A southeast Nebraska man has been given 20 to 36 months in prison for domestic assault in Beatrice.

The Beatrice Daily Sun reports that 23-year-old Trevor Hurley, of Wymore, was sentenced on Wednesday. He had pleaded no contest to the assault charge and to attempted negligent child abuse.

Hurley was given the prison time for the domestic assault. A three-month sentence for the attempted child abuse will be served at the same time.

Court records say a woman told police on Oct. 2 that Hurley had shoved her to the ground and slammed her head into the ground.

She reported that she and Hurley had been arguing about their 19-month-old child. She said Hurley threatened to take the child and walk to Wymore.

Police have knocked down reports about shots fired at an Omaha mall where nine people were killed nearly five years ago.

Officers were called to Westroads Mall around 1 a.m. Friday after shoppers or store employees called 911 to report hearing gunfire.

Other people called Omaha media outlets to say they were hiding in bathrooms and panicking because they’d lost touch with their kids or other shopping companions.

Omaha Officer James Shade says there was a fight between early Black Friday shoppers, but no shots were fired. He says people heard the sound of trash cans being knocked over — not gunfire. One person was arrested for disorderly conduct.

Nineteen-year-old Robert Hawkins fatally shot eight people and himself at the mall’s Von Maul store on Dec. 5, 2007.

A 22-year-old Wymore woman has been imprisoned after failing in a program designed to help people overcome drug problems.

Online court records say Samantha Gose was sentenced on Wednesday to 20 to 60 months for possession of methamphetamine.

She’d been charged in a 2009 case. She then was enrolled in the Southeast Nebraska Drug Court instead of facing prison time.

Authorities say Gose was discharged from the program in September after being arrested on a charge of domestic assault.

Judge Paul Korslund noted Wednesday that Gose failed drug tests in 2010 and routinely missed other random drug tests.

A 68-year-old man has pleaded not guilty to killing his wife after police found her severed head and her body parts cooking at their home in Southern California.

Police say they responded to neighbors’ complaints about a foul odor coming from the couple’s home in Oceanside on Friday. An officer who entered the home through a window said he saw on the stove three pans containing parts of 73-year-old Anna Faris.

Her head was in the freezer.

Deputy District Attorney Katherine Flaherty says there is no evidence of cannibalism at this time.

U-T San Diego reports that Frederick Hengl entered his plea Wednesday. He faces 25 years to life in prison if convicted of all charges.

He remains jailed on $5 million bail.

Authorities say firefighters have extinguished a wildfire that blackened nearly a half square mile of fields in central Nebraska.

The fire broke out Wednesday about five miles west of Merna, in Custer County.

Custer County emergency manager Shawn Owens says no structures were damaged. No injuries have been reported.

Firefighters from five departments fought the flames.

The fire cause is being investigated.

Federal officials are reminding Nebraska farmers and ranchers about conservation aid they can get from U.S. Department of Agriculture program.

The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service says signups are encouraged before Dec. 21 for the Environmental Quality Incentives Program.

It’s a voluntary program that can provide farmers and ranchers with financial and technical help with conservation practices on agricultural land.

The goal is to provide financial incentives so landowners can protect natural resources, which results in cleaner air, water and more wildlife habitat.

The ranking of applications to receive funding will begin Dec. 21. Those interested are advised to visit their Natural Resources Conservation Service field office and complete an application before that date.

A 27-year-old south-central Nebraska woman accused of having sex with her teenage stepson has pleaded not guilty.

The Grand Island woman has been charged with child sex assault and incest.

The Grand Island Independent reports that the woman made her pleas Tuesday in Hall County District Court.

Police say the boy was 15 when his stepmother began having sex with him. Investigators say the boy’s father called police to report he had seen his wife having sex with the boy, who is 16 now.

Her next court hearing is scheduled for Dec. 5.

A new report shows that the nation’s worst drought in decades is getting worse again, ending an encouraging five-week run of improving conditions.

The weekly U.S. Drought Monitor report shows that 60.1 percent of the continental U.S. was in some form of drought as of Tuesday. That’s up from 58.8 percent the previous week.

The portion of the lower 48 states in extreme or exceptional drought — the two worst classifications — also rose, to 19.04 percent from last week’s 18.3 percent.

The stubbornly dry conditions intensified in Kansas, the top U.S. producer of winter wheat. The latest update shows that while 77.5 percent of that state remains in extreme or exceptional drought, the amount of land in the most-dire classification rose nearly 4 percentage points to 34.5 percent.

The head of the U.N. drug watchdog agency is urging U.S. federal officials to challenge ballot measures in Colorado and Washington that decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana for adults 21 and over.

Raymond Yans says the approvals send “a wrong message to the rest of the nation and it sends a wrong message abroad.”

Yans heads the International Narcotics Control Board. He told The Associated Press on Tuesday he hopes Attorney General Eric Holder “will take all the necessary measures” to ensure that marijuana possession and use remains illegal throughout the U.S.

Both states are holding off on plans to regulate and tax the drug while waiting to see whether the Justice Department will assert federal authority over drug law.

The INCB has no enforcement ability.

A southeast Nebraska man has been sentenced to between 40 and 55 years in prison for sexual assault that authorities say occurred over three years beginning when the victim was 14.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports 28-year-old James W. Graves, of Salem, was sentenced Tuesday on two counts of first-degree sexual assault.

Graves, who pleaded guilty in August, also must register as a sexual offender for 25 years.

An investigation launched by the Nebraska State Patrol determined Graves had repeatedly sexually assaulted the victim over three years.