SCHUYLER, Neb. (AP) — A Schuyler man has been given 30 to 40 years in prison for stabbing a woman.

Forty-three-year-old Amauri Herrera-Alvarez was sentenced Wednesday in Colfax County District Court. He’d pleaded no contest to a charge of attempted murder after prosecutors dropped a weapons charge. He was given credit for 555 days already served.

Prosecutors say the incident was discovered Nov. 2, 2014, outside a Schuyler apartment building. An officer cut a rope Herrera-Alvarez was using to hang himself from a tree. Inside the building, they found the injured woman, who was in a relationship with Herrera-Alvarez.

Herrera-Alvarez intended to plead not guilty by reason of insanity but eventually was found competent to stand trial.

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Three states are getting ready for the possible return of grizzly bear hunting in the Rocky Mountains for the first time in decades.

The Obama administration has proposed lifting protections for grizzlies around Yellowstone National Park. The bears have been considered a threatened species since 1975, but wildlife officials say their population has sufficiently recovered.

Before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service makes a final decision by March 2017, it is requiring Wyoming, Montana and Idaho to outline what their grizzly bear hunting seasons would look like.

The three states are coordinating their plans. Montana releases an outline for its hunting regulations on Thursday.

Environmental groups say federal protections should remain until the state plans are thoroughly reviewed, and there should be a transitional period before hunting the iconic species is considered.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — State psychiatric experts say an Omaha man is competent to face a death-penalty hearing for killing four people just weeks after he left prison.

The Lincoln Regional Center doctors issued their declaration Wednesday regarding Nikko Jenkins. Jenkins was convicted in 2014 of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of four people in Omaha over a 10-day period in August 2013. It will be up to a district court judge to set a competency hearing that will determine whether Jenkins can understand the death-penalty proceedings and help his lawyer.

A defense psychiatrist has testified at hearings that Jenkins suffers from schizophrenia and perhaps a bipolar disorder, while state psychiatrists have testified that Jenkins is faking mental illness.

GRETNA, Neb. (AP) — Officials say a fire has razed a suburban Omaha home belonging to a former Nebraska football player.

No injuries have been reported from the Gretna fire, which was reported a little after 6 a.m. Wednesday. Sarpy County records say the 2,900-square-foot ranch-style home is registered to Aaron Graham. He was the Huskers starting center from 1992 through 1995 and spent six seasons in the National Football League. The Huskers recruited him out of Denton, Texas.

Gretna Fire Chief Rod Buethe (BEE’-thee) says Graham and his family escaped unharmed from the blaze, which he says likely was touched off by a lightning strike. He says the state fire marshal’s office is investigating.

Graham didn’t immediately return a call from The Associated Press.

The National Weather Service has issued warnings for several Nebraska rivers that have been swollen with runoff from heavy rainfall.

The service has changed its warning for the North Platte River near Mitchell, saying moderate flooding is expected rather than just minor flooding. The river is expected to crest at nearly 9 feet Saturday afternoon. Minor flooding is expected at Lewellen and Lisco.

Warnings for minor flooding also have been issued for the Elkhorn River from Atkinson through O’Neill and the Missouri River in the southeast corner of Nebraska.

The service said Wednesday that a radar-estimated 4 to 7 inches of rain fell since Tuesday afternoon in parts of Hamilton, Polk and York counties, filling tributaries and the Big Blue River, which is expected to spill out of its banks.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha school for students with severe disabilities is planning to move to a new $10 million building in two years.

The new the J.P. Lord School will be built on a 10-acre site two miles south of its current campus at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The building is scheduled to open for the 2018-2019 school year.

Nearly 60 students, ages 5 to 21, currently attend the school. They have multiple physical and cognitive disabilities, including cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, hearing loss and vision impairment.

The 45,000-square-foot school has been designed specifically for the medical and educational needs of the students. The plan includes large classrooms with plenty of storage, a stimulating multisensory room and a therapy pool.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln woman accused of euthanizing her dog by putting it into a plastic storage bag has taken a plea deal.

Online court records say 58-year-old Virginia Gilmore pleaded no contest Monday after prosecutors lowered a felony charge of animal neglect to a misdemeanor. She’s scheduled to be sentenced July 14.

Prosecutors say Gilmore had tied a guitar string around the dog’s stomach in an effort to remove a cyst that was dragging on the ground and then tried to cut if off. Prosecutors say Gilmore ultimately put the Pomeranian, Minnie, into the plastic storage bag.

Gilmore told an animal control officer she couldn’t afford to take her 20-year-old dog to a vet.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Lancaster County corrections director has resigned after being suspended for unknown reasons.

Mike Thurber resigned Tuesday. The Lancaster County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to accept Thurber’s resignation. The county will pay Thurber his accumulated sick and vacation leave, but he will not get a severance payout.

Thurber had been suspended with pay for two weeks. The board’s chief administrative officer had declined to comment on what led to the suspension. Thurber’s wife, Pamela Thurber, has said that she and her husband would not comment.

An interim county corrections administrator has been chosen to serve until May 31.

County Commissioner Deb Schorr said the county will discuss plans to replace Thurber at the board’s staff meeting Thursday.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha man has been sentenced to prison in the death of his girlfriend’s 16-month-old son.

A judge on Tuesday sentenced 25-year-old Tyler Kennedy to 18 to 20 years in prison after he pleaded no contest in January to negligent child abuse resulting in death.

The Omaha World-Herald reports Kennedy has admitted that he slapped and shook the toddler while he was watching him on July 26, 2014. He first told police that the child choked on a bottle cap.

Kennedy apologized in court Tuesday and said he would mourn the loss of the boy.

He was not the child’s biological father but lived with the infant and his mother, Cindy Cooper.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha police officer who was killed in the line of duty about a year ago has been honored for her devotion to protecting the public.

Officer Kerrie Orozco’s name was unveiled on the Nebraska Law Enforcement Memorial wall in Grand Island during a ceremony Monday. Four other officers’ names were also unveiled after investigations concluded that they died in the line of duty.

Orozco was killed May 20, 2015, as she and other members of the Omaha Police Department tried to arrest a suspect wanted in connection with a September 2014 shooting.

Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said at the ceremony that Orozco was not only an exemplary officer but also a good person and member of society.