MADISON, Neb. (AP) — A 20-year-old Madison man who authorities say assaulted his pregnant girlfriend has been given 12 to 18 months in prison.

Eric Benavides pleaded guilty to a domestic assault charge on Aug. 31 related to a June attack. Additional charges of false imprisonment and criminal mischief were dropped in a plea deal.

The judge asked Benavides why he assaulted the woman. Benavides told the judge he was intoxicated when it happened and couldn’t recall events of that night until she contacted him in jail. Court records indicate Benavides called police after the assault occurred and then fled the scene.

Benavides’ attorney says the woman and baby weren’t injured.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska Medical Center will open its outdoor public skating rink later this month, following the Thanksgiving holiday.

The rink in midtown Omaha opens on Nov. 28 and will remain open through Jan. 31.

The rink features concessions, music and seasonal decorations. It will be open from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday. It will be open from noon to 8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

The rink will be closed on Mondays and on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, but will open New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

Admission is $7 per person, including skate rental.

STANTON, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say three boys accused of torturing and killing a cat in northeast Nebraska will be charged as juveniles.

The Stanton County Sheriff’s Office said the three boys will make their first appearances in court later this month.

Investigators say the incident was recorded using a cellphone, which has been seized as evidence.

The boys had faced felony animal abuse charges had they been prosecuted as adults.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police in Omaha are searching for the driver of a vehicle that hit a pedestrian on a dark street, then fled the scene.

Police say the victim was a 40-year-old man who was crossing a midtown Omaha street Friday night when he was hit. Police say the man suffered serious head injuries and was taken to a hospital, but is expected to survive.

Police say he was not in a crosswalk when he was hit and that he had been drinking.

Police are looking for a white sedan or SUV with tinted windows.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Prosecutors have charged the Omaha parents of an 8-year-old special needs boy with child abuse, saying the boy was malnourished, bruised and that his teeth appeared to be nearly disintegrated.

37-year-old Stephen Bauer and his wife, 32-year-old Megan Finlan, were each charged Friday with two counts of child abuse causing serious bodily injury.

Bauer has been suspended from his job as program director for the Nebraska Family Support Network, which helps children and family affected by mental and behavioral health problems.

Attorneys for the couple say the boy suffers from several mental health issues and that they have done everything they can to care for the child, whom they adopted.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s capital city of Lincoln finds itself in the rare position of experiencing no homicides so far this year.

If that holds through the end of December, it will be Lincoln’s first homicide-free year since 1991.

Only 50 miles northeast, Nebraska’s largest city of Omaha has seen a jump in homicides, with 40 so far this year, compared to 33 in all of 2014. Other cities across the country, from Baltimore and Chicago to Kansas City and Milwaukee, have seen significant jumps in homicides since last year.

Lincoln Police Chief Jim Peschong says luck has a lot to do with Lincoln’s distinction. But he also pointed to efforts in the 1990s to deter Kansas City and Omaha gangs from establishing roots in Lincoln.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha man’s mother-in-law and sister-in-law say he mishandled their investments and cost them more than $1 million.

Anna Pettis and Michele Palagi have filed a lawsuit against Philip Huston demanding that he repay what was lost.

Huston’s attorney, Dave Domina, says his client is in a difficult spot financially because he also invested in an Alabama coal producer that filed for bankruptcy protection.

Denise Frost, who represents Pettis and Palagi, says her clients just want to make sure they have enough money to live on. So they want a judge to order the sale of some of Huston’s assets, possibly including a resort in Canada or his home across the street from Warren Buffett’s in Omaha.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has ordered an evidentiary hearing for arguments made by a man seeking to have his first-degree murder conviction and life sentence thrown out.

The high court said Friday that a Douglas County District judge was wrong to dismiss Joshua Nolan’s motion for post-conviction relief without holding a hearing on some of his arguments.

Nolan was sentenced in 2010 after being found guilty of first-degree murder in the 2009 shooting death of 20-year-old Justin Gaines.

Nolan’s conviction and sentence were upheld in 2012 by the high court on his direct appeal. In his motion for post-conviction relief, which is typically sought after all other appeals have been exhausted, Nolan argued that his trial lawyer was ineffective for failing to call certain witnesses and experts.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a Lincoln man is recovering from injuries sustained when he accidentally shot himself with a gun he found.

Police say the 22-year-old man was walking in an alley Thursday night in northwest Lincoln when he found a bag with a handgun inside.

Officer Katie Flood says the man told authorities he brought the gun home and examined it. It went off and hit him in his left hand and left thigh.

The man was taken to a hospital with injuries that are not life-threatening.

Police are investigating where the gun came from.