(AP) — The city of Grand Island has filed a lawsuit to try to force a man to remove profane, anti-government signs on his property in the central Nebraska city.

The city filed complaints Friday against entities registered to Larry Tourangeau (tor-AN-go) in Hall County District Court.

The signs criticize government officials because they refused to indict a former Tourangeau employee whom Tourangeau accused of embezzling money. The signs went up in 2011, and Tourangeau has resisted city efforts to take them down since.

City officials say the signs were erected without a permit and violate the city’s litter and offensive substances code.

The city is asking the court to order the signs removed.

(AP) — The family of a railroad worker who died in 2010 when floodwaters brought down a bridge has settled a lawsuit against his employer and two other railroads.

Suzanne Scholl, of Norfolk, said in her lawsuit that Union Pacific Railroad, Nebraska Central Railroad and Rio Grande Pacific Corporation failed to ensure the railroad bridge was properly designed, maintained and safe.

Her husband, Jeff Scholl, was among three Nebraska Central Railroad workers checking on the bridge when it collapsed over the swollen Elkhorn River, dumping them into the fast-moving current. Two of the workers were pulled out of the river alive. Scholl’s body was found several days later.

The case was settled two weeks ago under undisclosed terms, and the lawsuit dismissed.

(AP) — The former village clerk of Verdigre who was honored as Nebraska’s clerk of the year in 2011 will be in court next week to face three felony counts of theft.

Alisha Bartling will appear in Knox County Court on Thursday.

Court records say the theft charges are related to three loans Bartling handled from the northeast Nebraska village’s housing rehabilitation program in 2010 and 2011. Each loan involved more than $1,500.

The 36-year-old Bartling, who was named the 2011 Outstanding Clerk of the Year by the Nebraska Municipal Clerks Association, is married to Verdigre Village Board member Tim Bartling.

Alisha Bartling declined to comment when reached at her home Saturday. Her attorney did not immediately return a message left at his office.

(AP) — Wichita police say they have arrested a man and two women in a hit-and-run accident that killed a man on a horse.

Police on Thursday arrested a 26-year-old man for leaving the scene of a fatal accident and felony obstruction of justice. Two women, ages 19 and 28, also were arrested on obstruction of justice charges.

Police say the man was driving and the 19-year-old woman was a passenger when the car hit a horse carrying 49-year-old Lloyd Ferguson and 6-year-old Eddie Caddell on July 5.

Ferguson died and the boy is recovering in a rehabilitation hospital in Lincoln, Neb. Ferguson’s horse had to be euthanized.

Police say a tip to Crime Stoppers this week led them to the vehicle involved in the accident.

 

(AP) — Police say a 62-year-old woman has been hit and killed by a truck while crossing a street in south Omaha.

Police say the truck hit the woman, who wasn’t identified, about noon Friday.

She was pronounced dead at the accident scene.

Neighbors say the woman was returning from a grocery store with items in a small wagon.

The driver hasn’t been cited and police are continuing the investigation.

(AP) — Three teens have been charged in the murder of a church volunteer who was found strangled and stabbed in her central Minnesota home.

Nineteen-year-old Brok Junkermeier was charged with intentional second-degree murder Friday in Kandiyohi County. Two others, ages 16 and 17, also face charges.

Police found 79-year-old Lila Warwick Monday night after authorities went there to check on her welfare.

Prosecutors say Junkermeier said one of the teens thought Warwick had $40,000 in a safe, so they plotted to steal it.

Police say Junkermeier broke into Warwick’s Willmar home, cut her with a sword-like knife and forced her to write out a $1,500 check. Police say he then strangled her, repeatedly stabbed her, then threw her downstairs.

It was not immediately clear if Junkermeier had an attorney.

(AP) — Some State Farm Insurance workers in Lincoln could lose their jobs.

The jobs could be lost as State Farm relocates a commercial insurance unit from Lincoln.

The company says in a statement Friday that an evaluation showed “some job functions could be effectively consolidated with similar work at other company locations.”

The statement also notes that some employees could move to a different location and have some moving expenses paid.

State Farm didn’t provide details about how many jobs would be lost.

The city government lists State Farm Insurance as Lincoln’s 10th largest employer, with nearly 1,400 employees.

(AP) — A 41-year-old man has pleaded no contest to attempted first-degree murder in the stabbing of his estranged girlfriend outside a Grand Island church.

Aslin C. Nabarro entered the plea Wednesday.

Other charges related to the assault were dropped.

Nabarro was arrested after a May 17 assault in a parking lot of St. Mary’s Cathedral.

After an argument with a woman identified as Mirna Medina-Colocho, Nabarro stabbed her 20 times in the upper torso and head.

He then cut his own throat and fled but collapsed less than a block away.

Medina-Colocho and Nabarro both recovered.

Nabarro will be sentenced Sept. 26.

(AP) — The U.S. Forest Service is letting people visit caves in national forests and grasslands in the Rocky Mountain region again, but there are restrictions as officials work to halt a disease that has killed 5.5 million bats since 2006.

The agency issued a closure order in 2010 to keep white-nose syndrome from spreading. So far, the disease and the fungus that causes it haven’t been confirmed in the region, which covers Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas.

As of Thursday, people can visit the region’s caves but have to register first. They must decontaminate clothing and gear before and after entering caves. Gear used in caves or mines in states affected by white-nose syndrome is prohibited.

Caves used for winter hibernation will close from roughly Oct. 15-April 15.

(AP) — Investor Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway will release its second-quarter earnings report Friday afternoon.

Berkshire’s results are likely to be affected by the health of the housing market and how well BNSF railroad dealt with reduced demand for coal.

If developers continued building homes at a healthy pace in the spring, Berkshire’s Shaw carpet, Acme Brick and Benjamin Moore paints will perform well. Berkshire also owns the HomeServices of America network of real estate brokers.

The paper value of Berkshire’s derivative contracts can also cause big swings in its bottom-line net income.

The analysts surveyed by FactSet expect Berkshire to report earnings per Class A share of $2,163.63 on revenue of $43.25 billion.