(AP) — Nebraska State Court Administrator Janice Walker has announced her retirement, effective May 5.

Walker was appointed in May 2005 to oversee the administrative operations of the statewide court system. Walker is only the fourth person appointed to the position.

Nebraska Supreme Court Chief Justice Mike Heavican says Walker prioritized better service to the public and greater electronic access to the courts during her tenure and noted that he “could not have done my job without her considerable assistance.”

The state court administrator implements the rules and policies of the Nebraska Supreme Court as they apply to court administration, oversees the state judicial branch’s budget, develops and promotes statewide administrative practices and procedures, oversees the operation of trial court programs, and serves as a liaison with other branches of government.

(AP) — The Salvation Army is seeking nominations for this year’s D.J.’s Hero Scholarship Awards.

Seven Nebraska high school seniors will be chosen to receive the award, named in honor of the late D.J. Sokol, for commitment to others and to their community.

Nominations must be postmarked by March 5 to be eligible for entry. Forms are available at most Nebraska high school guidance offices, online at GiveSalvationArmy.org or by calling 402-898-5906.

Honorees receive a $10,000 scholarship toward their selected college or university. D.J.’s Heroes will be recognized at the D.J.’s Hero Awards Luncheon on May 13 at CenturyLink Center Omaha.

Criteria for selecting honorees include Nebraska residency, commitment to others and to the community, courage to act independently, the student’s greatest achievement in life and the ability to overcome challenges/adversity.

(AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has vacated the sentences of three men ordered imprisoned for life without parole when they were juveniles, citing a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling striking down such sentences.

The rulings Friday came in the cases of Douglas Mantich, who was sentenced for his role in a 1993 gang-related shooting death in Omaha, and Eric Ramirez and Juan Castaneda, sentenced for their roles in a 2008 Omaha shooting spree that left two dead and one injured.

The three were teenagers when the crimes were committed.

While the state Supreme Court upheld the convictions of the three on Friday, it found the U.S. Supreme Court has determined that teenagers cannot be locked up for life without the chance of parole.

(AP) — A former doctor accused of killing four people with ties to an Omaha medical school will be evaluated to determine if he’s competent to stand trial.

Attorneys for Anthony Garcia, of Terre Haute, Ind., made the request in a motion Friday. A judge ordered that Garcia be evaluated at the Lincoln Regional Center.

Garcia is charged with first-degree murder in the 2008 deaths of the 11-year-old son of Creighton University pathologist William Hunter and the family’s housekeeper, as well as the deaths last May of Creighton pathologist Roger Brumback and his wife.

Authorities say Garcia was motivated by revenge for being fired in 2001. He has pleaded not guilty.

Garcia also faces a burglary charge in connection with another doctor at the school.

(AP) — Police are investigating after a body was found inside a burned Omaha apartment.

Firefighters discovered the body of a man Friday afternoon after putting out a fire in the midtown apartment. Authorities have not yet identified the man or said how he died.

Officials say the fire was contained to the apartment, and no one else was hurt.

Authorities say they don’t yet know what caused the fire and continue to investigate.

Police and arson investigators remained at the scene late Friday afternoon.

(AP) — Two women face charges in connection to the fatal shooting of a woman outside an Omaha nightclub last year.

23-year-old Dejeniera M. Rucker and 22-year-old Monica T. Chambers are both charged with unauthorized use of a financial transaction device. Rucker also faces a forgery charge.

Authorities say 24-year-old Janee Hadan was fatally shot in December outside the Passion Lounge. Two men were also injured. No one has been charged in Hadan’s death.

The station reports Rucker and Chambers were caught using Hadan’s credit cards after the shooting. Another woman is being questioned in the case and authorities have described her as a person of interest.

Court records do no list attorneys for the women.

(AP) — A 16-year-old Nebraska girl has pleaded no contest to motor vehicle homicide in connection to an October crash that killed another teenager.

The girl also entered the plea Friday in Sarpy County juvenile court to a charge of failure to yield. A violation of a provisional operator’s permit charge was dismissed.

The Associated Press generally does not name juveniles charged with crimes.

The girl was driving a Jeep on Oct. 11 when it collided with a pickup truck. A passenger in the teen’s car, 15-year-old Nathaniel LaFave, was killed. The girl and another passenger in the Jeep were critically injured but survived.

A disposition hearing, which is similar to a sentencing, is scheduled on Feb. 28.

(AP) — Police say a newborn missing from a southern Wisconsin home has been found alive at a gas station in eastern Iowa.

Town of Beloit Police Chief Steven Kopp says the nearly week-old baby was discovered by an officer checking along an interstate near West Branch on Friday morning.

FBI acting special agent G.B. Jones said at a news conference the officer heard the newborn crying and discovered the child swaddled in a tote bag outside a gas station. Authorities say the child appears to be in good condition.

Federal, state and local law enforcement officers had been looking for the baby since early Thursday when his mother discovered him missing from a bassinette in a Town of Beloit home.

(AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have passed a bill that would increase fines for truckers who spill livestock manure in Omaha.

The bill that cleared a final vote Friday would set a minimum fine of $250 for violations.

Sen. Heath Mello of Omaha introduced the bill last year to increase the fine from its current $100. Mello says the current fine was so low that it encouraged some bad actors to dump the contents of their trucks instead of washing them.

Omaha saw 42 documented manure spills between August 2009 and October 2010, most of which were near the meatpacking plants in Mello’s south Omaha district.