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.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A former Nebraska State Patrol investigator has pleaded not guilty to drug charges.

Court records say 44-year-old Christopher Kober entered pleas Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Omaha to acquiring drugs by fraud or diversion and possession with intent to sell. A trial date has not been set.

A federal indictment lists the drugs as painkillers and opioids and says they were stolen from January 2016 to March 17 this year during drug take-back operations, overdose investigations and other means.

Kober was fired in June following an internal patrol investigation. He lives in Bellevue.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — More law enforcement leaders in Nebraska are interested in a service provided by the State Patrol that shows real-time, mapped coordinates for officers.

The software can help law enforcement coordinate responses among multiple agencies and more efficiently assign officers. The software is called Mobile Architecture for Communication Handling.

The Nebraska State Patrol pays $92,000 annually to license the software. The agency is offering the service to local agencies for $24 per user each year.

State Patrol Capt. Gerry Krolikowski says 13 agencies are using the service in Nebraska. He says three others are testing it and eight are interested.

Saunders County Sherriff Kevin Stukenholtz says he’s interested. He says the service could’ve been useful during a recent string of bank robberies in the area.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Two lawmakers are touring Nebraska schools to learn about reading curriculums and see how schools handle dyslexia.

Sens. Lou Ann Linehan and Patty Pansing Brooks visited Omaha Public Schools on Tuesday.

Pansing Brooks says the visits are meant to help legislators understand how schools approach literacy and how they work with students who have difficulties learning.

Both senators have experience with dyslexia: Linehan and her son have the learning disability, and Pansing Brooks’ brother is dyslexic.

Pansing Brooks’ says it’s important to spot learning disorders early in a child’s development.

The senators are also looking for feedback from teachers about how effectively their college education prepared them to identify learning problems.

The tour is part of a legislative interim study that may lead to legislation.

OVERTON, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a South Dakota woman died in a crash on Interstate 80 in south-central Nebraska.

The accident occurred around 12:15 p.m. Tuesday, about 2 miles (3 kilometers) east of Overton. The Nebraska State Patrol says an eastbound sport utility vehicle driven by 63-year-old Daniel Hafner drifted into the median, struck a guardrail and rolled.

The patrol says his wife, 58-year-old Linda Hafner, died at the scene. She lived in Tea, South Dakota, with her husband.

Daniel Hafner was taken to a Kearney hospital for treatment.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts is launching a new performance-based pay system for approximately 3,000 non-union state employees who have traditionally received cost-of-living increases.

Ricketts announced the change Wednesday as a way to run state government more like a business.

Starting in January, discretionary and classified rules employees will receive merit increases rather than cost-of-living increases based on goals those workers have set with agency leaders. The program will allow bonus increases for employees deemed top performers.

The governor’s office says the employees affected include managers and professional employees who aren’t subject to the union contract. The administration says it could introduce the proposal when the next state employee contract is negotiated in 2018.

The “pay for performance” program will be funded with existing dollars traditionally used for cost-of-living increases.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A former state senator has been chosen to serve on the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission.

The commission announced Wednesday that Kate Sullivan of Cedar Rapids will serve a term that expires in 2020. Sullivan was appointed by Gov. Pete Ricketts.

The commission enforces Nebraska’s laws that regulate campaign finance issues, lobbying and conflicts of interest.

Sullivan served in the Legislature from 2009 to 2017, including a stint as chairwoman of the Education Committee. She also was member of the tax-focused Revenue Committee.

By law, the commission’s membership is balanced politically and geographically. Sullivan is a registered Democrat.