(AP) — Lincoln police are searching for two men they say used machetes and other weapons to rob a computer store.

Employees at Computer Hardware on the city’s east side say the men entered the business Wednesday morning and left with iPads, laptops and cash. They reportedly had two machetes, an extendable baton and a stun gun.

Capt. David Beggs said the men wore masks and tied up the three employees inside. None of them were hurt.

The suspects fled on foot and remain on the loose as of Wednesday afternoon. Lincoln Public Schools spokeswoman Mary Kay Roth says nearby schools have secured their perimeters and locked front doors as a precaution.

Police and the Nebraska State Patrol are searching the area by foot and air.

(AP) — A bill inspired by the decision to relocate a Nebraska state veterans home has advanced out of a legislative committee, but the new measure would only apply to future projects.

The Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee voted 5-3 on Tuesday to send the bill to the full Legislature. It would require a legislative review of any proposal to move a state service or agency from one community to another, if the cost was $15 million or more.

The original measure by Sen. Mike Gloor, of Grand Island, could have been applied to the decision to move the Central Nebraska Veterans Home from Grand Island to Kearney.

That language was removed, and Gloor has promised in writing that he won’t try to change it back.

Authorities are searching for a missing teen beauty queen from Bellevue.

Michaela Wells, 16, has been missing since Sunday, March 2.

According to family members, Michaela, the current USA National Miss Nebraska Teen, had spent the day shopping for a gown to wear in the upcoming USA National Pageant in Florida.

Just after 8:30 p.m., Michaela told her grandmother, who was visiting, that she was going to take out the trash.  She hasn’t been seen since.

Bellevue Police have confirmed that Michaela is listed as a missing juvenile, but say they do not believe she was taken against her will.  Family members disagree.

“She couldn’t be happier,” her mother Teresa Norris told FoxNews.com.  “She couldn’t get a smile off her face because she was also asked out on a date.”

Norris went on to say that her daughter, who is homeschooled, was planning to attend a high school military ball for students involved in the Junior ROTC program.

Michaela is 5’6” and weights 120 pounds.  She has long brown hair and brown eyes.

According to family members, she was last seen wearing blue jeans, black slip-on pumps, a black tank top with a teal overshirt and a red floor-length coat with fur around the hood.

If you have any information on Michaela’s whereabouts, contact the local law enforcement or the Bellevue Police Department at (402) 292-3100.

(AP) — The State Fire Marshall says an electrical problem was the cause of an overnight fire that destroyed a south-central Nebraska farm house.

The fire destroyed the rural Shelton house, but that the family living there was able to escape uninjured.

Shelton is about 25 miles southwest of Grand Island.

Shelton firefighters responded to the call just before 9 p.m. Monday, and it took them until 2 a.m. to extinguish the blaze.

Fire Chief Marlin Schroeder says crews were hindered after the second floor collapsed. Four tankers were needed to bring water back and forth to the country home.

(AP) — A 24-year-old man was injured when a railroad locomotive slammed into the side of his pickup near Aurora in Hamilton County.

The accident occurred around 9:50 a.m. Monday. Hamilton County Sheriff Kirk Handrup says the O Road rail crossing doesn’t have crossing arms and is controlled by signs only.

Handrup says the locomotive hit the driver’s side of the pickup driven by Vincent Schaffert, of rural Aurora. Handrup says Schaffert was taken to Memorial Hospital in Aurora.

(AP) — A psychiatrist says in his lawsuit against the Douglas County Corrections Department that he was fired after testifying that the suspect in four Omaha slayings was “crazy.”

Dr. Eugene Oliveto says in the federal lawsuit he filed Monday in Omaha that the department retaliated against him for his courtroom candor. He’s seeking $1 million and a preliminary injunction to protect him from any future retaliation.

Douglas County Corrections director Mark Foxall has declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Oliveto also said in court on Feb. 12 that Nikko Jenkins was “totally insane” and a danger to society. Jenkins is charged with killing four Omaha residents within weeks of his release from prison on July 30. He’s pleaded not guilty.

A judge has ruled that Jenkins is competent to stand trial.

(AP) — A 39-year-old northeast Nebraska man has pleaded not guilty to a manslaughter charge stemming from a rollover crash.

Russell Roberts Jr., of Homer, made his plea Monday in Dakota County District Court in Dakota City. His trial is scheduled to begin July 15.

Authorities say 28-year-old Tiffany Schmitt, also of Homer, died Jan. 19 after being ejected during the crash on a county road four miles west of Homer. The Dakota County sheriff’s office says Roberts, who was driving, and two other passengers were hospitalized.