OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A deputy was injured when his cruiser collided with a minivan in suburban Omaha.

The crash happened early Sunday when deputy Kenneth Paulison’s patrol car collided with a minivan trying to turn from 144th Street.

Paulison was treated at a hospital for minor injuries to his face and hands.

The minivan driver and a passenger were ejected from the vehicle but didn’t receive life-threatening injuries. The driver, 26-year-old Rikki Spencer, of Bellevue, and a passenger, 24-year-old Emma Herskind, of Gretna, were treated at a hospital.

WEST POINT, Neb. (AP) — A man has pleaded guilty and agreed to testify against his son in the slaying of a northeast Nebraska resident whose body was found in the charred remains of his home.

Cuming County District Court records say 50-year-old Jody Olson entered his plea Friday to a charge of second-degree murder. Prosecutors dropped three other charges in exchange. A court document says he’s agreed to testify against his 29-year-old son, Derek Olson, who’s awaiting trial on second-degree murder and other charges stemming from the March 2017 death of 64-year-old Ernest Warnock.

Prosecutors say the Olsons went to Warnock’s home in rural Bancroft to retrieve property belonging to Becky Weitzenkamp. Prosecutors say a fight broke out, and Warnock stabbed Jody Olson in an arm before Derek Olson stabbed Warnock several times in the neck and head and hit him in the head with a hammer.

Weitzenkamp was sentenced to 18-20 years in prison after she pleaded guilty to an accessory charge.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha commuters should prepare to say goodbye to the “20-minute city” as the metropolitan area’s population continues to grow. Omaha promoters have long treasured that title as a measure of a community with limited traffic troubles.

The Census Bureau’s latest estimate shows Douglas County’s average travel time to work has risen to 19.3 minutes, the Omaha World-Herald reported . That’s an increase from 18.6 minutes in the time span from 2008 to 2012.

Census estimates show Douglas and Sarpy Counties have 59,000 more commuters who take a car to work compared with 10 years ago.

For now, bus use in Omaha varies largely with the price of gas, said Curt Simon, executive director of Metro transit. Metro’s ridership, he said, has decreased over the past few years.

“I do see a shift in thinking,” Simon said. “What it takes to get a single occupant out of their car, I don’t know.”

Only about 1 percent of commuters in Douglas and Sarpy Counties use public transit, but Simon said he senses growing interest in the community in making broader transportation improvements.

Omaha’s Rapid Bus Transit line promises to run a rapid transit system on sleek buses between Westroads Mall and downtown Omaha. It is set to debut in 2020.

The Metropolitan Area Planning Agency and Nebraska Department of Transportation are also working on a major development strategy to shape the city’s transportation system for the next 20 to 30 years. The plan would consider major enhancements to the city’s interstates, but also places major emphasis on public transit projects.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — School districts throughout the U.S. are struggling to find school bus drivers, a challenge that has worsened with low unemployment and a strong economy.

The problem has become so severe that some districts are offering sign-up bonuses for new drivers, while others rely on mechanics, custodians and other school employees to fill the gap. For parents and students, the shortage can mean longer waits for a ride to school and more crowded buses.

The shortage stems from a variety of factors, including limited work hours and high barriers to entry. Drivers generally need a commercial driver’s license, which requires training, sometimes without pay, said Mike Martin, executive director of the National Association of Pupil Transportation.

“Unless you have something to fill in the gaps (between drives), you can’t make the money you need to support your family,” Martin said. “These days, most people are looking for some kind of regular, full-time hours.”

In Iowa’s Southeast Polk Community School District, transportation director Daniel Schultz said the persistent shortage has grown worse in the suburban Des Moines district because there aren’t as many retired farmers, a group that commonly took the job for extra income. Now, the district relies on 51 drivers — mostly retirees and stay-at-home parents — to transport roughly 3,400 students to and from school each day.

Even with administrators and bus mechanics filling in, the shortage has also resulted in fewer routes, more children waiting at each stop, and crowded buses. The district needs to hire six to eight more drivers, Schultz said.

“We have to do double duty,” Schultz said. “Right now, I’m driving and doing my regular job. The mechanics are driving and doing their regular jobs — so, instead of having eight hours a day, I only get them for four. It’s like pulling a teacher out of the classroom for half a day and still expecting the same job to get done.”

Pay starts at $19.10 an hour, followed by a $2-an-hour raise after six months, Schultz said, but the district struggles to fill open jobs. Schultz said he’s now considering a “monthly rodeo” where potential drivers could test-drive a bus in a school parking lot.

“We’re just trying anything we can right now,” he said.

In St. Paul, Minnesota, some students are arriving late to school because fill-in drivers aren’t familiar with the normal routes. A school district in Ypsilanti, Michigan, had to cancel a day of school in February because there weren’t enough substitute drivers to cover for sick drivers.

And in Hawaii last year, a driver shortage in Maui forced state officials suspend bus rides for some students and limit rides for some others. The district offered free monthly bus passes on local public transportation.

In Lincoln, Nebraska, some positions remain unfilled even after the local school district offered $1,000 signing bonuses for new hires and a guaranteed six-hour day for all drivers. Officials also recruited an Omaha-based contractor to provide extra drivers when needed to help transport roughly 4,000 students a day. The district faced a shortage of 32 drivers this year but has reduced it to eight, transportation director Ryan Robley said.

Kristi Meyers, a Lincoln Public Schools bus driver for six years, said she loves her job and knows every student by name, but wouldn’t have been able to stay without the guaranteed hours and retirement benefits offered to senior drivers. Meyers drives routes throughout the day for elementary-age children and older youths who are in a job-skills training program. In the summer, she drives a bus carrying farm workers to make ends meet.

“It’s a good job, and these are great kids,” she said.

But Meyers said the job is considered part-time work, which prevents drivers from collecting unemployment benefits if they get laid off or getting paid holidays.

Martin, of the National Association of Pupil Transportation, said many districts require split morning and afternoon shifts for their drivers, which some consider a hassle. Keeping an eye on noisy children while facing away from them can be difficult as well, he said.

“It really takes a special type of personality” to deal with the issues, Martin said. “Many people just don’t have a burning desire to face those aspects of the job.”

COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — A 25-year-old man who shot a Columbus police officer during a gunbattle has taken a plea deal.

The Columbus Telegram reports that Jorge Robledo pleaded no contest to several charges Wednesday, including assault on an officer. Prosecutors dropped other charges in exchange, including attempted murder. His sentencing is set for Jan. 31. His trial was scheduled to begin Jan. 7.

The gunbattle broke out June 7, when two officers arrived at a Columbus home to serve an arrest warrant on Robledo. One of them walked into the house and saw Robledo holding a handgun. Shots rang out, with Robledo soon switching to a rifle. He was hit several times, and he shot Sgt. Brad Wangler.

Police say the other officer was around the back of the house and wasn’t involved.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A former Omaha area high school administrator accused of having sex with a 15-year-old student has been sentenced to prison.

A Douglas County Judge Thursday sentenced Matthew Fedde, a former Millard South High School assistant principal, to 18 to 24 years on two counts of first-degree attempted sex assault on a child. Fedde pleaded no contest to the charges in September.

The sentences will be served at the same time, and Fedde will be eligible for parole after nine years.

Investigators say the 46-year-old administrator had multiple sexual encounters with the female student. He was arrested after the girl’s parents found references to the sexual relationship in her diary.

Fedde didn’t speak during his sentencing.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a woman stole credit card information to buy Nebraska football tickets and sell them online.

Lancaster County Court records say 32-year-old Ana Rivera is charged with one count of identity theft and two counts of theft by deception. Her attorney didn’t immediately return a call Friday from The Associated Press. Rivera’s next court hearing is scheduled for Jan. 14.

Police say Rivera took the card information of at least 10 customers while working at a Capital One office. Police say Rivera bought nearly 340 tickets between September and November and sold an unspecified number. Investigators traced the original purchases to Rivera, who’d been arrested in another identity theft case last month.

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — A high school senior has died in a crash in Bellevue.

The Sarpy County sheriff’s office says 17-year-old Christian Lamblin, of Bellevue, died in the crash Wednesday morning. He was a student at Papillion/LaVista South High School.

The crash was reported just before 8 a.m. Police and firefighters who responded found a car driven by Lamblin had hit a utility pole.

Medics tried to revive Lamblin but weren’t successful and he was pronounced dead.

The Omaha World-Herald reports the high school principal emailed parents about Lamblin’s death and told them counselors would be available for students.

District spokeswoman noted, “The thoughts of the entire school and the school district are with his family. What a tragic event.”

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lancaster County commissioners have raised maximum noise levels for landowners who participate in wind turbine projects, making them higher than the noise level standard for landowners who aren’t getting any reimbursements.

The board approved the ordinance changes Tuesday, paving the way for a potential wind farm in southern Lancaster County.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that the new standard is based on research showing landowners who participate financially in a wind farm find the noise much less annoying than landowners who aren’t participating.

The county approved strict noise maximums for wind farms in 2015 that wind energy supporters said would discourage local projects. Those rules: a maximum of 40 decibels in the day and 37 at night, measured from homes.

The new rules set a 50-decibel upper limit around the clock for property owners who are part of wind projects.

TECUMSEH, Neb. (AP) — A former guard accused of smuggling synthetic marijuana into a Nebraska prison has pleaded guilty.

Johnson County District Court records say 54-year-old Richard Fries, of Lincoln, entered the plea Monday to attempted delivery of a controlled substance. Prosecutors lowered the charge and dropped a second charge in return. His sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 25.

Authorities say Fries and 33-year-old Ryan Tokar were charged after Tokar took K2 into the Tecumseh prison in October last year but couldn’t deliver it because he no longer had access to the inmate customer’s housing unit. A court document says Fries and Tokar discussed the situation and later Fries, who had the necessary access, took the K2 and left it for the inmate in a trash can in the inmate’s unit.

Tokar has pleaded not guilty to a conspiracy charge and is awaiting trial.