KENNARD, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say an elected official died in an accident on his rural property in Washington County in eastern Nebraska.

The Sheriff’s Office says 60-year-old Scott Japp was found dead about 5:30 p.m. Sunday near his home three miles west of Kennard. The office says Japp was trying to unload a miniature antique bulldozer from a trailer when he got pinned between the bulldozer and the rear of a truck.

Japp had been running for his third term on the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District board. His two previous terms had been marked by disagreements with other board members over dam construction plans, the district’s tax levy and other issues.

On Sunday board member John Conley acknowledged the disagreements but said he appreciated Japp’s opinions.

HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — A former Hasting police detective has been charged with using a fundraising site to raise money for fraudulent medical expenses.

46-year-old Jerry Esch is charged with theft by deception involving more than $5,000.

Ecsh told authorities he raised more than $30,000 after posting the GoFundMe page. Court documents say he told co-workers he needed to cover medical expenses not covered by his insurance provider, Blue Cross and Blue Shield.

The affidavit also says that Blue Cross Blue Shield records from October 2014 to November 2015 show that Ecsh didn’t have any out-of-network services and that he had no denied claims in 2015.

Hastings Police Chief Pete Kortum didn’t confirm if Esch’s departure from the department was connected to the financial issue.

It wasn’t immediately clear if Ecsh has an attorney.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 19-year-old man has drowned in a private sand-pit lake in Hall County.

The Hall County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release that deputies responded to a call of a man in the water around 6:15 a.m. Sunday.

About three hours later, the body of Devon Klein, of Grand Island, was pulled from the water.

Members of the Grand Island Rural Fire Department, Grand Island Fire Department, and both the Grand Island and Kearney Dive Rescue Teams helped in the recovery of Klein’s body.

Authorities continue to investigate the circumstances of Klein’s drowning, and an autopsy has been ordered.

ASHLAND, Neb. (AP) — The Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium is planning to overhaul its safari park near Ashland, but officials have not announced what those plans will entail.

Zoo CEO and executive director Dennis Pate said he and his staff have started working on a master plan to reconfigure the Lee G. Simmons Conservation Park and Wildlife Safari.

The plan is due out by the end of the year.

The $3.5 million park opened in June 1998, focusing on North American species. It now features animals such as bison, black bears, eagles, wolves, elk, deer and sandhill cranes.

It is open seasonally from spring until fall and drew 143,668 attendees last year.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — Two Nebraska residents have been arrested in Iowa, accused of taking three stolen vehicles on a camping trip.

35-year-old Mark Berlett, of Omaha, and 26-year-old Brooke Vacanti, of La Vista, were arrested around 4:15 p.m. Wednesday at Hitchcock Nature Center in Honey Creek.

Berlett is charged with theft and a second offense of operating while intoxicated. Vacanti is charged with theft, possession of illegal prescription pills and of drug paraphernalia.

Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s deputies say they found a sport utility vehicle, a pickup and a travel trailer — all of which had been reported stolen — at the pair’s campsite.

Both remained at the Pottawattamie County Jail on Saturday and could not be reached for comment..

NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. (AP) — State officials have announced that target shooting will no longer be allowed at a southeastern Nebraska wildlife management area.

Hamburg Bend Wildlife Management Area in Otoe County is now closed to target shooting.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission says the closure comes at the request of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which owns the property, as well a sanitary improvement district that managed the Missouri River levee on the site.

They asked that target shooting be prohibited because of safety concerns for neighboring landowners and area users, as well as erosion of the river levee.

Target shooting is permitted on wildlife management areas in the state unless restricted or prohibited by posted signs or by special area regulations.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Officials say Papio-Missouri River NRD Elkhorn River access parks in eastern Nebraska will not reopen as planned Saturday.

The parks have been closed due to high water in the river causing potentially hazardous boating conditions.

NRD General Manager John Winkler says in a news release that unexpected heavy rain overnight Friday and early Saturday has again raised water levels in the Elkhorn River. Winkler says officials hate to close the sites during the Father’s Day weekend, but “public safety has to rule the day.”

The sites remaining closed include Elkhorn Crossing near 252nd Street and Bennington Road, Graske Crossing off West Dodge Road and the West Maple Road site.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The owner of a downtown Omaha building severely damaged by fire last winter says it could be rebuilt and ready for retail occupants as soon as next spring.

Mark Mercer, owner of the building, says Nouvelle Eve, a women’s boutique that had been in the building’s southwest corner, might be able to move back next spring or summer.

He says the space that once held the popular M’s Pub will take longer to reconstruct. Mercer and his wife, Vera, lost their home on the top floor of the building.

City of Omaha officials and safety regulators have said a Minnesota excavation company caused the fire when they struck a natural gas line Jan. 9 in front M’s Pub in the Old Market area.

HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — A former Hastings police detective has been accused of conning people out of thousands of dollars to pay what he said were medical expenses that officials say were covered by insurance.

Court records say 46-year-old Jerry Esch is charged with theft. A Hastings phone listed for Esch is no longer in service. Court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Nebraska State Patrol investigators say in court documents that Esch wrote a deceptive post on an internet crowdfunding website, asking for help in paying $27,000 in medical expenses not covered by insurance during his battle with melanoma. His doctors had to amputate part of his right leg.

But Hastings officials told investigators that Esch’s story didn’t square with the city’s policy for police.

GREENWOOD, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Department of Agriculture has confirmed the presence of the emerald ash borer in Cass County, southwest of Omaha.

The department says the invasive beetle was found on private property in Greenwood. The announcement of the discovery comes 10 days after officials said the insect was found first discovered in Nebraska — in an Omaha park.

Emerald ash borers are native to Asia and were first spotted in the U.S. in 2002, when it showed up in Detroit. The species has since spread to at least 25 states and killed millions of trees.

The insect feeds on tree tissue beneath the bark and destroys its ability to move water and nutrients to branches. Trees usually die within five years once they are infected.