NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. flu season appears to be over. It was long, but federal health officials and doctors say it was a moderate one. Last week, for the third straight week, medical visits for flu-like illnesses dipped below the threshold for what’s counted as an active flu season. Springtime upticks in flu are possible. But other indicators, like hospitalizations and patient testing, also show low and declining activity. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says there have been at least 34 million illnesses and 24,000 deaths from flu since the beginning of October ..read more

FILE - Menthol cigarettes and other tobacco products are displayed at a store in San Francisco on May 17, 2018. Anti-smoking groups filed a lawsuit against the U.S. government on Tuesday, April 2, 2024, over a long-awaited ban on menthol cigarettes, which has been idling at the White House for months. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File) WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden’s administration is again delaying a sweeping plan to ban menthol cigarettes. The decision is certain to infuriate anti-smoking advocates but could avoid angering Black voters ahead of November elections. Biden’s top health official ..read more

Credit: MGN WASHINGTON (AP) — The IRS says more than 140,000 taxpayers filed their taxes through its new direct file pilot program. It says the program’s users claimed more than $90 million in refunds and saved roughly $5.6 million in fees they would have spent with commercial tax preparation companies. But despite what IRS and Treasury Department officials said Friday is a successful rollout, they don’t guarantee the program will be available next year for more taxpayers. They say they need to evaluate the data on whether building out the program is feasible. The government pilot program roll ..read more

FILE - Britain's King Charles III hosts a gathering of young UK community and faith leaders to discuss the challenges their communities face, at Buckingham Palace, in London, Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2023. Buckingham Palace says King Charles III will undergo a “corrective procedure” next week for an enlarged prostate. (Aaron Chown/Pool Photo via AP, File) LONDON (AP) — King Charles III is back. The 75-year-old monarch will resume his public duties next week following a three-month break to focus on his treatment and recuperation after he was diagnosed with an undisclosed type of cancer, Buckingham ..read more

Credit: MGN WASHINGTON (AP) — A measure of inflation closely tracked by the Federal Reserve remained uncomfortably high in March, likely reinforcing the Fed’s reluctance to cut interest rates anytime soon and underscoring a burden for President Joe Biden’s re-election bid. Prices rose 0.3% from February to March, the same as in the previous month. It was the third straight month that the index has run at a pace faster than is consistent with the Fed’s 2% inflation target. Measured from a year earlier, prices were up 2.7% in March, up from 2.5% in February. After peaking in 2022, the Fed’s favo ..read more

Credit: MGN CHICAGO (AP) — The singer R. Kelly was correctly sentenced to 20 years in prison on child sex convictions in Chicago, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. Jurors in 2022 convicted the Grammy Award-winning R&B singer, born Robert Sylvester Kelly, on three charges of producing child porn and three charges of enticement of minors for sex. In his appeal, Kelly argued that Illinois’ former and shorter statute of limitations on child sex prosecutions should have applied to his Chicago case rather than current law permitting charges while an accuser is still alive. He also argued tha ..read more