HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — Hastings College officials have broken ground on the $8.5 million Jackson Dinsdale Art Center, expected to open in August 2016.

The building will be the new home of the college’s art department, where Jackson Dinsdale studied.

Dinsdale died last year at age 21 after an accident in St. Paul. The building was announced in November and will be funded primarily by a $5 million donation from Dinsdale’s parents, Kim and Tom Dinsdale.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the center was held Friday.

The new building will include studios for glassblowing, painting, sculpture, printmaking and ceramics, as well as individual studio space, critique rooms, classrooms and gallery space.

YORK, Neb. (AP) — A southeastern Nebraska judge is again contemplating whether to delay the resentencing of a man convicted of killing his 12-year-old sister when he was 14.

York County District Judge James Stecker is weighing whether to move ahead with the resentencing of 42-year-old Sydney Thieszen, or wait until the U.S. Supreme Court clarifies guidelines on the sentencing of juvenile killers.

In 1987, Thieszen bludgeoned and shot his adopted 12-year-old sister in their Henderson-area home. Prosecutors said he was afraid she would tell police he was running away.

In December, the judge sided with prosecutors to delay the sentencing until the Supreme Court ruled in a Louisiana case, which had been expected this spring. But that case settled in February.

CRISP POINT, Mich. (AP) — Two sisters from Oklahoma and Nebraska missing for nearly two weeks in Michigan have been found alive in the Upper Peninsula.

State police Sgt. Brent Rosten describes Leslie Roy and Lee Marie Wright as a “little weak” but “alive and well.”

Police say their vehicle became stuck near Crisp Point on Lake Superior, in a remote area of Luce (Loose) County. There is a lighthouse there. The sisters stayed with the vehicle, which was spotted Friday by a helicopter.

Roy and Wright have been missing since April 11 when they checked out of a motel in Ishpeming after visiting relatives. They had planned to spend that night in Mackinaw City, a three-hour drive to Michigan’s Lower Peninsula.

Roy is from Valley, Nebraska, and Wright lives in Depew, Oklahoma.

AUBURN, Neb. (AP) — A Nemaha County commissioner is defending his colleague who publicly apologized for using a racial slur during a Thursday board meeting in Auburn.

Commissioner Bob Hutton had used a racial expletive at a meeting Wednesday as the council discussed the use of decorative rock over mulch for the courthouse lawn. Hutton, concerned that children would sling the rocks at the courthouse windows, described slingshots using an expletive. Board Chairman Dennis Witmann and County Clerk Joyce Oakley had reprimanded Hutton during the meeting.

In a written statement issued Thursday, Hutton apologized and said he spoke without thinking. He described the expletive as a term he had heard as a child.

Commissioner Marvin Bohling disputed claims Thursday that his colleague was a racist. Bohling doesn’t believe any more disciplinary action is needed in the case. But he promised the board would take additional actions if constituents express more concerns.

MISSOURI VALLEY, Iowa (AP) — Police have arrested an Iowa teen accused of setting the same vacant house on fire three separate times last year.

The Iowa Department of Public Safety says 19-year-old Coty Cates, of Missouri Valley, is charged with three counts of second-degree arson in connection with the October fires.

The house is a complete loss.

A message left for Cates’ attorney Friday seeking comment on his behalf went unreturned.

Authorities say they’re investigating other possible arson cases in the area, including another vacant house fire in March, which resulted in the arrest of former Missouri Valley Fire Chief Johnnie Walker. He pleaded not guilty to interference with official acts and reporting false information.

Investigators say there’s no known connection between Walker and Cates.

HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — A Hastings High School teacher has been arrested, accused of sexually assaulting a student.

38-year-old Johnathan Shafer was arrested on a warrant Thursday evening. Online jail records say he remained in custody on Friday. Court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could be contacted to comment on Shafer’s behalf about the allegations.

Hastings police Sgt. Steve Murphy told the newspaper that investigators think the student was 15 when the sexual contact occurred but is 18 now. Under Nebraska law, people 19 and over cannot have sexual contact with people under 16.

Hastings district officials say Shafer has been removed from his duty as a science teacher.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Emergency workers have been swamped with overdoses of synthetic marijuana in Lincoln.

Lincoln Fire and Rescue Division Chief Roger Bonin said at a news conference Friday that medics have handled 76 overdoses of the substance in the past week, including a dozen on Thursday. The substance goes by several names, including K2 and spice.

No deaths have been reported, but officials say CPR was required by at least one person whose heart stopped.

Officials warn that synthetic marijuana is not a harmless substitute for real pot. Besides its potential to kill, the synthetic product can cause vomiting, seizures, heart problems, kidney and brain damage.

Investigators are looking for the link and source of the Lincoln overdoses.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Scientists have spied a vast reservoir of hot, partly molten rock beneath the supervolcano at Yellowstone National Park. It’s big enough to fill the Grand Canyon 11 times over.

The gigantic magma chamber is four times bigger and much deeper than the previously known chamber above it. The upper chamber was responsible for three ancient volcanic eruptions that coated much of North America in ash.

The discovery fills a missing link in Yellowstone’s volcanic plumbing system. But scientists said it doesn’t increase the risk of an eruption, which is estimated to happen every 700,000 years.

Researchers at the University of Utah mapped the new reservoir by doing the geological equivalent of a CT scan. The findings were published Friday in the journal Science.

HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — A Hastings high school teacher is accused of having an improper relationship with a student.

Superintendent Craig Kautz says the teacher, who wasn’t identified, has been removed from the classroom. School administrators are working with police in their investigation.

Kautz wouldn’t say when the teacher was removed from duty. He said that a substitute teacher is in place to conduct classes through the rest of the semester.