GRETNA, Neb. (AP) — Work will soon begin to fix an eastern Nebraska road that leads to a religious shrine.

The Sarpy County Board approved a $438,000 construction bid from High Plains Enterprises to rebuild Pflug Road last week. The county engineering office had originally estimated that the project would cost around $900,000. The road is being pulled apart by erosive soil and has been closed since last summer.

“It’s been a long frustration,” said Jim Warren, who represents the area on the County Board.

The rural road leads to the Holy Family Shrine near Gretna. Attendance has dropped about 25 percent since the road’s closure, according to Matt Sakowski, the shrine’s caretaker. The glass-walled shrine had 40,000 visitors in 2016. The attraction relies on contributions from visitors.

“People, they do call to check on road conditions,” Sakowski said. When told the road is still closed, “they tell us ‘We’ll wait until the road is fixed,’ ” Sakowski said.

The shrine is also typically a stop for bus tours from surrounding states, but busses have had a difficult time navigating the detour to the attraction.

“Once Pflug Road gets fixed, the buses will have a much easier road to take to get to the shrine,” Sakowski said.

Work will begin when the weather is warmer. Officials expect the road to reopen in the spring.

“We’re really happy,” Sakowski said. “We know that by springtime things are going to be back to normal.”

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A state committee will hold a public hearing next month to receive information on whether to fill a vacant Nebraska judgeship.

The Nebraska Judicial Nominating Commission will meet Feb. 13 at the State Capitol in Lincoln. The commission will determine whether a vacancy exists in the office of the Separate Juvenile Court of Douglas County due to the retirement of Judge Wadie Thomas.

The meeting is open to the public. Those wishing to present written testimony must do so by mailing it to the commission chairman no later than Feb. 6. The address is: State Capitol Building, Room 2219, Lincoln, NE 68509.

The commission will study workload statistics and other factors to make a recommendation to the Nebraska Legislature as to whether there is a need to fill the vacancy.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Community college students in Omaha are building a house inside a building so faculty can conveniently observe the work and everyone can avoid the winter chill.

The house will be built inside Metropolitan Community College’s new Construction Education Center on the Fort Omaha campus.

“When it’s negative 2 out, we can still work on it,” said Nathan Barry, dean of career and technical education at Metro.

More than 100 students will work on the project over the duration of the school year. Students from welding, civil engineering, architecture, construction technology, heating-ventilation-air conditioning, electrical and plumbing programs will work on the house. High school students from Metro’s Career Academy will also participate in the project.

The ranch house will have three bedrooms and two baths, said Metro President Randy Schmailzl. The project isn’t just a practice run, but it will actually be someone’s home, he said.

“That’s meaningful education,” Schmailzl said.

The house will be transported out of the building in three sections on a flat-bed truck in late spring or summer, he said. It will be assembled at a vacant lot, where a garage and finishing touches will be added.

The house will then be sold and the Bridge Foundation will fund a similar project with the money. The house will likely be valued at around $150,000, Barry said.

The newly formed organization hopes to facilitate workforce development and redevelopment in northeast Omaha, said Jim Dennell, president of the Bridge Foundation and BCDM Architects.

“I think the social and economic impact will be huge,” Dennell said.

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — A hospital in eastern Nebraska has completed a transition from being a full-service operation to one focused more heavily on ambulatory surgery.

The changes to Midlands Hospital in Papillion are part of a national move to provide more outpatient care as opposed to inpatient services, the Omaha World-Herald reported .

Midlands opened a $2.4 million ambulatory surgery center last year as part of a larger $4.4 million renovation. The center has a dozen private patient rooms, four operating rooms and one procedure room. Patients tend to stay at an ambulatory center less than 24 hours.

“We’re not going anywhere,” said Dr. Patricia Murdock-Langan, vice president of medical operations at Midlands and Lakeside Hospitals. “We’re here for the community. But we are changing. We want to make sure we’re on the forefront, not the back side.”

Officials decided to implement the shift in care after speaking with community leaders about the area’s needs, said Kevin Miller, president of CHI Health’s Midlands and Lakeside Hospitals. The goal is to provide valuable services without duplicating offerings that can be found elsewhere in the health system, he said.

Midlands has 28 inpatient beds and an emergency department. The hospital doesn’t have a constant staffing of specialists, but can handle about 80 percent of patients seeking help, Miller said. Serious cases are stabilized and transferred to other facilities.

“Anything you bring into our emergency department, we can handle,” Miller said. “Then we decide what’s your best appropriate care.”

The hospital also closed its intensive care unit in April because of declining usage. Miller said closing the unit made sense because it was expensive to maintain equipment and employ the necessary specialists. CUMC-Bergan Mercy, which is less than 10 miles away, has more than 50 ICU beds.

“We don’t need more beds in our metro area,” Miller said. “We have to maximize the resources we have.”

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska State Patrol says it has arrested an Alaska man after discovering nearly 230 pounds of marijuana in his sport utility vehicle during a traffic stop.

The patrol says in a release Thursday that a trooper stopped the 24-year-old man around 2:45 p.m. Wednesday on Interstate 80 west of Lincoln on suspicion of speeding.

The trooper says that when he approached the SUV, he noticed the odor of marijuana coming from it.

The patrol says a search of the vehicle turned up 227 pounds of marijuana in nine bags. The patrol estimates the street value of the haul at $681,000.

The driver was arrested on suspicion of possession with intent to deliver and other counts.

DUNLAP, Iowa (AP) — Officials pulled a man’s body from a western Iowa sand pit hours after the dump truck he was driving fell into water in the pit.

Authorities and rescue workers were called Thursday morning to Hallett Materials in Harrison County just south of Dunlap for reports of a missing truck and driver. Sometime later, crews discovered the truck submerged in the sand pit under ice and water.

The driver was trapped inside the truck, where he died. His body was recovered Thursday afternoon.

Officials have not yet released the man’s name. Officials are conducting an investigation into what caused the accident. .

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A former Lincoln grocery store employee has been given five years of probation for embezzling thousands of dollars in money orders.

27-year-old Aimee O’Callaghan also was ordered Tuesday at her to pay nearly $64,000 in restitution. She’s already paid nearly $15,000.

O’Callaghan pleaded no contest to theft by deception.

Police say bookkeepers discovered a large discrepancy in cash receipts and deposits and tracked it to O’Callaghan, who admitted she took money orders to pay a mortgage, car loans, student loans and other bills.

The thefts from the Schmick’s Market occurred during 2015 and 2016.

OAKLAND, Iowa (AP) — A preliminary report on a school bus fire in western Iowa that killed the driver and a teenage passenger says the fire started in the engine compartment after the bus became stuck in a ditch.

The preliminary report from the National Transportation Safety Board was issued Friday.

The Dec. 12 fire killed 16-year-old Megan Klindt and 74-year-old Donnie Hendricks.

Friday’s report found that Hendricks was backing the bus out of Klindt’s rural driveway when the bus’ right rear wheels dropped into a 3-foot-deep ditch. As Hendricks tried to drive out of the ditch, a fire began in the engine compartment and spread to the passenger compartment.

The report says it is unknown why Hendricks and Klindt did not exit the bus.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska commission has reprimanded a judge for letting an intoxicated woman enter a guilty plea.

The Nebraska Judicial Qualifications Commission filed a decision this week that said Douglas County Judge Lawrence Barrett should’ve known the defendant was likely too intoxicated to enter a competent guilty plea.

The Fifth Amendment says a defendant must “knowingly, willingly, intelligently and voluntarily” enter a plea.

Sarah Carr was arrested in Lincoln in 2016 on suspicion of drunk driving. She was accused of violating a reckless driving probation term and scheduled to go to court.

But when she appeared in court in February 2017, her aunt told the judge that Carr was “passed out in the car” after having been drinking the previous night.

The aunt and a court official retrieved Carr from the vehicle, put her in a wheelchair and brought her into the courtroom.

The prosecutor and Douglas County public defender Deborah Lee told the judge that Carr would plead guilty. Barrett sentenced Carr to 90 days in jail. A breath test administered after the sentence showed that Carr had a blood-alcohol content of .44, a level that could be deadly, according to toxicology experts.

Carr has said she has little to no memory of the sentencing.

In other cases, judges have typically administered a breath test before the sentencing. Defense attorneys then ask for the case to be delayed.

Barrett gave Carr the opportunity to withdraw the plea after newpaper inquiries regarding the sentencing. Carr declined.

Richard Bird, Carr’s father, said he doesn’t support the reprimand.

“Judge Barrett made the best decision he could have ever made,” Bird said. “We needed to dry her out.”

The commission decision said that Barrett cooperated with the commission’s investigation and no further discipline would be needed.

Barrett didn’t return the newspaper’s request seeking comment.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — A man accused of killing a Grand Island teenager on New Year’s Day faces trial after waiving his preliminary hearing.

24-year-old Herbey Portillo Jr., of Grand Island, waived the hearing Friday. He first-degree murder case was then bound over to district court for trial. He is also charged with use of a weapon to commit a felony.

Police arrested Portillo on Jan. 2 after finding him hiding in a Grand Island garage. He’s accused of killing 19-year-old Trevor Sok. Police found Sok injured around 3:45 a.m. Jan. 1 at a Grand Island home. He later died at a hospital.