(AP) — A Nebraska man has been given three years of probation in an Iowa case involving synthetic marijuana.

69-year-old Frank Firoz was sentenced Thursday in Woodbury County District Court. His 15-year prison sentence was suspended.

Firoz had made a deal with prosecutors. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy as a habitual offender after prosecutors dropped two drug charges.

Police say an undercover officer bought green, leafy substances in July 2011 at Exotica, a now-closed store Firoz owned in Sioux City. Police say they found large quantities of suspected synthetic marijuana in the store.

Firoz still faces federal charges in Omaha, Neb., involving the sale of drug paraphernalia and chemical compounds found in synthetic marijuana and designer drugs.

(AP) — A Lincoln attorney has been named to the Nebraska Court of Appeals.

The office of Gov. Dave Heineman said Friday that he’s selected Riko Bishop to replace Judge Richard Sievers, who stepped down on May 31.

The 56-year-old Bishop works with a Lincoln law firm. Her work includes domestic matters, workers’ compensation and school law.

Bishop’s law degree came from the University of Nebraska College of Law in 1992.

The governor’s office also announced that he’s named Lincoln lawyer Matthew Acton to the Lancaster County Court bench. Acton replaces Judge Mary Doyle, who retired.

(AP) — A 51-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to three counts of sexually assaulting children in Gage County.

Michael Pangborn made his pleas on Thursday in Gage County District Court. His trial is scheduled to begin on Oct. 29.

The Beatrice Daily Sun reports (https://bit.ly/12NYZxy) that Pangborn’s accusers say the assaults date back to 1984. Two women say Pangborn assaulted them at his Beatrice home when they were children. They contacted Gage County officials after he was cleared of a child sexual assault in nearby Lancaster County.

He was arrested on May 13.

(AP) — Participants at the Boy Scouts of America’s National Jamboree are turning each other into virtual zombies as part of an educational game that Virginia Tech researchers designed to show how disease spreads.

The Virus Tracker program combines technology with the game of tag.

At the Jamboree, Scouts earn points by “infecting” other players through bar-coded labels.

Codes can be activated at scanning stations or by troop leaders whose smartphones have the Virus Tracker app. The goal is to stay human. Individuals and troops that amass the most points each day win.

Scout Colin Slavin from Germantown Hills, Ill., says the chance to turn other Scouts into zombies is “really cool.”

Kristy Collins of the Virginia Bioinformatics Institute at Virginia Tech says about 3,000 Scouts have participated.

(AP) — A former U.S. postal worker in Fremont has been federally indicted on charges that he stole money, then lied about it in reports.

Federal officials say 48-year-old Michael Peitzmeier, a former counter worker at a Fremont post office, is charged in a two count indictment handed down Thursday.

The indictment says from 2011 through June of this year, Peitzmeier converted more than $1,000 that into his hands as a postal employee to his own use. It also says Peitzmeier made a false report of such monies.

If convicted of both counts, Peitzmeier faces up to 20 years in prison.

A public phone listing for Peitzmeier could not be found. It is not clear whether he has an attorney.

(AP) — Several dozen people have been forced from their homes by a fire at a Bellevue apartment complex.

Firefighters were sent to The Chateau Apartments about 12:05 a.m. Friday. A fire had spread from the kitchen of a second-floor apartment.

Firefighters say at least three apartments were damaged. As many as 60 people were displaced, though, because electricity and water service had been shut off.

No injuries have been reported. The fire cause is being investigated.

(AP) — The family of a woman killed in a crash with a Nebraska prison inmate has filed a legal claim against the state, saying officials need to be held responsible for theprisoner who was allowed to drive a state-owned van.

The claim is the first step toward a lawsuit for the death of Joyce R. Meeks, of Lincoln. Meeks was killed on June 25 when a van driven by inmate Jeremy Dobbe plowed into her minivan.

Meeks’ son, Martell Buchanan, says his family wants answers about why officials let Dobbe drive other inmates to and from work-release assignments. Dobbe is serving time for possession of methamphetamine, and has past convictions for DUI and reckless driving.

The Nebraska Department of Correctional Services has allowed inmates to drive the vans since 1985.

(AP) — A Nebraska man has been injured in a fall from a cellphone tower he was helping erect in Iowa.

The accident occurred a little after noon on Wednesday at a site west of Dike.

The Grundy County Sheriff’s Office says 29-year-old Todd Hansel, of Sidney, Neb., was adjusting a ladder between 40 and 60 feet above the ground “when the ladder gave way and pulled Hansel off the tower.”

The office says Hansel was taken to Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.

(AP) — A Grand Island warehouse fire has destroyed equipment used by several girls softball teams.

The fire was reported a little after 3:45 a.m. Wednesday.

The equipment was used by teams in the Central Nebraska Girls Softball Association’s Synergy program. Association President Mark Galvan says there was enough gear inside the warehouse to outfit 30 teams.

The teams stopped playing games on July 1 and stored their equipment in the warehouse, which sits just east of the association’s indoor practice facility.

Grand Island Fire Department Division Chief Tim Hiemer says the fire was listed as suspicious, the cause undetermined.

No injuries have been reported.

 

If you’re 65 and living in Hawaii, here’s some good news: Odds are you’ll live another two decades. And for a good chunk of those years, you’ll likely be in pretty good health.

Hawaii tops the charts in the government’s first state-by-state look at how long Americans age 65 can expect to live and how many of those remaining years will be healthy ones.

Mississippi was worst, with about 17½ more years and nearly seven of them in poorer health.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the estimates Thursday.