(AP) — The parents of a 16-year-old West Virginia girl say one of the friends accused of stabbing her to death had been like a second daughter to them.

But she lied to them for the better part of a year about what happened last July.

The unidentified juvenile had been friends with Skylar Neese since age 8, and Mary Neese says the girls became inseparable when they hit high school.

Now that girl and another classmate — 16-year-old Rachel Shoaf — are charged with plotting the attack. Only if she is charged as an adult will the second suspect be identified.

Mary Neese says she defended the girl for months, until lies tripped her up with police.

Only when Shoaf pleaded guilty to second-degree murder did the truth begin to emerge.

(AP) — Authorities say a woman has died in a collision that occurred south of downtown Lincoln.

The accident happened a little before 10:30 p.m. Tuesday and involved a minivan and a larger van. Lincoln police Capt. Michon Morrow says police received at least three calls before the crash from people who said the bigger van was speeding and running red lights.

The woman driving the minivan was pronounced dead at the scene. Morrow says the man driving the van was taken to a Lincoln hospital for treatment of injuries that didn’t appear to be life-threatening.

The drivers’ names haven’t been released. Morrow says they had been alone in their vehicles.

(AP) — The Saline County Veterans’ Memorial on the courthouse square in Wilber doesn’t have the standard features.

There are no names on any bricks or paving stones. There are no plaques carrying the names of any former sergeants or sailors, majors or Marines, privates or pilots.

Instead it uses a computer database to honor and remember the county’s veterans.

The recently completed memorial has a computer screen built into a kiosk in the base of the memorial. Type a name and the screen could soon display the veteran’s hometown, years of military service, rank, decorations or honors and, if one were submitted, a photo.

The memorial sits on a pentagon-shaped plaza, surrounded by flagpoles and lights. Benches and landscaping will be installed.

(AP) — A Connecticut couple are letting customers at a Starbucks coffee shop choose the name of their baby.

Twenty-five-year-old Jennifer James and 24-year-old Mark Dixon of West Haven tell the New Haven Register they have been struggling between two names for the boy they are expecting in September.

So they decided to put it to a vote.

They’ve placed signs at the Starbucks on the New Haven Green, where they are regulars, asking people to vote for either the name Jackson or Logan.

So far, they have received about 1,800 votes in the coffee cup serving as a ballot box, and say “Logan” is leading. But there is still time.

The baby poll closes on Tuesday. The couple says they will post the winning name in the store.

(AP) — Nebraska opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline say they’re thrilled that President Barack Obama mentioned the project during his speech on climate change, but they aren’t backing off their campaign.

Obama said Tuesday that the Canada-to-Texas pipeline project should only be approved if it doesn’t worsen carbon pollution.

Bold Nebraska executive director Jane Kleeb says the president’s remarks could shift the debate toward two federal reviews.

One study by the U.S. State Department found the pipeline would have a negligible impact on greenhouse emissions. Another by the Environmental Protection Agency said emissions could be higher than the State Department predicts.

Pipeline supporters say the project has undergone exhaustive reviews at the federal level and in Nebraska. Opponents say the State Department report relies on information from the oil pipeline industry.

(AP) — A $675,000 verdict against a former Boston University student who illegally downloaded and shared songs on the Internet has been upheld.

A jury ordered Providence, R.I., resident Joel Tenenbaum to pay $22,500 for each of 30 songs after the Recording Industry Association of America sued him on behalf of four record labels.

Tenenbaum argued the $675,000 award violates his due process rights because it’s not tied to the injury he caused. He estimates that to be no more than $450, or the cost of 30 albums.

A federal appeals court Tuesday found Tenenbaum’s conduct was “egregious” because he illegally shared songs for years despite numerous warnings.

The U.S. Supreme Court last year declined to hear Tenenbaum’s appeal.

Tenenbaum says he can’t comment on the ruling.

(AP) — Two Omaha men are improving after being critically wounded earlier this month by a gunman who killed two other people before police killed him.

Police said Tuesday that 31-year-old Aaron Anderson and 46-year-old Angel Cabrera have both improved to serious condition from critical condition. But both men remain hospitalized.

Police say 25-year-old Jorge Abraham Zarazua-Rubio wounded Anderson and Cabrera and killed 25-year-old Anthony Vazzano and 25-year-old Pascual Bautista-Raymundo in the June 15 shooting.

Zarazua-Rubio exchanged gunfire with Officer Coral Walker before Walker killed him.

Police are still investigating the shootings.

(AP) — Oklahoma has executed a man in the 2001 rape and murder of his girlfriend’s mother.

The state’s parole board had recommended that Brian Darrell Davis have his sentence reduced to life without parole, but Gov. Mary Fallin rejected the request for mercy. A spokesman for the governor said “justice is being served.”

The 39-year-old died Tuesday night at the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester.

Prosecutors said Davis stabbed 52-year-old Josephine Sanford six times, broke her jaw and left marks around her neck. Davis was convicted of rape after jurors considered DNA evidence.

Four members of the Pardon and Parole Board voted this month to recommend a life sentence. Attorney General Scott Pruitt said afterward the board usurped the jury’s decision and said Davis deserved to die for a brutal crime.

A new lawsuit has been filed against Monster Beverage alleging that a teenager died last year from cardiac arrhythmia caused by habitually drinking the company’s energy drink.

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday in Alameda County Superior Court. It alleges that 19-year-old Alex Morris would not have died if he had not consumed two cans of the energy drink every day for the three years before his death, including the day he died.

The lawsuit said Morris went into cardiac arrest during the early morning of July 1 and was pronounced dead at the hospital.

The family of a 14-year-old Maryland girl also sued the company last year after she consumed two 24-ounce cans of Monster and died.

Monster representatives did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

(AP) — The U.S. Army is slashing the number of combat brigades from 45 to 33, and shifting thousands of soldiers out of bases around the county as it moves forward with the long-planned move to cut the size of the service by 80,000.

Officials say the massive restructuring plans would eliminate brigades at 10 Army bases in the U.S. by 2017, including in Texas, Kentucky, Colorado, North Carolina, New York, Kansas and Washington. The Army will also cut thousands of other jobs across the service, including soldiers in units that support the brigades.

Officials provided details on the plans on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the matter publically.

The Army is being reduced from a high of about 570,000 during the Iraq war to 490,000.