FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — A Fremont man accused of beating up and choking his girlfriend is scheduled to be sentenced March 27.

27-year-old Jacob Booze pleaded no contest Monday to felony strangulation and false imprisonment. His plea deal calls for two sentences of three years, to be served consecutively. The judge is not bound by the agreement.

Authorities say he choked and suffocated her early in the morning of Nov. 1, after she returned home from a night out with a friend. Authorities say he stomped on her face, menaced her with a shower curtain bar and threatened to kill her.

She was treated later at a hospital for facial fractures.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a man who was electrocuted and burned in a downtown Omaha building has died.

On Tuesday Nebraska Medical Center spokesman Taylor Wilson confirmed the death of 59-year-old Steven Nitz, but Wilson said privacy rules prevented him from saying when Nitz died.

Authorities say Nitz was working as a contract electrician for Sprint Communications when he was injured Dec. 13. Firefighters soon put out the small fire, and investigators say the blaze was an accident.

GRETNA, Neb. (AP) — Even though state laws protect existing burial sites, protection of tiny pioneer cemeteries in Nebraska is proving hard to enforce because of growing housing developments.

Many of the at least 40 pioneer cemeteries in Sarpy County are tucked away on private property, leaving it up to the property owners to ensure the subtlest of them will survive.

But leaders of the Nebraska State Historical Society have heard of cases of property owners throwing away gravestones for renovations on the land. Rob Bozell, the society’s archaeologist, says the county relies on citizen reporting to be able to enforce the preservation of those abandoned cemeteries.

State law defines pioneer cemeteries as burial sites established before 1900, and have the graves of some of Nebraska’s first white settlers and Native Americans.

AINSWORTH, Neb. (AP) — A March forfeiture hearing has been scheduled to determine whether authorities will keep nearly $41,000 seized during a traffic stop in Brown County.

A trooper stopped a speeding vehicle Jan. 6 on U.S. Highway 183. Brown County Attorney David Streich says the trooper got permission to search the vehicle and then found the cash in a bag.

Streich says both people in the vehicle denied any knowledge of the cash, so the trooper followed state law and seized the money. He says that if no one were to claim the money, half would go schools in Brown County and rest to the county’s fund for drug enforcement and education.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Firefighters and police officers are protesting a pension overhaul bill aimed at Nebraska’s two largest cities.

The bill set for a hearing Tuesday would offer a cash-balance retirement plan to newly hired officers and firefighters in Omaha and Lincoln, rather than a traditional pension. Cash-balance plans are similar to pension plans but also have characteristics of 401(k)-style plans.

Supporters say cash balance plans would help Omaha and Lincoln address their pension liabilities. The cities’ firefighter and police unions say they would endanger public safety by making it harder to recruit new firefighters and police officers. They also argue that employees would be more likely to leave for other cities that offer better benefits.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 47-year-old Douglas County Jail inmate remains hospitalized after a weekend altercation with several guards.

Douglas County Corrections Lt. Daniel Scherer said Monday that Robert Groenjes assaulted several corrections officers Saturday night.

After guards subdued Groenjes he was taken to a hospital for treatment. Details of why he was hospitalized weren’t immediately released.

Douglas County Sheriff’s Sgt. John Pankonin told the Omaha World-Herald that the incident remains under investigation, so some details of what happened are unclear.

Groenjes has been in in the jail since Jan. 29 on suspicion of second-degree assault.

BELDEN, Neb. (AP) — Several rail cars have spilled corn into a field from a train derailment in northeast Nebraska’s Cedar County.

The accident was reported a little after 10 p.m. Saturday, near U.S. Highway 20 about a mile from Belden.

A BNSF spokesman says the train had 114 units but only nine of them derailed. No injuries have been reported.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A group of Omaha high school students will participate in a local chapter of a nationwide mentor program so they can eventually design a new addition for Norris Middle School.

Nearly 80 students from four high schools will meet weekly with professional mentors during the spring semester as part of the Architecture, Construction and Engineering Mentor Program. The mentors come from nearly 30 participating companies in Omaha and will help students work on their design and collaboration skills.

Norris Middle School is scheduled for a $26.5 million renovation and addition. School officials hope the students in charge of designing the addition will gain exposure and connections to future jobs.

The students toured the school last week and will present their designs in May.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The city of Lincoln has started a pilot emergency assistance program to house vulnerable families whose homes have been labeled as uninhabitable.

The city is putting aside $20,000 to help people get into an affordable home or apartment with money for temporary housing, the first month’s rent or a security deposit. The pilot program is a joint effort between the Health department and Building and Safety departments.

The city plans to contract with the Community Action Partnership of Lancaster and Saunders counties to provide case management services. Local Health Department Director Judy Halstead says families without resources whose homes are considered uninhabitable will be referred to Community Action, where caseworkers are expected to respond quickly.

CLARKS, Neb. (AP) — Residents of a Merrick County village that lost its last local grocery in 2015 are considering establishing a co-op store.

Clarks residents have been invited to an informational meeting on Feb. 22 at the old grocery store. The goal: Sell $175,000 in shares for the project to continue.

After a previous grocery closed in 2011, local investors bought the building and opened Len and Jo’s Supermarket. It went out of business in 2015. Since then, residents have been patronizing the local convenience store or driving 10 miles to the nearest supermarket in Central City.

A community survey in the town of about 360 conducted in 2015 showed 89 percent of respondents consider a grocery store to be important.