KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — A trial has been set for a Kearney police officer charged in the shooting of a man after a traffic stop.

A Buffalo County district judge set April 3 as the trial date 35-year-old Derek Payton.

Payton pleaded not guilty in September to second-degree assault, a felony, for the June 5 shooting of Jose Klich.

Payton is accused of shooting three times Klich, striking him once in the abdomen. An affidavit in support of Payton’s arrest warrant says Payton was not in the path of Klich’s car when he fired as Klich began to drive away from the scene. Klich survived the shooting.

If convicted, Payton faces up to 20 years in prison. He was placed on administrative leave after the shooting.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers plan to investigate whether the state’s longest-serving senator lives in the district he represents.

The Legislature’s Executive Board decided Wednesday to form a seven-member committee to address a complaint filed by Sen. Ernie Chambers’ 2016 election opponent.

John Sciara of Omaha lost the 2016 race by more than 6,000 votes, but he says he may still find a seat in the Legislature by proving Chambers lives in Bellevue. Chambers’ district is based in north Omaha.

Sciara may have missed a deadline to file the challenge, leading some lawmakers to say the committee first must determine whether his challenge is valid. He says his complaint and the $5,000 deposit he had to pay to cover any costs came in within a 40-day window.

A 19-year-old North Platte man is facing a sexual assault charge after a minor female reported that he had assaulted her.

On January 17, deputies from the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Officer were informed that a female student from an undisclosed Lincoln County School reported that she had been sexually assaulted by Levi Scott.

Chief Deputy Roland Kramer says the student was interviewed at The Bridge of Hope Child Advocacy Center.

Kramer says deputies conducted numerous interviews and, on January 24, Scott was arrested on a charge of first-degree sexual assault of a child.

He was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.

No other details of the case were released, as the investigation is ongoing. Deputies did not give the alleged victim’s age.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts is moving fast to replace state Sen. Bill Kintner, who is resigning under threat of getting expelled from the Legislature.

Ricketts announced Wednesday that he is seeking qualified applicants to fill the vacancy in Legislative District 2, which includes Cass County and portions of Sarpy and Otoe counties.

Kintner’s resignation allows Ricketts to appoint a senator who will serve until at least January 2019. The appointed lawmaker will stand for election in November 2018.

Kintner, of Papillion, is stepping down following a public outcry after he retweeted a comment that implied participants at a women’s march were too unattractive to be sexually assaulted. His resignation goes into effect on Monday.

Applications are due by 5 p.m. Tuesday. Information is available online at www.Governor.Nebraska.gov.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A man sent to state prison for stealing a Nebraska State Patrol cruiser has been sent to federal prison for methamphetamine possession for sale.

26-year-old Jacob Barrickman was sentenced to 7 ½ years Monday in U.S. District Court in Lincoln. He’s already serving three to six years in a Nebraska prison for stealing the cruiser.

Authorities say Barrickman admitted there was marijuana in his car after a trooper stopped him for speeding in Lincoln County on April 30, 2015. The trooper handcuffed Barrickman and his passenger and put them in the cruiser. Barrickman got a hand free and then drove off in the cruiser. He was stopped 50 miles away.

Authorities say pot and a pound of meth were found in Barrickman’s vehicle.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A midwinter storm has deposited more than 18 inches of snow on northern Nebraska and up to a foot on northern Iowa.

The Nebraska and Iowa highway departments said Wednesday that highways are covered with snow and that motorists should be wary of slick spots. Many school districts in both states have canceled classes or are opening late.

Authorities say a woman died Tuesday after she lost control of her vehicle and collided with another on a slickened highway near Le Mars in northwest Iowa.

The National Weather Service says 18 inches of snow was reported Tuesday evening at Bayard in the Nebraska Panhandle. Eleven inches of snow was reported in Iowa’s Sioux County.

The service says the slow-moving, eastbound system has prompted storm warnings in Minnesota and Wisconsin.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska state senator could face expulsion from the Legislature for retweeting a talk show host’s joke implying that three Women’s March demonstrators are too unattractive to sexually assault.

Sen. Bill Kintner’s fellow lawmakers railed Tuesday against his posting, the latest in a long history of inflammatory statements.

Kintner retweeted Los Angeles talk show host Larry Elder, who mocked three women pictured with signs protesting Donald Trump’s comments about touching women inappropriately. Above the photo, Elder wrote: “Ladies, I think you’re safe.”

Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer says senators are drafting a resolution to expel Kintner.

Kintner admitted last year to having cybersex on a state computer with a woman who later tried to blackmail him, but refused to resign. His opponents didn’t have enough votes to expel him.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts says a hiring freeze implemented last fall has eliminated nearly 300 state government positions that he described as unnecessary.

The number of employees in state agencies fell from about 13,800 to 13,500 between October and January. The state’s chief human resources officer said Tuesday the reduction was achieved mainly through attrition.

The hiring freeze will remain in effect for the foreseeable future, as Nebraska again faces a projected budget shortfall of nearly $900 million during the next two years. Positions considered critical for public safety or services are exempted from the freeze.

Ricketts says the hiring freeze and other efforts to cut expenses are beneficial to taxpayers.