A proposal to replace an outdated veterans’ home in central Nebraska is drawing scrutiny from lawmakers, who raise concerns that the facility might move from its longtime home in Grand Island.

The home’s administrator, Alex Willford, told lawmakers Monday that the 126-year-old facility does not have enough toilets. Its stairs and hallways are not wheelchair-friendly.

Department of Veterans Affairs director John Hilgert told lawmakers that other cities have expressed interest in the facility. He says putting the project up for bids could save tax dollars.

Sen. Heath Mello of Omaha, chairman of the Appropriations Committee, says improvements are needed. But Mello voiced concerns that bidding the project would create an “arms race” among cities. Other senators expressed concerns about the loss of jobs in Grand Island.

A 9-year-old girl who walked about a mile in Southern California to find help after surviving a crash says she was sad to hear that her father did not survive.

The girl told family members in the hospital on video she was cold and hurt.

The California Highway Patrol says the crash happened about 1 a.m. Sunday on a semi-rural stretch of the Sierra Highway in Acton.

The girl reportedly walked through rugged terrain and eventually wandered into a commuter rail station and told a security guard what had happened.

A coroner’s spokesman identified her father as 35-year-old Alejandro Renteria, of the North Hollywood section of Los Angeles.

The CHP is investigating whether alcohol played a role in the crash.

Wayne County commissioners in northeast Nebraska have set a May date for a recall election that targets one of their own.

The vote is scheduled for May 14 on District 1 Commissioner Kelvin Wurdeman.

The recall affidavit cites Wurdeman’s conviction after pleading no contest to charges that he stole a truckload of publicly owned scrap metal. He was fined $1,000.

This is the second recall effort against Wurdeman. The first accused Wurdeman of removing dirt from a landowner’s field without permission and using it for a nearby road problem. He denied the allegation.

A Wayne County judge ordered election officials to abandon the first recall effort because the petition paperwork used to gather signatures was flawed.

The Bellevue City Council has scheduled a vote on whether it will put limits on dog tethering in the Omaha suburb.

The ordinance is set for consideration at Monday night’s council meeting. It would not allow dogs to be tied up longer than 15 minutes outside without supervision by someone 19 or older. The penalty for a first violation would be a $100 fine and $250 for a second violation.

The ordinance is aimed at keeping dogs from being left out in the cold, heat or bad weather. The proposal is based on an ordinance in Omaha.

Councilwoman Carol Blood proposed the ordinance. She says police and animal control officers wouldn’t be patrolling for violators, but they would investigate if complaints were made.

(AP) As airport officials tried to figure out how a 300-pound arrival-departure panel fell off the wall and onto a family, the mother of a boy who was killed by the sign lay in a hospital with her own injuries, still unaware of what happened.

Heather Bresette and two of her other sons were seriously hurt when the panel fell Friday at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport. She had surgeries for broken ankles and a crushed pelvis over the weekend, but she was still in intensive care and unconscious.

“She does not know that her baby is dead,” the family’s priest, the Rev. Don Farnan, said.

The Bresettes, a family of seven, took a weeklong spring break vacation to Destin, Fla., and were about to fly home to Overland Park, Kan., when the flight information panel fell.

Luke Bresette, the middle of five children, was killed. His brother, 5-year-old Tyler, suffered a concussion. His 8-year-old brother, Sam, had a broken leg and nose.

Tyler was released from a children’s hospital Sunday; Sam was still there.

The boys’ father, Ryan Bresette, and an older son and daughter, were at the airport when the sign fell but not hurt.

Heather Bresette’s condition improved to serious on Sunday, University Hospital spokeswoman Nicole Wyatt said.

During their vacation, the family swam in the Gulf of Mexico and Luke went parasailing for the first time.

“His dad said he was thrilled. He was an adventurous kid. He loved sports,” said Farnan, a priest at St. Thomas More in Kansas City, Mo.

After the sign fell, it took six people to lift the large board and a dozen people to hold it up while first responders administered aid. Officials were investigating how the sign fell at the newly renovated airport and took down an identical billboard on Saturday.

The renovated concourse opened March 13. It was part of an ongoing $200 million upgrade of Birmingham’s airport. The construction began in June 2011 and is being overseen by Brasfield & Gorrie Global Services Group.

The Birmingham-based company said in a statement it was working with airport authorities to determine why the sign fell.

“This is a terrible tragedy that none of us fully understand, and we hope that the family who lost their loved one will find strength through prayer and the support of all of us,” the statement said.

At St. Thomas More, hundreds of worshippers showed up for a Saturday morning Mass that usually has about 75 people. Luke’s uncle Alex Bresette placed a Rockhurst High School jersey on the altar.

“He would have been in the Class of 2020,” he told the Kansas City Star.

Ryan Bresette said in a message on Facebook that words cannot describe the pain the family feels.

In a note to his son, he wrote, “I miss and love Luke so very much. I love you Luke!”

“Ryan is especially grateful for the amazing support of the people in Birmingham. They even started a fund for the family at a bank there,” Farnan said. “There are long, loving arms that stretch between Birmingham and Kansas City.”

Officials say nearly all of the animals rescued from a Plymouth horse rescue operation have recovered.

Lin Beaune with Epona Horse Rescue in Crete said that three of the 41 horses, donkeys and other animals rescued in December have died, largely because of malnutrition. Beaune says all but six of the remaining 38 have new homes or are in foster care.

The animals were taken from the So Often Forgotten Equines horse rescue near Plymouth.

Beaune says she’s received donations of cash, hay and equipment to help with the animals. She says a recent anonymous donation was a new Bobcat loader, worth about $40,000.

A 51-year-old York woman has been given one to two years in prison for attempted insurance fraud.

Online court records say Susan Schulz was sentenced last week. She’d pleaded no contest in February after making a deal with prosecutors.

Judge Robert Steinke said at Schulz’s sentencing that she wasn’t a good candidate for probation, given her criminal history.

Prosecutors say Schulz called the York County Sheriff’s Department in September to report that her house had been broken into while she was gone. She said painkillers, a DVD player, a laptop computer, $1,200 in cash, jewelry, an Xbox and a camera had been taken.

The investigator became suspicious because the house wasn’t ransacked.

Authorities say a central Pennsylvania father shot and killed his 2-year-old son and wounded his estranged wife before killing himself.

Huntingdon County District Attorney George Zanic says 52-year-old Kenneth Ayers had gone to his mother’s home near Petersburg on Saturday to exchange custody with his estranged wife.

Authorities said an argument broke out and he shot the woman in the legs, right arm and face and killed their son, Michael. Zanic says the woman had obtained a protection from abuse order against her husband.

Kenneth Ayers’ body was found several hours later in his truck in a wooded area nearby in Warriors Mark Township. Police said he died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Petersburg is about 20 miles southwest of State College.

A 24-year-old Lincoln woman who failed to show up to be sentenced for her role in the death of a 12-year-old girl has been found and arrested.

Lincoln police say officers found Ashley Jackson hiding in a trailer parked on a lot in northeast Lincoln late Saturday night.

Jackson pleaded no contest to child abuse resulting in death in December.

Prosecutors say Jackson brought Serena Garrett to her home to babysit her infant twins last March. Jackson smoked methamphetamine and supplied the girl and other people at her house with alcohol and drugs.

Police say after Jackson left, Serena was sexually assaulted by a 20-year-old man, and then died of a prescription drug overdose.

Jackson was being held in the Lancaster County jail on Sunday.

 

Lottery officials say a single ticket sold in New Jersey matched all six numbers in Saturday night’s drawing for the $338.3 million Powerball jackpot.

Thirteen other tickets worth $1 million each matched all but the final Powerball number on Saturday night. Those tickets were sold in New Jersey and 10 other states.

The New Jersey Lottery said Sunday that details about the winning ticket would be released Monday. It declined to reveal where it had been purchased and whether anyone had immediately come forward.

The numbers drawn were 17, 29, 31, 52, 53 and Powerball 31. A lump sum payout would be $221 million.

Lottery officials said Saturday’s drawing was the fourth largest in the game’s history. The Powerball jackpot was last won in early February.