KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — A Palmyra girl has won the 12-and-under age category for the 26th annual Nebraska Handwriting Contest.

A news release Wednesday from the University of Nebraska at Kearney identified Hanna Thomson as the winner. The first-place finisher in the age 13-16 category was Mary Nibbe, of Red Cloud. Finishing first for entrants ages 17-49 was Sheila Sindelar, of Wisner, and the winner for people age 50 and over was Jackie Buchta, of Omaha.

The contest is administered by the university and endorsed by the Nebraska State Education Association and Nebraska Education Department.

Entries were judged on ease of reading, fluent rhythmic movement and technically correct performance of specifications such as the slope, space, size and shape of the letters.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles has released a second standard license plate design after the first attempt was criticized as inaccurate and sexually suggestive.

The department announced Wednesday that it has finalized an adjustment to the design for the new plates, which will be issued starting in 2017.

Gov. Pete Ricketts’ spokesman Taylor Gage says graphic designers at the Department of Administrative Services helped the DMV adjust the design to more accurately portray the sower that tops Nebraska’s Capitol building.

The department stopped production on the first design in April after Omaha artist Jeff Heldt said he submitted the design 2002 as part of a state contest. Heldt’s version of the Sower was based off a similar statue atop a bell tower in Michigan.

MERNA, Neb. (AP) — Firefighters have found the body of a 59-year-old man inside a charred trailer home.

Merna and Broken Bow firefighters were sent to battle the trailer blaze around 8:40 p.m. Monday. They were able to save the structure from total destruction and prevent the flames from spreading to nearby properties.

Authorities have identified the body as that of the occupant, Michael McAlevy. An autopsy was ordered.

TRENTON, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have released the names of two southwest Nebraska men who died in a murder-suicide.

Hitchcock County Sheriff Bryan Leggott said in a news release posted Tuesday that 49-year-old Robert Lawing fatally shot 58-year-old James Baxter before killing himself with the same stolen handgun. Deputies who were sent to a Trenton home early on April 27 found Lawing’s body outside and Baxter’s inside the residence.

Leggott didn’t say what events led to the shootings. Both men lived in Trenton.

In a related incident, the Nebraska State Fire Marshal’s Office says Lawing’s home was destroyed by an arsonist two days after the shootings. No arrest has been reported.

HOLDREGE, Neb. (AP) — Plenty of water is headed for the Platte River in Nebraska, but officials don’t know yet how much and when it will arrive.

Engineer Cory Steinke told the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District board members Monday in Holdrege that the water will come from the basin’s rain runoff, nearly full Wyoming reservoirs upstream of Lake McConaughy (muh-KAHN’-uh-hay) on the North Platte River and deeper-than-average snowpacks in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and Wyoming.

Steinke says there isn’t much room in the upstream reservoirs for a higher-than-normal snowpacks. He says releases from the Glendo Reservoir upstream from Lake McConaughy have been increased.

On Monday Lake McConaughy was holding about 1.5 million acre-feet of water — around 85 percent of maximum.

A 31-year-old North Platte woman has been accused of brandishing a knife and threatening another woman with it.

On Tuesday, at around 4:51 p.m., North Platte police responded to a disturbance at an apartment in the 1400 block of Rodeo Road.  It was reported that Quannalyn Makes Room For Them had gotten into a verbal argument with a 41-year-old female.

At some point, Makes Room For Them allegedly grabbed a kitchen knife and threatened to harm to other female with it.

Officers quickly arrived on the scene and took Makes Room For Them into custody.  According to Investigator John Deal, the knife allegedly used in the incident was located and seized as evidence.

Makes Room For Them was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center on charges of felony terroristic threats and use of a weapon to commit a felony.

No injuries were reported.