LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Federal safety regulators have proposed $36,000 in penalties for a Lincoln construction company that employed a worker who fell to his death while installing roofing.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration says the company didn’t provide required fall protection that the agency says would have saved the man’s life.

The agency cited Custom Contracting Inc. for six serious safety violations. A company representative didn’t immediately return a call Friday from The Associated Press.

The accident occurred Oct. 24 in Raymond. The agency says two workers were installing metal roof sheets on a structural steel building when one of the workers stepped into an opening created by the removal of one of the sheets.

STANTON, Neb. (AP) — A third of four teenagers accused of torturing an animal in Stanton has entered a plea deal in the case.

The boy pleaded no contest in Stanton County Juvenile Court Tuesday.

The Stanton County Sheriff’s Office arrested the four eighth- and ninth-grade boys last November. Authorities say they were involved in the alleged torture of a cat and an opossum between Oct. 20 and Nov. 3.

The third boy is scheduled to meet with a probation officer for a presentence disposition investigation. He will then appear before a judge in court March 8.

Former Stanton County sheriff’s deputy Kirk Ven Pelt has also been charged in the case with two counts of aiding and abetting cruel mistreatment of an animal and four counts of contributing to the delinquency of a child.

LINCOLN, Nebraska (AP) — A convicted sex offender has been found dead in a prison shower.

Prison staff at the Lincoln Correctional Center on Wednesday afternoon found 33-year-old inmate Charles A. Gipson dead on the floor of the housing unit shower with a belt around his neck.

A department release says that staff members took the belt off his neck, called authorities and began CPR. Medics later determined there were no signs of life.

The Nebraska State Patrol has not determined the cause of death.

Gipson was serving six to 12 years for attempted first-degree sexual assault of a child. Corrections Department records show he would have been eligible for parole March 6.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha firefighters say freezing temperatures created challenges, like frozen equipment, while battling a fire after an explosion that injured two people.

The fire department responded to reports of an explosion around 2:50 p.m. Saturday in the city’s Old Market district. A restaurant and some apartments were damaged in the explosion, which remains under investigation.

Battalion Chief Matt Carmichael said Wednesday that he had to rotate crews more often than usual because their masks kept freezing, making it difficult to breathe and see.

Crews worked in conditions that included a wind chill that dropped to 25 degrees below zero. A firefighter broke his hand after slipping on ice.

Authorities think a company working on a fiber optic project may have struck a natural gas line, leaking gas into the area before the blast.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Family members say a 2-year-old Lincoln boy who nearly drowned in a bathtub last week has died.

The boy’s maternal grandmother said the 2-year-old died Wednesday morning.

Authorities say the boy’s stepmother was bathing him last Thursday when she stepped away for a couple minutes to find a towel. The boy was under water when she returned.

The boy’s stepmother and father performed CPR until paramedics arrived.

Lincoln police are investigating.

Court records do not show that any criminal charges have been filed, but the state has taken temporary custody of the couple’s five other children between the ages of ages 15 months to 13 years.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln pharmacist who pleaded guilty to defrauding Nebraska’s Medicaid program out of $14.4 million has been sentenced to more than nine years in prison.

Prosecutors say 45-year-old Scott Tran submitted hundreds of false claims for a solution used in inhalers for cystic fibrosis patients in the names of his customers’ children.

Documents show Tran submitted 399 claims for reimbursement between May 2009 and February 2015, stating they had been ordered by six Lincoln-area doctors identified only by their initials.

United States District Judge John M. Gerrard sentenced Tran to 110 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Tran was also ordered to pay more than $14.4 million in restitution to the Nebraska Health and Human Services Agency.

Tran operated Pharmacy Specialty Services in Lincoln for nearly six years between May 2009 and March 2015.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say two men have been accused of faking an armed robbery in Omaha.

An Omaha police news release says a man reported early Wednesday morning that as he was leaving a building an armed man forced him back inside and forced him to open a safe. Police say detectives soon determined that the man was lying. They eventually found the other man and arrested both.

Police say 21-year-old Adam Norton is charged with theft, conspiracy and false reporting and say 21-year-old James Reck is charged with theft and conspiracy and charged for theft in an unrelated crime.

Online court records don’t list the names of attorneys who could be contacted to comment for the men.

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say deputies have found a missing Sioux City woman lying in a snow-covered field in rural Woodbury County.

The 24-year-old woman was last seen Sunday after leaving her job in Dakota City, Nebraska. Friends and relatives reported her missing on Monday. Her cellphone location transmission led two deputies to her Tuesday on a farmstead near Moville.

Authorities say Shaniqwa Hayes was found conscious but unresponsive. She was taken to a Sioux City hospital.

The two Woodbury County officers, Deputy David Hansen and Lt. Tony Wingert, said Wednesday they found a faint footprint 15 yards in front of her car at the farmstead and followed footprints to Hayes, who was lying in snow near a grain bin.

Wingert estimated that Hayes walked at least 100 yards from her car.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a pedestrian has died after being struck by a vehicle in north-central Omaha.

The accident occurred a little before 6 p.m. Wednesday. Police say the woman stepped off a raised median in the center of a road into the path of the vehicle. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police identified her as 60-year-old Toni Squires, of Omaha. The vehicle driver was identified as 61-year-old Linda Jess, also of Omaha.

The accident is being investigated.

 

MADISON, Neb. (AP) — Madison County commissioners say county crews are facing challenges when working to clear roads of snow amid complaints from residents and businesses.

The commissioners met Tuesday, discussing the difficulties county crews face when trying to remove snow.

Commissioner Christian Ohl said that many of the roads were covered with rain that froze before it snowed, making them difficult to clear. Ohl said the county’s equipment is incapable of removing ice from the roads.

Commissioner Ron Schmidt said much of the Northeast Industrial Highway is new so no salt or a limited amount of salt can be placed on it.

Salt can adversely affect concrete, especially concrete that is less than a year old because it hasn’t had enough time to cure.