LEXINGTON, Neb. (AP) — An April trial has been scheduled for an 18-year-old from Elwood accused of causing a fatal accident while texting.

Hailey Boutin pleaded not guilty Monday in a Lexington courtroom to vehicular homicide. Her trial is set to begin April 11 in Dawson County District Court.

Authorities think Boutin was distracted by a text message on her cellphone Sept. 19 moments before running a stop sign about 10 miles south of Cozad and slamming into another vehicle. The impact caused the other vehicle to roll several times, killing a passenger, 59-year-old Mary Robertson, who lived in Cozad. The crash seriously injured Robertson’s husband, 64-year-old Monte Robertson, who was driving.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — A man accused of killing his wife on their farm in western Nebraska has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office says 62-year-old Emerson Craig entered the plea Tuesday in North Platte’s federal court.

Craig called authorities to the farm near Maxwell in April 2014, saying his wife had been crushed under a large hay bale, which he said he had moved using a truck. His wife, 52-year-old Heidi Craig, was pronounced dead at the scene.

Officials say autopsy results showed she had actually died of blunt force trauma to the head and manual strangulation.

Investigators say Craig had obtained a life insurance policy on his wife that would pay double if her death was the result of an accident.

Craig will be sentenced on Feb. 27.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts is proposing an effort to eliminate a variety of job-licensing requirements.

Ricketts says he will call on lawmakers to pass a package of eight bills in his annual State of the State address on Thursday.

The proposals would ease requirements for aspiring cosmetologists, massage therapists, audiologists, potato shippers and school bus drivers, among others. Ricketts argues the regulations targeted are generally redundant or more stringent than those in other states, and he says eliminating them won’t affect public safety.

Jim Vokal of the Omaha-based Platte Institute says the proposals chosen are “low-hanging fruit” and eliminating them could make it easier to find a job or start a business. Ricketts worked with the group as well as various state agencies to come up with his list.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A small Nebraska town again is caught in the crosshairs of a debate over alcohol sales and widespread alcoholism on a bordering South Dakota Native American reservation.

County officials voted 3-0 Tuesday to recommend the state renew liquor licenses for four beer stores in Whiteclay. Those stores sold the equivalent of 3.5 million cans of beer in 2015 despite Whiteclay’s dozen full-time residents.

The decision is a setback from activists who’ve targeted the city for decades in hopes of stopping sales.

Members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe blame Whiteclay for problems on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, where alcohol is banned.

Whiteclay’s history dates to 1882, when it was part a buffer zone created to protect the tribe from whiskey peddlers. President Theodore Roosevelt eliminated the zone in 1904.

A penguin that was stolen from a display at Cody Park’s Santa’s Workshop and Winter Wonderland last month has been recovered.

On January 9, at around 4:24 p.m., a North Platte police officer took several reports of items being stolen from vehicles in the 800 block of West E Street.  Investigator John Deal says two citizens reported that their vehicles had been broken into and numerous items were stolen, including a work bag with a two-way radio, a spotting scope and other hunting optics and several other items.

One of the victims found a cell phone in their vehicle that didn’t belong to them.

Deal says officers checked the phone and determined that it belonged to 20-year-old Alexander Fourtner.

Officers responded to Fourtner’s residence in the 700 block of South Eastman.  According to Deal, the officers were speaking with Fourtner in his bedroom when one of them noticed the penguin that had been stolen from Cody Park.  The penguin had some minor damage and had the words “Buckaroo Bandits” written on it in permanent marker.

Further investigation led to the discovery of the majority of the property that had been stolen from the two vehicles on E Street.  Property from numerous other thefts around North Platte was also recovered.  Deal says a number of cases will likely be cleared once the investigation is complete.

Officers questioned Fourtner, who claimed that he did not steal the penguin, and said it had been brought to his house by an acquaintance that he would not name.

Police are asking anyone with information about the penguin, or if you’ve been a victim of theft, to contact the North Platte Police Department.

Deal says Fourtner was charged with felony theft between $1,500-$5,000 for the two vehicle break-ins and jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.

The investigation is ongoing and Deal says Fourtner will likely face more charges, including possession of the stolen penguin.

A former North Platte travel agent will spend the next three to five years in prison after she was convicted of stealing thousands of dollars from clients.

In December of 2015, the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office received information from a Moorefield couple that they had possibly been scammed by a travel agent in North Platte.

The couple reported that they had booked a large family vacation to Hawaii in February of 2015 through a travel agent, later identified as Ella Mae Sculley.  The couple alleged that they made two large payments to Sculley but began finding problems with the vacation plans.

According to Investigators, the couple contacted the parent travel company and found that their vacation had not been booked.  They say they made numerous attempts to contact Sculley but got no response.

After a lengthy investigation into Sculley’s business banking accounts, it was determined that Sculley had indeed received two checks from the alleged victims, but did not make any payments to the parent travel company.

It was determined that the couple has lost over $18,000 due to the incident.

On February 11, 2015, Sculley was contacted by law enforcement and placed under arrest.  She was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center and charged with felony theft by deception.

On Monday, Lincoln County District Court Judge Donald Rowlands sentenced Sculley to three to five years at the Nebraska Women’s Prison, in York.

Rowlands noted that a previous theft conviction, in which Sculley was convicted of stealing $8,000 when she worked for Goodwill, in Lexington, meant that he had no choice but to send her to prison.

Sculley must also pay over $30,000 in restitution.

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — The Scottsbluff City Council is supporting plans to building a micro-distillery in the city.

The council agreed to send a positive recommendation for the distillery to the state Liquor Control Commission.

Father and son Phillip Mitchell and Austin Propp will share ownership in the business they’ve named Great Plains Distillery.

Mitchell says he and his son will initially be the sole workers but hope to hire employees as the business expands in the future.

The distillery will rely as much as possible on locally grown crops.

Council members expressed concern that Propp has twice been charged with driving while intoxicated but decided to support their plans.

Propp says he’s contesting a drunken driving charge from November 2016.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska senators have unveiled a new legislative package intended to provide services for youths who are involved in the child welfare system or juvenile court.

The measures announced Monday would mandate legal representation for juveniles, increasing funding to help the state meet caseload standards in the child welfare system and extend foster care services to certain youths through age 21. It also would establish a bridge custody program to minimize a child’s interactions with juvenile court while ensuring his or her safety.

The bills were introduced by lawmakers who also serve on the state Children’s Commission. The commission was established in response to Nebraska’s failed attempt to privatize its child welfare system.