(AP) — Trial has been delayed for a man accused of injuring a Nebraska State Patrol trooper by ramming his tractor into the trooper’s car.

Sioux City, Iowa, television station KTIV reports (https://bit.ly/15fhI7x) that 39-year-old Aaron White, of Plainview, appeared in Antelope County District Court in Neligh on Wednesday. His next court appearance is set for Aug. 28 for a pretrial conference.

Authorities say White created several disturbances in December and when law enforcement officers confronted him, White tried to ram a deputy’s car with his tractor before hitting a trooper’s car and hurting him.

Another state trooper shot White.

White is charged with four felonies, including assaulting an officer.

(AP) — A man who kidnapped and raped three women in Cleveland over a decade in his house is heading back to court where he’ll face a sentence up to life in prison plus 1,000 years.

The sentence 53-year-old Ariel Castro could receive Thursday was hammered out as part of a plea deal that spared him a possible death sentence for a forced miscarriage suffered by one victim.

Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Tim McGinty says the women kept diaries documenting the psychological and sexual abuse they suffered daily for a decade.

He alleged Wednesday that Castro fed them just once a day.

The case broke May 6 when one victim kicked out part of a door at Castro’s house and called to neighbors for help. Castro was arrested within hours.

(AP) — Gov. Dave Heineman has named two new judges.

Heineman picked 44-year-old Jeffrey Funke (FUNK), of Nebraska City, to serve as district judge in southeast Nebraska. Funke currently serves as a county judge for the 2nd Judicial District.

Funke replaces former Cass County District Judge Randall Rehmeier, who recently retired.

Heineman also named 44-year-old Stephen R.W. Twiss, of Central City, as a county judge for the 5th Judicial District. The district is composed of Boone, Butler, Colfax, Hamilton, Merrick, Nance, Platte, Polk, Saunders, Seward, and York counties.

Twiss, a private practice attorney, replaces former York County Judge Curtis Evans, who retired in May.

(AP) — A 25-year-old worker remains in extremely critical condition at an Omaha hospital after the ladder he was carrying hit a power line.

Emergency crews were called to a west Omaha apartment building Wednesday morning for a report that a man had been electrocuted.

Rescue workers found 25-year-old Pedro Armederiz, who had been working on the apartment’s gutters when the aluminum ladder he was moving touched a live electrical wire.

Medics were able to revive Armederiz, but he remains in critical condition.

 

George Zimmerman had another run-in with cops earlier this week.

Zimmerman was pulled over for speeding in Forney, Texas on Sunday. He informed the officer that he was armed, and was told to put the weapon in his glove box while the cop ran a background check. After finding nothing outstanding on Zimmerman’s record, the officer let him go with a warning.

This is the second time Zimmerman has been in the news since the verdict in the Trayvon Martin case. Earlier this month, he helped pull a family of four from an overturned SUV not far from his home in Florida.

(AP) — The man who shot and killed six people at his South Florida apartment complex before being gunned down by police called 911 hours before the shooting to say he was being followed.

In the bizarre, 12-minute call, Pedro Vargas asked a dispatcher to run the license plate of a vehicle outside his building. He also said he was the victim of someone doing witchcraft against him.

A recording of the call was released Wednesday by the Hialeah Police Department.

At one point, the dispatcher asked to speak with Vargas’ mother. The elderly woman got on the phone and told the dispatcher her son was acting disturbed and that she wanted to get him an appointment with a psychiatrist.

She declined a dispatcher’s offer to send police to the apartment.

(AP) — Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn will sign legislation making the state the 20th in the U.S. to legalize medical marijuana.

His remarks Thursday will focus on providing relief to the seriously ill, including veterans.

The Chicago Democrat will also tout the legislation’s strict standards, which experts say are among the nation’s toughest. That’s according to a copy of details obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.

The measure outlines a four-year pilot program that requires patients and caregivers to undergo background checks and sets provisions for state-regulated dispensaries. The proposal says seriously ill patients can be allowed up to 2.5 ounces at a time.

Jim Champion, a veteran with multiple sclerosis who’s advocated for medical cannabis, has been invited to speak at Thursday’s bill signing.

(AP) — A former Southern California teacher who allegedly gave birth to her student’s baby has pleaded guilty to having sex with a minor and will be sentenced to a year in jail.

28-year-old Laura Whitehurst on Wednesday entered guilty pleas to six of 41 charges against her. She had faced up to 29 years in prison if convicted on all counts.

Whitehurst is a former teacher at Citrus Valley High School in Redlands. Prosecutors contend she began a sexual affair with a student last summer when he was 16. She gave birth last month.

Whitehurst also was accused of having sex several years ago with two students, who are now adults.

(AP) — The one-time owners of a Lincoln window company have been sentenced to prison for failing to pay federal income taxes and income tax withholdings of employees.

Michael and Laurie Russell, of Hickman, were sentenced Monday in federal court in Lincoln. Michael Russell was sentenced to 16 months in prison. Laurie Russell was sentenced to six months. The Russells were also ordered to pay restitution of more than $311,000 to the IRS.

The Russells were convicted of failing to pay that amount in taxes and withholdings of their employees for 2006 when they owned North Country Windows Inc. of Lincoln.

Federal prosecutor say the Russells lived a comfortable lifestyle and had the financial ability to pay the taxes, but chose not to.

(AP) — A 19-year-old Australian is aiming for the Guinness World Record for the youngest person to fly solo around the world.

If he’s successful, Ryan Campbell will unseat Californian Jack Wiegand, who set the record in June when he completed a global flight at age 21.

Campbell left Wollongong, Australia, on June 30. He aims to finish his route on Sept. 7. He is spending much of this week in Oshkosh, Wis., at AirVenture, one of the nation’s largest air shows.

Campbell says he wanted to fly from the time he was 6. He flew solo at 15, got his pilot’s license at 17 and earned his commercial pilot’s license at 18.

He says he hopes his success inspires more young people to consider careers in aviation.