LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A former flower shop owner who sexually assaulted and tortured a Texas man in the basement of his Wayne store has been granted parole.

The Nebraska Board of Parole granted 69-year-old Roger Van parole on Friday.

Van has been in prison since 2003 after being convicted of sexual assault, false imprisonment and other counts. He was sentenced to up to 30 years for sexually assaulting, torturing and holding a Texas man captive in the basement of his Wayne flower shop in 2001.

Board member Teresa Bittinger told Van she voted to release him mainly because she wanted officials to be able to monitor him. If he had reached his mandatory release date in 2018, he would be subject to no oversight.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police have identified a woman fatally shot in north Omaha as 35-year-old Suzanne Pope.

Omaha police say officers were called to the area of Kansas Avenue and 39th Street around 4:35 a.m. Saturday for a report of a shooting and found a man and a woman suffering from gunshot wounds.

The man, who has not yet been identified, was taken to an Omaha hospital for surgery. His condition has not been released.

Police say Pope was pronounced dead a short time after being found.

No arrests have been reported.

BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) — An event next month at the Homestead National Monument will offer the chance to learn more about the medicines and foods American Indians used.

The monument will host Jerome Kills Small for a talk on the topic on Nov. 13 at 2 p.m.

Kills Small will talk about medicinal plants and foods that can be found growing on the Great Plains, in the Missouri River valley, and in the Rocky Mountains.

He will also describe what Native American tribes believes about those plants.

The monument sits four miles west of Beatrice, along Nebraska Highway 4. All activities are free of cost and no park permit is required to visit Homestead National Monument of America.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A grand jury has cleared Lincoln police officers of wrongdoing in the June shooting death of a man suspected of shooting two other people.

The grand jury found on Friday that the officers acted lawfully in the June 26 shooting of 22-year-old Germichael Kennedy, of Lincoln.

Investigators say the officers confronted Kennedy and shot him when he pointed a handgun at them. Investigators believe Kennedy had fatally shot 20-year-old Marlene Rashidi and wounded 23-year-old Dezarae Mann as the women were sitting in separate cars earlier that day.

Officials say Kennedy broke away and pulled a gun when Sgt. Mario Robinson tried to arrest him. That’s when Robinson and Officer Josh Atkinson fired multiple rounds, killing Kennedy.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha’s award-winning zoo has announced the birth of a white-handed gibbon.

The Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium said Friday that the gibbon was born Oct. 15 in the Lied Jungle’s Asian rainforest. The gender of the gibbon is not yet known.

The small, tree-dwelling ape is now on display with its family, including 17-year-old mother, Chewie; 24-year-old father, Stevie; and sister Mei, born in 2011.

White-handed gibbons, also known as lar gibbons, are native to the rainforests of southeast Asia and dwell in high canopies where they forage for fruits, leaves and insects and live a primarily monogamous lifestyle among family groups.

White-handed gibbons are listed as endangered on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species due to habitat destruction and illegal hunting.