OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A former chairman of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska has been sentenced to probation and community service after pleading guilty to charges related to the misapplication of casino funds.

U.S. District Court Judge Laurie Smith Camp on Monday sentenced 63-year-old John Blackhawk to five years of probation and 150 hours of community service. He also must pay $36,000 in restitution.

Blackhawk pleaded guilty in September to theft from an Indian gaming establishment.

During 2013 and 2014, Blackhawk took unauthorized disbursements from the WinnaVegas Casino and Resort in Sloan, Iowa, totaling $36,000 in the form of gift certificates.

Blackhawk is one of nine former council members accused of a conspiracy to steal money from the casino.

DAKOTA CITY, Neb. (AP) — Psychiatric tests have been ordered for a man accused of shooting to death his wife outside a northeast Nebraska police station.

On Friday a Dakota County district court judge in Dakota City approved the defense request for Bei Sheng Chen. He’s pleaded not guilty first-degree murder and other charges.

Authorities say he killed 33-year-old Mei Huang on Sept. 6 in the parking lot of the South Sioux City police station. She died hours later at a Sioux City, Iowa, hospital.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln is adjusting its panhandling ordinances to allow the free speech right to use profanities but to ban repeated panhandling requests.

The proposed change also specifies where panhandlers can stand when soliciting. Panhandlers won’t be allowed to stand on streets, highways or medians when soliciting but they can stand on sidewalks.

City Attorney Jeff says the “curb to curb” ban was created to address public safety issues and reduce driver distractions.

Kirkpatrick says the city aims to prohibit harassment without infringing on residents’ First Amendment rights. He says the specifics will help prosecutors, police and citizens.

The City Council will hold a public hearing on the changes on Monday. The council is expected to vote on the proposals on Dec. 11.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska death row inmate whose case inspired the 1999 movie “Boys Don’t Cry” is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take up his challenge to his death sentence.

John Lotter is asking the country’s highest court to review a U.S. 8th Circuit Court of Appeals order issued in July denying his motion to proceed with an appeal in federal court. Lotter is challenging Nebraska’s three-judge method for determining death sentences. He cites a U.S. Supreme Court ruling that struck down Florida’s death penalty process, saying it gave too much power to judges to make the ultimate decision.

Lotter was condemned in 1996 for his role in the 1993 slaying of Teena Brandon, a 21-year-old woman who lived briefly as a man, and two witnesses, Lisa Lambert and Philip DeVine, at a rural Humboldt farmhouse.

WAVERLY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have identified a man hit and killed by a train in southeast Nebraska.

The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office says 25-year-old Jeremy Sanchez, of Lincoln, was hit around 1:40 p.m. Thursday near Waverly High School in Waverly. Investigators say the crew of the BNFS freight train sounded the horn and applied the emergency brakes for some time before the train hit Sanchez.

The investigation is ongoing, and an autopsy has been ordered.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say no one was injured when a small plane was forced to make an emergency landing Friday in a southeastern Nebraska cornfield.

The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office says emergency responders were called to the scene just after noon. Arriving first responders found a small plane in a cornfield nearly two miles north of the airport with four people aboard.

The 46-year-old pilot and owner of the plane told authorities he was flying three adult family members and had just taken off from the airport when his 1964 Cessna 205 experienced engine trouble. The pilot said he landed in the cornfield, fearing he would not be able to make it back to the airport safely.

The plane was not damaged.

The Federal Aviation Administration will conduct an independent investigation.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The FBI says investigators are talking to two people of interest in the disappearance of a 24-year-old Lincoln woman.

The FBI’s Randy Thysse (THEYE’-see) said at a Lincoln news conference Thursday that the public’s help was still needed to find Sydney Loofe, who was reported missing Nov. 16. Family and friends have said she went on a date the night before with someone she met online. Police say she was last seen in Wilber, 40 miles (64 kilometers) southwest of Lincoln.

Authorities have called the disappearance “concerning.”

Lincoln Police Chief Jeff Bliemeister (BLEYE’-meye-stur) says 51-year-old Aubrey Trail and 23-year-old Bailey Boswell were arrested on unrelated warrants. Court records don’t list attorneys for them. Bliemeister says the two had reported contact with Loofe.

The authorities didn’t say where Trail and Bosewell were arrested.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Law enforcement officials in eastern Nebraska say they’re better armed and trained nearly a decade after a deadly mall shooting.

Omaha Police Sgt. Jeff Baker said the department’s tactics are now focused on getting officers to the active shooter as fast as possible. Fire officials are also better trained to work with police in order to quickly provide victims aid.

A 19-year-old killed eight people and himself at the Von Maur department store in December 2007.

A review of the response to the shooting found that the Douglas County 911 center had trouble dealing with the massive volume of information that was coming in about the shooting. Officers didn’t receive important information quickly enough, which delayed their response.

WAVERLY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a man walking along railroad tracks in southeast Nebraska was struck and killed by a locomotive.

The man was struck around 1:40 p.m. Thursday near Waverly High School in Waverly. Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office Capt. Tom Brookhouser says the train horn sounded several times, but the man didn’t move away from the tracks to safety.

Investigators are trying to identify the man.