OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Minnesota excavation company that city authorities blame for causing a downtown Omaha fire says the Metropolitan Utilities District should be held responsible for the natural gas explosion.

North Central Service of Bemidji, Minnesota, blames the utility in its response to a lawsuit over the Jan. 9 fire in the Old Market area.

City officials and safety regulators have said North Central’s workers struck a natural gas line in front of M’s Pub before the fire.

Gas leaked into the basement of the building and exploded. An M’s Pub employee was taken to a hospital with cuts and a firefighter was treated after slipping on ice.

MUD says North Central failed to follow routine procedures to locate underground gas lines before beginning to drill.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha police say a woman died after she was stabbed during a family dispute, and an arrest has been made.

The stabbing was reported around 10:15 p.m. Tuesday. Police said Wednesday morning that another woman had been arrested.

The stabbing victim was found in northeast Omaha near 63rd and Ames and rushed to a hospital.

Police say the stabbing may have happened during a family disagreement. Lt. Melissa Gillick says the victim and the suspect were related, but she didn’t say how they were related.

Police did not immediately name the suspect or the victim.

NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska City faces up to life in prison after pleading guilty to a reduced charge for running over and killing another woman.

Shyanne Parrott pleaded guilty on Tuesday in Otoe County District Court to second-degree murder for the death of 20-year-old Amber Shipley. Parrott was 17 when she and Shipley argued over a boy on Sept. 14 at a Nebraska City library. Prosecutors say Parrott left and returned in a pickup, then ran down Shipley in the library’s parking lot.

Parrott had been charged with first-degree murder in the case and was set to go to trial Wednesday when she pleaded to the lesser count on Tuesday.

She faces 20 years to life in prison when she’s sentenced on July 21.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police say a 24-year-old Omaha man has died in a crash that happened as the July 4 holiday was wrapping up.

Patrick McCreery was driving a car eastbound on the 24th Street exit ramp from Interstate 80 when he crossed oncoming lanes of traffic and slammed into concrete overpass barriers around 11:15 p.m. Monday.

Paramedics attempted to revive McCreery, but pronounced him dead at the scene.

Police say they are investigating speed as a factor in the crash and added that McCreery was the only person in the vehicle at the time of the crash.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police say a man has died after being shot in northeast Omaha.

Police say officers were called to reports of a shooting just before 3 a.m. Tuesday at 27th Street and Laurel Avenue. Arriving officers say they found 25-year-old Sam Bradley outside suffering from gunshot wounds. Bradley was taken to a hospital, where he died.

No arrests have been made. Police are asking anyone with information to report it to Omaha Crime Stoppers. Those offering tips that lead to the identification and arrest of a homicide suspect are eligible for a $25,000 reward.

DENVER (AP) — Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper met recently with authorities investigating the assassination of one of his cabinet members by the son of one of the governor’s closest friends.

Hickenlooper has said little about the case publicly in the three years since the murder of corrections chief Tom Clements. Gunman Evan Ebel was the son of Hickenlooper’s longtime friend.

Key questions remain unanswered even as the investigation winds down. That includes whether the killer — a recently paroled member of a white supremacist prison gang — acted alone. One recently released police report suggests the killing was a gang hit. Colorado investigators now overseeing the case say that didn’t happen.

In his newly released candid autobiography, Hickenlooper — a dark horse to be the Democratic nominee for vice president— recalled the first time he realized that he was the one who led the murderous son of one close friend to the doorstep of another.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Hall County entities will be forced to make due with $165,000 less tax revenue than expected this year because the assessor used inflated estimates for some business properties.

Hall County Assessor Jan Pelland apologized after she realized the error would reduce the amount of tax money collected.

Pelland says her staff used estimates for the value of property that owners hadn’t filed returns on. That practice is common, but some of the estimates used this year were outrageously inflated.

So the Grand Island school district will receive $95,665 less than expected. Hall County will have a $29,639 shortfall, and Grand Island will receive $24,249 less than expected.