Former Omaha meteorologist pleads ‘no contest’ to threats against health director

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    OMAHA, NE (WOWT) — A former Omaha mayoral communications director who was also a local meteorologist has pled of “no contest” to charges relating to threats made against Douglas County Health Director Dr. Adi Pour.

The plea for Ronald “Gerard” Penzkowski, 57, of Omaha was entered Monday for two misdemeanor third-degree assault charges, according to court documents filed in Douglas County Court. One of those charges was downgraded from “terroristic threats,” a Class 3A felony.

Penzkowski, who also goes by the name “Ron Gerard,” was initially jailed in March, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, after he sent a series of “disturbing emails” threatening to lynch Dr. Pour or slit her throat. He served as the communications director for Omaha Mayor Jim Suttle from 2009 to 2010. In the 1980s and 1990s, he was a meteorologist for KETV and KPTM.

He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 27.

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