(AP) — A 58-year-old Nebraska man already charged with killing his former divorce lawyer has been charged with killing his former wife.

Buffalo County Attorney Shawn Eatherton says Michael Petersen, of rural Glenvil, has been charged with first-degree murder and use of a firearm to commit a felony. He’s accused of shooting to death 58-year-old Nancy Petersen at her home in rural Buffalo County. Her body was found the morning of Nov. 14

Michael Petersen was charged with first-degree murder last week in the shooting death of attorney Todd Elsbernd. The 52-year-old Elsbernd was fatally shot Nov. 13 outside his law office in downtown Grand Island.

Michael Petersen remained in custody on Thursday. Online court records don’t list the name of his attorney in either case.

(AP) — The overall index in a new monthly survey matches the previous index and also suggests the economy will continue growing at a slow pace in rural areas of 10 Midwest and Plains states.

The report for the Rural Mainstreet Index was released Thursday and says the index remained unchanged at 54.3 in November.

The index is based on surveys of rural bankers in Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming. It ranges from 0 to 100, with 50 representing growth neutral. A score above 50 suggests growth in that factor in the months ahead.

The confidence index, which reflects expectations for the economy six months out, rose to a still weak 48.3 from 44.7 in October.

Great Plains Regional Medical Center and partner HealthcareSource were recently named winners in the 2013 Brandon Hall Excellence Awards. The organizations earned a gold award for Best in Compliance Training in the Learning category, which recognizes learning programs specifically designed to address a compliance-driven learning objective.

Great Plains and HealthcareSource, a provider of talent management software for the healthcare industry, collaborated on a project to improve compliance rates and reduce training costs at the hospital. The project involved moving from a paper-based education and training system to online compliance courses.

“Our new software system saves us both time and money and helped us reach a 100 percent compliance rate with our training records,” said Jan Wright, training coordinator.

All United States hospitals are required to provide education to employees on certain topics. With Great Plains’ new compliance program, the hospital has been able to significantly reduce the education burden on staff, save time, and improve compliance with the required education.

“We have eliminated the manual piece of keeping track of employees’ training records. Now if an accrediting body visits and needs to see our training records, we can produce them at the click of a button,” Wright said.

Wright worked with outside agencies to determine the specific employee training required and how often it needs to be repeated. By doing this, Great Plains has reduced unnecessary, redundant training and has ensured that all required training is taking place each year.

Other companies joining Great Plains in receiving a Brandon Hall gold award this year include American Express, Nike, Dell, and Johnson and Johnson. The gold award is the highest honor available.

“We feel privileged to be in the company of such prestigious organizations honored with this same award,” said Greg Nielsen, CEO, Great Plains. “This achievement underscores our desire to deliver education in the most timely and effective manner possible.”

Brandon Hall Group is a research and analyst organization focused on developing learning, talent management, and business research to help drive organizational performance. The Brandon Hall Excellence Awards include 78 categories for functional areas that are responsible for driving performance within an organization. They recognize the best companies that have successfully developed and deployed programs, strategies, modalities, processes, systems, and tools that have helped companies achieve measurable results.

(AP) — A California woman who says the government unjustly seized her life savings of more than $1 million in a Nebraska traffic stop will soon be getting the money — plus interest — back.

Roger Diamond, the attorney for 35-year-old Tara Mishra, of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., says the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Omaha told him the government has given up its claim to the money.

A federal judge on Tuesday granted the government’s request to dismiss its own appeal of a judge’s order earlier this year to return the money.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office did not immediately answer questions Wednesday by The Associated Press asking why it dropped the appeal.

Mishra sued last year after a trooper confiscated the cash. Government lawyers had said the money was connected to illegal drugs.

(AP) — A trial has been pushed back again for a former Gering man charged with child abuse in the death of a 2-year-old girl.

An attorney for Dustin Chauncey on Monday requested another continuance to allow more time to prepare for the case. A Scotts Bluff County district judge granted the request and set a tentative trial date of March 31.

Chauncey originally was scheduled for trial on Aug. 5, then Oct. 21, then on Dec. 16.

Chauncey has pleaded not guilty to a charge of intentional child abuse resulting in the death of Juliette Geurts, of Gering, in July 2008. He was the boyfriend of the girl’s mother.