(AP) — The organizer of free Honor Flights to Washington, D.C., for Nebraska and western Iowa veterans of the Korean War says he’s booked a plane that he can’t yet pay for.

Bill Williams of Patriotic Productions in Omaha says he has a goal of $80,000 but has only $20,000 in donations so far.

Williams said he’s joined forces with his counterpart in southwest Iowa, who is in the same bind. The Iowa organizer also has raised just $20,000 toward his $80,000 goal.

They’ve booked the same plane for consecutive flights: Oct. 29 for the Nebraskans, Oct. 30 for the Iowans. Williams says that will save them about $20,000.

(AP) — A Kansas man has been given 20 years in a Nebraska prison for vehicular homicide in Lexington.

23-year-old Destry Swartz, of Coats, Kan., was sentenced Friday. He’d pleaded guilty to vehicular homicide while driving drunk and to flight to avoid arrest. Prosecutors dropped three other charges in exchange for Swartz’s pleas.

The Nebraska State Patrol says Swartz violated a Lexington traffic signal and raced south on U.S. Highway 283 to get away from a state trooper on Oct. 8 last year. The patrol says Swartz ran a red light and slammed into a pickup driven by 68-year-old Ruben Maravilla-Cortes, of Lexington. Maravilla-Cortes died at the scene.

(AP) — The county sheriff is more than willing to handle part of the Nebraska state prison overflow at the Lincoln County jail.

The idea of housing some state inmates in county jails arose last month as some legislators looked at ways to solve prison overcrowding without building another prison.

Lincoln County Sheriff Jerome Kramer said he would “strongly entertain” the idea. Kramer says there’s already some room available in the jail, and it was built in a way to facilitate expansion.

The jail is a moneymaker. Kramer says that in fiscal 2013, the jail made $100,000 from housing inmates from other counties.

(AP) — U.S. auto safety regulators are investigating complaints that transmission cooler lines can leak fluid in some 2013 Nissan Pathfinders and Infiniti JX models, leading to a sudden loss of transmission power.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration says it has received reports of problems from five owners of Pathfinders. No injuries have been reported. The probe covers an estimated 110,000 cars.

The NHTSA has begun an evaluation to assess the size and safety-related consequences of the issue. Such probes can often lead to recalls.

Emails were sent seeking comment from Nissan but they were not immediately returned.

The Nissan Pathfinder and the Infiniti JX are both sport utility vehicles.

(AP) — Authorities spent hours searching for a Lexington man in Johnson Lake before discovering his body Saturday morning.

The search for 29-year-old Gilberto David Salcedo began Friday evening, but it had to be suspended that night because of severe weather.

Salcedo was found in a 9-foot-deep swimming area at 8:30 Saturday morning.

Officials from Gosper and Dawson counties assisted the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission in the search.

 

(AP) — A southwest Nebraska rancher has donated 160 acres to Red Willow County to help support the arenas he donated money to help build.

John Thomas “Tom” Kiplinger made the donation to help ensure the facilities would be able to continue operating without any tax money.

Previously, Kiplinger donated more than $600,000 to build a complex of two indoor arenas, stalls and pens at the county fairgrounds for rodeos and other events that promote agriculture.

Between event fees and Kiplinger’s donations, the arenas are self-supporting. Kiplinger says he’s proud of that.

(AP) — A Mental Health Summit has been scheduled in Lincoln to discuss the mental health needs of veterans.

The summit is set to begin at 9 a.m. Friday at the Department of Veterans Affairs outpatient clinic at 600 S. 70th St. in Lincoln. It is being organized by the VA Nebraska-Western Iowa Health Care System.

VA facilities across the country are holding similar events focusing on issues such as homelessness, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress and services for women veterans as they pertain to mental health.

Among those invited to the Lincoln summit are military liaisons and representatives from congressional offices, mental health departments, health care and educational institutions, veterans service organizations and the National Alliance on Mental Illness.

(AP) — Howard Buffett is offering students a chance to win $10,000 if they come up with good ideas to help reduce hunger and improve nutrition.

Buffett’s foundation, which focuses on battling hunger in impoverished nations, is working with the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship on the contest.

Students between the ages of 11 and 23 can submit ideas to help address real-world challenges in one of four categories, including eliminating food waste and encouraging healthy eating.

One winner in each category will be announced in November. More details are available online at https://40Chances.nfte.com.

The contest is tied to Buffett’s new book that highlights the fact that everyone has a limited window in life to make a difference in the world. The book is called “40 Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World.”

(AP) — The announced closure of a cheese manufacturing plant in Ravenna will see the central Nebraska community lose more than 170 jobs.

Officials at Leprino Foods blame a diminishing dairy supply for the plant’s shutdown.

Leprino Foods has operated in Ravenna since 1998, when it purchased the facilities from Dairy Farmers of America. It produces mainly string cheese for its mozzarella cheese company, but also makes some whey products. The company announced Thursday that it would shut down Nov. 8.

Mike Reidy, senior vice president of corporate affairs at Leprino, says the plant uses 800,000 to 1 million pounds of dairy a day. During some times of the year, Reidy says, the company had to supplement the supply with milk from outside of Nebraska. .

(AP) — Nebraska students are being invited to participate in this year’s Hispanic Heritage Month essay contest, sponsored by the Nebraska Latino-American Commission.

Middle and high school students of all ethnicities and backgrounds are eligible to enter, and essays are welcome in English and Spanish. Each essay must be original, typed or legibly handwritten in blue or black ink. Typed essays must be double spaced. The word length is 250 to 400 words for middle school students and 500 to 700 words for high school students.

The deadline for entry is Sept. 18.

The top three essays in both middle and high school categories will be recognized at a ceremony on Oct. 4 at the State Capitol in Lincoln.