FREMONT, Neb. (AP) – A man questioned in the disappearance of a Peru State College student is scheduled to go trial in March on charges that he raped a teenager in Fremont in 2008.
Thirty-year-old Joshua Keadle is charged with first-degree sexual assault of a minor. A judge on Tuesday scheduled Keadle’s trial for March 13 in Dodge County District Court.
Authorities say Keadle is a person of interest in the December 2010 disappearance of Peru State student, Tyler “Ty” Thomas. No charges have been filed against Keadle in that case
Keadle, originally from Swansea, S.C., was accused of sexually assaulting another Peru State College student on Halloween night in 2010. Prosecutors dropped those charges last month after a hearing on new evidence in the case.

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) – Bellevue police say a caregiver has been arrested in the scalding of a disabled man in a shower at a group home.
67-year-old Sarah Thomas was arrested on suspicion of third-degree assault.
Investigators say she left 22-year-old Donzell Harden alone in a shower at Hands of the Heartland on Dec. 9. Center officials say the scald guard on the shower head failed, but say Harden shouldn’t have been left alone. Program director Susan Chohaney says the incident should have never happened.
Harden suffered burns on his lower body and is hospitalized in Omaha. His guardian, Sherry Becker, says he’s improving daily. Thomas’ case is not on the online court system, and it’s not known if she has an attorney.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The Nebraska Supreme Court has denied a defense attorney’s request to remove the state’s attorney general’s office from death row inmate Michael Ryan’s case.
Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Heavican says the court found the arguments in support of the motion to be “unpersuasive and without merit” in an order filed Wednesday.
Ryan’s attorney, Jerry Soucie, made the request because of circumstances in the case.
Soucie says Attorney General Jon Bruning’s office had advised the state’s Department of Correctional Services on buying supplies of the lethal-injection drug sodium thiopental. The first batch was ruled to have been illegally imported.
A spokeswoman with the attorney general’s office says there was no legitimate reason for it to be recused from the case.
Ryan has been sentenced to death for killing James Thimm in 1985.
Bruning has asked the Supreme Court to set an execution date for Ryan, but that request is pending.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A new U.S. Census report shows Iowa and Nebraska have each gained more than 12,000 people during the one-year period that ended on July 1.
The estimates released Wednesday show that Nebraska’s population increased by 12,500 people between July 2010 and July 2011. Iowa’s grew by a little more than 12,100 in that period. In both cases, the growth rate was less than 1 percent.
David Drozd at the University of Nebraska’s Center for Public Affairs Research says Nebraska’s gains are lower than he expected. He says the estimates offer a snapshot of how the states have changed as they deal with the global recession and recovery. More detailed information about counties and cities is expected next year.

YORK, Neb. (AP) – Voters have recalled York County Attorney Bill Sutter.
Sutter lost by an overwhelming majority Tuesday, with 1,592 supporting the recall and 263 opposed.
Sutter had been county attorney since April 2010.
After the county’s canvassing board verifies the results Wednesday, Sutter will no longer hold his position.
A special election was ordered after complaints from Sutter’s staff prompted two county commissioners to file paperwork to recall him.
Sutter was accused of demonstrating inappropriate behavior and not adequately performing the duties of the office. He denies the allegations and rejected calls to resign.

NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say a vehicle has hit the boyhood home of Johnny Carson in Norfolk.
An SUV plowed into the front of the one-story home Tuesday afternoon.
Norfolk Police Capt. Leon Chapman says the vehicle caused extensive damage to the porch, which collapsed. The vehicle ended up in the entryway.
There were no serious injuries.
Carson, the longtime TV talk-show host of “The Tonight Show,” was born in Corning, Iowa, in 1925. Carson’s family moved to Norfolk when he was 8, and he graduated from Norfolk High School. Carson died in 2005.
His boyhood home has had several owners over the years.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Gov. Dave Heineman says he’s concerned about the potential cost of new recommendations that seek to overhaul Nebraska’s troubled child welfare system.
The Republican governor told reporters Tuesday that lawmakers have not yet indicated how they plan to pay for the recommendations, which include the creation of a new state department and reclaiming case management from private contractors.
His comments came in response to an 18-point report released last week by the Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee.
The report reflected complaints about Nebraska’s child welfare system and a privatization effort that began in 2009. Critics say the reform effort has been plagued by higher-than-expected costs and poor planning.
Heineman says he still needs to discuss the report with lawmakers, services providers and other stakeholders.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate dropped to 4.1 percent in November.
In a report released Tuesday, the Nebraska Labor Department said the drop was a tenth of a point from the 4.2 percent in October.
The rate remained was less than half the preliminary national rate of 8.6 percent for November.
Both the Nebraska and national unemployment rates were lower than a year ago, when the state rate was 4.4 percent and the national rate was 9.8 percent.

HARTINGTON, Neb. (AP) – A 37-year-old man has been convicted of sex assault and incest in northeast Nebraska’s Cedar County.
A news release from the office of Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning says the man was found guilty of two counts of sexual assault and two counts of incest. Sentencing has been set for Feb. 13. The maximum prison penalties for the four felony counts add up to 140 years.
Prosecutors say the man began assaulting the girl when she was 6 years old.
The Associated Press is not using the man’s name, to protect the privacy of his victim.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A resident at the Beatrice State Developmental Center has been jailed in Lincoln, accused of using a pen to stab a woman.
20-year-old Joshua Talbot was in Lincoln for an appointment on Friday. He’d been driven from Beatrice by two supervisors. When the three stopped at a gas station, Talbot escaped.
Lincoln police spokeswoman Katie Flood says Talbot entered an office nearby and went to the second floor, where he used a pen to stab a female employee twice in the neck. The woman’s injuries were not considered life-threatening.
A Lancaster County jailer said Talbot remained in custody on Tuesday. Online court records don’t list Talbot’s attorney.
The Beatrice center specializes in the residential treatment of people with various developmental disabilities.