SPRINGVIEW, Neb. (AP) — The massive wildfires in north-central Nebraska are nearly contained.

Firefighters say the three fires that burned nearly 119 square miles near the scenic Niobrara River should be contained by Monday.

The largest of the three fires, the Fairfield Creek Fire, was considered 100 percent contained on Sunday morning. Firefighters plan to patrol that area looking for any flare-ups.

The other two smaller fires, the Wentworth and Hall fires, were about 90 percent contained. Firefighters were working on strengthening the lines around those fires on Sunday.

The federal fire officials that have been managing the fire fight for the past week plan to return control to local officials on Monday.

The Fairfield Creek Fire was started by lightning on July 20. The fires have destroyed 14 homes and 17 outbuildings.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A former director of the Panhandle Research and Extension Center will become dean and director of University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension.

Charles “Chuck” Hibberd has been director of Extension and associate dean of agriculture at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., since 2007. Hibberd was director of the Panhandle center at Scottsbluff for 13 years.

UNL officials say Hibberd will take over the Extension leadership post on Oct. 1. Hibberd replaces Elbert Dickey, who retired this summer.

Hibberd earned his bachelor’s degree in agriculture at UNL and his master’s and doctorate degrees from Oklahoma State University. He was a faculty member at OSU from 1982 to 1994.

UNL Extension is part of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources.

FORT CALHOUN, Neb. (AP) — Fort Atkinson State Historical Park in eastern Nebraska is preparing for another living-history weekend.

Re-enactors will portray life at an 1820s military post. There will be blacksmiths, laundresses, coopers, soldiers, butter makers and others. The weekend will feature a discussion of the Monroe Doctrine and a presentation on “Coins of Fort Atkinson.”

The event runs 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Aug. 4 and Aug. 5.

Fort Atkinson was established in 1820, the first military post west of the Missouri River.

It sits seven blocks east of U.S. Highway 75 near the town of Fort Calhoun, north of Omaha.

A park entry permit is required and may be purchased at the park.

More information is available by phone at 402-468-5611 or email by contacting ngpc.fort.atkinson(at)nebraska.gov.

AINSWORTH, Neb. (AP) — Donations are being accepted to help north-central Nebraska livestock producers who’ve been hit by a one-two punch of drought and wildfires in the area this summer.

Wildfires have burned hundreds of miles of fencing and consumed tens of thousands of acres of what grass was left for cattle and calves to graze on.

The North Central Development Center in Ainsworth has set up a fund to take financial donations to help with the cost of the fire. Donations of wire and post may be delivered to the Farmers and Ranchers Co-op in Ainsworth.

For more information, contact the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Office in Ainsworth at 1-800-634-8951. The development center can be contacted at 402-387-2740.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has rejected appeals by two sex offenders who say changes by the Legislature to the Sex Offender Registration Act in 2009 violate their constitutional rights.

The law was challenged by Timothy Gaskill, convicted in 1995, and Jason Harris, convicted in 2001.

The law requires sex offenders to register current addresses and requires their names to be published on a website.

It was passed after both were convicted but Gaskill was on probation which makes him subject to it. Harris must register as a sex offender until 2013.

Both say the law imposes retroactive and additional punishment.

The court rejected the arguments saying the law punishes those who fail to register and posting the names is not additional punishment.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A man police say crashed his SUV through a woman’s bedroom, knocking her and her bed into the back yard, is in jail.

21-year-old Paul Mosher refused to take a breath test. He is charged by Omaha police with suspicion of driving under the influence and collision with a fixed object.

Investigators say Mosher was driving fast at 3:15 a.m. Friday when his sport-utility vehicle hit six cars parked on a street, struck a curb, and went airborne into the bedroom of a home.

A woman and the mattress she was sleeping on were pushed into the back yard. The woman is being treated for broken bones but her father says she will recover.

The case is not yet listed in online court records.