JANSEN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a driver died after his car ran off a highway and into an embankment in southeast Nebraska’s Jefferson County.

The crash was reported a little before 10:30 p.m. Thursday. Beatrice radio station KWBE (https://bit.ly/2jwP0eC) reports that Sheriff Nelson Sorensen says the car was westbound on U.S. Highway 136 when it crashed about two miles southwest of Jansen, ejecting the driver.

The driver was pronounced at the scene. Sorensen identified him as 49-year-old Kent Pfingsten, of Fairbury. Investigators suspect alcohol consumption played a role in the crash.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say the owner of a dog whose carcass was found inside a cage in Lincoln has pleaded no contest and been convicted.

22-year-old Leslie Byron could get probation or up to two years in prison when she’s sentenced in April for animal neglect or abandonment resulting in death.

The kennel and dog carcass were spotted March 1. Byron told investigators that she had trouble finding a place to live that would allow dogs, so she left the Labrador retriever, Diamond, in the kennel in some woods and would visit and feed her.

Byron says she got busy and didn’t visit Diamond for about three weeks and then discovered the dog had died.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A mistrial has been declared in the trial of a man accused of killing his uncle’s girlfriend in Omaha.

The ruling came Thursday in the trial of Kevin Mariscal, who’s charged with first-degree murder in the July 2010 slaying of 50-year-old Barbara Gonzales. Investigators have said Mariscal was upset with Gonzales, blaming her for his car being towed.

Judge Thomas Otepka made the mistrial ruling after it was learned that an Omaha police detective hadn’t turned over several phone records to the defense.

A new trial date hasn’t been set. Mariscal already is serving prison time for an unrelated kidnapping conviction in Sarpy County.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A judge says a Nebraska woman must pay back $260,000 she took from her former employer in Iowa.

Beth Beutler, of Waterloo, Nebraska, was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to charges of theft and ongoing criminal activity. Several other counts were dropped in exchange for her pleas. She was given a suspended prison sentence of 25 years, a jail sentence of 60 days and five years of probation.

Police say Beutler used a checking machine to withdraw thousands of dollars. The machine lets truck drivers access funds from across the country by giving clerks at truck stops an authorization code to pay for fuel, services or get cash.

Police say Beutler got the authorization codes while working at McMullen Brothers Trucking in Carter Lake.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Iowa woman charged with first-degree murder for what police say was the killing of a romantic rival has pleaded not guilty.

A judge on Thursday also granted 41-year-old Shanna Golyar’s request for a bench trial, set to begin May 10.

Golyar, Persia, Iowa, is charged in the 2012 disappearance-turned-homicide case of 37-year-old Cari Farver. Golyar was arrested in December of 2016 in connection to Farver’s disappearance, who was last seen in Omaha.

Police say Golyar posed as Farver online and by phone for years after Farver’s disappearance, and also posed as other people confessing to having murdered Farver. A sergeant testified Farver had been dating Golyar’s ex-boyfriend for some weeks when she disappeared.

Farver is presumed dead, although her body has not been found.

DENISON, Iowa (AP) — Iowa officials say the body of a 15-year-old Denison girl missing for a week has been pulled from the Boyer River.

Crawford County Sheriff Jim Steinkuehler says searchers found the body of Yoana Acosta around 3:45 p.m. Thursday in the western Iowa tributary.

The teen disappeared Jan. 19 after a car she was riding in crashed into the river. A 25-year-old man driving the car and three other teens managed to escape.

The driver, Ramon Hernandez of Denison, is in the Crawford County jail on charges of drug distribution to minors, marijuana possession, reckless driving, driving under suspension and failure to maintain control.

Hernandez’s attorney did not immediately return a message Thursday seeking comment.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police have arrested a 33-year-old man suspected of killing an Omaha resident.

Police say Malik Stelly was arrested Thursday and jailed. Online court records say he’s charged with first-degree murder, possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and use of a firearm. The records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for Stelly.

He’s accused of shooting to death 28-year-old D’Angelo Branch on Jan. 11.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln man has been given 30 to 40 years in prison for shooting two men in a botched marijuana deal.

Online court records say 28-year-old Leshawn Rogers was sentenced Wednesday in Lancaster County District Court. He’d pleaded no contest to two counts of assault after prosecutors reduced them in exchange for Rogers’ pleas.

Police say the shootings of the two Omaha residents occurred Feb. 11 last year at a home in Lincoln.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha school teacher is facing another child sex assault case.

A Douglas County judge ruled Wednesday that Daryl Clark will stand trial in a case that dates back to the 2004-2005 school year.

Prosecutors say a 24-year-old woman approached police after learning that Clark had been charged. She told authorities that Clark molested her when she was 11 and he was tutoring her at Beveridge Magnet Middle School. Her allegations were investigated but he was not prosecuted.

A district spokeswoman says he wasn’t fired then because there wasn’t enough information to do so. He was transferred to Monroe Middle School, where he was arrested in the most recent case.

Clark has pleaded not guilty to three counts of child sexual assault and one of having a firearm on school grounds.