NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. (AP) — A March trial has been scheduled for a 17-year-old girl who’s accused of fatally driving her pickup over a woman in the Nebraska City library parking lot.

The girl pleaded not guilty on Tuesday in Otoe County District Court to charges of murder, use of a weapon and leaving the scene of an injury accident. Her trial is set to begin on March 9. The Associated Press generally doesn’t name juveniles accused of crimes.

Prosecutors say the girl and 22-year-old Amber Shipley got into an altercation outside the library on Sept. 14 and say the girl drove toward Shipley and ran her over.

The girl’s attorney, Jerry Sena (SEE’-nuh), said Wednesday that he’s planning to file a motion in the next two weeks to move her case to juvenile court.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Votes by Omaha Tribe members are encouraging tribal leaders to continue looking into the marijuana business and allowing recreational use on its northeast Nebraska reservation.

Voters overwhelmingly approved measures Tuesday regarding recreational use, medicinal use and a proposal to grow industrial hemp. The referendum votes merely provide guidance. The Tribal Council will make the final decision.

Indian tribal law expert Lance Morgan has said a Just Department memo issued last year on the subject doesn’t actually let tribes legalize marijuana. Rather, it lets them work with U.S. attorneys, and Morgan says U.S. attorneys in many states have been unwilling to let tribes move forward.

A spokesman for the U.S. attorney in Nebraska didn’t immediately return a call Wednesday from The Associated Press.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The former chief executive officer of TierOne Bank has testified at his fraud and conspiracy trial that he was kept in the dark and lied to about the bank’s precarious financial state.

Gilbert Lundstrom took the stand Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Lincoln and said he was shocked when a bank consulting firm estimated in February 2009 that TierOne’s faced potential cumulative losses of $304 million.

Prosecutors say Lundstrom and other bank officers hid the losses from regulators and shareholders. Regulators took over Lincoln-based TierOne in 2010, saying the bank had too many bad loans on its books and lacked sufficient capital to cushion losses.

Lundstrom testified that he never knowingly provided false information to investors or federal regulators.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln police have arrested a suspected drug dealer after executing a search warrant at his apartment.

24-year-old Matthew Pavey was arrested Oct. 21 on suspicion of possession of meth, Adderall and Tramadol.

According to the search warrant filed by the Lincoln Police Department in Lancaster County Court, he has allegedly been known to sell several ounces of meth a day.

Twenty-two-year-old Elizabeth Reddish was also arrested on suspicion of possession of meth. She was bailed out of jail and arrested again Oct. 27 on suspicion of intent to deliver meth within 1,000 feet of a school and possession of money to be used in violating a drug statute.

Pavey was bonded out of jail Oct. 26, and Reddish was released on bail for the second incident Oct. 28.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say one person has been killed and one injured in a collision on the west side of Lincoln.

The accident occurred around 6:40 a.m. Wednesday on southbound U.S. Highway 77, between Interstate 80 and West O Street.

Police say the collision between a pickup and a sport utility snarled traffic and forced closure of the westbound I-80 exit onto U.S. Highway 77.

The names of those involved and other information about the accident have not been released.

AMBER ALERT CANCELLED!

Update: 11-3-15 at 11:53 p.m. E’lin Brown was located. He is safe and in police custody. Suspect Elwin Brown is still at large. Thank you to everyone for getting this message out so quickly!!

Update 11-3-15 at 10:41 p.m.
Suspect Teisha Reitan has been located by the Blair Police Department and is in custody. Her Silver 2005 Pontiac Bonneville 31-F747 has also been recovered.

CHILD ABDUCTION!
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2015 at 6:44 p.m.
7910 Cass Street
AH 32208

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln’s police chief has announced he will retire next year.

Jim Peschong said Tuesday he will leave his top job at the end of February.

A representative for the mayor’s office says Peschong notified city officials Monday of his decision. Officials are still figuring out the search process for Peschong’s successor.

The 63-year-old Peschong joined the police department in 1975. He’s served in several roles and became permanent police chief in 2012.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — A charity is set to open a training center for comfort dogs in Grand Island.

Lutheran Church Charities recently announced it will start a new training class in January in Grand Island. The charity is based in Illinois and runs the K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry. It says they are looking for volunteers to raise and train the dogs.

The dogs are meant to comfort people who are suffering pain or loss, and they are deployed to crisis or disaster situations.

The training program will be the charity’s first outside of Illinois. There are currently three dogs in Nebraska. K-9 Comfort Dog Ministry and Disaster Response says it has dogs in 18 states, and will soon be in 22 states total.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A homeless outreach specialist is working to create a more accurate picture of Lincoln’s homeless population.

Lincoln Public Schools homeless outreach specialist Bryan Seck worked with nearly 500 homeless families in the city last year. Seck says he will help substantially more families this year due to better outreach and collaboration of more than 50 agencies in the city, not necessarily because there are more homeless families in Lincoln.

The specialist, who began working with the district two years ago, says that most of the families that he works with are not homeless for very long. He says their state of homelessness is usually brought on by an unforeseen set of circumstances such as a car breaking down, which is exacerbated by a lack of savings.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A judge has approved the release from the state mental hospital of an Omaha man who was found not responsible for killing his wife.

Monday’s ruling by Judge Marlon Polk of Douglas County District Court lets Lincoln Regional Center officials look at other options for the care of 65-year-old Robert Hollister. Hollister could be transferred to an assisted living facility if an appropriate one can be found.

Hollister was committed to the psychiatric hospital after he was acquitted for the Nov. 3, 2008, stabbing death of his wife, Jeanie Hollister. A hospital official said Monday that Hollister, who was diagnosed with a personality disorder, is in remission and no longer takes medication. The official said Hollister no longer is a threat to society.