(AP) — Officials say a Florida motorcycle racer trying to top 300 mph died after losing control and crashing at an annual speed trial event in northern Maine.

The Loring Timing Association says 44-year-old Bill Warner of Wimauma, Fla., crashed Sunday during The Maine Event, a race being held on a runway at the former Loring Air Force Base.

Race Director Tim Kelly says Warner was clocked at 285 mph before he lost control. He says Warner was conscious and talking as he was taken from the scene but died later at a hospital.

Warner rode a modified turbocharged Suzuki Hayabusa. He previously hit 311 mph on the same course in 2011, using 1.5 miles of pavement. This time he was trying to hit 300 mph using just a mile of pavement.

(AP) — The Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant has missed another target date for restarting, so the Omaha Public Power District might have to endure another summer of buying electricity to meet peak demand.

OPPD officials say they’ve addressed most of what regulators want them to do at the idle nuclear plant, but the Nuclear Regulatory Commission says more work remains.

The plant, which sits across from Iowa on the Missouri River about 20 miles north of Omaha, has been closed since April 2011. It initially shut down for routine maintenance, but significant flooding in 2011 and a series of safety violations forced it to remain closed.

OPPD spokesman Jeff Hanson says repairs and inspections at Fort Calhoun are taking longer than expected. But so far the work remains within budget.

(AP) — Authorities are investigating a two-vehicle crash in northeast Nebraska that killed an Omaha man and injured two baseball coaches from Seward.

The Cuming County Sheriff’s office says 60-year-old John Bobier was killed in the Saturday afternoon crash on U.S. Highway 275.

Bobier’s SUV veered into oncoming northbound traffic on the highway before colliding with the pickup truck 42-year-old Randy Rolenc was driving.

Bobier died at the scene of the accident about four miles south of West Point. He was not wearing a seat belt.

Rolenc and his passenger, 33-year-old Brock Anderson, were treated at the West Point hospital and released later. They were wearing seat belts.

Rolenc and Anderson both coach Seward’s American Legion baseball team. The teams’ Saturday games in Pender were cancelled.

(AP) — Police have identified two people killed when their speeding car slammed into a southeastern Omaha thrift store, destroying much of the building.

Police say 24-year-old Dustin Hollenbeck and 20-year-old Dylan Thompson, both of Omaha, died in the Friday night crash. Emergency workers found their bodies in the rubble, but could not immediately recover them for fear that the building’s roof would collapse.

Police say the store was unoccupied at the time of the crash. Investigators believe speed and a lack of seat belt use contributed to the men’s deaths.

On Saturday, crews brought in heavy machinery to try to remove damaged portions of the building.

Witnesses told police that the car was heading north at a high rate of speed when the crash occurred.

 

(AP) — After a year and a half of living as a hermit, George Zimmerman emerged from a Florida courthouse a free man, cleared of all charges in the shooting of 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

A jury found Zimmerman not guilty of second-degree murder late Saturday night and declined to convict him on a lesser charge of manslaughter.

His brother, Robert Zimmerman Jr., says the former neighborhood watch volunteer was still processing the reality that he wouldn’t serve prison time for the killing, which Zimmerman has maintained was an act of self-defense. However, with many critics angry over his acquittal, his freedom will likely be limited.

Defense attorney Mark O’Mara suggested Zimmerman’s safety would be an ongoing concern. He says a fringe element of society still wants revenge for Martin’s killing.

(AP) — Small, independent beer breweries could have an easier time gaining a foothold in Nebraska if some lawmakers have their way.

Three state lawmakers have introduced a legislative study to see what the state can do to help craft breweries expand.

The study will examine whether self-distribution could help startup breweries succeed. It also will examine how they’re taxed relative to larger brewers.

Lawmakers will also look at a beer check-off program to promote Nebraska-made craft beers, and a possible truth-in-labeling requirement intended to keep major companies from portraying their beer as locally made products.

Last year, Nebraska passed a law that doubles the production limit of microbreweries to 20,000 barrels of beer per year. One barrel contains 31 gallons, or about two kegs of beer.

(AP) — A 1,500-square-foot mural on the side of a Lincoln building that illustrates the life and accomplishments of visionary scientist Nikola Tesla has been unveiled.

Dozens of people watched the orange, brown and white mural was unveiled. The murals designers believe is the world’s largest of Tesla, a Serbian-American inventor and rival of Thomas Edison known for his contributions to the design of the AC motor.

The unveiling of the mural also marked the positive changes community leaders say are going with the Turbine Flats Project. The nonprofit’s building was formerly a manufacturing facility that has since been converted to office space.

(AP) — A Cleveland man heads back to court next week after hundreds of charges were added to accusations he held three women captive in his home for a decade and raped them.

One of the most chilling new allegations is that Ariel Castro raped one of the women on Christmas Day 2006, the same day a girl he fathered with another of the women was born.

The 977-count indictment filed Friday against Castro includes rape, kidnapping and aggravated murder charges, including accusations Castro starved and punched one of the women while she was pregnant until she miscarried.

Cuyahoga (ky-uh-HOH’-guh) County Prosecutor Tim McGinty says his office has yet to decide whether to make the case eligible for a death sentence.

The 53-year-old Castro pleaded not guilty to an earlier indictment.

 

(AP) — The Omaha Public Power District has approved natural gas piping for one of its stations in Nebraska City, a move touted as a cost-saving measure.

The district’s board agreed at its July meeting to negotiate an amended contract with its engineering firm, Grunwald Mechanical Contractors & Engineers. The contract will allow for natural gas piping at one its station units.

Power district officials say the cost of fuels varies over time, but natural gas is generally four to five times cheaper than fuel oil.

Work is already halfway done to install natural gas piping at another station in Nebraska City. The new project should be done by spring 2014.