LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new state report says ride services haven’t hurt taxi businesses across Nebraska.

An estimated 500 people drove for either Uber or Lyft last year, with most operating in Omaha or Lincoln.

The Nebraska Public Service Commission issued the report as part of its regulation of ride-hailing and cab companies. Commission Executive Director Jeff Pursley says statewide data from cab companies shows the total number of rides given has been trending up over the past five years.

The report also notes that Lincoln has seen a decline in the number of cabs and cab drivers employed. Pursley says it’s not clear what’s causing the decline but also says the reduction in numbers occurred before the ride services began operating in Nebraska.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha man was sentenced to a day in jail for poisoning four cottonwood trees on city property.

Court records say 44-year-old Donald Grenawalt was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty to criminal mischief. He was credited with a day he’d already served. Grenawalt also must pay $10,000 in restitution.

Officials say they found four or five holes had been drilled into each tree trunk. Court records say Grenawalt told a city employee who knew him that he’d poisoned the trees because they were messy and he was sick of them. The documents say investigators found drills and bits at Grenawalt’s home and chemicals that could have been poured into the trees.

The dead trees were cut down Thursday.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Douglas County officials are trying to resolve issues with its 911 system that give callers a rapid busy signal during a system outage.

Officials say it could take years to resolve.

In one incident, as many as 225,000 cellphone users in Douglas and Sarpy counties encountered the problem for nearly 13 hours in September 2015.

Nebraska Public Service Commission member Crystal Rhoades says it’s unacceptable the county doesn’t have a backup plan.

Mark Conrey, the county’s former 911 director, says most of the problem will be resolved with system upgrades that could be years away.

Conrey says the county’s emergency infrastructure isn’t advanced enough to reroute 911 calls. He says the county handles too many 911 calls to have them absorbed by a smaller center.

FAIRBURY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a Hebron woman was killed when the van she was driving collided with a semitrailer in southeast Nebraska.

The accident occurred just before 2:50 p.m. Wednesday on U.S. Highway 136 between Gilead and Fairbury. The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says the eastbound van crossed into oncoming traffic and struck the westbound big rig.

The van driver was pronounced dead at the scene. The Sheriff’s Office identified her as 20-year-old Samantha Hoffman. The truck driver was identified as 61-year-old Fritz Tridle, of Ogallala, who wasn’t injured.

SPRINGFIELD, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have released the name of a driver who died under his wrecked pickup after it crashed in Sarpy County.

The crash occurred about 5:40 p.m. Wednesday on Nebraska Highway 50, just north of Springfield. The Sarpy County Sheriff’s Office says the southbound pickup began to slide after the driver hit the brakes. The out-of-control truck crossed the median and the northbound lanes into a ditch, ejecting the driver and pinning him. The truck soon caught fire.

The Sheriff’s Office identified the man as 44-year-old Aaron Scholting, who lived in Louisville (LOO’-iss-vihl).

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska man who has been in prison for more than 39 years could now have a chance at parole after being resentenced.

Bernard Schaeffer was sentenced Tuesday to 70-to-90 years in prison for first-degree murder.

The 56-year-old had previously been sentenced to life in prison for the 1977 killing of Donald Beery Jr. of Grand Island.

Schaeffer was resentenced because of a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that said juvenile killers couldn’t be sentenced to automatic life terms without parole.

Schaeffer told the judge he regretted killing Beery.

Before Schaeffer could be eligible for release, he will have to serve sentences for three unrelated offenses committed since he has been in prison. Those total between 13 and 42 years.

O’NEILL, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a driver died after her pickup crashed on an icy highway in northern Nebraska.

The accident occurred around 4:15 p.m. Monday, about 2 miles southeast of O’Neill. The Holt County Sheriff’s Office says 45-year-old Kami Sholes was westbound on U.S. Highway 20 when her pickup ran onto ice as she rounded a curve and struck a guardrail on the Elkhorn River Bridge. She was ejected as her truck rolled several times.

The Sheriff’s Office says Sholes was taken to an O’Neill hospital and then transferred to a Sioux City, Iowa, hospital, where she died. She was a resident of Inman.

WINNEBAGO, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have confirmed the death of a man injured by an explosion and fire at his northeast Nebraska home.

The Thurston County Sheriff’s Office said Tuesday that 88-year-old Tony Pycha died Friday at an Omaha hospital. Pycha was found in the wreckage of his home south of Winnebago on Dec. 19.

The Sheriff’s Office and fire investigators say a malfunctioning propane heater caused the blast and resulting fire.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A former Council Bluffs candidate for mayor has been charged with stealing vending machines in Nebraska.

Online court records say 33-year-old Matthew Hartfield has pleaded not guilty to a dozen misdemeanor counts of theft. His trial is scheduled to begin Jan. 31 in Douglas County Court.

The thefts started occurring in November. Police say sometimes a well-dressed man would enter an Omaha store, measure a machine and take it, saying he’d bring back a larger machine.

The vending machines’ owner estimated his loss at $10,000.

The Daily Nonpareil reports (https://bit.ly/2hRAcrI ) that Hartfield ran for mayor in 2009 and was beaten by incumbent Tom Hanafan.