OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha man hired to monitor programs that receive money from Omaha billionaire Warren Buffett’s charitable foundation has pleaded guilty to stealing from the organization.

Dhaval Patel pleaded guilty Tuesday to stealing $46,000 from the Buffett Foundation. The 38-year-old Patel is set to be sentenced in November, when he faces up to 20 years in prison.

Police say another foundation employee checked with a London hotel from which Patel had submitted a receipt for reimbursement and learned that Patel hadn’t stayed there. A check of other expense receipts turned up what police believe was tens of thousands of dollars in fraudulent receipts.

The newspaper says Patel, who was paid $190,000 a year as a senior program officer, has repaid $46,000 to the charity.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln police officers have ticketed several dozen people who were watering lawns or washing cars when they weren’t supposed to.

Police spokeswoman Katie Flood said Tuesday that the department’s system registered 58 citations by the end of Monday, but she’s certain more citations were issued but not yet entered.

Historically low water flow in the Platte River prompted Lincoln to issue mandatory restrictions on outdoor water use for lawns and car washing. The water cutbacks were voluntary at first, and then mandatory restrictions began Aug. 9. Police had been issuing only warnings until Monday.

Outdoor watering isn’t permitted on Mondays. Home addresses ending in even numbers must limit outdoor watering to Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays and addresses ending in odd numbers must water only on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — One in three Nebraska students who took a new state science exam scored below a level that school administrators consider proficient.

Test results released Tuesday show nearly 67 percent of the students met or exceeded proficiency levels on the test, which is more rigorous than the science exam given in past years. The test was administered to students in the 5th, 8th and 11th grades.

Nebraska Education Commissioner Roger Breed says the scores represent a new baseline that will help measure student progress in the future. He says the new scores cannot be compared to older results, because the new science test is more extensive.

This year’s results show reading and math scores have improved since 2011, but one in three students were not proficient in math.

ST. PAUL, Neb. (AP) — A Howard County official says a preliminary autopsy report shows smoke and heat from a mobile home fire killed a 29-year-old St. Paul man.

Howard County Attorney David Schroeder said Friday’s fire began in a kitchen trash container. The body of Jason Kock was found in a doorway between the kitchen and living room. He was alone in the home.

Schroeder said last week that a crime was not suspected in the fire or Kock’s death.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 63-year-old Omaha woman has been accused of secreting methamphetamine-laced threads under stamps used to send letters to her son at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln.

Julie Baskin was arrested last week and has posted bond. She’s accused of conspiring with her son to deliver contraband to an inmate. Thirty-seven-year-old Andre Baskin is serving a sentence of four to six years for forgeries in Douglas County.

Julie Baskin declined to comment on Tuesday and referred questions to her attorney, who also declined to comment.

Court documents say authorities found threads covered with a waxy substance were placed in plastic packets hidden under the stamps. The threads tested positive for meth.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A judicial nominating commission has forwarded the names of seven people for consideration in being named one of seven judges for the Nebraska Workers’ Compensation Court.V

The office of Gov. Dave Heineman says the seven nominees are William Birkel, Dirk Block, Matthew Buckley, Daniel Fridrich, Julie Martin, Shirley Williams and Anne Winner. He’ll choose from among them to fill the court vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Ronald Brown.

Nine people had submitted their names to the commission.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln man has pleaded no contest to charges in a boating collision that injured eight people on a lake in eastern Nebraska.

The 19-year-old Kyle Garrett entered the plea to boating under the influence and minor in possession in Lancaster County Court on Monday. Sentencing is set for Nov. 2.

Garrett was piloting a motorboat that collided with a sailboat on Branched Oak Lake north of Lincoln in May. He and seven others were injured and swam to shore or were pulled to safety by bystanders.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a Lincoln man stabbed his brother during an argument about which song to play on a stereo.

46-year-old Todd Zellers faces assault and weapons charges.

Police say the argument between the two men turned violent when Zellers stabbed his brother in one of his thighs. The wound isn’t considered life-threatening.

A Lancaster County jailer said Zellers remained in custody on Monday. It’s unclear whether he has a lawyer. Online court records don’t yet list the case.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Two 19-year-old men have been charged as accessories in the shotgun slaying of a Lincoln man during a late-night brawl last month.

Online court records say Jose Ferguson, of Bennet, and Shay Dailey, of Lincoln, were two of nine people at the confrontation. Eighteen-year-old Zachary Neuberger, of Lincoln, has been charged with second-degree murder and two weapons counts.

Investigators say the melee erupted late on July 29. They say Neuberger shot Naif Al-Kazahy after Al-Kazahy used a baseball bat to hit a man who used brass knuckles to punch Al-Kazahy’s brother, Munif.

Neuberger, Ferguson and Dailey remain in custody. Online court records don’t list the names of their attorneys.