Nebraska lawmakers who support an Omaha charter-schools bill launched a debate on a measure that was killed in committee this year.

Omaha Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh raised the issue Tuesday as lawmakers prepared to vote on an unrelated bill to fund teacher retirement plans.

The charter-schools bill was supported by the Platte Institute and Americans for Prosperity-Nebraska, but opposed by the state Department of Education, Omaha Public Schools and the Nebraska State Education Association.

The move came less than a week after supporters of a stalled Medicaid-expansion bill raised that issue during legislative debate on an unrelated proposal.

Supporters of the teacher-retirement bill warned that failing to pass it would blow a hole in the budget, because the state is legally obligated to fund the plans.

(AP) — Jury trial has been set in the case of a man who accuses Creighton University in a lawsuit of discriminating against him because he is deaf.

The trial is set for the week of Aug. 20 in Omaha’s federal court.

The trial comes after the U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals in March said a jury should be allowed to decide whether Creighton discriminated against medical school student Michael Argenyi’s (ar-GEN’-ee). The ruling reversed a lower court’s dismissal of Argenyi’s lawsuit.

Argenyi was accepted to Creighton’s medical school after disclosing that he was hearing-impaired and requesting accommodations for his disability to allow him to follow lectures and communicate with patients.

He sued in 2009, after he was forced out of the school when the university refused his requests for interpreters.

A Nebraska state lawmaker who suffered a mild heart attack has returned to the Legislature.

Sen. Ken Haar of Malcolm thanked his colleagues for their calls, prayers and letters during a brief floor speech on Tuesday. The well-known environmental advocate struck a humorous tone, noting that he suffered the heart attack while cutting down trees on Arbor Day.

Haar, a Democrat, joked about seeing a bright light, meeting his late father and promising to change parties if he could return to work.

Haar says he received a handful of “miracle drugs” to help treat his condition, but didn’t undergo surgery. He added that he spent less than 24 hours in the hospital, and received a $22,000 medical bill.

Haar was first elected to the Nebraska Legislature in 2008.

A frantic 911 call has led police to a house near downtown Cleveland, where three women who went missing a decade ago have been found.

Police Chief Michael McGrath says Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus and Michelle Knight were tied up at the house and held there since they were in their teens or early 20s. They were found on Monday, along with a 6-year-old child.

A 52-year-old man has been arrested in relation to the case.  According to Brian Cummins, a councilman who represents the district where the women were found, the suspect’s name is Ariel Castro.  He once worked for the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, a spokeswoman confirmed, but she didn’t have details about how long he was with the district or under what circumstances he left.  

Two others also arrested are reportedly Castro’s brothers.

Neighbors say they heard someone screaming for help and kicking a door. They told the woman, Berry, how to get out and allowed her call police.

Berry told a 911 dispatcher, “I’ve been kidnapped.”

It was among the first states to legalize gay marriage and served as the 2008 campaign liftoff site for the first black president, but in other arenas Iowa isn’t quite so progressive. Iowa is also one of just two states to never elect a woman governor or member of Congress.

Senate and House seats are open in 2014, and many thought this could be the time for a woman to break through.

But after several women took themselves out of consideration, the prospects are unclear. Experts attribute the gender gap in part to the state’s small-town farming culture, which views politics as men’s work. They also cite the lack of term limits, which means there are few open seats for women to pursue.

Two fired police officers are facing charges in the wake of a controversial arrest in north Omaha.

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine announced Monday that former officer James Kinsella was charged with felony evidence tampering, and misdemeanor theft and obstruction charges. Former Sgt. Aaron Von Behren was charged with obstruction of governmental operations and accessory to a felony, both misdemeanors.

Four officers were fired after the March 21 incident, in which an officer was videotaped striking Octavius Johnson.

Kinsella was charged for taking a memory card used to record the arrest.

Bradley Canterbury, the officer who was seen striking Octavius Johnson, was not charged. Kleine says three national use-of-force experts reviewed the video and concluded that his actions did not merit criminal charges.

(AP) — Years of work has paid off for some happy dogs in Columbus.

Residents began looking for land nearly a decade ago where they could establish a dog park.

They finally found a 2-acre site last year and began work in October on fencing, lighting, benches and other features.

Organizers officially opened Columbus Bark Park with a ribbon-cutting event Saturday.

The park is funded by private donations, fundraisers and donated labor.

The first phase cost about $11,000, and organizers say they now will focus on erecting a metal sign listing park rules, landscaping, improved parking and water fountains for people and dogs.

(AP) — A man arrested in a western Minnesota raid that the FBI believes disrupted a terrorism attack will stay in custody after his first court appearance.

Twenty-four-year-old Buford Rogers of Montevideo (mawnt-uh-VIHD’-ee-oh) appeared in court Monday. He was arrested Friday and charged with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Rogers was appointed a federal defender. U.S. Magistrate Judge Tony Leung (LEE’-ung) ordered him held pending a detention hearing Wednesday because of the “serious concerns” raised in the criminal complaint.

Rogers wore a green construction company T-shirt, jeans and work boots. He answered “yes, sir” and “no, sir” to the judge’s questions.

Authorities say they seized Molotov cocktails, suspected pipe bombs and firearms in the raid on a mobile home.

A Nebraska woman who made a video in which she gleefully described robbing a bank has pleaded guilty to the crime.

19-year-old Hannah Sabata pleaded guilty Monday in district court to the Nov. 27 robbery of the Waco branch of Cornerstone Bank in Waco.

Sabata changed her plea from not guilty, and in return a charge of theft was dismissed.

Sabata, of Stromsburg, had been charged with stealing a car, which she used in the robbery.

After the robbery, Sabata recorded a video in which she displayed cash and bragged about stealing a car and robbing a bank. She spoke of “having the best day of her life.”

She posted the video to the Internet site YouTube.

Sentencing is set for June 17.

The Nebraska State Patrol, in conjunction with the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, is investigating the crash of a school bus and a semi-trailer truck, four miles west of Norfolk in Madison County.

The accident, involving a Mid-States school bus transporting students from Battle Creek Public Schools, and a semi- truck occurred around 7:15 a.m., Monday, May 6, at the intersection of Highway 275 and 549 Avenue.  The crash investigation indicates the school bus was northbound on 549 Avenue when it proceeded north across the highway colliding with a westbound semi-trailer truck. The impact forced the school bus into the ditch on the northwest corner of the intersection with the semi coming to rest on the shoulder of the highway.

There were 13 students and one driver on the bus, with eight students transported to Faith Regional Medical Center in Norfolk.  Of the eight students transported, two were seriously injured. The two seriously injured students were transferred by ambulance from the Norfolk hospital to medical facilities in Omaha. The names of the students are not being released at this time.  The other six students received minor injuries and are expected to be treated and released.

The driver of the school bus, Larry Prauner, 73, Battle Creek, and the driver of the semi, Stanley Jauer, 63, Hinton, Iowa, were not injured. Both drivers were wearing seat belts. Weather is believed to have been a factor in the crash with heavy fog in the area at the time.

The crash investigation closed a portion of Highway 275 for several hours.   The Nebraska State Patrol was assisted by the Madison County Sheriff’s Office, the Norfolk and Battle Creek Police Departments, and the Norfolk and Battle Creek Fire and Rescue Departments.