HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — A trial is scheduled to begin April 1 for a driver accused of killing a pedestrian in Hastings.

Adams County District Court records say the date was set Tuesday after 46-year-old Nen Lam, of Hastings, pleaded not guilty to vehicular homicide while driving under the influence and driving under the influence, two prior convictions.

The accident occurred around 3:40 a.m. on Oct. 14. Police say 27-year-old Anthony Epp was fatally struck as he was either walking or skateboarding on a street. He lived in Hastings.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska health officials have ordered an Omaha day care closed after the operator was charged this week with child abuse.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services issued the emergency closure Thursday of Catarina Lopez’s in-home day care in south Omaha. That comes after Lopez was charged Tuesday with child abuse resulting in serious injury.

Investigators say a 16-month-old child who attended Lopez’s day care sustained multiple bone breaks in various stages of healing to her shoulders, arm and wrists and had an acute fracture and dislocated left arm. The child’s mother noticed the injury Jan. 20 and contacted police. Police say Lopez acknowledged during an interview that she had forcefully pulled the child up from the floor by an arm, causing the injury.

WEST POINT, Neb. (AP) — A northeastern Nebraska woman has been sentenced to two years in prison for her role in the death of a Rosalie man.

The Sioux City Journal reports that 32-year-old Jenna Merrill, of Oakland, Nebraska, was sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty in November to one count of being an accessory. Investigators say she gave false information to authorities investigating the 2017 death of 64-year-old Ernest Warnock, whose body was found in the burned rubble of his home.

Prosecutors say Warnock was stabbed to death after a father and son went to his home to retrieve property belonging to Becky Weitzenkamp and a fight broke out.

The father, Jody Olson, has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. His son, Derek Olson, is also charged with second-degree murder and other counts.

Weitzenkamp was sentenced in October to 18-20 years on an accessory conviction.

COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — A lengthy ice jam is causing flooding in part of eastern Nebraska’s Platte County.

The National Weather Service has issued a flood warning for southeastern Platte County, saying flooding is occurring on both sides of the Loup River. The warning runs through Monday morning.

Platte County emergency manager Tim Hofbauer told The Columbus Telegram that the jam is on the Platte River, “but it backs up into the Loup, which is causing the majority of the problems.”

CENTRAL CITY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say one driver was fatally injured and several other people were hurt in a collision on a state highway in eastern Nebraska’s Merrick County.

The collision occurred around 8:15 a.m. Wednesday on Nebraska Highway 92. The Merrick County Sheriff’s Office says a westbound car crossed the center line and rammed into an oncoming car.

The sheriff’s office says the 64-year-old man driving the westbound car was pronounced dead at Merrick Medical Center in Central City. His passenger and two people in the other car were hospitalized as well.

The names of those involved haven’t been released.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska judge is deciding whether an inmate’s right to a speedy trial was violated as prosecutors scramble to keep him in prison for a 1995 slaying.

A hearing is scheduled Friday in the case of Jack Harris, the Omaha World-Herald reported. Harris was sentenced in 1999 to life in prison for the shooting death of Anthony Jones during a drug robbery.

Harris, 47, sought an appeal after a witness recanted, alleging that police intimidated him into testifying. Judge William Zastera granted Harris a new trial in September 2017. Zastera retired shortly after the decision.

The Nebraska attorney general’s office appealed, arguing that no evidentiary hearing was held. The case has been in limbo for months because no replacement judge was immediately appointed.

Judge Jodi Nelson took over the case in July. Nelson said Harris wasn’t tried within six months of Zastera’s order, in violation of his right to a speedy right. Nelson also criticized the state for failing to take steps to move the case forward.

“The state could have done several things,” Nelson wrote. “It could have asked for another district judge to be appointed, it could have begun preparing to retry Harris. … It could have done all of the above. … Instead the state apparently did nothing.”

The state argues that prosecutors filed a motion to reconsider and an appeal and that the time those motions were pending shouldn’t be counted as part of the speedy trial considerations.

“The Attorney General believes the significant and complicated issues should be reviewed by an appellate court before the defendant’s case is discharged,” Suzanne Gage, spokeswoman for Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson, said in a statement.

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said the situation is alarming.

“This is a big deal; the defendant was somebody we were very concerned about,” Kleine said. “Now, 20 years later, a judge grants a motion for absolute (dismissal). It’s a very troubling turn of events.”

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A man accused of fatally shooting a Lincoln resident has pleaded not guilty.

Lancaster County District Court records say 32-year-old Jesse “JJ” Wilson entered pleas Wednesday to charges of second-degree murder, theft and two firearms counts. The records don’t show that a trial date has been set.

Prosecutors say he shot 42-year-old Stacy Talbot on Oct. 18 last year as they drove around Lincoln with two other people, 35-year-old Sherry Thomas and 28-year-old James Howard.

Thomas and Howard have been charged with being accessories to murder. Thomas has pleaded not guilty to the accessory charge and to theft. Howard hasn’t entered a plea yet. His attorney, Sandy Pollack, said Thursday that Howard would be pleading not guilty at his arraignment later this month.

DEWEESE, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say a 40-year-old man has been killed by a bull in a south-central Nebraska field.

The Nuckolls County Sheriff’s Department says a woman called around 7:15 p.m. Tuesday to report that her boyfriend hadn’t returned from checking cattle. A deputy met the woman on a rural road about 2 miles (3 kilometers) southwest of Deweese, and she told the deputy that she’d found the man’s body in a nearby field.

The department says an investigation showed the man was carrying a bucket and checking cows when the bull attacked, and the man couldn’t get away.

Nuckolls County Attorney John Hodge identified the man as Kenneth Volz, of Fairfield.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police say a man was killed and a woman was wounded by gunfire just a few blocks apart from each other.

Officers found 18-year-old Elijah Foster’s body near a vehicle in northeast Omaha Tuesday evening. About three blocks away, 20-year-old Erica Robinson was found wounded.

Investigators are trying to determine whether there is a connection between the two victims.

Foster has a record of several juvenile crimes. Douglas County court records show convictions for theft, unauthorized use of a vehicle and third-degree assault.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha man has been arrested on a warrant charging him with animal cruelty after officials say he starved two pit bull dogs to death.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that officers with the Metro Area Fugitive Task Force arrested 43-year-old Shane Palmer on Tuesday morning following an investigation by the Nebraska Humane Society.

Officials say the carcasses of two male dogs were found Jan. 9 after they had been thrown into a ravine east of Palmer’s house in north Omaha. Officials say one of the dogs had been microchipped, which led investigators to Palmer.

A necropsy showed the dogs, named Pokie and Boss, died primarily of starvation, with hypothermia as a secondary cause.