KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have dropped a child abuse and neglect case that had been filed against a Kearney day care owner.

Court records say Meredith Spencer had pleaded not guilty to the charges in August. Prosecutors said at the time that someone called police July 13 after spotting the children walking unsupervised along a busy street. Police say the 8-year-old, a 6-year-old and two 5-year-olds were unharmed.

A prosecutor said Spencer’s case was dropped after an investigation revealed the incident wasn’t as bad as initially thought.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The chief judge for Nebraska’s U.S. District Court has announced her plans to retire to senior status, creating an opening on the federal bench in Omaha.

Chief Judge Laurie Smith Camp announced her plans Thursday, saying she’ll maintain a full caseload after she takes senior status effective Dec. 1, 2018. Her transition to senior status will coincide with the end of her seven-year term as chief judge.

Nebraska has three active federal district judgeships — two in Omaha, and one in Lincoln. Such judgeships are filled by presidential nomination and U.S. Senate confirmation. Generally, President Donald Trump would confer with Nebraska’s two U.S. senators, Deb Fischer and Ben Sasse, for recommendations to fill the bench.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska prison officials say a man serving life in prison has died following a long-term medical condition.

68-year-old Michael Juranek died Wednesday night at a Lincoln hospital. Prison officials say he had been treated for an illness at the Nebraska State Penitentiary. Officials did not reveal the nature of the illness.

Juranek was serving a life sentence for first-degree murder and additional time for a weapons count in the 2011 stabbing death of his 52-year-old roommate, Jimmy McBride, in south Omaha.

Juranek’s cause of death has not been determined. State law requires a grand jury investigation anytime someone dies in state custody.