AURORA, Neb. (AP) — A judge has rejected challenges by two men charged in a murder-for-hire plot, who argue there in not enough evidence to send their cases to felony court.

37-year-old Robert Honken, of Aurora, and 30-year-old Derrick Shirley, of Bradshaw, argued prosecutors had not shown there was an agreement between them to kill Honken’s wife. A judge disagreed Thursday.

Police say Honken had hired Shirley earlier this year to kill his wife, but that Shirley had backed out. Police say Honken then tried to hire another hitman, who turned out to be an undercover officer.

Shirley is charged with conspiracy to commit first-degree murder; Honken faces two identical counts.

Honken is set to be arraigned July 15. Shirley’s arraignment is set for Aug. 4.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln Public Schools could lose federal funding for its preschool programs, if it doesn’t make a big change soon.

Federal officials have told the district it will need to expand its half-day preschool programs in elementary schools to full-day programs, if it wants to keep its federal funding.

District officials say the schools currently can teach 1,200 students using the half-day system. That number would be cut in half if the schools move to full-day preschool.

The funding change is set to begin in the 2017-18 school year.

Lincoln Public Schools officials say they hope to have a decision on which way to go by August.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A federal appeals court has upheld a lower court’s dismissal of the Nebraska State College Board of Trustees from a lawsuit over the 2010 disappearance of a 19-year-old Peru State student.

The mother of Tyler “Ty” Thomas sued the board, saying it violated Title IX, the 1972 law that prohibits sex discrimination in schools, by failing to protect Ty Thomas from harm.

Thomas disappeared after encountering Joshua Keadle, a fellow Peru State student now in prison for raping another teen. Thomas has since been declared dead.

A federal judge dismissed the college board from the lawsuit last year, saying that while officials could have done more to protect Thomas, attorneys for Thomas failed to show deliberate indifference by college officials.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals agreed on Friday.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — State health and environment officials have issued health alerts for toxic blue-green algae at Iron Horse Trail Lake in Pawnee County and Kirkman’s Cove in Richardson County.

Officials say in a news release Friday that the alerts were issued following tests of the lake water. An alert has ended at Harlan County Reservoir.

Skin exposed to the toxin from certain strains of blue-green algae can develop rashes and blisters. Someone who drinks water containing the toxin is at risk for headaches, nausea and muscular pain.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Jurors are expected to resume deliberations Friday in the second trial of a lawsuit filed against Gage County by people wrongfully convicted in a 1985 rape and slaying.

Closing arguments were made Thursday and deliberations began. The six people — James Dean, Kathleen Gonzalez, Debra Shelden, Ada JoAnn Taylor, Joseph White and Thomas Winslow — were wrongly convicted of killing Helen Wilson in Beatrice and served a combined 77 years in prison before DNA testing cleared them in 2008. They’ve become known as the Beatrice Six.

The first trial last year ended in a mistrial.

Jurors were asked Thursday to award the six at least half a million dollars for each year they spent in prison — more than $37.5 million total.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say two children are safe after being abducted from a home in northwest Omaha.

Omaha police say the children’s mother and three other people barged into the home a little before 6 p.m. Thursday and took the 5- and 7-year-old kids. Police soon shared information with other agencies about a minivan involved, and a Nebraska state trooper later spotted the vehicle on Interstate 80 near Waverly and pulled it over.

The children were found inside, unhurt. Authorities say four adults were arrested.

The names of those involved haven’t been released. Authorities say the children’s mother isn’t supposed to have contact with the children.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers says a recent water sample shows the presence of invasive zebra mussel larva in west Omaha’s Lake Zorinsky.

The corps says the larvae are microscopic, and that there is no indication that they are a threat to the dam’s infrastructure.

There are no immediate plans to lower Lake Zorinsky or use any chemicals to treat the lake for zebra mussels.

The small black-and-white striped mussels, native to eastern Europe, are voracious eaters, gobbling up plankton that many native freshwater fish need to survive.

The mussels can also attach themselves to boat motors, bait buckets and dam mechanisms, causing damage to motors and facilities.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln police say they’ve arrested two southeast Nebraska men on suspicion of selling homemade fireworks.

The two Firth men, ages 38 and 34, were arrested and jailed Wednesday after police were initially called to investigate a possible drug deal.

Police say the 38-year-old sold 40 fireworks for $4 each to another person in the Lincoln Airport Authority parking lot Wednesday afternoon.

During the course of the investigation, police talked to the seller’s neighbor and searched his garage, finding fuses, powder, bottle rockets and nearly 20 homemade fireworks.