(AP) — A 29-year-old Lincoln man who held police at bay for nine hours last summer has been given two to four years in prison.

Online court records say Damien Brown pleaded guilty to a weapons charge after prosecutors dropped two other charges. He was sentenced Tuesday by Judge Steven Burns in Lancaster County District Court.

Authorities say officers  were sent to a Lincoln home around 4 p.m. on Aug. 2 after someone reported that a man was pointing a gun out of a window. When the officers arrived, Brown climbed out of a second-floor window and threatened officers, brandishing a knife and screwdriver.

Police say Brown then jumped onto a neighbor’s roof, where he stayed until surrendering around 1 a.m. the next day.

(AP) — A Tennessee man with more than 15 years left on a Mississippi bank robbery sentence has been given more prison time in Nebraska.

Online court records say 35-year-old Michael Watson, of Hendersonville, Tenn., was sentenced Tuesday in Lincoln to five to 10 years for robbing a U.S. Bank branch on Jan. 22, 2009. He got away with nearly $3,400, and no one was hurt.

Watson had made a deal with Lancaster County prosecutors and pleaded guilty to a lesser robbery charge.

Authorities say the Lincoln bank was but one of 12 Watson robbed over three months in several states: Alabama, Arizona, Colorado, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Nebraska, Ohio, two in Tennessee and one in Utah.

(AP) — Federal regulators will provide another update on the efforts to repair the troubled Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant.

The power plant, which sits across from Iowa on the Missouri River about 20 miles north of Omaha, has been offline for 27 months.

Fort Calhoun initially shut down for routine maintenance, but significant flooding in 2011, a small fire and a series of safety violations forced it to remain closed.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission spokeswoman Lara Uselding says Fort Calhoun is making progress, but the Omaha Public Power District still has to address 15 items on the restart checklist.

Regulators must sign off before the plant can restart.

The meeting will be held from 6-9 p.m. on Wednesday at the Ramada Plaza Hotel near 72nd Street and Interstate 80 in Omaha.

 

(AP) — A 42-year-old Creston woman has been given four years of probation for felony child abuse.

Janelle Gertsch had pleaded no contest to three counts after prosecutors dropped two other counts. Gertsch was sentenced last week in Platte County District Court.

Prosecutors say Gertsch and her boyfriend, Larry Einspahr Jr., beat and spanked her 12-year-old son and 9-year-old daughter on multiple occasions. In May Einspahr was sentenced to 30 to 36 months in prison.

(AP) — What Beatrice authorities feared was a dead body turned out to be a drunken one.

On Tuesday afternoon Beatrice police and Fire and Rescue crew members were sent to where the Big Blue River flows under the West Court Street bridge. Two boys riding their bikes had spotted the body and called 911.

Police Chief Bruce Lang says the rescue workers discovered the man was either sleeping or had passed out half in the water after some heavy drinking.

The man was taken to a detoxification center.

(AP) — Lincoln police say a 58-year-old man has been stabbed to death and investigators have a “prime suspect” in custody.

The man was killed about 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in an apartment building, just blocks from the state Capitol.

Police were called to the building and found the man on the floor in an apartment. He was taken to a hospital, where he was declared dead.

Capt. Jim Davidsaver says police have “the prime suspect in custody,” but he declined to name him because he hasn’t been arrested.

Police also wouldn’t release the victim’s name or give details about the stabbing.

The building is across the street from a Kaplan University parking lot.

(AP) — Omaha’s firefighter union has filed a lawsuit against the city and top officials, claiming the mayor’s proposed budget violates a collective bargaining agreement.

The Professional Firefighters Association of Omaha filed the suit Tuesday.

It claims Mayor Jean Stothert’s proposed budget seeks cuts that conflict with Omaha’s obligations under the collective bargaining deal. The lawsuit seeks to block Stothert’s proposal, which the union says violates an agreement requiring the city to meet standards established by the National Fire Protection Association.

Stothert says her proposal for firefighter layoffs and removal of fire trucks would only proceed if the city and union can’t reach an agreement.

Stothert signed an order Friday saying the city will try to comply with association standards while meeting budget needs.

The lawsuit also names Fire Chief Mike McDonnell.

(AP) — A Nebraska state senator who was considering a bid for higher office says he plans to seek re-election in 2014.

Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha said Tuesday that he will not run in 2014 for U.S. senate, the governor’s office or the 2nd district congressional seat held by U.S. Rep. Lee Terry. The 56-year-old Krist has previously said he was looking at all three.

Krist says he decided that he wants to continue his work in the Legislature, especially on services for children and juveniles.

The self-described centrist Republican says he also wants to push back against what he argues is a growing unwillingness to compromise in the officially nonpartisan Legislature.

Krist, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel, was appointed to the Legislature in 2010.

(AP) — The mayor of Lincoln is urging residents to conserve water, lest the city have to impose higher rates.

Mayor Chris Beutler on Tuesday asked residents to follow the odd-even daily schedule for outdoor watering. He says that will help keep daily usage under the city target maximum of 70 million gallons a day.

Otherwise, he says, the water rate increases could be imposed if the city declares voluntary or mandatory water restrictions.

Beutler says Lincoln remains about 8 inches below normal rainfall for the past 12 months. He also says flows at the city well fields on the Platte River are down to about a third of normal.

(AP) — The York County commissioners have rejected a resolution opposing placement of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline in the southeast Nebraska county.

Two commissioners supported the measure at Tuesday morning’s meeting, but three opposed it.

The proposal said the York County Board of Commissioners “realizes the risks of tar sand and crude oil pipelines to our resources in York County and opposes any pipelines of this nature.”

An earlier version tabled by the board at its July 9 meeting included a sentence that committed the board to using its powers to protect the county residents’ health and the county’s natural resources.

The Obama administration is still considering whether to approve the project, which would carry Canadian oil to Texas refineries.