Nebraska Politics News

Mayor-elect Jim Suttle said at a brief press conference Monday that Matthew Samp will not serve in his administration. Samp, who is accused of having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old boy in the late 1990s, was to have been Suttle's co-chief of staff.

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• Mayor-elect Suttle discusses Matthew Samp situation. Watch the video

Earlier:
• Suttle on hot seat over accusations against aide
• Suttle appointee accused of sex with underage boy

The allegations were made 16 years apart, but the similarities are striking. Both times, a minority teenage girl was confronted in a parking lot by a stranger who emerged from a silver car with a knife drawn. Jeremy C. Sheets, an Omaha native now living in Denver, is scheduled to appear in a Colorado court this month on a felony charge of menacing, stemming from allegations that he threatened to stab a Latina teenager in December.

Nebraska’s long-awaited, much-debated smoking ban took effect today, prompting cheers from anti-tobacco advocates and worries from many suburban and rural bar owners. Health officials said this morning they hope the smoking ban will encourage people to give up smoking completely.