LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska authorities say a Hastings company will be sending the first significant shipment of beef from the United States to Israel since Israel banned U.S. beef imports more than a dozen years ago.

Israel had barred U.S. beef after a case of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, was confirmed in the United States in December 2003.

On Tuesday Nebraska Agriculture Department Director Greg Ibach (EYE’-bah) praised WR Reserve for complying with a rigorous inspection process that included Israeli government regulator visits. WR Reserve officials declined to comment on the shipment.

The department news release didn’t say how large the shipment would be, and department officials didn’t immediately return messages left by The Associated Press.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska appeals court has upheld the prison sentence of a woman who had argued at trial that her drug dealing was part of her religious beliefs.

Brenda Hines, of York, was convicted last year of four counts, including one for trafficking drugs in her home, which she argued was a “Temple of Zion” where God provided the drugs she sold. She was sentenced to two to four years.

Hines argued on appeal that her sentence was excessive and violated her religious freedom right.

The Nebraska Court of Appeals said Tuesday that Hines’ sentence was with the range allowed by law and not excessive.

It declined to address her religious freedom claim, saying she failed to argue or cite to any authority as to how her sentence violated that right.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Amtrak train that struck an abandoned car and then a tree was delayed nearly 10 hours just a few miles from its scheduled stop in Omaha.

The first delay occurred around 10:30 p.m. Sunday, after the train struck a car that authorities say was abandoned on tracks in Bellevue. The wreckage was removed and the train resumed its journey 3½ hours later. Within minutes it struck a tree that had fallen across the tracks.

Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said Tuesday the tree damaged the lead locomotive’s underside. The locomotive was uncoupled after repair attempts were made on site.

The train got moving again around 7:55 a.m. Monday with only its second locomotive for power and arrived at the Omaha station 10 minutes later.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Nebraska man charged in Iowa with killing his wife will stand trial in September.

28-year-old Rogelio Morales, of Hubbard, Nebraska, will stand trial for first-degree murder Sept. 20 in Woodbury County District Court. The trial was scheduled for March 15 but his attorney sought an extension to allow more time to investigate the case and have Morales evaluated.

Morales is accused of killing 21-year-old Margarita Morales, of South Sioux City, Nebraska, on April 19 near a Sioux City residence.

Court documents say Morales told investigators a fight broke out when his wife told him she no longer wanted to be in a relationship. He said he wrapped his hands around her neck and that his next memory was his wife not breathing.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln police say a piglet running down Interstate 80 caused a three-car crash.

The baby pig was spotted around 4:30 p.m. Friday in an eastbound lane of Interstate 80 in Lincoln. An accident report Monday shows a car stopped to avoid hitting the piglet, causing the car behind it to stop as well. This started a chain reaction of two cars being rear-ended.

The people in the three cars were not hurt and neither was the piglet.

Police do not know where the piglet was from, and the accident report did not say if the animal was caught.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Several city and county departments have seen their fuel budgets drop with unleaded gasoline below $2 a gallon at most Lincoln-area gas stations.

Several departments saw fuel savings of up to 50 percent during the first six months of this fiscal year. The savings will likely help these departments pay for other climbing costs, such as bridge and road repairs.

County departments spent $455,000 on fuel during the first six months of this fiscal year out of $1.4 million budgeted for the whole year.

During the first half of this fiscal year, the county engineering department spent $182,000 of $630,000 budgeted for diesel fuel for the entire year. The department also spent $70,000 on unleaded gasoline out of the $120,000 budgeted for the entire year.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Douglas County officials say they’ll soon begin closing 165 food and drink businesses that don’t have permits.

The first notices were sent Nov. 9 to inform the businesses of a Dec. 9 due date for renewing permits that were going to expire Dec. 31. A reminder letter was sent Jan. 15.

Violators can be fined or jailed or face both penalties for operating without permits.

Businesses that provide food or drink to the public are subject to regulation and inspection. Permit revenue helps pay for the regulation and inspection.

County officials say more than 2,100 establishments have paid for their 2016 permits.

BEAVER CITY, Neb. (AP) — A man faces several charges after 93 cow and calf carcasses were found at his feed yard in southern Nebraska’s Furnas County.

Online court records say 59-year-old Steve Clason, of Beaver City, is charged with six counts of abandoning or cruelly neglecting livestock and six counts of improper disposal of a carcass. His attorney didn’t immediately return a call Monday from The Associated Press.

An arrest warrant affidavit says the carcasses were found Jan. 18 by a sheriff’s deputy who was accompanying officials from Producers Livestock Credit Corp. as they went to repossess cattle from Clason. The dead animals and hundreds of others were collateral for a loan.

Court documents say the other cattle were malnourished and say water tanks for the animals were dry.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Two men have been arrested in the death of a man whose body was found in a central Omaha home.

Charles A. Keathley was found dead on May 30. Authorities have declined to release Keathley’s cause of death, but police say that the circumstances are suspicious and they are treating the case as a homicide.

Thirty-seven-year-old Sha’Ron Ellis was arrested Friday and is charged with first-degree murder. He is currently in the hospital and under police guard. Authorities did not say why he is in the hospital.

Thirty-nine-year-old Christopher R. Myers was also arrested Friday and was charged with one count of being an accessory to a felony in the case. He is currently being held in the Douglas County Department of Corrections.

It is unclear if either man has an attorney.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — More than 30 puppies are being nursed back to health after being rescued from a breeder in central Nebraska last month.

A $10,000 grant will pay for the care of those puppies at the Central Nebraska Humane Society.

The Grand Island facility took possession of 31 dogs on Jan. 11. Since then, one of the dogs had a litter of puppies to bring the total to 35. Another litter is expected soon.

Executive Director Laurie Dethloff estimates it will cost $12,000 to $14,000 to rehabilitate the dogs. She says many of them will lose all of their teeth because they are in bad condition.

Four of the dogs have been adopted and two are in foster care. One is available for adoption.