LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 44-year-old Lincoln man has been sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison for arranging to meet with a prostitute he believed was 15 years old.

44-year-old Nathan Meister was sentenced Tuesday in Lancaster County District Court after pleading guilty to attempted child enticement.

Meister had sought a two to four-year sentence, saying he was seeking treatment. But the judge said Meister was already a registered sex offender for a similar offense in Nebraska — actions that got him dishonorably discharged from the U.S. Air Force in 2009.

Police say Meister tried to meet with a girl who was actually an undercover officer in September 2016.

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — An eastern Nebraska man won’t be prosecuted for the shooting death of his wife.

Authorities say 72-year-old Dennis Teague was cleaning his .22-caliber pistol Thursday afternoon at their Sarpy County home when the gun fired. The bullet struck his wife, 68-year-old Afton Teague, in the head. She was pronounced dead at an Omaha hospital.

Sarpy County Attorney Lee Polikov said in a news release Tuesday evening that an investigation showed neither the intent to shoot nor reckless disregard on the part of Dennis Teague.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a fire has heavily damaged an apartment building in northern Lincoln.

The blaze at the Black Sand Apartment Homes was reported around 5 a.m. Wednesday and more than a dozen firetrucks eventually were dispatched as flames leaped from the roof.

No injuries have been reported.

The fire was brought under control by 6:15 a.m. The fire cause is being investigated.

WEEPING WATER, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska man faces an assisted suicide charge after authorities say he helped his girlfriend kill herself in the woods.

Cass County sheriff’s deputies charged 41-year-old Matthew J. Stubbendieck of Weeping Water in the death of 38-year-old Alicia Wilemon-Sullivan of Florida.

Authorities say Stubbendieck reported that Wilemon-Sullivan had killed herself and led them to her body Aug. 5 in a wooded area near Weeping Water, about 25 miles (40.23 kilometers) southwest of Omaha. They say the couple arranged for Wilemon-Sullivan to fly to Nebraska from her home near Orlando to kill herself on Aug. 1.

According to court documents, Stubbendieck believed his girlfriend had cancer. But a pathologist who performed an autopsy on her didn’t report any tumors.

Court records do not show whether Stubbendieck has an attorney.

MARYSVILLE, Kan. (AP) — Authorities have captured two inmates who are accused of obtaining two shotguns while escaping from a Kansas jail near the state’s northern border with Nebraska.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation says 46-year-old Jeffrey Guenther and 30-year-old Matson Hatfield escaped Saturday from the Marshall County Jail after a fire was lit in a cell.

The KBI says Hatfield fled to a nearby home and surrendered a short time later. A pickup truck also was stolen at gunpoint from a civilian county employee. The KBI says Guenther was arrested after rolling the truck in rural Gage County, Nebraska.

The KBI says shots were fired at a Kansas fire department truck and at a man in front of a home. No one was hurt, and no charges have been filed in the escape.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Officials in a southeast Nebraska county are crafting a policy that would allow people to buy a sign commemorating a loved one’s death instead of creating private, personal roadside memorials.

Lancaster County Engineer Pam Dingman says the proposal would allow people to choose from three varieties of blue, rectangular roadside signs. The signs would include the name of the person who died and a reminder to drive safely.

The sign would be posted for three years and cost the person’s survivors about $100.

Dingman says private roadside memorials can create safety hazards because county roads aren’t meant to have people stopping to drop things off. She says the proposed signs are a safe way to pay tribute to those who died on county roads.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Officials are starting to remove the rubble remains of a Lincoln home that was torn apart by a fatal explosion in August.

Neighbors complained to city officials and American Family Insurance about the lack of action in addressing the debris. A spokeswoman for the home insurer said Thursday the company has ordered cleanup to begin.

The Aug. 14 explosion leveled the home of Jim and Jeanne Jasa. Jeanne Jasa died as a result of the blast. Jim Jasa was still hospitalized as of Thursday.

Lincoln police are still investigating what caused the natural gas-fed blast. Police are treating it as a criminal investigation.

The insurance spokeswoman says contractors could begin removing debris as early as Friday. She doesn’t know how long the job will take.

___

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Federal authorities have arrested a man after what officials say is was the largest seizure of the drug fentanyl ever in Nebraska.

Drug Enforcement Administration agents arrested 27-year-old Edgar Navarro-Aguirre on Wednesday after seizing about 33 pounds of the drug, which is an opioid up to 50 times more potent than heroin. Even tiny doses of the drug can be fatal.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Navarro-Aguirre was traveling on an Amtrak train and was waiting at the Omaha station when agents noticed a suspicious bag. After getting approval to search the bag, they found the fentanyl.

Navarro-Aguirre faces charges of possession with intent to distribute a substance containing fentanyl. His initial federal court appearance will be Friday afternoon.

It wasn’t clear if he has a lawyer who could discuss the matter.

The potential street value was estimated at around $15 million.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha authorities say a man has been hospitalized after he was rescued from beneath a van.

Thirty-six-year-old Aaron Miezejeski was taken to Nebraska Medical Center a little after 11 a.m. Wednesday.

Miezejeski became pinned under the van while working on it for Ricky Bullinger. Bullinger told police that the right front tire had had rolled onto Miezejeski, pressing against Miezejeski’s upper torso, neck and a shoulder.

Bullinger says when he saw Miezejeski’s predicament, he quickly got jacks from his garage and used them to free Miezejeski. Bullinger says Miezejeski “was turning purple” by that time.

A neighbor called 911.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha police say a 41-year-old man was arrested after he broke into his brother’s home and stabbed him.

Officers responded to the incident on the northwest side of Omaha around 10:25 a.m. Thursday. Police say the officers found the 38-year-old injured man holding down his older brother.

The injured man was taken to an Omaha hospital. His brother was taken to jail on suspicion of assault and other crimes. Online court records don’t yet list the case.