OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Former and current members of the Omaha Tribal Council charged with misusing federal money are challenging federal authority in the matter.

Court documents say the nine defendants paid themselves nearly $389,000 from contract funds with the Indian Health Service that was supposed to be used to provide health care for members of the Omaha Tribe of Nebraska.

Officials have said bonuses were paid for work council and other officials did on a contract dispute with the Indian Health Service.

The defendants’ say in a motion to dismiss filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Omaha that the money was received as part of the legal settlement. They argue that the disbursement is an internal tribal matter that falls outside of federal government oversight.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln police say they’re seeking a suspect in a road rage incident that severed the leg a 39-year-old Lincoln man.

Police say the incident happened Thursday when two drivers crashed into each other in a road rage dispute.

Police say both men got out of their vehicles, then the driver of a Dodge Charger got back into his car and intentionally hit the other driver, severing the man’s leg.

Police found the Charger abandoned a few blocks away. Police were still seeking the driver of that car Friday.

Officials are crediting a passerby with saving the injured man’s life. Police say the Good Samaritan fashioned a tourniquet out of bungee cords to slow the bleeding.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — State officials say a health alert remains in effect for a fourth straight week at Bluestem Lake in Lancaster County.

The latest alert notice comes after testing this week detected toxin levels produced by blue-green algal blooms.

Officials say visitors to the lake should avoid full body contact activities such as swimming, wading, skiing and jet skiing. Non-contact activities such as boating, fishing and camping should be safe. People also are urged to keep pets out of the water and not allow them to drink lake water.

Skin exposed to the toxin can develop rashes and blisters. Ingesting the toxin can cause headaches, nausea and muscular pain.

WINNEBAGO, Neb. (AP) — An indigenous tribe plans to install 1,000 solar panels at a reservation in northeast Nebraska.

The Winnebago Tribe will install panels across more than a dozen sites, generating more than 300 kilowatts of solar power. The installations are projected to reduce energy bills by about $40,000 a year.

The project came after the tribe’s economic development arm, Ho-Chunk Inc., received two grants in June through the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Indian Energy Policy and Programs. The grants totaled $394,500 and Ho-Chunk matched funds to increase it to $789,000.

Ho-Chunk is also working with Nebraska Renewable Energy Systems to bring more green projects to the Winnebago Reservation.

Ho-Chunk President Lance Morgan says clean energy and self-reliance are reasons for the move to solar.

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