OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha police have arrested a man in connection to the 2007 death of a woman.

Police announced on Friday that 33-year-old Charles Simmer faces a first-degree murder charge in the Omaha stabbing death of 50-year-old Joy Blanchard.

Officials found Blanchard dead in November 2007.

Grant funding allowed police to complete additional DNA testing which resulted in the Friday arrest.

Court records do not list the name of an attorney who could comment on Simmer’s behalf.

BRUNING, Neb. (AP) — A man’s body has been discovered in southern Nebraska following a midweek winter storm.

Authorities Thursday morning found the body of 69-year-old Dale Wilkening near Bruning. Fillmore County Sheriff William Burgess says a housekeeper called police Thursday after she came to clean the man’s home and couldn’t find him.

Police believe Wilkening experienced car trouble Wednesday night and decided to walk to his destination even though he was not wearing appropriate clothing for a winter storm that covered much of the state that evening.

Authorities found his body less than a quarter mile from his vehicle.

An autopsy is pending.

MADISON, Neb. (AP) — A recall drive is targeting the mayor of Madison in northeast Nebraska.

Alvin Brandl was elected in November 2014 and has drawn some local fire for his appointment to various city boards. A document filed with Madison County says Brandl should be recalled because his conduct in appointing officials has resulted “in needless conflict, confrontation and the inability of the city to function properly.” The document also says Brandl doesn’t conduct city business openly.

Brandl says it’s his job as mayor to make appointments and also says the city is doing very well.

The recall petition needs 170 registered Madison voters to sign it for a special recall election to be held.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 28-year-old Lincoln woman has been charged in connection with the drowning death of her stepson.

Lincoln police Wednesday charged Jacqueline Cooley with felony child abuse in the January death of 2-year-old Jase Queen.

Police say Cooley found her stepson face down and not breathing in a bathtub filled with about 10 inches of water. She told police that she left the child, who had Down syndrome, unattended for a few minutes while seeking a towel.

Cooley attempted CPR but he was pronounced dead days later at an Omaha hospital.

Investigators say Cooley frequently left children alone in the bathtub, including Jase in November 2015. After being found not breathing, he was revived.

Online court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment on her behalf.

PENDER, Neb. (AP) — Attorneys say the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that Pender is within the boundaries of the Omaha Indian Reservation doesn’t mean the tribe can begin collecting from local businesses a tribal tax on liquor sales.

On Tuesday the high court upheld lower court rulings favoring the tribe, saying that Congress did not diminish the Omaha Indian Reservation in 1882 when it allowed the Omaha Tribe to sell portions of the reservation to non-Indians.

The tribe began subjecting Pender retailers to a newly amended ordinance in 2006, imposing a 10 percent sales tax on liquor sales. The business owners sued.

The tribe’s attorney general, Maurice Johnson, and Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson say the ruling only confirmed that Pender is part of the reservation and didn’t answer the tax issue.

OTTAWA, Kan. (AP) — Jurors have convicted an eastern Kansas man in the fatal shootings of three adults and a toddler in 2013.

Franklin County court officials say the jury found 30-year-old Kyle Flack guilty of capital murder on Wednesday for the deaths of Kaylie Bailey and her 18-month-old daughter, Lana. That means Flack could face the death penalty when sentenced next week.

He also was convicted in the deaths of Bailey’s boyfriend, Andrew Stout, and his roommate, Steven White, who lived in a rural farmhouse where Flack sometimes stayed.

It’s unclear what led to the shootings. Investigators say Flack at one point told detectives that two drug dealers may have been involved, but detectives determined those people didn’t exist.

The defense called no witnesses during the trial. Jurors began deliberating Wednesday morning.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department has tightened Lincoln restaurant rules, prohibiting restaurant workers from touching cooked food with their bare hands.

A health-related advisory board to the department approved the no-bare-hands policy earlier this month.

Scott Holmes, manager of the department’s environmental health division, says the idea behind the policy is that once food is cooked, no staffer should touch it before it’s served.

The proposal allows some exceptions, such as garnishing beverages and washing produce with bare hands. Staff can also touch food before it’s cooked.

The board recommended the proposal to prevent outbreaks of a flu-like illness called norovirus, which causes vomiting and diarrhea.

The City Council will likely hold a public hearing on the policy April 11.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — An Indiana man has been imprisoned in Nebraska for possessing nearly 76 pounds of marijuana.

Online court records say 44-year-old Anthony Woodruff, of Indianapolis, was sentenced Monday to 18 to 36 months in prison. He’d been found guilty after a November nonjury trial of possession for sale.

The Nebraska State Patrol says a trooper pulled over a pickup for speeding on Oct. 13, 2014, a little west of Lincoln on Interstate 80. The patrol says a drug dog taken to the scene indicated that drugs were in a car the truck was pulling on a trailer.

The patrol says the pot was found in three duffel bags in the car trunk and passenger compartment.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police say one man is dead and two others are injured after a shooting in northeast Omaha.

Omaha police responded to a shooting report at a home around 10 a.m. Wednesday. Police say they found one man dead and another man who was critically injured. The injured man was transported to the Creighton University Medical Center.

Police say that before they arrived on the scene, an injured woman was taken to Immanuel Medical Center. Officials do not know her condition.

Authorities have not released the names of those involved. Police say they are not looking for any suspects although the investigation is ongoing.

COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — Officials have decided to explore the creation of a full-time position for fire chief of Columbus.

The City Council voted Monday night to have staffers review for comparison fire department organization in other Nebraska cities.

Mayor Mike Moser and others expressed concerns about the cost of a full-timer. The part-time chief, Dean Hefti, is paid nearly $20,700 — a figure expected to rise if it were to become a full-time job.

Hefti told the Columbus Telegram (http://bit.ly/1RxZRex) Tuesday that he doesn’t think “the constituents or the taxpayers in Columbus can afford what would happen if you went to a full-time chief.”

The city of about 22,500 residents has 15 paid firefighters and around 55 volunteers.