OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A man accused of stripping to his underwear at an airport in Nebraska, stealing a truck and ramming it into a Southwest Airlines plane has been charged with theft and criminal mischief.

A judge on Monday set bail at $50,000 for 35-year-old Delairo Koonce. Jail records say Koonce remains in custody Tuesday.

Authorities say Koonce was acting erratically at Omaha’s Eppley Airfield Thursday when he climbed a fence to evade airport police. Authorities say Koonce stripped down to his boxer shorts, stole an airline pickup and drove it into the plane as passengers were boarding. Three people suffered minor injuries.

Court records don’t list an attorney who can comment on Koonce’s behalf.

Koonce’s father says his son has a history of mental illness and drug problems.

AUBURN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a Texas man has been killed in a collision with a semitrailer in southeast Nebraska.

The crash occurred around 2:30 p.m. Monday on U.S. Highway 75 about 5½ miles north of Auburn. The Nemaha County Sheriff’s Office says a southbound sport utility vehicle pulling a camper trailer crossed the center line and struck a northbound semitrailer that was hauling a skid loader.

The SUV driver was pronounced dead at the scene. The Sheriff’s Office identified him as 72-year-old Lester Meciej, who lived in Round Rock, Texas. His wife, 70-year-old Jeanne Maciej, and the truck driver, 52-year-old Bryant Olson, of Springfield, Missouri, were taken to an Auburn hospital for treatment of what the Sheriff’s Office says were non-life-threatening injuries.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Two local University of Nebraska institutions have teamed up to create a program to diversify Omaha’s physician population.

The Urban Health Opportunities Program will provide tuition and other benefits to undergraduate students at the University of Nebraska at Omaha who want to be doctors in Omaha, particularly in the northeast and southeast parts of the city.

Those who meet the program’s requirements will be admitted into medical school at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

The program’s goal is to produce more physicians from minority groups, more who can speak foreign languages and more who have a passion for working in low-income areas.

The program’s leaders say it isn’t an affirmative action initiative but an effort to break the typical mold from which most physicians emerge.

BRADSHAW, Neb. (AP) — A man driving a tractor to mow a roadside ditch has been killed in York County.

Officers and medics were dispatched 3:40 p.m. Monday to a rural roadside about 2½ miles south-southeast of Bradshaw. Bradshaw Fire Chief Todd Hellerich said the man was trapped under the tractor and died at the scene.

York County Sheriff Dale Radcliff says the man was mowing the ditch when the tractor and its attached mower rolled on the steep bank.

The man’s name hasn’t been released.

Authorities say the Little Blue River has left its banks in south-central Nebraska.

The National Weather Service said Tuesday that the river is a foot above flood stage of 10 feet and cresting near Deweese. The service says the high water is moving downstream to Nuckolls and Thayer counties, where minor flooding is expected through Wednesday. Stream flooding also is expected to continue in Adams and Webster counties.

The ground is already saturated from heavy rains Sunday night and Monday morning. The service says more than 7.25 inches was recorded overnight at a reporting station two miles northeast of Blue Hill.

Flash flood watches are posted for much of eastern Nebraska and southwest Iowa. The service says heavy rain is expected from storms moving through the area.

NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) — An October trial has been scheduled for a Norfolk man charged with several crimes in a collision that killed two people.

Online court records say 23-year-old Brandon Plante entered pleas of not guilty to several charges Friday in Madison County District Court. They include two counts of vehicular homicide while driving with a previous conviction for driving under the influence and one count of driving under the influence, second offense.

His trial is set to begin Oct. 11.

Authorities say Plante was driving north in a southbound lane of U.S. Highway 81 on June 26 when he struck an oncoming vehicle driven by 32-year-old Tar Eh. Eh and a passenger in the vehicle, 32-year-old Yeh Htoo, were fatally injured. Both lived in Norfolk.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska authorities have accused a California man of scamming several would-be buyers out of thousands of dollars for what he said he had: a powerful, hard-to-find car engine.

Lancaster County prosecutors last week charged 59-year-old Steven Shaull with theft. Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles investigator Marlan Hohnstein says Shaull was arrested Friday in California. Nebraska online court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for Shaull, of Anaheim.

Authorities say a Lincoln company, Restore a Muscle Car, reported wiring $11,500 to Shaull in December for the 426-cubic-inch engine to put in a 1971 Plymouth Barracuda. The company says it never received the engine.

Hohnstein says in court records that he found other people who also were duped.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha woman whose husband is a police officer has started a letter-writing campaign to support members of law enforcement and their families.

Kathleen McCallister said her fear of her husband’s safety has increased in the past few months as officers have been attacked nationwide.

McCallister is encouraging residents to write letters during September and send them to Embrace Blue, a group formed under the Fraternal Order of Police Association. Embrace Blue will send the well-wishes across the Omaha Police Department.

People are also able to donate small items that officers will give to children while on patrol in an effort to promote the department’s mission of community policing.

More information about the program will be announced at a press conference Wednesday night.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a construction worker has been injured at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium.

The accident occurred shortly after 11:20 a.m. Monday, when the man was hurt while working near the Desert Dome.

He was taken to Nebraska Medical Center for treatment. His name hasn’t been released.