COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — Catholic Charities is closing its Columbus residential treatment facility for people with mental illness and substance abuse issues.

John Griffith is president of Catholic Charities for the Omaha Archdiocese, and he said the organization’s board decided in August to create a transition plan so other providers would have a chance to fill the void.

Griffith says the decision is part of a broader shift by Catholic Charities away from government-funded programs. He says the reimbursement rate from government agencies has not kept pace with the cost of care.

Griffith says the transition is expected to be completed by the end of the year. Outpatient services are still available locally through East Central District Health Department and Colegrove Counseling Center.

ELGIN, Neb. (AP) — A 24-year-old pickup driver has died in a collision with a semitrailer near Elgin in Antelope County.

Authorities say the accident occurred Friday when the eastbound pickup was struck by the northbound truck on Nebraska Highway 14 about two miles north of Elgin.

The pickup driver was identified as Drew Holter, who lived in Elgin. The semi driver has been identified as Roy Rogers, of Clearwater. It’s not clear whether Rogers was injured.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a Texas man has died and a police officer has been injured in a western Iowa crash.

Police say the crash happened Saturday afternoon on Interstate 29 in Council Bluffs, when a vehicle slammed into the back of Council Bluffs police cruiser parked on the side of the interstate. The crash killed 72-year-old Bertram Ellis, of Houston.

Officials say 39-year-old Officer Josh Horner was sitting in his patrol car conducting traffic control when Ellis’ vehicle rear-ended the cruiser. Both men were rushed to hospitals in Omaha, Nebraska, where Ellis died from his injuries.

Officials have not released the medical condition of Horner, a seven-year veteran of the department.

Council Bluffs police are investigating the crash.

CENTRAL CITY, Neb. (AP) — Two teenage girls have died in a rollover crash in central Nebraska.

The crash happened just before 2 a.m. Saturday on a rural road in Merrick County. Investigators believe the car was eastbound when its passenger tires ran off the road. Officials believe the driver overcorrected, causing the car to roll several times before landing in the south ditch.

A spokesman for Grand Island Senior High confirmed that one of the girls was a senior at the school and the other girl had been a former student. The girls’ names have not yet been released.

BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) — Investigators say a 36-year-old man has died in a single-vehicle crash in Beatrice.

Kevin Patterson died shortly after his large sport utility vehicle crashed into a tall embankment at a high rate of speed.

Gage County Sheriff’s Sgt. Brandon Schley says Patterson was driving his Chevy Tahoe northbound on SW 61st when he came to a T-intersection.

Schley says it did not appear that Patterson hit his brakes and was traveling at least 50 mph when he hit the embankment.

Officials say Patterson died at the scene.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — More than 250,000 fish were killed this week at a southwest Omaha lake, drawing complaints from some anglers.

But Nebraska Game and Parks officials say the move will lead to better fishing in the Chalco Hills Recreation Area for years to come.

A low dosage of the chemical rotenone was applied Tuesday to the lake, killing thousands of gizzard shad and some sports fish. The fish washed up on the shores of the 245-acre lake near 154th Street and Giles Road.

Game officials say the gizzard shad, which are considered bait fish, were competing with bluegills, crappie and small bass for food.

Shad are highly susceptible to rotenone when water is cold. Other fish are more tolerant and are expected to thrive and multiply.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office has launched a review of the operations of Goodwill Omaha in the wake of an Omaha World-Herald investigation showing the charity’s top executives have been paid more than Goodwills nationwide.

State law empowers the attorney general to protect the financial assets of Nebraska charities.

Longtime Goodwill Omaha CEO Frank McGree received total compensation of $933,444 in 2014. Also, 13 of the nonprofit’s executives were paid more than $100,000 in 2014, siphoning a significant portion of the $4 million generated from Goodwill’s stores in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa from job-training programs. McGree, who had led the Omaha charity for 30 years, announced his resignation in late October.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha’s award-winning zoo has reached a new milestone — its 2 millionth visitor for the year.

The zoo says 32-year-old Jacque Keys, of Omaha, and her two young children marked the occasion Tuesday when they walked through the front gate of the Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium.

It’s the first time the zoo has recorded 2 million visitors within a year — a mark fewer than a dozen American zoos ever reach.

Zoo staff members, including zoo director Dennis Pate, gathered at the gate to welcome the Keys.

The family was also given a prize package worth about $4,000, including a $500 zoo gift card, a zoo-themed gift basket, a personal photographer for the day at the zoo and a two-year zoo membership.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A number of car crashes were reported in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa Saturday as snow fell in the area.

Police had to close major roads in Omaha and Council Bluffs, Iowa, Saturday afternoon because of car crashes involving multiple vehicles.

The National Weather Service says one or two inches of snow is expected in the area.

In Omaha, police shut down several lanes of northbound U.S. Highway 75 near Interstate 80 after a crash. Serious injuries were reported in the crash, but details of those injuries weren’t immediately available.

Across the Missouri River in Council Bluffs, a crash on southbound Interstate 29 blocked the highway between the exits for North 25th Street and North 16th Street.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Bradshaw man has been sentenced to 16 to 20 years in prison for his role in a failed murder-for-hire plot.

31-year-old Derrick Shirley was sentenced Thursday. He pleaded no contest to possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony in exchange for his testimony against Robert Honken, of Aurora, who was convicted of trying to hire Shirley to kill Honken’s wife.

Authorities say Shirley was paid by Honken, but never tried to kill his wife. According to court documents, Honken then tried to hire another person, but that person instead contacted authorities.

Honken was convicted of two counts of conspiracy to commit first-degree murder in November. He’s scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 20 and faces up to 50 years in prison on each count.