SCHUYLER, Neb. (AP) — A former bank employee who faked loans to steal from a bank branch in Schuyler has been given probation and been ordered to pay restitution.

Online court records say 38-year-old Diana Sanchez was sentenced Wednesday to 24 months of probation and 100 hours of community service. She’d pleaded no contest to four counts of theft after prosecutors dropped five more counts.

Prosecutors say Sanchez accessed customer information at the Pinnacle Bank branch to create and process loan checks ranging from about $5,000 to $30,000. Court documents say she cashed the checks at the bank and pocketed the money. Documents say the loans totaled nearly $157,000.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Omaha Public Power District is evaluating its long-term options for generating electricity.

The utility’s board meets Thursday and plans to discuss its options, which might include changing the mix of coal, nuclear, natural gas and wind power plants it relies on.

OPPD spends about $650 million a year on generating power, and that represents a little over half of its budget. So it wants a cost-effective mix.

But the utility also has to make sure it’s mix of power plants can comply with environmental rules and restrictions on carbon dioxide emissions.

OPPD typically gets about 30 percent of its power from its Fort Calhoun nuclear plant. The utility spent more than $100 million to repair Fort Calhoun after flooding and a small fire caused damage in 2011.

NORTH LOUP, Neb. (AP) — A 24-year-old North Loup woman has been accused of abusing her 4-week-old daughter.

Online court records say Jocelyn Nordin is charged with intentional child abuse. The records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for her. A home phone number for Nordin could not be found.

Valley County prosecutors say Nordin called 911 last week and reported that her baby wasn’t breathing. The baby eventually was flown to an Omaha hospital. Doctors say the infant had suffered a broken skull, bleeding in the brain and damage to her eyes.

Authorities say the baby had been dropped on her head twice and had been violently shaken.

SCHUYLER, Neb. (AP) — A Schuyler man has been given 30 to 40 years in prison for stabbing a woman.

Forty-three-year-old Amauri Herrera-Alvarez was sentenced Wednesday in Colfax County District Court. He’d pleaded no contest to a charge of attempted murder after prosecutors dropped a weapons charge. He was given credit for 555 days already served.

Prosecutors say the incident was discovered Nov. 2, 2014, outside a Schuyler apartment building. An officer cut a rope Herrera-Alvarez was using to hang himself from a tree. Inside the building, they found the injured woman, who was in a relationship with Herrera-Alvarez.

Herrera-Alvarez intended to plead not guilty by reason of insanity but eventually was found competent to stand trial.

HELENA, Mont. (AP) — Three states are getting ready for the possible return of grizzly bear hunting in the Rocky Mountains for the first time in decades.

The Obama administration has proposed lifting protections for grizzlies around Yellowstone National Park. The bears have been considered a threatened species since 1975, but wildlife officials say their population has sufficiently recovered.

Before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service makes a final decision by March 2017, it is requiring Wyoming, Montana and Idaho to outline what their grizzly bear hunting seasons would look like.

The three states are coordinating their plans. Montana releases an outline for its hunting regulations on Thursday.

Environmental groups say federal protections should remain until the state plans are thoroughly reviewed, and there should be a transitional period before hunting the iconic species is considered.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — State psychiatric experts say an Omaha man is competent to face a death-penalty hearing for killing four people just weeks after he left prison.

The Lincoln Regional Center doctors issued their declaration Wednesday regarding Nikko Jenkins. Jenkins was convicted in 2014 of first-degree murder in the fatal shooting of four people in Omaha over a 10-day period in August 2013. It will be up to a district court judge to set a competency hearing that will determine whether Jenkins can understand the death-penalty proceedings and help his lawyer.

A defense psychiatrist has testified at hearings that Jenkins suffers from schizophrenia and perhaps a bipolar disorder, while state psychiatrists have testified that Jenkins is faking mental illness.

GRETNA, Neb. (AP) — Officials say a fire has razed a suburban Omaha home belonging to a former Nebraska football player.

No injuries have been reported from the Gretna fire, which was reported a little after 6 a.m. Wednesday. Sarpy County records say the 2,900-square-foot ranch-style home is registered to Aaron Graham. He was the Huskers starting center from 1992 through 1995 and spent six seasons in the National Football League. The Huskers recruited him out of Denton, Texas.

Gretna Fire Chief Rod Buethe (BEE’-thee) says Graham and his family escaped unharmed from the blaze, which he says likely was touched off by a lightning strike. He says the state fire marshal’s office is investigating.

Graham didn’t immediately return a call from The Associated Press.

The National Weather Service has issued warnings for several Nebraska rivers that have been swollen with runoff from heavy rainfall.

The service has changed its warning for the North Platte River near Mitchell, saying moderate flooding is expected rather than just minor flooding. The river is expected to crest at nearly 9 feet Saturday afternoon. Minor flooding is expected at Lewellen and Lisco.

Warnings for minor flooding also have been issued for the Elkhorn River from Atkinson through O’Neill and the Missouri River in the southeast corner of Nebraska.

The service said Wednesday that a radar-estimated 4 to 7 inches of rain fell since Tuesday afternoon in parts of Hamilton, Polk and York counties, filling tributaries and the Big Blue River, which is expected to spill out of its banks.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha school for students with severe disabilities is planning to move to a new $10 million building in two years.

The new the J.P. Lord School will be built on a 10-acre site two miles south of its current campus at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. The building is scheduled to open for the 2018-2019 school year.

Nearly 60 students, ages 5 to 21, currently attend the school. They have multiple physical and cognitive disabilities, including cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, hearing loss and vision impairment.

The 45,000-square-foot school has been designed specifically for the medical and educational needs of the students. The plan includes large classrooms with plenty of storage, a stimulating multisensory room and a therapy pool.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln woman accused of euthanizing her dog by putting it into a plastic storage bag has taken a plea deal.

Online court records say 58-year-old Virginia Gilmore pleaded no contest Monday after prosecutors lowered a felony charge of animal neglect to a misdemeanor. She’s scheduled to be sentenced July 14.

Prosecutors say Gilmore had tied a guitar string around the dog’s stomach in an effort to remove a cyst that was dragging on the ground and then tried to cut if off. Prosecutors say Gilmore ultimately put the Pomeranian, Minnie, into the plastic storage bag.

Gilmore told an animal control officer she couldn’t afford to take her 20-year-old dog to a vet.