LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — An event has been held to remember the homeless who died in Lincoln this year.

The annual event known as “Longest Night of the Year,” was held Monday, and 13 homeless men who died this year were honored. Chaplain Brian Thomas spoke on their behalf, noting that the faces of homelessness are just as important as those who have homes.

Thomas said that four of the men were veterans.

According to Thomas, 21 homeless people who died in 2014 were remembered at the same event last year.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A court-appointed lawyer has won his appeal for full payment of fees he earned while representing a man accused of theft and unauthorized practice of law in Lancaster County.

On Tuesday the Nebraska Appeals Court sent Bernard Glaser’s case back to a district court with an order to grant his application for fees earned by more than 250 hours of work representing Clinton Brooks Jr., who was convicted.

Records say the district court, in deciding to pay Glaser for 100 hours, relied on a list of fees paid court-appointed lawyers in other cases. The state presented no evidence.

The Appeals Court says Glaser’s billing for more than 250 hours was reasonable and that the district court should not have relied on the list of fees paid in other cases.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Five people have been rescued from a house fire in Omaha on what turned out to be an Omaha rookie police officer’s first day of training patrol.

Officer Anthony Abboud and his trainer, Officer Robbie Goering-Jensen, were discussing the importance of being able to quickly change direction Sunday, when Goering-Jensen spotted a house fire.

Goering-Jensen and Abboud called firefighters and responded to the fire. Goering-Jensen went inside the burning home and rescued Robert Damper, his wife, Lula, and their three sons.

Investigators say an uncovered light bulb hanging too close to clothes in a closet started the fire.

Abboud said he did not think he would be involved in something like that on his first day, but gave all the credit to Goering-Jensen.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 63-year-old man has been sentenced to serve more than four years in prison for robbing a bank in Omaha in 2014.

U.S. Attorney Deborah R. Gilg says in a news release that Robert M. Davis was sentenced Monday to four years and ten months in prison. He was also ordered to serve three years of probation.

Davis pleaded guilty in September to bank robbery in connection with an incident in October 2014 at an American National Bank branch in Omaha. Davis was accused of pointing a gun at a bank teller and demanding money. Prosecutors say the teller gave Davis $965 in a bag.

Davis was later connected to the robbery through surveillance video and DNA. He has been ordered to repay the stolen money.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska zoo is welcoming a new addition: a pygmy hippopotamus calf named Mabel.

The nearly 3-month-old calf is now on display at the Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium in Omaha.

Pygmy hippos are native to swamps and rain forests in western Africa. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists the species as endangered.

Named by her keepers, Mabel is in the Lied Jungle portion of the zoo with her mother, Chomel, who came from the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago. Her father, Scooby, was born in the Gladys Porter Zoo in Brownsville, Texas.

Mabel now weighs 76 pounds, up from 19 pounds when she was born on Oct. 1. She will blossom to between 350 and 600 pounds when fully grown.

Autopsies are scheduled on the remains of two bodies found in a burned-out pickup in a Pierce County Field.

Just after 3:00 p.m., on Monday, Dec. 21, Pierce County authorities responded to a call of a vehicle on fire in a field nine miles west and one mile north of Pierce. Upon their arrival emergency crews found a 1991 GMC pickup fully engulfed in flames. After knocking down the fire, authorities discovered two bodies in the cab of the pickup.

“We have made preliminary identification of the two bodies,” said Investigative Service Lt. Dan Wilson, Troop B-Norfolk. “Our investigation at this point is consistent with a murder-suicide.”

The names of the deceased who are believed to be from Northeast Nebraska will not be released until the autopsies are completed.

Lt. Wilson said, “At this point, we do not anticipate release of names or additional information before the end of the week”.

The Nebraska State Patrol is being assisted in the investigation by the State Fire Marshal, the Pierce County Attorney and Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.

The Nebraska State Patrol, in conjunction with the State Fire Marshal, Pierce County Sheriff’s Office and Pierce County Attorney are investigating a burned-out vehicle containing human remains.

Just after 3:00 p.m., Monday, Dec. 21, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call of a vehicle on fire in a field nine miles west and one mile north of Pierce. Upon their arrival deputies found a pickup truck fully engulfed in flames. The Pierce Volunteer Fire Department worked to put out the fire. Upon suppressing the flames, what appeared to be human remains were discovered in the cab of the pickup.

The Nebraska State Patrol and the State Fire Marshal’s Office were called in to investigate.

“At this time the vehicle is still smoldering and too hot to get inside,” said Investigative Services Lt. Dan Wilson, Troop B-Norfolk. “Once we are able to make entry, we will work to identify the remains and determine what caused the vehicle to catch fire.”

The investigation is on-going.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police officers have rescued five adults, including one in a wheelchair, from a house fire in north Omaha.

Officers Robbie Goering-Jensen and Anthony Abboud were responding to a call from a No Frills Supermarket around 9 a.m. Sunday when they saw the house engulfed in flames.

They immediately rescued two residents and their dog from the home. Goering-Jensen then heard screams and re-entered the house to rescue three more people.

Several other officers arrived on the scene and helped before firefighters arrived. The fire was extinguished in about 20 minutes.

Goering-Jensen and Abboud were treated at the scene for smoke inhalation. Goering-Jensen was taken to a local hospital and later released.

Abboud had been working his first shift since graduating from the Omaha Police Academy on Friday.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police have been looking for a man who wore a Santa hat while robbing a fast-food restaurant in Omaha.

The robbery at Raising Cane’s occurred early Sunday morning. An employee told officers a man wearing a ski mask and the Santa hat entered the restaurant, acted like he had a gun and demanded cash.

The man fled on foot after taking money from a cash register. No arrest has been reported.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — School officials are considering eliminating class rank at Grand Island Senior High.

Consideration was prompted by the Millard and Seward school districts getting rid of the class ranking system.

Associate Superintendent Robin Dexter said the primary reason for the discussion is that there is a concern that students may be enrolling in courses to boost their rank, regardless of whether those courses align with their college and career plans.

Dexter said that the school is looking into whether Latin designations could give colleges an understanding of a student’s relative ranking in their graduating class.

Dexter says students already enrolled at the school would not be affected if the class rank was eliminated.

A final recommendation on the matter may not come until March.