SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — A Nebraska man convicted in the hit-and-run death of an Iowa man who was trying to help him has been sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Twenty-nine-year-old Dustin Suppi was sentenced Tuesday on a vehicular homicide charge in the August death of Troy Ford, of Sioux City. A plea deal with prosecutors dropped a charge of leaving the scene of a fatal accident.

Troy Ford and his wife, Liz Ford, found Suppi on Aug. 8 slumped over the steering wheel of a pickup. As Liz Ford called for help, Suppi woke up and put the pickup into drive. A trailer attached to the vehicle ran over Troy Ford.

Suppi, of South Sioux City, Nebraska, told Liz Ford during the sentencing hearing he was sorry.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha private investigator has taken a plea deal on allegations that she defrauded a client of more than $856,000.

Federal prosecutors say 69-year-old Patricia Walker-Halstead will be sentenced in February after pleading guilty to one count of wire fraud. Prosecutors dropped 10 other counts in exchange for her plea. Walker-Halstead has agreed to pay $250,000 in restitution.

Prosecutors say Walker-Halstead lied to a client about developing evidence and conducting background checks. Court records say Walker-Halstead told the unnamed client she asked a Nebraska State Patrol investigator named “Scott” to help investigate the client’s security concerns. She asked her client to give Scott money because of his financial problems and medical bills. Authorities say there was no Scott on the case.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Omaha Public Schools superintendent has proposed offering online classes through a district-run virtual school.

Superintendent Mark Evans and Rob Dickson, executive director of Information Management Services, discussed the idea with the school board Monday night.

Evans and Dickson helped launch an online school, which enrolls more than 4,800 students, at their previous district in Andover, Kansas.

State Education Commissioner Matt Blomstedt gave his stamp of approval to the Omaha initiative and told the board that blended learning could help keep students engaged and prepare them for college or the workforce.

Evans says a virtual school could open in the fall 2016 if the district moves quickly. The district would have to receive some portion of state aid based on student membership at the virtual school to create it.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Father Hupp Wildlife Management Area in Thayer County has been temporarily closed due to the presence of six endangered whooping cranes.

Nebraska Game and Parks Commission spokesman Jerry Kane says the closure will be lifted when the cranes leave the area.

He says the closure is standard procedure for the commission when whooping cranes are confirmed on property the agency owns or manages.

The birds’ total wild population of about 300 individuals migrates through Nebraska each fall and spring between wintering sites along the Texas coast and breeding areas in northern Alberta. They are protected by the federal Endangered Species Act and the Nebraska Nongame and Endangered Species Conservation Act.

Penalties for killing, possessing or harassing whooping cranes may include fines of up to $50,000, up to a year in jail, or both.

FULLERTON, Neb. (AP) — A Bellevue man has pleaded not guilty to fraud allegations relating to the sale of cattle owned by his employer.

Records say Alan Ostrander pleaded not guilty to five counts of wire fraud last week in federal court. A trial has not been scheduled.

Prosecutors say Ostrander took at least $100,000 between November 2009 and February 2011, when he was fired by Big Drive Cattle, of Fullerton. Prosecutors say Ostrander sold the company’s cattle but marketed the animals as his own.

ROYAL, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a passenger in a sport utility vehicle driven by his wife has died after the SUV ran into two cows and then a tree in northeast Nebraska.

The accident occurred a little before 11 p.m. Sunday on U.S. Highway 20, about a mile west of Royal. Antelope County Sheriff Bob Moore says the eastbound SUV struck the cows on the roadway and went out of control, running into a roadside ditch and striking the tree.

The passenger died at the scene. Moore identified him as 63-year-old Rodney Zwygart, of rural Norfolk. Zwygart’s wife, 55-year-old Marilyn Zwygart, was taken to a Plainview hospital for treatment. Two other passengers were taken to a Neligh (NEE’-lee) hospital and then transferred to Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Muslim civil rights group wants the FBI and local police to investigate as a possible hate crime vandalism that may be related to the Paris terror attacks.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations said in a news release Monday that it’s the third recent incidence of vandalism at the Omaha Islamic Center. Center officials say someone has spray-painted a rough outline of the Eiffel Tower inside a circle on an outside wall of the mosque.

Omaha police and FBI representatives didn’t immediately return messages from The Associated Press.

On Oct. 29 a security camera recorded an image of a masked man unsuccessfully trying to break the glass in an outside door at the center, and on Aug. 23 a vandal heaved a 40-pound boulder through the glass.

MADISON, Neb. (AP) — A 20-year-old Madison man who authorities say assaulted his pregnant girlfriend has been given 12 to 18 months in prison.

Eric Benavides pleaded guilty to a domestic assault charge on Aug. 31 related to a June attack. Additional charges of false imprisonment and criminal mischief were dropped in a plea deal.

The judge asked Benavides why he assaulted the woman. Benavides told the judge he was intoxicated when it happened and couldn’t recall events of that night until she contacted him in jail. Court records indicate Benavides called police after the assault occurred and then fled the scene.

Benavides’ attorney says the woman and baby weren’t injured.