(AP) — The board of Southeast Community College has voted to increase tuition next year by more than 5 percent.

The board voted Tuesday during a meeting in Beatrice to increase tuition by 5.39 percent. The increase means the rate for a credit-hour will go from $55.50 to $58.50 for in-state students. The board also voted to increase dorm rates by about 3 percent.

The community college has seen a $1 million deficit in projected tuition revenue this year because of declining enrollment.

(AP) — A 39-year-old man has been charged with misdemeanor vehicular homicide in the crash death of a woman who’d been in his car when it collided with another vehicle in southeast Nebraska.

Online court records say Steven Cordis, of Ohiowa, also is charged with driving on a suspended license and of running a stop sign.

The accident occurred around 3:30 p.m. on March 12, about a mile north of Plymouth in Jefferson County. Authorities say Cordis was driving west when he ran a stop sign and his vehicle was struck by a southbound car driven by 60-year-old Mary Pearson, of DeWitt. A passenger in Cordis’ car, 39-year-old Francisca Campbell, of Lincoln, was fatally injured.

Court records don’t list the name of Cordis’ attorney. Cordis’ first court date is March 26.

A resentencing has been scheduled for a Nebraska inmate who killed his 12-year-old sister when he was 14.

The hearing is scheduled June 9 for Sydney Thieszen. He was convicted of murder in 1988 for killing his sister, Sacha, at their home near Henderson on Sept. 17, 1987.

Court records say Sydney hit Sacha in the head with a wooden rod, then shot her three times at close range.

The 41-year-old has been serving his life term at the Tecumseh prison.

After a March 12 hearing, a judge ruled that Thieszen was entitled to resentencing in accordance with a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that mandatory life-without-parole sentences for juvenile killers is unconstitutional.

Last year state lawmakers enacted a measure that ends mandatory life sentences for juveniles who commit first-degree murder. The guidelines now call for a sentence of 40 years to life for the juveniles.

(AP) — Three people have escaped from a fire that heavily damaged their home in Gage County.

Firefighters from three departments were sent early Tuesday morning to the house in rural Holmesville.

Blue Springs Rural Fire Chief Brad Robinson says one person awakened to heat and smoke upstairs and alerted two family members so they also could flee to safety. No injuries have been reported.

An investigator determined that the fire began near a chimney.

(AP) — Authorities say a man who was apparently working on a small plane at the Beatrice Municipal Airport was killed when the plane hit him.

The accident happened Tuesday afternoon.

Beatrice Police Investigator Erin Byrne said the plane hit the man, pushing him into a nearby hanger.

Byrne says that based on witness statements, investigators believe the man was working alone on a plane that he had built himself.

Byrne said that the man was trying to get the plane started, managed to do so, but the plane was in full throttle and ended up hitting him.

According to Federal Aviation Administration records, the plane was a Titan Tornado SS that was made by and registered to John F. Cox of Lincoln.

(AP) — Two eastern Nebraska men have been named to fill the two openings on the State Board of Education.

The office of Gov. Dave Heineman said Tuesday that he’d selected Glen Flint, of Springfield, to represent District 2 and John Witzel, of Papillion (puh-PIHL’-yuhn), to represent District 4.

The 57-year-old Flint is a computer programmer at Northrup Grumman. He’s replacing Mark Quandahl, who resigned in late January.

The 62-year-old Witzel is on the board of Educational Service Unit No. 3 and is a U.S. Air Force retiree. He replaces Rebecca Valdez, who resigned in February.

Their terms run through 2016.

(AP) — The Nebraska Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court’s ruling favoring Thayer County in a lawsuit that had sought damages for a fire the plaintiffs say was caused by county officials.

Cecil Hayes, Robert Hayes and Harold Hayes — all owners of property damaged in a March 2009 fire — sued the county in 2011, saying the fire was the result of high winds re-igniting a February controlled burn conducted by county officials.

A Thayer County District Court judge later threw out the lawsuit because it was filed after the two-year statute of limitations. The Hayeses sought a new trial, saying the statute of limitations shouldn’t be used because the county led them to believe the claim would be settled, causing them to postpone filing a lawsuit.

(AP) — A Gretna woman already serving time for tax evasion has been sentenced to more prison.

Caroline Richardson was sentenced Tuesday in Douglas County District Court to 14 to 20 years for unlawful taking. She will be eligible for parole after she serves nearly nine years.

Richardson pleaded guilty earlier this month in connection to the theft of more than $4 million from her former employer, Omaha-based Colombo Candy and Tobacco.

Richardson is currently serving time on tax evasion charges related to the embezzlement. Her sentence Tuesday will run partially consecutive to her first sentence.

(AP) — Authorities in Lincoln are investigating a shooting that riddled a house with more than a dozen bullets.

Lincoln police say the shooting occurred Monday night outside a house on the city’s north side. Several people were inside the house at the time, but no injuries were reported.

The bullets pierced walls inside the house and hit furniture. It also damaged a patio door.

Home resident Henry Bush said he and his family were settling down for the night after a party when the gunfire broke out. Police say they found a dozen shell casings in the alley behind the house.