GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — The beloved giant canine ambassador at the Grand Island animal shelter has died.

Dubbed Angus T. Loner after his capture in December 2009, the gold and brown mastiff had to retire from his duties at the Central Nebraska Humane Society. He’d been diagnosed with wobbler syndrome, a neurologic disease that affected his legs.

His adopted mom, Laurie Dethloff, said Angus’ hind legs became so atrophied that he couldn’t walk. He was euthanized on Friday.

Angus evaded capture for around four years after being left outside a local meatpacking plant in 2005. After his capture, he was socialized and turned into the shelter’s mascot, greeting people as they arrived.

He was featured on Animal Planet’s “Dogs 101” television show in 2010.

FORT CALHOUN, Neb. (AP) — The celebration of Independence Day at an 1820s military post will be depicted during a Living History Weekend at Fort Atkinson State Historical Park on Saturday and Sunday.

Volunteers will celebrate in much the same way soldiers did 195 years ago. There will be a reading of the Declaration of Independence, as well as the firing of a cannon. Several period trades will be demonstrated, including blacksmithing, carpentry, tinsmithing and coopering, as well as crafts such as quilting, spinning and weaving.

Fort Atkinson sits on the east side of Fort Calhoun, which is situated 15 miles north of Omaha. A park entry permit is required for all vehicles and may be purchased at the park. Contact the park for more information at 402-468-5611 or ngpc.fort.atkinson@nebraska.gov.

WISNER, Neb. (AP) — The school board has decided to tear down the middle school building that was heavily damaged by a tornado that tore through Pilger (PIHL’-gur) on June 16.

The Wisner-Pilger board voted Monday night to buy three portable classrooms for the students and staff. The portables will be erected near the elementary school in Wisner, which is 12 miles east of Pilger. Classes are scheduled to begin on Aug. 14.

The storm killed a 5-year-old girl in Pilger and a 74-year-old motorist a few miles east of town. More than half of the town of 350 was heavily damaged or destroyed.

TECUMSEH, Neb. (AP) — A second trial has been scheduled for a southeast Nebraska high school teacher accused of having sex with a 15-year-old student.

24-year-old Carrie Miller pleaded not guilty on Monday in Johnson County District Court to sexual assault of a minor. Under Nebraska law, people 19 and over cannot have sexual contact with people under 16. Her trial is set to begin Sept. 10.

Miller was a Spanish teacher at Johnson County Central High School.

She’s already pleaded not guilty to five counts of sexual assault of a minor in neighboring Nemaha County. Authorities say Miller and the same boy had sex in her vehicle at an abandoned farmstead in Nemaha County.

Her Nemaha County trial is scheduled to begin on Aug. 13.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Douglas County attorney says he will charge an 83-year-old man with misdemeanor motor vehicle homicide following a crash in May that left a motorcyclist dead.

County Attorney Don Kleine announced Monday that Omaha police will issue a citation to Hugh W. Williams in connection with the May 25 crash that resulted in the death of 26-year-old Preston J. Turner, of Fremont.

Police say Turner was riding northbound in Omaha around 9:40 p.m. when his motorcycle struck Williams’ southbound car, which was turning east.

Police say Turner had a green light as he entered an intersection.

Williams’ arraignment will be set later in Douglas County Court.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — It will be a few more years before apple and pear trees planted at a Lincoln prison campus will yield a bounty, but inmates already are taking away more than fruit.

Prisoners working in the orchard are learning life skills as they learn how to prune and spray, ward off hungry critters and nurture beneficial bees.

The first cherries were harvested earlier this month from trees planted more than two years ago. Young apple trees are beginning to bear fruit, and farm shop manager John Filbert says each tree should produce 400 pounds of apples in three or four years.

A vegetable garden also sits on the campus, which holds the Community Corrections Center and the Lincoln Correctional Center.

STANTON, Neb. (AP) — The 5-year-old girl who died when tornadoes struck the northeast Nebraska town of Pilger has been laid to rest.

Calista “Cali” Dixon’s funeral was held Saturday in Stanton.

Dixon’s grandmother, Kay Labenz, says about 150 people attended the funeral, including the girl’s father, Elijah Dixon, of Madison, Alabama.

Dixon’s mother, Kandi Murphree, remains hospitalized in Omaha, so she was unable to attend. But Labenz says Murphree’s condition is improving and she’s no longer in a medically induced coma.

Dixon was one of two people killed when the storms caused significant damage to most of Pilger on June 16.

Labenz says she believes Murphee was fleeing her mobile home with her two daughters when the storm hit. Four-year-old Robin Dixon wasn’t seriously hurt.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — A few of the more than 52,000 immigrant children caught crossing U.S. borders alone since October apparently have been reunited with parents or other relatives in Grand Island.

A few unaccompanied minors have been attending local schools for several years, but district Welcome Center coordinator Joanne Garrison says she found an influx after she tallied the number of unaccompanied minors from Central America. There were 51 such children at the end of the school year.

Garrison says that if children fall under the auspices of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, they are required to attend school until age 18. But eventually they must appear before a federal immigration judge to determine whether they will be deported.