A Nebraska landowner shot and killed a mountain lion earlier this month because he couldn’t scare the animal away.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission says the cougar was shot in Sheridan County on Feb. 8.The landowner says his kids noticed a partially eaten deer in the grass, and then he noticed the mountain lion near the deer carcass.

The landowner tried to scare the cougar away, but instead it advanced on the house. So the landowner shot the mountain lion.The confrontation happened about 5 miles south of Whiteclay.

The mountain lion was a female about 2 years old. Officials found no evidence that she had any young.

Nebraska law says mountain lions can be killed without a permit if they threaten people or attack livestock.

Residents of a Scottsbluff home fled without injury from a fire that caused an estimated $40,000 damage.

Firefighters were dispatched a little after 12:20 a.m. Sunday. The residents had escaped before the firetrucks arrived. Two dogs didn’t make it out and died of smoke inhalation.

Firefighters say heat from a wood-burning stove was transferred to the slate flooring surrounding it, then to wooden joists in the floor.

A customer has captured a man suspected of robbing a Lincoln bank.

Lincoln Police Capt. Danny Reitan says the suspect was armed with a pocket knife but never opened it Saturday morning at the Union Bank branch on North 48th Street.

The customer, 28-year-old Garret Bush, wrestled the suspect to the ground and held him for police. Bush says he just felt like he was doing his duty. He says “you just can’t always stand by and let people get away with stuff like this.”

The suspect was identified as 23-year-old Brett Dovel, of Lincoln. Online court records don’t list the name of Dovel’s attorney.

Pope Benedict XVI made the surprising announcement Monday that he would resign on February 28, stating that his health is simply to fragile to fulfill his duties as the leader of the Roman Catholic faith, and making him the first pontiff to do so in nearly 600 years.  The resignation sets the stage for a conclave to elect a new pope before the end of March.

The 85-year-old pope announced his decision in Latin during a meeting of Vatican cardinals Monday morning, emphasizing that carrying out the duties of  requires “both strength of mind and body.”

“After having repeatedly examined my conscience before God, I have come to the certainty that my strengths due to an advanced age are no longer suited to an adequate exercise of the Petrine ministry,” he told the cardinals.  “I am well aware that this ministry, due to its essential spiritual nature, must be carried out not only by words and deeds, but no less with prayer and suffering.

“However, in today’s world, subject to so many rapid changes and shaken by questions of deep relevance for the life of faith, in order to govern the barque of St. Peter and proclaim the Gospel, both strength of mind and body are necessary-strengths which in the last few months, has deteriorated in me to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me.”

The last pope to resign was Pope Gregory XII, who stepped down in 1415 in a deal to end the Great Western Schism among competing papal claimants.  Benedict called his choice “a decision of great importance for the life of the church.”

There are several papal contenders, but no obvious front-runner-the same situation when Benedict was elected in 2005 after the death of Pope John Paul II.  All cardinals under the age of 80 are allowed to vote in the conclave, the secret meeting held in the Sistine Chapel where cardinals cast ballots to elect the new pope.  As per tradition, the ballots are burned after each voting round; black smoke that snakes out of the chimney means no pope has been chosen, while white smoke means a pope has been elected.

Popes are allowed to resign; church law specifies only that the resignation be “freely made and properly manifested.”

An apparent tornado has passed through the heart of Hattiesburg, Miss., as part of a wave of severe storms that have caused injuries and significant damage.

A Forrest County fire official says there’s major damage in Hattiesburg and to the northeast in Petal, including on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi. He can’t confirm injuries.

The university says several buildings have been damaged but no injuries reported. Campus police have declared a state of emergency and asked anyone not on campus to stay away.

The emergency director in Marion County says three injuries have been reported in the community of Pickwick, about seven miles south of Columbia.

The National Weather Service says there have also been reports of injuries in Marion County.

Nasty weather has settled in on much of Louisiana and Mississippi, including tornado or flash flood watches.

The National Weather Service says bad weather is likely to stretch into Fat Tuesday in southeast Louisiana. Jefferson Parish has canceled a Monday night parade.

 A Sidney man accused of killing his girlfriend will not face the death penalty.

Cheyenne County Attorney Paul Schaub has amended a charge against 53-year-old Larry Martinez that takes the death penalty off the table.

Schaub had earlier indicated he would seek the death penalty. But on Monday, he indicated in the amended filing that he did not believe he had sufficient evidence to support a death penalty conviction.

Police say Martinez shot 30-year-old Mandy Kershman, of Sidney, in June because was angry over a text message from her.

Martinez is scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 12 on the amended murder charge. Martinez is also charged with use of a weapon to commit a felony.

An Oklahoma couple wanted on suspicion of child molestation and sexual abuse have been arrested in the eastern Nebraska town of Wahoo.

The Associated Press reports that 34-year-old David Ray Meyer Jr. and 30-year-old Kaylynn Dee Meyer were arrested Friday by the U.S. Marshals Metro Fugitive Task Force. Authorities say they were found at a Wahoo home belonging to them.

The Pawnee County Sheriff’s Office in Oklahoma says the two have been charged with molestation and permitting child sexual abuse. Officials believe David Meyer had sexually abused three children and that his wife was present and allowed the abuse to happen.

The couple is being held in the Saunders County Jail without bond while awaiting extradition to Oklahoma.

An elderly woman has died after being struck by a car while crossing a Lincoln street.

According to Lincoln Police spokeswoman Katie Flood, 80-year-old Elizabeth Bergstrom was hit by a pickup while crossing the intersection of Vine and 66th Streets.  Police reports indicate that Bergstrom was crossing the street when she was struck by a pickup.  She was transported to a Lincoln hospital where she later died.

The accident is under investigation and no arrests or citations have been reported.

The Hall County Sheriff’s Department’s Merit Commission has upheld the firing of a deputy charged with stealing from the county.

The Associated Press reports that Kevin Bombeck was fired by Sheriff Jerry Watson on Jan. 17. Bombeck appealed that decision. The Merit Commission ruled against him on Thursday.

The 34-year-old Bombeck is charged in Hall County Court with felony theft between March 9 and Oct. 1 of last year.

Bombeck’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 22.