Gov. Dave Heineman says his $2.2 million budget request to buy an airplane from the University of Nebraska Foundation is needed to reach rural parts of the state quickly.

Heineman argued Monday that the plane ensures that he and other state officials are accessible to residents when needed. He says a state-owned plane is more cost-efficient than relying on a charter service.

The plane is a Beechcraft Super King Air plane. It is owned by the foundation but also serves the governor, agency heads and other state officials. The foundation has decided to sell the plane.

The Legislature’s Appropriations Committee has so far declined to include the plane in its proposed two-year budget. Some members have said they aren’t yet persuaded that it’s necessary.

Five workers at a beef processing plant in Grand Island are recovering after being exposed to dangerous chemicals during an accident that forced part of the plant to be evacuated.

Emergency crews were called to the JBS Swift plant around 10 p.m. Sunday after bleach was mistakenly pumped into a container of acid at the plant.

Grand Island Fire Chief Cory Scmidt says the mixture of chemicals caused a reaction that produced toxic gas.

Part of the plant was evacuated for more than an hour while the ventilation system was used to clear the gas.

Five workers were treated for exposure at a Grand Island hospital Sunday night and released.

Company officials did not immediately respond to messages Monday morning, so it wasn’t clear how the incident affected production.

A 5-year-old Nebraska boy is recovering after being run over by a car that a playful 6-year-old girl shifted into neutral.

Douglas County Chief Deputy Sheriff Marty Bilek says Evan Perez was seriously hurt in the Sunday evening accident but should recover.

Bilek says the girl was playing in her dad’s car while it was parked outside a west Omaha apartment complex.

The girl got out of the car before it rolled over Evan, who was chasing a soccer ball. Bilek says the car’s tires didn’t roll over Evan, but he suffered facial bruises and other injuries.

Dish Network is offering to buy Sprint Nextel Corp. in a cash-and-stock deal it values at $25.5 billion, saying its bid is superior to that of Japanese phone company SoftBank.

Sprint’s stock jumped in premarket trading Monday.

Dish, an Englewood, Colo. satellite television company, said that its transaction includes $17.3 billion in cash and $8.2 billion in stock.

Sprint stockholders would receive $7 per share, which is a 13 percent premium to its Friday closing price of $6.22. This includes $4.76 per share in cash and 0.05953 Dish shares per Sprint share.

Softbank is seeking approval from U.S. authorities for its $20 billion purchase of a 70 percent stake in Sprint Nextel Corp. that would be Japan’s biggest foreign acquisition ever.

Dish Network Corp. said that its offer is a 13 percent premium to the existing SoftBank proposal.

More than two dozen brass marker vases have been stolen from graves at Lincoln Memorial Park.

Employees counted 13 vases missing from the grounds in August. Last week a dozen more were reported missing.

Cindy Spaulding says her parents are buried in the cemetery and says the thieves are “stealing from dead people. I can’t think of anything lower.”

Police have been told about the thefts, and the cemetery has asked local scrap metal dealers to keep watch for the stolen vases.

Sentencing is scheduled June 12 for a 40-year-old Riverton man who has been convicted of misdemeanor vehicular homicide.

Brad Reiss pleaded no contest after prosecutors lowered the charge from felony manslaughter.

The Adams County Sheriff’s Office says Paul Walters was driving west in a van on April 9 last year when it crested a hill near Juniata and hit an eastbound pickup driven by Reiss.

Deputies say Walters died at the scene. Deputies also say Reiss’ blood tested out just slightly over the legal limit.

Reiss and his passenger, Kim Kohn, were taken to a hospital for treatment.

Three rides at Disneyland, including the famous Space Mountain roller coaster, were temporarily closed as the company reviews its safety protocols after being cited by state regulators.

Disneyland Resorts spokeswoman Suzi Brown says the resort received citations Friday from the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health.

The citations were related to an incident in November when a contracted worker was injured while performing maintenance on Space Mountain.

Brown says the closures Saturday of Space Mountain, the Matterhorn Bobsleds and Soarin’ Over California were voluntary and were made out of an abundance of caution.

The Matterhorn reopened Sunday. Brown said Sunday it is unclear how long the other two rides will remain closed.

Officials with Cal/OSHA did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Authorities investigating the deaths of a North Texas district attorney and his wife appear to have narrowed their focus on a former justice of the peace prosecuted last year by the official for theft.

One day after 46-year-old Eric Lyle Williams was arrested on a charge of making a terroristic threat, authorities would not publicly name a suspect or confirm the results of a search of his home in Kaufman County, east of Dallas.

No suspects have been named in the deaths of Mike McLelland and his wife, Cynthia, who were found slain in their home March 30.

That came two months after one of McLelland’s prosecutors, Mark Hasse, was gunned down near the Kaufman courthouse.

Williams was convicted of stealing three computer monitors. Both prosecutors criticized Williams’ character.

A lawyer says a Colorado jury has awarded $11.5 million to a man whose family sued helmet maker Riddell Inc. and his coaches over brain injuries from a high school football practice in 2008.

Rhett Ridolfi’s lawyer Frank Azar says the jury found Saturday that Riddell was negligent in failing to warn people wearing its helmets about concussion dangers.

The jury assessed 27 percent of the fault for Ridolfi’s injuries to Riddell and the rest to coaches. Azar said Sunday that he’ll ask a judge to find Riddell responsible for paying all $11.5 million in damages.

Riddell says it plans to appeal the verdict but is pleased that jurors determined its helmet wasn’t defective.

Riddell also is named in a lawsuit by former NFL players against the league.

Omaha police are investigating an early-morning crash that killed a 59-year-old man.

Police say the crash happened around 3:45 a.m. Sunday on 42nd Street near the University of Nebraska Medical Center in midtown Omaha.

A northbound 2011 Ford Ranger driven by Dennis Lahood veered across the oncoming lanes of traffic and struck a street light. The truck then rolled onto its passenger side.

Paramedics responded but Lahood was declared dead at the scene.

Police say speed and alcohol do not appear to be factors in the crash.