OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — In a split decision, a federal appeals panel has sided with the city of Lincoln in a civil rights lawsuit by a man who was arrested and convicted of trespassing for handing out religious leaflets outside an arena on public land.

Larry Ball appealed last year after a federal court in Lincoln granted the city’s request for summary judgment, ending Ball’s lawsuit.

The 80-year-old Ball sued after being found guilty in 2015 of two misdemeanor trespassing counts and fined $100. Ball maintains the area in front of the Pinnacle Bank Arena entrance is for public use and that the city violated his free-speech rights.

But two of a panel of three 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals judges on Tuesday agreed that the city’s policy restricting use of the plaza is reasonable.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A woman has been sent to federal prison for health care fraud in Nebraska.

Chandra Wrightsell, who ran Evol Consulting, was sentenced Tuesday in Lincoln to 18 months behind bars and was told to pay nearly $106,000 in restitution.

Court records say that between December 2011 and July 2014, the 47-year-old Wrightsell submitted nearly 1,200 false claims to Nebraska Medicaid for her mental health and substance abuse treatment company.

It’s her second federal sentence in 10 years. In 2007 Wrightsell was sentenced to 15 months for embezzling more than $101,000 while working as vice president of marketing for First National Bank of Omaha.

GRETNA, Neb. (AP) — An eastern Nebraska woman says lessons her son learned in Cub Scouts saved her life.

Rebecca Campbell says she and her three children had just begun to eat supper last Wednesday at their Gretna home when a piece of chicken lodged in her throat. She got up but then collapsed, unable to talk or catch a breath.

Soon her 8-year-old son, Caden, was at her side while his younger sister, Lilly, pulled away the family dog and his older brother, Colton, stood ready with a tissue to grab the chicken. Caden then employed the Heimlich maneuver, thrusting his fists upward on her abdomen several times until the meat loosened and his mom could cough and breathe.

She says she told Caden, “‘Do you know you just saved my life?'”

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha teen has been sentenced to 70 to 120 years in prison for the 2015 shooting deaths of two other teens.

Courvoisier Sims was sentenced Tuesday in Douglas County District Court after pleading guilty in July of two counts of first-degree murder. Prosecutors say he was 15 when he killed 17-year-old Brandon Phelps and 19-year-old James Star in December 2015 in northeast Omaha shooting.

Prosecutors say Sims was a gang member who was trying to buy a gun when the shooting happened.

But a defense attorney says Sims panicked and shot the teens because he thought he was being robbed.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a driver has died after his speeding sport utility vehicle struck a parked vehicle in northeast Omaha.

The accident occurred around 12:55 a.m. Tuesday. Police say the SUV rolled onto its driver side after the impact, ejecting the driver.

He was pronounced dead at the scene. Police have identified him as 37-year-old Jeremy Lukowski, who lived in Omaha.

WEST POINT, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 57-year-old man has been killed in a northeast Nebraska collision.

The accident occurred on a county road around 9:45 a.m. Saturday, about 4½ miles (8 kilometers) southwest of West Point. The Cuming County Sheriff’s Office says northbound and southbound vehicles collided, killing the driver of the northbound vehicle. He’s been identified as David Guenther, who lived in West Point.

The other driver was taken to an Omaha hospital. He’s been identified as 22-year-old Ryan Lawrence, also of West Point.

DECATUR, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Transportation Department says a Missouri River bridge that connects Decatur, Nebraska, to western Iowa will reopen Monday morning, well ahead of schedule.

Weather permitting, the bridge will open to one lane of traffic controlled by flaggers or temporary signals. Width restrictions will remain in place.

Workers have been making structural repairs to abutments on each end of the bridge, and pavement leading up to the bridge on each side is being replaced.

The reopening had been scheduled for Sept. 11.

NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have released the name of a Norfolk man who’s been stabbed to death.

Norfolk police identified the man Monday as 39-year-old Yosvanis Velazquez Gomez. Police say he was slain Friday afternoon at a Norfolk apartment complex.

A 48-year-old Norfolk man turned himself in Friday night and was jailed on suspicion of first-degree murder. Online court records don’t show that he’s been formally charged.

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — A 25-year-old Bellevue man has been given 30 to 40 years in prison for the death of his girlfriend’s toddler.

Sarpy County District Court records say Armond Floyd was sentenced Monday in Papillion (puh-PIHL’-yuhn). He’d pleaded guilty to intentional child abuse causing injury after prosecutors lowered the charge from intentional child abuse causing death.

Prosecutors say Floyd put his hand over Imani Edwards’ mouth and nose for about 30 seconds on Nov. 13 because the child was crying. Court documents say Floyd told police he grabbed the almost-2-year-old by an arm and swung her into a wall.

He said he put her in a bathtub and left her unattended for about 10 minutes. She was face-down when he returned. She died in a hospital two days later.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A former Lincoln police officer is forging relationships with schoolchildren as he rebuilds his life after being paralyzed.

52-year-old Jerome Blowers was hired in January as an entrance monitor at Kooser Elementary. This is his first job since flipping into an above-ground pool in 2014, leaving him paralyzed nearly everywhere except his arms and hands. The accident forced him to retire as a police officer after 22 years.

Blowers is establishing relationships with children after finding that he relates to children and enjoys spending time with them.

Teachers say they seek out Blowers to help students with math and social skills or just to be a friend. He says he instills positivity in children, especially ones who face similar disability-related challenges as he does.