LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have identified the elderly man and woman who died in a weekend house fire.

Lincoln Police said 74-year-old Ervin Martin and 69-year-old Janice Ortiz died Saturday night in the fire.

Initially, firefighters thought they were responding to a medical problem, but they encountered smoke and flames when they opened the door of the home near where Interstates 80 and 180 meet.

Fire investigators determined that a lit cigarette started the fire.

Autopsies will be performed to confirm they died from fire-related injuries. Authorities believe Martin and Ortiz died from smoke inhalation and burns.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a Nebraska woman followed her ex-boyfriend onto Interstate 80 and rammed his car several times.

The Lancaster County Sheriff’s office says the incident happened near Lincoln around 4:30 a.m. Saturday.

The sheriff’s office says the 40-year-old woman followed her ex-boyfriend onto I-80 and rammed his car repeatedly.

The ex-boyfriend told authorities that the woman is upset about a recent breakup.

A passenger in the ex-boyfriend’s car sustained minor injuries.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — A 49-year-old Grand Island man has been charged Friday in Hall County Court with seven counts of sexual assault on a child.

The man was in Hall County Court on Friday, when his bond was set at $100,000. He remained jailed Saturday.

Prosecutors say the man had sexual contact with a child younger than 14 between 2002 and May of this year. He’s also charged with one count of first-degree sexual assault of a child for raping a child younger than 12 sometime between February 2009 and February 2011.

His preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 27.

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RAYMOND, Neb. (AP) — A barn north of Raymond owned by a Lincoln man has burned down.

No one was injured in the fire that occurred early Friday morning.

The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office says nobody was inside. The building, worth about $61,000, was a total loss.

A sheriff’s office report says a witness saw the barn fully engulfed in flames at 6:29 a.m.

Sgt. Michael Scriven says the barn contained 10 guns, a 1993 Honda Accord, a 1951 Studebaker Land Cruiser, tools, a gun safe and beer-making equipment.

The State Fire Marshal’s office did not immediately determine the cause of the fire, but Scriven said there was a lot of lightning near the barn Friday morning.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Prosecutors say two boys, ages 2 and 4, were caged “like animals” in their northwest Omaha home while their parents were at work.

33-year-old Martha Navarro and 37-year-old Venancio Vazquez have been charged with three counts of child abuse. They remained jailed Saturday and could not be reached for comment.

Police found the boys Wednesday, naked and locked in a room with no food or water in their parents’ mobile home. They were found after their 9-year-old sister told school officials the boys were locked in a room and left alone all day.

Police said the room smelled of urine and had feces on the floor.

Navarro was convicted of misdemeanor child neglect in 2013 for leaving the two boys home alone.

HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — A former Hastings High School teacher will stand trial on a charge of first-degree sexual assault of a child for an incident police say involved a student.

38-year-old Johnathan Shafer waived his preliminary hearing in Adams County Court on Friday.

Court documents say Shafer had a sexual relationship with a female student, who is now 18, beginning in 2012, when she was 15.

Shafer’s attorney, Kevin Knake, told the judge Friday that Shafer wished to waive the preliminary hearing and proceed to trial in district court because he wished to resolve the matter as quickly as possible.

If convicted, Shafer faces 15 years to life in prison.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — One of Lincoln’s oldest retail establishments — and a destination for fans before home Nebraska football games — is closing its doors.

The University of Nebraska has agreed in principle to buy the Nebraska Bookstore building and real estate for $4.75 million. The NU Board of Regents will vote on that agreement Friday.

Nebraska Bookstore has operated under that name at two different sites since 1937. It was once the flagship store for its owner, Nebraska Book Co.

But the company says the bookstore is no longer performing up to expectations.

The store, which employs 20, offers Big Red clothing lines in addition to textbook rentals. It will close next week.

The university has not said how it will use the property.

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OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Salvation Army in Omaha is asking for donations to help with its summer fan distribution program.

Fans are free of charge to qualified individuals. Priority is given to people who are older than 50 years or those with medical disabilities. Proof of medical disability is required when applying for a fan.

The campaign begins Monday and runs through Aug. 28.

New fans and bottled water may be dropped off at The Salvation Army in Omaha any day of the week throughout the summer. Monetary donations to buy new fans are also accepted.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The girlfriend of a man accused of killing his 4-year-old half-brother and his mother in Omaha has been charged as an accessory and is being held on $5 million bail.

A homicide detective testified at a hearing Friday that preliminary autopsy results on the body of 45-year-old Jesus Ismenia Marinero indicate she was alive when she was dumped in a southeast Omaha ditch.

Police think 24-year-old Gabriela Guevara helped 25-year-old Roberto Martinez-Marinero to load his mother in a car and dump her body.

Guevara has been charged with being an accessory.

Prosecutors say that if final autopsy results show Marinero was alive when she was dumped, they will charge Guevara with aiding and abetting first-degree murder.