PAWNEE CITY, Neb. (AP) — A woman whose car collided with an Amish horse-drawn buggy — killing a teenager — has been sentenced to jail time for misdemeanor vehicular homicide.

57-year-old Vivian Cockrell, of Pawnee City, was sentenced Friday in Pawnee County District Court to 60 days in jail. She was also ordered to return for a week behind bars on the next three anniversaries of the July 21, 2013 accident.

Prosecutors say Cockrell hit the buggy carrying 21-year-old Fannie Yoder and her 17-year-old brother, Reuben, as they rode to church. Reuben Yoder died, and Fannie Yoder was critically injured.

Cockrell had only a learner’s permit to drive, which required her to have another licensed driver in the car with her. But she was driving alone.

DAKOTA CITY, Neb. (AP) — Residents in northeastern Nebraska’s Dakota City are still cleaning up a week after storms tore through the town.

Volunteers and city workers continue to clean up fallen trees and loose debris.

Severe storms raked the town and surrounding areas last Sunday, knocking down trees, damaging homes and cutting power for many residents.

By Friday morning, the city’s streets were lined with heaps of loose branches and debris. In some areas, whole trees awaited disposal by city crews.

City Administrator Brent Clark says the city’s parks were some of the worst-hit areas. The storm claimed two park shelters and much of the playground equipment.

FAIRBURY, Neb. (AP) — A southeast Nebraska agriculture manufacturing plant will close part of its operations and eliminate more than half its workforce by November.

The Agrium plant in Fairbury will eliminate 33 jobs.

The plant manufactures high-purity liquid and dry micronutrients for the fertilizer and animal feed industries.

Bill Cornmesser, senior U.S. operations manager for the Canadian fertilizer company that owns the plant, says Agrium is exiting the zinc sulfate market, which affects the Fairbury operation. Cornmesser says the plant’s Loveland Products business, which employs 20 people, will continue to operate.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska Medical Center will host a national conference in Omaha to explore the role of physician assistants in addressing the challenges of providing health care in rural areas.

The conference will be held Thursday and Friday at the Hilton Omaha Hotel.

In addition to UNMC, five regional physician assistant education programs are co-sponsoring the conference. They are: Des Moines University, Union College in Lincoln; University of Iowa, University of South Dakota and Wichita State University.

Among the topics to be covered will be the unique challenges of rural primary care, quality improvement strategies in rural health care delivery and building and sustaining rural primary care using physician assistants.

Physician assistants are licensed health professionals who provide medical care and can prescribe medication with supervision from a physician.

 

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 27-year-old man has been critically injured in a shooting outside an Omaha residence.

Police say Antonio Martin was shot Friday morning after he dropped off his 5-year-old daughter at the residence in north Omaha. The girl was inside and unharmed.

Martin was taken to a local hospital in critical condition. Additional information about his condition is unavailable. The case remains under investigation.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A University of Nebraska-Lincoln student has been found dead in a fraternity house.

The school said in a news release that Clayton Real was found dead Friday at the FarmHouse Fraternity house near campus. Additional information about his death has not been released.

Real was a freshman studying agricultural economics. A public candlelight vigil for him and a student killed over the summer has been scheduled Friday night at the Nebraska Union Plaza.

 

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The state’s Public Service Commission says people who stored grain at a failed grain elevator will get paid in full.

But people who contracted to sell grain to the closed elevator or paid to purchase undelivered grain will get less than a dime on the dollar, or nothing at all.

Almost $2 million in claims were denied in the commission’s final order. The commission closed Pierce Elevator Inc. in March, after a bank discontinued financing the operation.

More than 200 farmers filed claims worth nearly $10 million against the company.

One of the last sizable grain elevator bankruptcies in Nebraska happened in 2008 when Alvo Grain and Feed filed for bankruptcy protection.