Officials in Lincoln have sent out a fleet of plows and are spreading salt after about half-a-foot of snow fell on the Nebraska capital.

A release from the city says parking bans are not in effect Wednesday, even after about 6 inches of snow fell on the city overnight.

City crews began spreading sand and salt at 7 p.m. Tuesday in anticipation of the snow, and about 54 plows hit the streets around midnight on emergency snow routes and major streets. Another 18 plows joined that fleet around 6 a.m. Wednesday to clear bus routes.

The city warns motorists that streets are very slick for the morning commute.

Most schools in Lincoln and surrounding areas canceled classes Wednesday.

 

A former state senator from Papillion has been named to the Omaha Public Power District board.

Gov. Dave Heineman’s office announced the appointment of Tim Gay on Tuesday. Gay represented the 14th Legislative District from 2007 to 2011 and decided not to seek re-election.

Gay replaces John Thompson on the OPPD board. The Bellevue businessman died early last month of pancreatic cancer.

The board seat represents Bellevue and other suburban areas south of Omaha.

An eastern Indiana police officer and his wife who nursed an injured baby deer back to health are facing charges for rescuing the animal.

Connersville police officer Jeff Counceller and his wife, Jennifer, were charged this month with illegal possession of a white-tailed deer, a misdemeanor that carries up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.

The Indianapolis Star reports the couple found the injured deer in 2010 and named her Dani.

The state Department of Natural Resources told the Councellers to return the ailing deer to the wild, but they took it home and nursed it back to health.

The deer vanished last summer on the day when the DNR planned to euthanize the animal after the couple’s request for a rescue permit was denied.

A group of local and state organizations want Lincoln to vote on a charter amendment that would bar council members and mayors from having any business contracts with the city.

The group says the measure is aimed at promoting fairness and eliminating potential and perceived conflicts of interest.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that the group wants the measure added to the May 7 city ballot.

Councilman Jon Camp opposes the proposal and calls it “an affront to the business community.”

He says the current system is adequate to prevent conflicts of interest. It requires full disclosure and bars a council member with a city contract from voting on it.

CHOKWE, Mozambique— A U.N. official in flood-hit Mozambique says the world body will launch an appeal for $65 million in aid after flood waters killed 38 people.

The U.N. says more than 150,000 have been displaced by flooding in the southern African nation of Mozambique over the last several days. Marie Conselee Mukangendo, of the U.N. children’s agency UNICEF, said Tuesday the overall death toll stands at 38.

Mukangendo said the Chikahalani camp alone is holding an estimated 65,000 people but has only 28 latrines. She called the situation dire and said the U.N. would appeal for $65 million in relief aid on Wednesday.

Mozambique suffered record floods in 2000 that killed more than 700 people.

A 16-year-old driver has been injured in an accident at a foggy train crossing in south-central Nebraska.

Nebraska State Patrol dispatcher Dale Wiegert says Cassidy Wormstadt, of rural Juniata, was driving on Alda Road north of Juniata when she reached the crossing about 8 a.m. Monday. Wiegert says Wormstadt is believed to have driven around a lowered crossing arm but was struck by an eastbound train and pushed about 100 feet. The car ended up on its roof.

Wiegert says Wormstadt was taken to a local hospital and then to a hospital in Lincoln.

A 28-year-old Omaha man will spend more than five years in federal prison for his role in a 2011 theft of explosives.

U.S. Attorney Deborah Gilg says Travis McQueen was sentenced Monday to 63 months in prison. He had pleaded guilty to possessing stolen explosives.

In August 2011, 100 pounds of blasting agent, 3,000 feet of detonating cord and two cases of boosters were stolen from the Buckley Powder Company in rural Cass County.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms offered a reward, an anonymous caller suggested that McQueen may have been involved.

Prosecutors say McQueen helped dispose of the explosives in the Missouri River.

Investigators recovered some of the stolen material by dredging the river, and they believe most of the material was thrown into the river.

 A Beatrice man in prison for beating and raping a woman has pleaded not guilty to separate federal child pornography charges.

The Beatrice Daily Sun reports that Joseph Buttercase entered to plea in federal court last Thursday, and his pretrial hearing is set for Feb. 12 in Omaha.

Buttercase is accused of enticing a person younger than 18 to engage in sexually explicit conduct and of transporting child pornography across state lines.

If convicted, the 31-year-old Buttercase could face up to life in prison for manufacturing child pornography. He faces additional time if convicted of transportation and possession of child pornography.

Buttercase is currently serving 26 to 41 years in a Nebraska state prison after being convicted of beating and raping a 29-year-old woman in July 2011.

A 43-year-old driver has been killed in a collision on an icy state highway in central Nebraska.

The Nebraska State Patrol says 29-year-old Chrystal Hopkins, of rural Grand Island, lost control of her sport utility vehicle just after 8 a.m. Monday while driving north on U.S. Highway 281. The vehicle slid in front of an oncoming SUV driven by Robert Guenette, of St. Libory. The accident occurred on the southern edge of St. Libory.

Guenette was killed. Hopkins was taken to St. Francis Medical Center in Grand Island and then released after treatment.