OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Firefighters and others have freed a worker trapped for nearly seven hours in a deep trench in west Omaha.

Officials say the worker became trapped when the walls of the 7- to 8-foot hole in a yard partially collapsed Tuesday, trapping the 23-year-old man’s legs. Temperatures during the ordeal ranged from about 20 to 30 degrees during the ordeal, leading to concerns that the worker could become hypothermic.

He was finally freed around 4 p.m. Tuesday.

Authorities say the man had been hired by the property owner to do sewer repair work.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Federal and state authorities have accused a Lincoln National Guardsman of producing pornography with a 16-year-old girl in Omaha.

37-year-old Matthew Rouse (rows) was named in a federal indictment unsealed Friday. Rouse also faces state porn charges in Douglas County. His attorney, John Berry, said Tuesday that Rouse will plead not guilty in both cases.

Authorities say Rouse went to an Omaha motel between Dec. 23 and Jan. 27 to meet the girl for sex, took video and then sent it to her.

A Guard spokesman, Lt. Col. Kevin Hynes, says Rouse is a master sergeant assigned to full-time work with the 92nd Troop Command in Lincoln. Hynes says Rouse has been placed on leave.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha man who robbed a Dunkin’ Donuts has been sentenced to prison by federal authorities who are helping local police deal with a jump in commercial robberies.

27-year-old Robert Brannon was sentenced Monday to six years in federal prison for interference with commerce by means of robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

On January 2016, Brannon entered the Dunkin’ Donuts apparently armed, and stole about $150 from the cash registers. He was arrested two days later.

U.S. Attorney’s Office general crimes unit Chief Jan Sharp says the robbery can be prosecuted federally because the chain business operates in more than one state. Sharp says federal officials are aiding local authorities in handling a spike in commercial robberies.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Omaha police union has approved a new contract with the city, exchanging raises over the next four years for higher health insurance deductibles and pension contributions.

The contract goes into effect March 22, having been approved by the City Council last week. There will be a 2.5 percent retroactive raise for 2016 and then yearly 3 percent raises until the contract expires in 2020.

The new contract arrives after years of wrangling.

In 2014 the union successfully sued to extend for a year the terms of the contract that expired at the end of 2013. Negotiations continued, but the issue of 2015 wages was taken to the State Commission of Industrial Relations.

Before the commission could rule, a tentative contract agreement was reached.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 49-year-old Texas woman is scheduled to be sentenced next month for cashing her father-in-law’s Nebraska retirement checks after he died.

Court records say a jury convicted Sarah Kelley of theft by deception on Friday. Kelley, who lives in Moody, Texas, is set to be sentenced April 19.

Prosecutors say that between July 2012 and May 2014, Kelley cashed and deposited into her account 23 checks issued to Thomas P. White from his Nebraska Public Employees Retirement System annuity. He had died May 21, 2012, however.

The jury determined that Kelley gained nearly $40,000 from her scheme.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 59-year-old Plattsmouth man has pleaded guilty to fraud that cost two banks nearly $800,000.

Prosecutors say Mark Tincher entered the plea Monday in U.S. District Court in Omaha. He’s scheduled to be sentenced June 12.

Prosecutors say that between April 2010 and June 2010, Tincher manipulated checks between four banks at which he maintained accounts. His action, called check kiting, artificially inflated the balances.

At one time Tincher ran Tincher Chevrolet Oldsmobile in Plattsmouth. It closed in July 2011. In May 2014 the U.S. Labor Department sued him, saying neither Tincher nor his company appointed anyone else to administer and manage a 401(k) retirement plan he’d set up. The lawsuit was settled later.

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — Bellevue City Council has voted to seek money for a 90-foot observation tower as part of a $1.7 million Missouri River research station the University of Nebraska at Omaha wants to build.

Matt Knutson, an architect working with the university’s Nebraska Watershed Network, told the council last month that the tower would be a major local landmark and an integral component to the research station.

The proposed tower would go on the north end of American Heroes Park. Estimated to cost over $1 million, it would be the project’s most expensive component. Council members expect private grants to fund the tower.

The overall project also includes a research station to monitor water quality, an interpretive center to attract students, an observation deck over the river and a landscaped garden.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A judge has ordered tests to determine whether a former doctor convicted of killing four people connected to an Omaha medical school is competent to face a death penalty hearing.

Anthony Garcia sat silent in court Monday at a hearing to determine his competency. Judge Gary Randall warned Garcia that if he didn’t answer questions, he’d be sent to the state psychiatric hospital for testing. Garcia remained mum, so Randall ordered him to the hospital.

In October, Garcia was convicted of killing the 11-year-old son and a housekeeper of Creighton University faculty member William Hunter in 2008 and killing pathology doctor Roger Brumback and his wife in 2013.

Prosecutors say Garcia blamed Hunter and Brumback for his firing 15 years ago from Creighton’s pathology residency program.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — The Salvation Army says it wants to raise $250,000 to keep its men’s shelter open in Grand Island.

The shelter regularly helps several hundred men each year by offering 24 beds and an assortment of programs.

Maj. Chuck Yockey says the program needs a significant long-term investment to continue.

Shelter Director Deny Cacy says the facility works with the men staying there to help them get any identification they might need to get re-established.

The organization also helps men find work and get clothing they might need for job interviews and daily life.