(AP) — The Air Force Academy has its first female superintendent.

Maj. Gen. Michelle Johnson formally took over the academy’s top job Monday with pomp and circumstance but little fuss about the milestone. She’s the first woman to be superintendent at any of the three best-known academies, Army, Navy and Air Force.

Much of the ceremony was focused on the man Johnson is replacing, retiring Lt. Gen. Michael Gould.

Johnson says her appointment is an example of the nation’s willingness to give everyone a chance, but she said she’s not going to dwell on its significance.

She’s a 1981 graduate of the academy, where she was the first female cadet wing commander and first female Rhodes scholar.

(AP) — A convicted sex offender has been arrested in Omaha, accused of sexually assaulting a 5-year-old girl.

Douglas County Jail records say 41-year-old Charles Hardymartin was arrested Saturday night and remained in custody Monday. He faces sex assault and other charges, including one alleging a sex registry violation. Online court records don’t list the name of his attorney.

Nebraska Sex Offender Registry records say Hardymartin had been sentenced in June 2009 to four to five years in prison for sexually assaulting a child. He was released from prison on Jan. 7, 2011.

(AP) — The Missouri State Fair has permanently banned a rodeo clown whose imitation of President Barack Obama has been widely criticized as disrespectful.

Fair officials said Monday that the rodeo clown has been barred from ever performing at the fair again. They are also reviewing whether to take any actions against the contractor responsible for Saturday’s rodeo.

During the event, a clown wore a mask of Obama and asked the spectators if they wanted to see “Obama run down by a bull.” Many in the audience responded enthusiastically.

But the act was criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike after video and photos of the event were posted online.

Some Democratic Missouri lawmakers are suggesting that the state should reconsider its annual funding for the fair in Sedalia.

(AP) — Authorities say a 33-year-old woman died after a car she was in rammed a tree in western Grand Island.

The Grand Island Independent says (https://bit.ly/17IMVff) the accident occurred a little before 1:30 a.m. Sunday.

Grand Island Police Sgt. Todd Dvorak (deh-VOR’-ak) says the car was headed east on West Old Highway 30 when it left the roadway, went into a ditch and struck the tree.

The woman, who was a passenger in the car, was identified as Jamie Sandante, of Grand Island. She was declared dead at the scene.

The driver was identified as 29-year-old Johnny Alvarez.

He was flown to a Lincoln hospital and was in serious condition Monday.

(AP) — Police say an argument that broke out while a group of men were slaughtering hogs ended with a Grand Island man being shot in the leg.

Police were called to a disturbance Saturday evening and found 43-year-old Michel Garcia-Rivera with what appeared to be a cut to his leg.

The Grand Island man was taken to a hospital and the wound was found to have been caused by a gunshot.

Police charged 35-year-old Louis Motola Palaco with second-degree assault and using a weapon to commit a felony. He was held in the Hall County Jail.

Capt. Dean Elliot says the shooting occurred when an argument broke out while a group of men were slaughtering hogs, but he didn’t offer further details.

(AP) — An eastern Nebraska man has been accused of boating while under the influence in connection with a tubing accident that injured his wife and two others.

45-year-old David Stander was arrested Sunday night following the accident at a private lake in Sarpy County.

Authorities say Stander was driving a jet boat that was pulling a tube with three adults when the tube hit a wake. One rider was thrown from the tube and struck the other two riders in the process.

The tube passengers suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Stander was arrested on suspicion of boating under the influence. Court records do not list an attorney.

(AP) — Authorities say a 33-year-old woman died after a car she was in rammed a tree in western Grand Island.

The accident occurred a little before 1:30 a.m. Sunday.

Grand Island Police Sgt. Todd Dvorak says the car was headed east on West Old Highway 30 when it left the roadway, went into a ditch and struck the tree.

The woman was a passenger in the car. She was declared dead at the scene. The driver was flown to a Lincoln hospital. Their names haven’t been released.

(AP) — Authorities say a house fire south of downtown Lincoln was suspicious.

City fire investigator Ken Hilger says a man living in the house went to a nearby gas station to report it shortly before 7 a.m. Sunday. The man wasn’t injured.

Hilger says an arson investigation dog alerted at two areas inside the house.

The flames were contained to the first floor, but there was smoke damage upstairs. The total damage was estimated at nearly $100,000.

(AP) — Authorities have released the name of one of two men whose bodies were found inside a pickup near a city pool in southeast Omaha.

He was identified as 29-year-old Jorge Cajiga-Ruiz, of Omaha. Investigators are still trying to identify the other victim.

A police officer found the truck and then the bodies inside it near Spring Lake Park pool while on patrol just before 5 a.m. Sunday.

Police say the deaths are being investigated as homicides but have not said how the men died. No arrests have been reported.

(AP) — The York County sheriff says one of his deputies wounded a man during an exchange of gunshots.

A county dispatcher said Monday that she had no new information about the man, who’d been taken to a Lincoln hospital.

Sheriff Dale Radcliff says the shooting occurred a little after 4 a.m. Sunday. Radcliff says the deputy spotted a vehicle driven by a man reportedly involved in a domestic dispute. The deputy chased the vehicle until it went into a ditch on the southwest side of York.

The sheriff says the man got out of the vehicle, carrying a rifle, and fired twice at the deputy. Radcliff says the deputy then fired and hit the man twice. The deputy wasn’t hit.

The sheriff didn’t release the names of those involved.