Nebraska’s net tax receipts in the month of February dipped below projections.

The state tax commissioner’s office reported Monday that net receipts came in at $216 million, or more than 2 percent below the certified forecast of $221 million.

The report shows that net sales-and-use taxes were above projections. But corporate and individual income taxes and miscellaneous taxes all came in lower than expected.

The comparisons are based on a February 2012 forecast made by the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board. The forecast was adjusted for legislation passed in 2012, divided into monthly estimates and certified in July to the Legislature.

The board met again last month, and revised its forecast upward by nearly $111 million. Only downward revisions to the forecast are certified.

Authorities have recovered some transformers stolen from the state psychiatric hospital in Lincoln.

Investigators say the thieves took five transformers and 15 window air-conditioning units overnight on Feb. 20 from a storage area at the Lincoln Regional Center.

Another theft attempt on March 1 wasn’t so successful: A truck backed up to the storage area got stuck in the mud. Investigators found a receipt inside from a recycling facility, where they found four of the five transformers.

No arrests have been reported.

A basement fire has forced residents to flee their home in Lincoln.

The fire was reported a little before 1 a.m. Monday. Smoke was pouring from the basement by the time firefighters arrived.

Battalion Chief Derald Murrell says a resident had closed the door to the basement bedroom, which kept damage down elsewhere in the house.

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

Authorities say a Sterling man has been killed in a two-vehicle collision on an icy highway in eastern Nebraska.

The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office says Justin Muhm, 22,  lost control of his southbound vehicle Sunday on Nebraska 43 near Bennet. Muhm’s car was then struck by a northbound van. The other driver, 42-year-old Loren Rice, of Bennet, was not injured.

Muhm was pronounced dead at Bryan West Campus.

Authorities say both drivers were wearing seat belts at the time of the crash.

The National Weather Service says up to 5 inches of snow is expected Sunday in the Lincoln area.

 

UPDATE

The father of one of six Ohio teens killed when an SUV flipped into a pond says the group was coming home from an overnight stay at a friend’s house.

Andre Bennett Sr. said Monday that a 19-year-old woman who knew the teens offered them a ride home.

State Highway Patrol Lt. Brian Holt said investigators are still piecing the details together. He said that no one in the group had permission to take the vehicle and that its owner was not related to the teens.

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A northeast Ohio hospital says two of the six teenagers killed by a one-vehicle crash died while receiving treatment, and two other teens have been treated and released.

The Ohio State Highway Patrol says a sport utility vehicle carrying eight people crashed into a guardrail Sunday morning and landed in a pond near the city of Warren, about 60 miles east of Cleveland.

A nursing supervisor at St. Joseph Health Center in Warren says the two teens who were declared dead at the hospital were treated for “hypothermic drowning trauma.” The two who survived were treated for bruising and other injuries.

Killed were 19-year-old Alexis Cayson; 14-year-old Andrique Bennett; 17-year-old Brandon Murray; and Kirkland Behner, Daylan Ray and Ramone White, all 15. All six were from Warren, in northeast Ohio.

A patrol spokesman says she doesn’t know where the teens were headed.

An 80-mile stretch of Interstate 80 in Nebraska has been closed as heavy snow and strong winds hit the region, causing numerous car accidents.

The Nebraska State Patrol says the westbound lanes of I-80 were closed Sunday from mile markers between Lincoln and Grand Island.

State Patrol spokeswoman Deb Collins says there were several reports of vehicles hitting the median or going into ditches. She says the closure was due to those reports, but also as a precaution because of whiteout conditions in the area.

There is no additional information about how many accidents have been reported. Details about injuries or fatalities were not immediately available.

The National Weather Service says up to 9 inches of snow could fall in parts of Nebraska and Iowa.

Nebraska researchers plan to take a deeper look into how psychological well-being impacts marketing and sales workers’ performance.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln business school teamed up with the National Research Corp. to study what drives people to work hard in marketing and sales jobs.

The study will evaluate how a person’s levels of hope, efficacy, resilience and optimism influence motivation and drive. National Research sales associates will complete a brief online survey four times over a year and attend a three-hour seminar.

UNL professor Fred Luthans, will be the lead researcher, since he has conducted similar research in banking, education, health care and military work settings. Luthans says a marketing and sales setting offers an exciting opportunity to extend his research.

New studies show the toll that stress can take on the heart. Researchers have found higher rates of cardiac problems in veterans with post-traumatic stress disorder, in New Orleans residents six years after Hurricane Katrina and in Greeks struggling through that country’s financial turmoil.

Doctors say that disasters and prolonged stress can raise “fight or flight” hormones that affect blood pressure, blood sugar and other things in ways that make heart trouble more likely.

The largest study involved more than 200,000 veterans from California and Nevada. Those with PTSD were more likely to develop heart risk factors such as high blood sugar, cholesterol and blood pressure.

The studies were discussed Sunday at a cardiology conference in San Francisco.

Hospital officials say a pregnant woman forced to give birth after a two-vehicle crash in Omaha is in serious condition.

Ashley Mruz was transported Saturday to the University of Nebraska Medical Center and her newborn is in critical condition.

The Associated Press reports Mruz had an emergency delivery after she broke her hip in an accident involving a car driven by Carlos Moore.

Police say Moore ran a red light and struck Mruz’s vehicle. He was treated for minor injuries.

The station reports police are investigating speed and alcohol as factors in the crash.