Norman Krivosha

The case involved an appeal by the owners of an apartment building in Gering, Nebraska, from a district court judgment affirming a State Fire Marshal order under Neb. Rev. Stat. § 81-513 directing demolition of the building due to 29 specified fire hazards and dilapidated conditions making it especially liable to fire. The owners challenged the sufficiency of the evidence, the marshal's authority to order immediate vacation, the lack of an engineer or architect certificate, and the constitutionality of the statutes, but the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed the demolition order. The court held that constitutional issues were waived by not being raised below, the certificate requirement did not apply to fire-prevention orders, and vacation-order challenges were waived by stipulation. It further reasoned that the owners had stipulated to make repairs by a deadline but failed to do so, allowing demolition under the statute and precedent when repairs are not completed. The decision rested on de novo review of evidence supporting the hazards, including the trial court's inspection of the premises.

propertyprocedurebusiness & regulatory

This case involved taxpayers in non-high-school districts in Scotts Bluff County challenging the constitutionality of Neb. Rev. Stat. § 79-4,102 (Cum. Supp. 1984), which authorized a property tax levy to fund tuition for nonresident students attending high schools in other districts. The trial court granted summary judgment to the plaintiffs, ruling the statute unconstitutional in full due to an improper delegation of legislative power to receiving school districts without adequate standards. On appeal, the Nebraska Supreme Court reversed in part, holding that the delegation provision could be severed, that the remaining statutory formula for tuition charges was not discriminatory or violative of uniform taxation requirements, and that the taxation-without-representation claim lacked merit because the State Board of Education is elected; the court affirmed the denial of injunctive relief for the 1986-87 school year, vacated the injunction for 1987-88, and remanded the case.

taxesprocedure

In this case, plaintiff Karen Bard sued the City of Omaha and Cox Cable under the Uniform Declaratory Judgments Act, seeking to void a 15-year community antenna television franchise granted to Cox Cable or, alternatively, to have the court declare the cable rates excessive and unreasonable. Bard alleged that Cox Cable fraudulently induced the franchise by promising an interactive service called INDAX that did not exist and was never delivered, and that the approved rates were 10 to 30 percent higher than comparable services elsewhere. The district court sustained demurrers and dismissed the petition, finding that Bard lacked capacity to sue, the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction, and no cause of action was stated. The Nebraska Supreme Court reversed and remanded, holding that Bard had capacity to challenge the rates, the state court had jurisdiction to review rates charged before December 29, 1986, under the Cable Communications Policy Act of 1984, and the petition stated a due process claim because the facts supported an inference that subscribers were charged for undelivered services, rendering the rates arbitrary and confiscatory.

business & regulatoryprocedure

In Graff v. Burnett, horse breeders Dennis and Yelda Graff sued horse owner Gary Burnett to foreclose an agister’s lien and a stallion service lien under Nebraska statutes for unpaid stud fees and care costs on several mares and a purchased mare named She’s Rocky One, after the parties’ oral agreements for breeding services. Burnett counterclaimed, alleging wrongful detention of his horses after he offered partial payment. The district court awarded Graffs monetary judgments totaling $687 plus prejudgment interest, authorized lien foreclosure if unpaid, and denied the counterclaim. On appeal, the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the liens were valid, Graffs were entitled to retain possession until full payment, the charges were reasonable and undisputed, the amount was liquidated, and no proper tender had been made to support a conversion claim.

propertytorts & liability

The case concerned an application by the Central Nebraska Public Power & Irrigation District to the Department of Water Resources seeking recognition of incidental underground water storage formed by seepage from its canal irrigation system in three Nebraska counties. Numerous overlying landowners objected to the application on grounds including constitutionality of the governing statute, lack of findings on irrigation use, recognition of pre-statute storage, and applicability of interbasin transfer statutes. The director of DWR approved the application in part, modifying existing appropriations to include the storage without altering priority dates or diversion rates. On appeal, the Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed, holding that the movement of water was natural seepage rather than a purposeful interbasin diversion or transportation requiring additional statutory approval, and that other statutory requirements had been satisfied.

environmentproperty

This case was an appeal by a father living in Nebraska from a district court order requiring him to pay child support for his daughter Wendy, who lived in Iowa with her mother, in a proceeding initiated under Iowa's version of the Uniform Reciprocal Enforcement of Support Act (URESA) and transferred to Nebraska. The Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed the order, ruling that the district court had authority to find a support duty for Wendy and order payments even though the Iowa divorce decree had not mentioned her or imposed support for her. The court reasoned that URESA allows enforcement of duties of support that are imposable by common or statutory law, not only those established by prior court orders from the initiating state, and that the responding state's law governs the age of majority for support purposes.

family law