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A millionaire conwoman has been accused of swindling the US Army out of $100million over six years by putting cash into her fake military youth business and splurging it on 31 homes and more than 70 supercars and motorcycles. Mello worked for the US Army at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas as a CYS Financial Program Manager. In 2016, she allegedly created a shell company, Child Health and Youth Lifelong Development, which she fraudulently used to collect money from the 4-H military partnership grant. The firm, which was meant to help the children of army personnel, allegedly never...

Democrat Heath Mello lost his race for Omaha mayor Tuesday in a setback for supporters who argued that the Democratic National Committee and abortion rights groups were wrong to attack the anti-abortion former state senator. Mello, a 37-year-old Catholic from Omaha's working-class south side, had become a flashpoint for the internal Democratic battle over whether a candidate's position on reproductive rights should disqualify him from support by the national party after its crushing losses around the country last year. Republican Jean Stothert, a 63-year-old former nurse and city council member elected in 2013, was elected to a second term. It...

Democrats again fell just short in a closely-watched election as Heath Mello lost the Omaha mayoral race on Tuesday after a fierce debate within the national party over his anti-abortion views. His loss was a setback for supporters who argued that the Democratic National Committee and abortion rights groups were wrong to attack the anti-abortion former state senator. It was also another near miss for Democrats fighting in typically Republican territory since Donald Trump’s presidential election victory. Democrats lost a special election for a House seat in Kansas and narrowly missed an outright win in a special election in Georgia....

Polls closed at 8pm CST. Opening Results: Jean Stothert (R, Incumbent) 57% 17941 Heath Mello (D) 43% 13387 http://www.omaha.com/news/politics/city-election/ (updated every 45 minutes) Live Tweets from Jean's campaign office: @jeanformayor

WASHINGTON — Rarely has a municipal election in a midsize city ignited such a fierce national debate over what defines a Democrat. But the election this spring for mayor of Omaha is pitting abortion rights activists against economic populists and threatening the party’s unity as it regroups to confront President Trump. Part of the twist: The populist side’s standard-bearer, Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, is not even a Democrat. (snip) Mr. Sanders and the new leadership of the Democratic National Committee touched a party sore spot this week when they took their “Unity Tour” to Omaha to rally for a...

Plans for an embryonic stem-cell bank at the University of Massachusetts Medical School for researchers around the globe took a major step forward last week when the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center authorized more than $8 million for the bank and an associated registry. It is a significant step in Central Massachusetts’ evolution as a major center of biotechnology and biomedical research. Interim chancellor Michael F. Collins said the bank should be operating within eight to 12 months, the registry even sooner than that. That is in keeping with the fast pace at which Gov. Deval L. Patrick’s life sciences and...

On his arrival as the UN's special representative in Iraq, Sergio Vieira de Mello declared that "Freedom, dignity and security must, from now on, be taken for granted by all Iraqis". Today, less than three months later, he became the latest victim of rising tide of violence in Iraq, killed when an explosion tore apart his headquarters in central Baghdad. One of the UN's most highly regarded diplomats, Mr De Mello's career with the organisation went back 33 years. As well has holding his position in Iraq, a temporary four month secondment that began in May, he also held the...