OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Department of Veterans Affairs’ Office of Construction has unveiled the first designs for eastern Nebraska’s first national military cemetery.

A pair of engineers from the office unveiled the plans Tuesday for the 230-acre cemetery during a downtown Omaha meeting attended by about 80 local veterans.

The engineers say the first burial at the 230-acre cemetery could occur within two years.

Project Manager David Martino says the centerpiece of the Sarpy County National Veterans Cemetery will be a flag assembly area at the highest point on the site, where services for Memorial Day and Veterans Day can be held. Nearby will be a memorial walkway, where vets groups may put up monuments.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Officials hope new fencing will make an accident-prone roundabout in Lincoln safer for motorists.

Workers installed fencing at the roundabout after an expert on the intersections recommended the move.

The hope is the fencing placed at the approach to each leg of the roundabout will force drivers to slow down and check for oncoming vehicles already in the intersection.

It’s the second effort to reduce crashes at the roundabout, which opened in the summer of 2012.

Earlier, officials eliminated one lane of the roundabout, making the intersection less complicated for motorists.

Since then, there has been one accident at the intersection every nine or 10 days, compared to an accident about every three days before the change.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — A Nebraska woman and her son have been charged with first-degree murder in the death of the woman’s husband nearly 13 years ago in Middle Tennessee.

A Tennessee Bureau of Investigation news release says 53-year-old Lisa Ann Showalter of Lincoln, Neb., was arrested Wednesday at the Nashville airport and booked into the Hickman County jail on $250,000 bond following an indictment from a Hickman County grand jury.

Her son, 32-year-old Andrew Scott Waddell, is imprisoned in Mississippi for a 2003 armed robbery conviction and was served with the charge Wednesday.

Showalter and Waddell are charged in the Jan. 6, 2001, shooting death of 35-year-old Jeffrey Ola in his driveway in Centerville.

The TBI says law enforcement authorities received new information about the case in May and resumed the investigation.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Two young brothers have died in a mobile home fire in northwest Omaha that injured two adults.

Omaha police say a 3-year-old and a 3-month-old died in the fire that was reported around 8:15 a.m. Wednesday. Their mother and a 16-month-old sister were both hospitalized after the fire.

The boys who died in the fire at Maplewood Estates were Gabriel Rodriguez and Brandon Rodriguez. Witnesses said a neighbor tried to rescue the boys, but couldn’t make it past the intense flames.

The boys’ 18-year-old mother, Champaine Harn was in serious condition Wednesday. Their sister, Adrianna Rodriguez, was in good condition. Both are expected to survive.

Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the fire.

The West O Street on-ramp to Interstate 80 remains closed this morning, Thursday, Dec. 19, as clean up continues following a fiery semi- trailer truck crash that claimed two lives.  Motorists are advised to check Nebraska 511 for opening information.

Around noon, Wednesday, December 18, the Nebraska State Patrol responded to reports of a semi on fire on the westbound West O Street on-ramp. The preliminary investigation indicates the semi was eastbound on I-80 when it struck a guardrail, went down an embankment, landed upright on the on-ramp and caught fire.

According to the trucking company, U.S. Express, of Chattanooga, Tenn., the semi hauling dry goods was being driven by a husband and wife team out of East Canton, Ohio.

The names of both the female driver and male passenger killed in the crash are being withheld pending notification of relatives.

The crash closed a portion of eastbound I-80 for approximately an hour and a half. Westbound lanes were closed for a short period due to heavy smoke from the fire.

The Nebraska State Patrol was assisted by the Lincoln Police Department, Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office, Southwest Rural Fire and Rescue, Lincoln Fire and Rescue, the Malcolm Volunteer Fire Department and the Nebraska Air Guard.

NEW YORK (AP) — A new survey gives credence to those who say that the religious meaning of Christmas is being lost.

A poll released Wednesday by the Pew Research Center found only half of Americans consider the holiday religious, even though nearly three-quarters said they believed Jesus was born to a virgin. One-third consider Christmas a cultural celebration.

Church attendance will be higher than usual during the holiday. But the survey found fewer adults are holding to the tradition of attending worship services. Sixty-nine percent of respondents said they attended Christmas services as a child. Only 54 percent will do so this year.

Meanwhile, 86 percent say they will gather with extended family or friends and will buy gifts for them.

The survey of more than 2,000 people was conducted earlier this month.

SUMNER, Neb. (AP) — A 79-year-old Eddyville man has died after a rollover crash near Sumner in central Nebraska.

Dawson County Sheriff Gary Reiber (RYE’-bur) says the accident occurred a little before 2:15 p.m. Saturday on Nebraska Highway 40.

Reiber says a car driven by Duane Pflaster (FLAS’-tur) ran off the highway, struck an embankment and rolled. The sheriff says Pflaster was taken to a Kearney hospital, where he died later Saturday.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — No arrests have been reported in the fatal shooting of a woman outside an Omaha nightclub.

The shooting occurred a little before 2 a.m. Sunday outside the Passion Lounge in south-central Omaha. Authorities say 24-year-old Janee Hadan died Sunday at Creighton University Medical Center. Two wounded men were hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries.

Hadan’s employer, Jane Happee of the Educare Center of Omaha, told the Omaha World-Herald that Hadan was a “gentle but very energetic person.”

Hadan’s sister, Makayla Walker, told Omaha television KETV that the killer will be found, that “somebody out there knows something. Witnesses are talking.”

Walker says Hadan is survived by her 3-year-old son.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Medical groups and several major insurance companies have reached an agreement that seeks to cut health care costs in Nebraska while improving patient outcomes.

The groups on Wednesday will sign the voluntary agreement, which was brokered by two state lawmakers.

The agreement focuses on the use of patient-centered medical homes, which have been shown to provide better-coordinated and more efficient care for patients with a lot of needs.

The state began a pilot program after passing bill in 2009 by state Sen. Mike Gloor of Grand Island. Last year, state Sen. John Wightman of Lexington introduced a measure to require insurance companies to pay physicians for patient-centered medical home services.

The senators say Wightman’s bill prompted a year-long effort to set up rules between physicians and insurers.