The crash was reported around 9 p.m. Monday, about a mile and a half northwest of Firth. The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office says the southbound car ran into the west ditch and rolled several times.

The sheriff’s office says the driver was pronounced dead shortly after being flown to a Lincoln hospital. She’s been identified as 33-year-old Stephanie Leard, who lived in Hickman.

The crash is being investigated.

Milton Felder was sentenced Tuesday to 36 to 40 years after earlier pleading no contest to manslaughter and a weapons count in the May 2017 shooting of Brandon White.

Prosecutors say Felder and three teens had planned to rob White and another man during a marijuana deal when the shooting happened outside McMillan Middle School.

Another adult, 19-year-old Allana Smith, has also pleaded no contest to manslaughter and a weapons count. Two other teens charged as adults have pleaded no contest to lesser felonies. All three await sentencing.

NioCorp Developments said Tuesday the proposed niobium mine near Elk Creek won’t need an expensive water line to the river, and the project won’t need two federal permits.

The change is possible because NioCorp recently determined that the proposed mine will produce significantly less bedrock water.

NioCorp CEO Mark Smith says this change will reduce the environmental impact of the proposed mine.

The U.S. currently imports nearly all the niobium that’s used in this country to harden steel and make it more heat-resistant for industrial uses.

NioCorp is based in Centennial, Colorado.

Dr. Farid Karimi of Lincoln Regional Center is suing the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and two former supervisors, Stacey Werth-Sweeney and Dr. Roger Donovick.

Karimi alleges that he reported procedural and medical violations several months after he started working at the center in February 2016. The lawsuit states that Werth-Sweeney and Donovick didn’t take any action to correct violations and instead retaliated against Karimi. The two employees left him out of meetings, made false accusations against him and negated his orders, according to the lawsuit.

Department of Health and Human Services spokeswoman Julie Naughton declined to comment on pending litigation, which is being handled by the Nebraska Attorney General’s office.

Werth-Sweeney, formerly the center’s chief operating officer, was fired in June and Donovick, the psychiatric director, left the center last year. Werth-Sweeney said Karimi has a troubling resume and history of service at the center. She said she expects “the evidence to disclose serious, persistent problems with Dr. Karimi’s practice, including his attendance at work and patient records.”

Patients may be sent to the facility by court order or by local mental health boards. The lawsuit lists alleged violations such as changing patient orders, following outdated policies, denying patient visitation rights and moving patients against court orders. Karimi also alleges that the facility failed to use passive restraints on patients who needed to be on highly restrictive status, which resulted in repeated assaults on staff.

Karimi seeks unspecified damages and the removal of all disciplinary actions from his record. He claims that the defendants damaged his reputation in the community and workplace.

New York-based MetLife said Tuesday that it expects the center to open in downtown Omaha by the end of the year. The global financial services company provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management.

A unit of MetLife earlier this year said it would move its legal domicile to Nebraska. Insurance experts say companies can save money in Nebraska because of the state’s relatively low tax rate on insurance premiums.

The state requires companies moving their domiciles to Nebraska to maintain operating offices here, carrying out functions such as claims processing or customer relations services.