NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. (AP) — State officials have announced that target shooting will no longer be allowed at a southeastern Nebraska wildlife management area.

Hamburg Bend Wildlife Management Area in Otoe County is now closed to target shooting.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission says the closure comes at the request of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which owns the property, as well a sanitary improvement district that managed the Missouri River levee on the site.

They asked that target shooting be prohibited because of safety concerns for neighboring landowners and area users, as well as erosion of the river levee.

Target shooting is permitted on wildlife management areas in the state unless restricted or prohibited by posted signs or by special area regulations.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Officials say Papio-Missouri River NRD Elkhorn River access parks in eastern Nebraska will not reopen as planned Saturday.

The parks have been closed due to high water in the river causing potentially hazardous boating conditions.

NRD General Manager John Winkler says in a news release that unexpected heavy rain overnight Friday and early Saturday has again raised water levels in the Elkhorn River. Winkler says officials hate to close the sites during the Father’s Day weekend, but “public safety has to rule the day.”

The sites remaining closed include Elkhorn Crossing near 252nd Street and Bennington Road, Graske Crossing off West Dodge Road and the West Maple Road site.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The owner of a downtown Omaha building severely damaged by fire last winter says it could be rebuilt and ready for retail occupants as soon as next spring.

Mark Mercer, owner of the building, says Nouvelle Eve, a women’s boutique that had been in the building’s southwest corner, might be able to move back next spring or summer.

He says the space that once held the popular M’s Pub will take longer to reconstruct. Mercer and his wife, Vera, lost their home on the top floor of the building.

City of Omaha officials and safety regulators have said a Minnesota excavation company caused the fire when they struck a natural gas line Jan. 9 in front M’s Pub in the Old Market area.

HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — A former Hastings police detective has been accused of conning people out of thousands of dollars to pay what he said were medical expenses that officials say were covered by insurance.

Court records say 46-year-old Jerry Esch is charged with theft. A Hastings phone listed for Esch is no longer in service. Court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could speak on his behalf.

Nebraska State Patrol investigators say in court documents that Esch wrote a deceptive post on an internet crowdfunding website, asking for help in paying $27,000 in medical expenses not covered by insurance during his battle with melanoma. His doctors had to amputate part of his right leg.

But Hastings officials told investigators that Esch’s story didn’t square with the city’s policy for police.

GREENWOOD, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Department of Agriculture has confirmed the presence of the emerald ash borer in Cass County, southwest of Omaha.

The department says the invasive beetle was found on private property in Greenwood. The announcement of the discovery comes 10 days after officials said the insect was found first discovered in Nebraska — in an Omaha park.

Emerald ash borers are native to Asia and were first spotted in the U.S. in 2002, when it showed up in Detroit. The species has since spread to at least 25 states and killed millions of trees.

The insect feeds on tree tissue beneath the bark and destroys its ability to move water and nutrients to branches. Trees usually die within five years once they are infected.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A mistrial has been declared in the case of an Arizona man charged with sexually assaulted another student in a dorm at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The case against 19-year-old Christopher Petersen went to jurors Thursday, but they were unable to reach a verdict by Friday afternoon and a mistrial declared.

Prosecutors say Petersen and the woman went to her room on Sept. 5 last year and began kissing. The woman told investigators that Petersen continued kissing and groping her after she told him to stop. Petersen said he never heard her say no.

Prosecutors must decide whether to try the case again or drop the charge against Petersen. Defense attorney Bob Creager (KREE’-gur) says he’ll also consider his client’s options.

ELGIN, Iowa (AP) — A 4-year-old boy has died after being shot in the head in a small town in Iowa.

The Fayette County Sheriff’s Office says deputies found the boy with a gunshot wound to his head in Elgin after two 911 calls Friday afternoon.

The child was pronounced dead at a hospital in West Union. Two adults and two small children were also at the scene.

Authorities haven’t released any additional details about the shooting, including how it happened or the boy’s name.

The Sheriff’s Office has asked the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation for assistance.

Elgin is a town of about 680 people that’s about 170 miles northeast of Des Moines.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A jury will resume deliberations Friday on whether a student from Arizona sexually assaulted another student in a dorm at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The case against Christopher Petersen went to jurors Thursday, but they were unable to reach a verdict.

A court affidavit says Petersen and the woman went to the woman’s room on Sept. 5 last year and began kissing. The woman told investigators that Petersen continued kissing and groping her after she told him to stop. Petersen said he never heard her say no.

The 19-year-old Petersen is from Scottsdale, Arizona.

Defense attorney Bob Creager (KREE’-gur) said in his closing arguments that the issue isn’t whether the woman consented, but “whether she conveyed her lack of consent.”

SCHUYLER, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have released the name of a teenage girl who was fatally injured in a Schuyler crash after a brief police chase.

Colfax County authorities identified the 15-year-old as Isabella Brandt, of Schuyler.

The accident occurred around 11:15 p.m., on Wednesday, after officers pursued a car that was being driven erratically. The officers soon halted the pursuit because of safety concerns. Within minutes, they were sent to check a report that the car had rammed a tree.

Brandt was found on the ground near the car. Authorities say she was flown to a Lincoln hospital, where she was pronounced dead. The driver was flown to an Omaha hospital for treatment, and a 15-year-old male passenger was taken to a Schuyler hospital.

Authorities suspect the driver had been drinking alcohol.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The public campground at Lake Cunningham near Omaha’s airport has been closed after testing showed traces of E. coli in the well water.

The campground was closed Thursday after a water sample tested Wednesday showed the presence of E. coli.

E. coli is a bacterium that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration and, in the most severe cases, kidney failure. The very young, the elderly and those with weak immune systems are the most susceptible.

Water samples are taken weekly and tested by the Nebraska Health Department.

Officials say the state will treat the water before the campground can reopen.

Campers using the Lake Cunningham campground will get a refund and have the option to move to the nearby NP Dodge campground.