HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — A 41-year-old woman has testified that her son didn’t help her stab to death her boyfriend’s mother in southern Nebraska.

Shelley Casterline took the stand Tuesday and said her son, 24-year-old Andrew Casterline, only helped her move the body of Virginia Barone after the October stabbing.

The Casterlines were arrested Oct. 5 in Newton, Iowa, accused of mugging a woman in a parking lot.

Andrew Casterline is charged with first-degree murder and two related crimes. Prosecutors have said he helped his mother stab Barone at her home in Guide Rock. His mother has already pleaded guilty to second-degree murder after making a deal with prosecutors for a lesser charge. She’s scheduled to be sentenced on Monday.

Closing arguments in Andrew Casterline’s trial are scheduled for Wednesday.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln officials are searching for the people who stole about $5,500 worth of speed bumps that were recently installed to prevent drag racing.

The thieves removed 48 pieces of rubber weighing a total of 2,400 pounds along McCormick Drive in northeast Lincoln earlier this month. City traffic operations manager Scott Opfer says they were secured to the concrete with 300 6-inch bolts.

Public Works employees installed the speed bumps in June after a request from police. The bumps were strategically placed throughout a half-mile strip that’s popular for racing. The area’s speed limit is 25 mph.

Opfer says the theft was well-planned.

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — A 61-year-old Omaha-area pastor has been charged with felony sexual assault of a child.

Sarpy County prosecutors say Clifton Wells, of Papillion (puh-PIHL’-yuhn) inappropriately touched a 14-year-old girl several times in July when he gave the girl a ride to pick up a job application. Wells told investigators he’d been counseling the girl about her misbehavior at school, and he denied that any sexual assault occurred.

A phone listing for Wells couldn’t be found. Online court records don’t list the name of his attorney.

DENVER (AP) — Faith leaders are asking Gov. John Hickenlooper to pardon a Colorado convict who was sent back to prison after being mistakenly released 90 years early and creating a new life.

In a letter to Hickenlooper dated Tuesday, clergy members urged the release of Rene Lima-Marin, who was sentenced in 2000 to a total of 98 years in prison for robbery, kidnapping and burglary after he and another man robbed two video stores at gunpoint. But a clerk’s mistake allowed him to be paroled in 2008.

He held a job, married and had a son before authorities realized the mistake.

The letter says Lima-Marin’s children are losing a role model. Supporters also held a vigil Tuesday.

A spokeswoman for Hickenlooper did not return a call for comment.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has passed a bill that could make it a little harder for people to use government welfare payments to buy marijuana in states where the drug is legal.

Supporters call it the “no welfare for weed” bill.

The bill would prevent people from using government-issued welfare debit cards to make purchases at stores that sell marijuana. It would also prohibit people from using the cards to withdraw cash from ATMs in those stores.

The House passed the bill Tuesday evening on a voice vote.

Pot smokers, however, could still use their benefit cards to get cash at other locations and then use it to buy marijuana.

A 2012 federal law already prevents people from using welfare debit cards at liquor stores, casinos and strip clubs.

 

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (AP) — Police say a 13-year-old Colorado boy stole his parents’ car, ran over an officer’s leg and rammed three patrol cars before being struck with a stun gun and arrested.

The officer was treated for ankle injuries and released after the pursuit in Grand Junction on Tuesday.

An officer shot the boy with a Taser as police tried to remove him from the car. He was evaluated at a hospital and taken to a juvenile jail. Authorities say charges are pending.

His parents reported shortly after 9 p.m. that their car had been stolen. Police pursued the boy around the neighborhood until he parked in front of his home. Police say he then drove off, striking the officer before he stopped and was arrested.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The American doctor battling the Ebola virus has regained his appetite as he continues to improve at the Nebraska Medical Center.

Debbie Sacra said Tuesday her husband, Dr. Rick Sacra, scarfed down every bite of the enchiladas he ordered Monday.

Debbie Sacra says she’s glad to hear President Barack Obama is sending additional help to West Africa where more than 2,200 deaths have been reported in this Ebola outbreak.

Fifty-one-year-old Rick Sacra contracted Ebola while working at a hospital in Liberia. He has been hospitalized in Omaha since Sept. 5.

Debbie Sacra says her husband has been visiting on the phone a lot this week.

Another American aid worker is being treated for Ebola at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta, and two other doctors were treated for Ebola there previously.

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — A jury has found a Bellevue woman guilty of sexually assaulting her son.

Jurors convicted the 33-year-old woman Tuesday in Sarpy County District Court on charges of first-degree sexual assault, incest, two counts of visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct and child abuse. She pleaded guilty earlier to a charge of indecency with an animal in connection to the case.

Defense attorneys said the woman was forced by her husband to sexually assault the boy. Prosecutors argued the woman’s claims were not a legal defense for such actions.

The woman’s husband, also the boy’s father, has pleaded no contest to first-degree sexual assault, visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct and child abuse. He is scheduled to be sentenced in October.