WINNEBAGO, Neb. (AP) — A housing grant program from Nebraska’s Winnebago Indian tribe is helping increase the number of home owners on its reservation.

14 families have built homes with the help of a $50,000 tribal grant. When combined with local and federal incentives, the package offers $65,000 to help residents build homes on the northeast Nebraska reservation.

According to U.S. census data, 68 percent of all Winnebago residents lived in rental housing in 2010. The National American Indian Housing Council says 54 percent of all Native Americans and Alaska Natives owned their homes.

Sarah Snake, a property manager for Ho-Chunk Inc., the tribe’s economic development arm, says the new homeowners’ success helps inspire younger people on the reservation.

HALSEY, Neb. (AP) — Women age 18 and older are invited to attend the Becoming an Outdoors-Woman workshop this fall in the Nebraska Sandhills.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is organizing the hands-on outdoor skills event. It will be held at the 4-H Camp at the Bessey Ranger District of the Nebraska National Forest near Halsey, Oct. 5-7.

Participants will choose their activities from a list that includes hiking, canoeing, kayaking, firearm safety, fishing, bow fishing, GPS, camping, rifle shooting, shotgun shooting, hunting, photography and dog selection and training.

More information is available online at NebraskaBOW.com or from Peggy Kapeller at 402-471-5482.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A state commission has sent the names of two Nebraska county judge nominees to Gov. Dave Heineman.

The 8th judicial district nominating commission picked Michael S. Borders and Tami K. Schendt, both of Broken Bow, for an open seat on the bench. The nominees were forwarded to Heineman, who will appoint one.

The vacancy is due to the retirement of Judge Gary G. Washburn. The 8th Judicial District consists of Blaine, Boyd, Brown, Cherry, Custer, Garfield, Greeley, Holt, Howard, Keya Paha, Loup, Rock, Sherman, Valley and Wheeler counties.

Heineman’s office says he will interview both nominees in the coming weeks.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Eastern Nebraska farmers can apply for help repairing flood-damaged land along the Missouri River.

The USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service has $50,000 available to help landowners use conservation practices to deal with the massive sand and debris deposits the flooding left behind.

State Conservationist Craig Derickson says roughly 104,415 acres in 14 counties were affected by the flooding in Nebraska.

The damage in Nebraska is part of the 450,000 acres of cropland the flooding damaged in five states: Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Dakota.

Landowners interested in the assistance must apply to the USDA by July 25.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 51-year-old man has been convicted of raping a Lincoln woman in her home.

The jury returned with a guilty verdict for Mark Filholm after less than four hours of deliberation on Thursday. Filholm faces up to 50 years when he’s sentenced on Aug. 7.

Prosecutors say Filholm entered the woman’s home early on June 25 last year, raped the woman and then tried to destroy evidence by forcing her to take a shower.

The woman told police the Filholm’s face was covered by a blanket when he raped her, but she recognized his voice because she’d known him for several years.

ELWOOD, Neb. (AP) — An 11-year-old boy kept his cool so he could drive a pickup and call for someone to help his injured father in a south-central Nebraska pasture.

51-year-old Kendall Smith was driving an ATV on Wednesday while tending cattle in the Frontier County pasture. His son, Ty, was in a pickup nearby.

Smith’s wife and Ty’s mother, Michelle, told the station that Kendall crashed in a ravine and suffered a broken leg. He texted Ty, who drove down to talk to his dad, then drove back up to higher ground so he could use his cellphone to call for help.

Elwood Rescue paramedics responded, and Kendall Smith was taken to a hospital.

Michelle Smith says she and her husband consider their son a hero.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman is scheduled to address governors from across the nation Friday with a plan to help their economies grow.

Heineman, the Republican chairman of the National Governors Association, will unveil his signature “Growing State Economies” plan at the group’s annual gathering in Williamsburg, Va.

Heineman told The Associated Press that the plan borrows from laws adopted by various states that have abandoned outdated regulations, helped entrepreneurs start their own businesses and nurtured companies with the most potential for growth.

The plan encourages states to connect public universities with private businesses for research projects involving medical devices, computers and other technology.

Heineman has served as chairman of the National Governors Association since July 2011. His one-year term ends Sunday.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Ranchers statewide can now apply to collect roadside hay in Nebraska to help feed their livestock during the drought.

Gov. Dave Heineman issued an order Thursday expanding roadside haying to all 93 counties. The program is also now open to all Nebraska residents, not just adjoining landowners.

Under roadside haying, the state stops mowing along state roads and allows producers to harvest the forage for their livestock.

More information about roadside haying is available online at www.roads.ne.gov/hay .

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Billionaire Warren Buffett will be back on business-oriented cable network Friday morning.

Berkshire Hathaway’s chairman and CEO is scheduled to appear on Bloomberg television for two hours Friday from 7-9 a.m. Central.

Buffett appeared on CNBC on Thursday and made headlines with his comments on the economy.

He says the overall U.S. economy has been slowing down in the past two months. Buffett says residential housing is improving, but that’s not enough to offset the weakness elsewhere.

Buffett is in Sun Valley, Idaho, attending the annual conference hosted by investment banker Allen & Co. that attracts Wall Street and media moguls.

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — A grand jury has cleared law officers in the February death of a 22-year-old man.

The grand jury ruled that Garrett Corn died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound and that law enforcement officers were not at fault.

State law requires that a grand jury be called when someone dies while being apprehended or while in custody of law enforcement.

Police say Corn shot himself in February after he shot his former girlfriend, Ashley Bunn, in Fremont. She survived her injuries.

Corn and Bunn had been dating before breaking up a few months earlier. Bunn had obtained a protection order against Corn.