(AP) — A man accused of kidnapping three women, keeping them captive in his Cleveland home for about a decade and raping them repeatedly faces a final pretrial hearing a day after his attorneys and prosecutors said they have entered into plea negotiations.

The 53-year-old Ariel Castro is scheduled to appear in court Friday morning before a Cuyahoga County judge who wants to be updated on the talks.

Plea deal negotiations are hinging on whether the prosecutor would rule out the death penalty as the defense has demanded.

Castro, whose trial is slated to start Aug. 5, has pleaded not guilty to nearly 1,000 counts of kidnap, rape and other crimes. His indictment includes two counts of aggravated murder related to accusations he punched and starved one of the women until she miscarried.

The women escaped to freedom in May.

(AP) — Officials in Nebraska’s most populous county are working to digitize more property records and make them available online.

The Douglas County Register of Deeds is working on scanning all of its old records, so they will be more readily accessible.

Currently, images dating back to 1987 are available online. Register of Deeds Diane Battiato says this project has been in the works for several years.

The goal is to have the records available online by early 2014.

(AP) — A 25-year-old Lincoln man has been sentenced to prison for dousing a pregnant woman with lighter fluid and threatening to set her on fire.

Online court records say Quinton Rivers was sentenced on Wednesday to 20 to 36 months in prison and was given credit for 175 days already served. The records say he made a deal with prosecutors and pleaded no contest to domestic assault of a pregnant person. Prosecutors dropped a charge of terroristic threats.

Police say Rivers and the 20-year-old woman were arguing on Jan. 29, when she was nine months pregnant. Officers say Rivers sprayed lighter fluid on her, told her he’d kill her and the unborn child and then flicked a lighter near her.

(AP) — A judge has ordered Nebraska to pay $150,000 to a Lincoln woman whose son nearly died because of poor treatment he received at the state-run Beatrice State Developmental Center in 2008.

Gage County District Judge Paul Korslund ruled Wednesday that a doctor at the center was negligent for failing to examine Ian Ham after he had a feeding tube improperly reinserted.

But Korslund rejected the argument that Ham was cared for improperly before the feeding tube incident.

Ian, who is mentally disabled and has diabetes, had a swallowing disorder. His mother, Sandra Ham, filed the lawsuit.

Ian Ham was among nearly 50 people considered medically fragile moved out of the troubled center in 2009 following the death of an 18-year-old who received what state officials have acknowledged was inadequate care.

(AP) — Authorities say a tractor driver has died after a collision with a pickup in eastern Nebraska.

The accident was reported to the Dodge County Sheriff’s Office around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. It had occurred at the intersection of two county roads near Snyder.

Chief Deputy Bob Reynolds says 68-year-old James Tichota, of Fremont, was driving his tractor south when it collided with an eastbound pickup driven by 20-year-old Steven Cleary, of Scribner.

Reynolds says Tichota was pronounced dead at St. Francis Memorial Hospital in West Point. It’s unclear whether Cleary was injured.

(AP) — An 89-year-old man has been reappointed to the York County Veterans Committee after being called too old by one of the county commissioners.

The reappointment of Don Jones came up at the Board of Commissioners meeting on July 9. Commissioner Tom Shellington rejected the proposal, saying Jones was “too old” and “not capable.” Commissioners tabled the matter until Tuesday’s meeting.

On Tuesday the county veterans service officer, Don Sandman, and veterans committee member Chuck Byers raised objections to what they viewed as age bias by the board. Byers said “this reeks of age discrimination.”

In response to a question, Shellington repeated that he thought Jones was too old to serve

Shellington’s was the lone vote against Jones when the board voted 4-1 to reappoint him.

(AP) — A Nebraska man has been charged with first-degree murder after a 93-year-old woman he’s accused of beating and raping died from her injuries.

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine announced the new charge against 19-year-old Sergio Martinez-Perez on Thursday.

Authorities say Louise Sollowin died Wednesday, three days after she was attacked in her south Omaha home.

An officer discovered Sollowin covered in blood in her bedroom Sunday morning. Police say Martinez Perez was naked and passed out on top of the woman.

Prosecutors say Perez admitted to the assault and rape, saying he was mad at women after a night of drinking.

Martinez-Perez remained in jail Thursday without bond. He is scheduled to be arraigned on the murder charge Friday.

(AP) — A judge has sentenced a 62-year-old Omaha peace activist to six month in federal prison for trespassing at Offutt Air Force Base last year.

U.S. Magistrate Thomas Thalken sentenced Jerry Ebner to prison Thursday after he earlier pleaded guilty to trespassing at the base during a Dec. 28, 2012, protest.

Ebner told the judge he’d rather be sentenced to prison than receive probation, saying “I’m not sorry. I’ll do it again.”

Ebner says he’s previously served three years in jail due to civil disobedience.

Although he has heart, kidney, depression and anxiety issues, Ebner says he violated the law to make clear his opposition to U.S. military might.

Ebner was released until U.S. marshals notify him when and where to report to prison.

(AP) — District court Judge Alan G. Gless is retiring after more than 30 years as a judge in the Seward area.

The court system announced Thursday that Gless would retire from his position in the 5th Judicial District on Sept. 1.

He had served as a judge for 33 years.

To fill the position, the Judicial Resources Commission will call a meeting to determine whether his retirement creates a judicial vacancy in the 5th district, made up of Boone, Butler, Colfax, Hamilton, Merrick, Nance, Platte, Polk, Saunders, Seward and York counties. That decision will be based on judicial workload statistics.

(AP) — A company the Environmental Protection Agency hired to remove lead paint from homes in Omaha has agreed to pay $65,450 for failing to take proper precautions.

The EPA says Prudent Technologies of Kansas City, Mo., violated several rules for dealing with lead paint at two properties in Omaha.

For instance, the agency says Prudent failed to cover the ground with plastic sheeting and post signs warning about lead paint around the job site.

Most of eastern Omaha has been considered a super-fund site by the EPA because of the extent of lead contamination, which can endanger children’s health, causing decreased intelligence, slow growth and behavior problems.