LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — An April sentencing has been scheduled for a retired Nebraska union leader who pleaded guilty to embezzling more than $100,000 in union funds.

Ray Lineweber made his plea Friday, after striking a deal with prosecutors who promised to seek dismissal of 28 other counts. Lineweber had rejected a plea deal offer last month.

Assistant U.S. Attorney William Mickle says evidence shows Lineweber embezzled nearly $103,000 from the United Transportation Union between January 2008 and May 2012, when he was legislative director for the union’s Nebraska State Legislative Board 30. Lineweber said in court Friday that he used most of the money on union members.

His sentencing is scheduled for April 17.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Hank Bounds, the commissioner of higher education for the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, has been chosen as the University of Nebraska’s next president.

The university announced the Board of Regents voted unanimously Monday to approve the 47-year-old for the job. Bounds was one of four finalists for the job to replace J.B. Milliken, who left last year to become chancellor of the City University of New York.

As president, Bounds will oversee campuses in Lincoln, Omaha and Kearney and the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Curtis.

Bounds has led Mississippi’s eight public universities since 2009. He was the state’s superintendent of K-12 schools from 2005 to 2009 and was superintendent of the Pascagoula school system from 2001 to 2005. Earlier, he worked as a high school principal.

GERING, Neb. (AP) — A Wyoming teenager has lost his bid for a new trial and is scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 19 for killing a western Nebraska jailer.

Sixteen-year-old Dylan Cardeilhac, of Torrington, Wyoming, was convicted of second-degree murder for strangling Scotts Bluff County jailer Amanda Baker. On Friday a judge denied a motion that alleged jury misconduct at the original trial. Cardeilhac was 15 at the time of the Valentine’s Day attack last year.

Cardeilhac’s attorney says one juror acted out the jail cell strangulation for another juror, which the attorney said “did not accurately reflect the evidence at trial.”

Judge Travis O’Gorman rejected the motion, saying the re-enactment was simply a “critical examination of evidence” submitted at the trial and that an evidentiary hearing was unneeded.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb.–A North Platte man and woman are facing felony charges following a drug investigation by local and state law enforcement.

At around 1:30 p.m., on January 8, officers with the North Platte Police and investigators with the Nebraska State Patrol responded to a residence in the 200 block of East North River Road.

According to Officer Rodney Brown, law enforcement had received information regarding suspected drug activity at that location.

Officers made contact with 34-year-old Rachel Humphrey and 26-year-old Ryan Gabel at the residence.

Brown said Gabel was allowed to leave.

A subsequent search revealed drug paraphernalia and a small baggie of methamphetamine.

Humphrey was transported to the Lincoln County Detention Center and charged with felony possession of methamphetamine.

On January 9, officers made contact with Gabel, who they believe was under the influence of meth, and interviewed him.

Following further investigation, officers determined that there was probable cause to also arrest Gabel, and charge him with felony possession of methamphetamine.

He was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.

KEARNEY, Neb.–A weekend traffic stop on Interstate 80 in Buffalo County led to the seizure of 35 lbs. of marijuana and one arrest.

Around 1:00 p.m., Sunday, January 11, a trooper stopped an eastbound 2013 Chevy Sonic for failure to maintain its lane, two miles east of the Minden exit on I-80. An NSP canine indicated to the odor of drugs coming from the vehicle. A search of the car led to the seizure of 35.4 lbs. of marijuana. The marijuana was located in duffle bags in the trunk of the vehicle.

The driver and lone occupant of the vehicle, Lori L. Ferleman, 48, of Mason City, Iowa, was lodged in the Buffalo County Jail on a charge of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Authorities and some owners suspect someone or some people have been stealing dogs in central Nebraska.

Howard County Sheriff Tom Busch said a spate of reports to his department started around Dec. 1 and that so far 11 dogs have been reported missing. Busch says, “I do believe that there’s someone taking them.”

Law enforcement officials in Sherman and Merrick counties say they have gotten reports of missing dogs and have heard of others.

Laurie Dethloff is executive director of the Central Nebraska Humane Society in Grand Island, and she says her staff has heard about incidents in Howard and Adams counties and in McCook. Dethloff says the reports are unlike anything she’s heard in the eight years she’s been at the shelter.

• Today: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 17. Wind chill values as low as zero. North northeast wind 5 to 7 mph becoming east southeast in the afternoon.
• Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 3. Wind chill values as low as -12. South southeast wind 6 to 9 mph.
• Tuesday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 22. Wind chill values as low as -10. South southeast wind 6 to 9 mph.
• Tuesday Night: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 5. Wind chill values as low as -7. Southwest wind 5 to 8 mph becoming northwest after midnight.
• Wednesday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 33. West wind around 9 mph.
• Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 13.
• Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 42.

North Platte, NE–Bridge work will force the closure of a section of State Farm Road for the next couple of months.

According to the Lincoln County Department of Roads, State Farm Road will be closed at the bridge approximately nine miles east of South Highway 83.

They say the bridge will be closed from Monday, January 12, until approximately April 1.

Officials say the bridge over the Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation Canal will be replaced.

Traffic from North Platte to Maxwell will be detoured to Highway 30.

GERING, Neb. (AP) — Officials are narrowing down candidates for executive director at the Legacy of the Plains Museum in western Nebraska.

A committee of six members from the museum’s board will convene Monday to begin reviewing 13 applications.

Board President Jodi Ruzicka says there is no set number of applicants who will make it to an interview. The board wants to have someone in the position by March 1.

The new director will succeed Katie Bradshaw, who resigned last year. An interim director is currently in place.

The museum features a collection of pioneer artifacts, an 80-acre working farm and views of the Scotts Bluff National Monument.

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — The average price of regular gasoline nationwide has dropped 27 cents a gallon in the past three weeks, to $2.20.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg says it’s the lowest in more than five years and more drops are possible, although probably not as steep.

Lundberg said Sunday that lower crude oil prices are driving prices down, along with an abundant oil supply.

The highest-priced gas in the Lower 48 states was found in San Francisco, at $2.66 a gallon. The lowest was in Albuquerque, New Mexico, at $1.76 a gallon.

California’s lowest average was in Sacramento, at $2.42 a gallon.

The average price for midgrade gas in the U.S. is $2.44. For premium it’s $2.61.

In Nebraska, the average price for a gallon of regular is $2.03.