SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) – A former Scottsbluff police officer is scheduled for a January trial after pleading not guilty to 10 counts of possession of child pornography. 27-year-old Tyler Reinpold, of Mitchell, was arraigned in Scotts Bluff County District Court earlier this month. Previously, a judge had overruled Reinpold’s motion challenging the charges against him. Prosecutors say a relative discovered the images in August 2010 while he was fixing Reinpold’s computer. Most of the images depict girls ranging in age from 11 to 14. Reinpold was a Scottsbluff police officer for about three years before leaving in January. Reinpold’s lawyer, Sterling Huff, has argued that the images were part of an investigation Reinpold was conducting on a person he called a friend.

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HEMINGFORD, Neb. (AP) – A 9-year-old Hemingford boy has died in an accident on his family’s farm in western Nebraska. KNEB in Scottsbluff reported that Casey Stricker died Saturday in an apparent accident in a shop on his family’s farm. Stricker was a student at Hemingford Elementary School. Funeral services are scheduled for Friday at the United Methodist Church in Alliance. Burial will be in the Alliance Cemetery.

HARRISON, Neb. (AP) – A western Nebraska man accused of killing his 8-year-old stepdaughter has waived a preliminary hearing and his case has been advanced to trial level in Sioux County District Court. Authorities say 32-year-old Salvador Lopez killed Kerra Wilson and left her body on remote ranchland several miles north of their home in Mitchell last week. Scottsbluff radio station KNEB reported Monday that Lopez appeared in court without an attorney. He told the judge he didn’t want one. Lopez is being held without bail, pending his arraignment at district court in Harrison. He’s been charged with first-degree murder. Police spent two days searching for the girl after Lopez and her mother, Amanda Lopez, reported her missing. A Nebraska State Patrol investigator says in court documents that Lopez acknowledged killing his stepdaughter.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The longtime administrator of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s law enforcement division has decided to retire. Ted Blume has held the job for the past dozen years. He started at Game and Parks as a conservation officer in 1973. His retirement takes effect Oct. 14. Assistant administrator Craig Stover will become interim administrator on Oct. 15.

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) – The Nebraska State Patrol says investigators have found the body of an 8-year-old Panhandle girl in a remote area of Sioux County. The patrol says the Kerra Wilson’s stepfather, 32-year-old
Salvador Carlos Lopez of Mitchell, has been arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder in her death. Wilson was last seen Tuesday evening with her grandparents. Her stepfather reported dropping her off at Mitchell Elementary School, but investigators have determined that she never arrived at school. The patrol says a local rancher provided a tip that led to the discovery of the girl’s body.

LEXINGTON, Neb. (AP) – A 33-year-old Lexington man convicted on a drug charge has been given 15 years in federal prison. A news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office says Melvin Vaughn had pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute more than 280 grams of cocaine base. He was sentenced on Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Richard Kopf. Vaughn must serve five years of supervised release after he gets out of prison.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) – Nine months after FirsTier Bank paid $7.6 million for the Ramada Inn in Kearney, the bank has sold it to a hotel management company for $4.85 million. The Kearney Hub reports that a subsidiary of Colorado Hospitality Services bought the 206-room hotel earlier this month. The hotel management firm, which owns more than 20 other hotels, has been running the Ramada on an interim basis since last December when the bank foreclosed on the previous owner. The Ramada’s business is focused on conventions and banquets. The hotel management company says a new Italian restaurant should open soon at the hotel.

CHADRON, Neb. (AP) – The grandson of a fur trapper who traveled between Montana and Nebraska in the early 1880s has donated his journal to the Museum of the Fur Trade in Chadron. KQSK radio says James Flaherty’s journal tells of his work, the land, the people and the wildlife. Historian James Hanson says while the 1877-to-1886 period was vital in shaping northern Nebraska and southwest South Dakota, Flaherty’s journal is only the second contemporary writings from that time known to have survived. Flaherty, who became a dentist, sold over 400 pounds of beaver and other furs and paid his way through dental college in his native Wisconsin.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A California man who had 15.5 pounds of marijuana in gift-wrapped boxes in his trunk when he was arrested last year is going to jail. The Lincoln Journal Star reports that Lancaster County District Judge Karen Flowers sentenced 54-year-old Edwin Yearout Tuesday to 360 days in jail. He was given credit for one day he’d already spent in jail. Yearout, of Sacramento, pleaded no contest to possession of more than a pound of marijuana as part of a deal with prosecutors. Yearout was arrested last October after a Nebraska State Patrol trooper pulled him over for speeding on Interstate 80 in Lincoln. The drugs were found after a dog detected an odor coming from the trunk.