LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 30-year-old man accused of raping a woman in a Lincoln alley has been sentenced to 20 to 35 years in prison.

James McWilliams was sentenced Wednesday. He had been found guilty of first-degree sexual assault of an incapacitated person.

Prosecutors say McWilliams had sex with a 21-year-old woman who was too intoxicated to consent in May 2014. Police say workers at a business saw the McWilliams and the victim walking down the alley and one of them called police, believing the woman looked incapacitated.

McWilliams has been ordered to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska prosecutor says more than 180 cases may have been jeopardized by results from an alcohol breath-testing device that hadn’t been calibrated to state standards for nearly three years.

Dodge County Attorney Oliver Glass said in a news release Wednesday that the individuals in those cases and their attorneys have been notified. They also were told that drunken driving can be proved by impairment, breath alcohol content or both. So, the news release says, the problem with the breath-testing device “does not automatically mean that the conviction would be overturned in a court of law.”

Glass says the device was used at the Sheriff’s Office in Fremont and was not properly calibrated between August 2012 and July 2015.

DENVER (AP) — As marijuana legalization matures, more Colorado pot businesses are donating cash and time to charities.

It’s a sign that the stigma of selling a drug that remains illegal under federal law may be fading.

It’s unknown how much money marijuana businesses have donated to nonprofits nationally and in Colorado.

But one business hosts an annual golf tournament to raise money for multiple sclerosis research. Another donates to a gay-rights advocacy group and is a sponsor of an AIDS walk.

Still, some nonprofits are wary of marijuana donations. The Children’s Hospital Colorado Foundation has a policy of not accepting such donations because the drug is still illegal federally.

Police say a 21-year-old student at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln is dead after she fell from a downtown Lincoln parking garage.

According to police, a call came in just before 3:00 p.m., on Tuesday, saying that a woman had fallen or jumped from a garage.  Police identified that location as the Que Place parking garage.

Rescue worker arrived on the scene and found the woman, identified as Brianna Anson, of Bellevue, but were unable to revive her.

Anson was pronounced dead at 3:05 p.m.

Investigators say they are treating Anson’s death as a suicide, but say the investigation is ongoing.

According to the University, Anson was a member of the Spirit Squad at the school.

BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) — Beatrice High School has taken part in a new program to set aside classroom time to allow students to fill out college and scholarship applications.

About 150 Nebraska high schools are participating in EducationQuest Foundation’s Apply to College Days program. It was held Monday at Beatrice High School, where students worked at computers and asked advisors questions about the process during English classes.

EducationQuest college planning specialist R.J. Vega was at the event to answer questions. Southeast Community College admissions representative Casey Holsing and two high school counselors were also there to help students.

Holsing said students’ questions included ones about associate degrees and their status as their status as dual-credit or first-time students.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new warden has been chosen to oversee a Nebraska community corrections facility in Lincoln.

Nebraska corrections director Scott Frakes announced the appointment Wednesday of Robert Madsen to the job at the Community Corrections Center-Lincoln.

Madsen has worked at the Department of Correctional Services since 1989, starting as a corrections officer at the Nebraska State Penitentiary. He has worked as a unit case worker, unit case manager, unit manager, unit administrator and an associate warden for external operations.

He also served as an assistant warden at the state’s Diagnostic and Evaluation Center and a deputy warden at the Lincoln Correctional Center and the Nebraska State Penitentiary.

Madsen earned a bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from Wayne State College in 1988. His first day in his new job is Nov. 30.

 

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A judge has acquitted a Lincoln man of killing his wife, saying the man was insane at the time.

Lancaster County District Judge John Colborn said Tuesday that because of Kent Burklund’s mental disorder, Burklund didn’t know right from wrong at the time he killed Bettina Burklund in April 2014. Defense and prosecution experts have agreed that Kent Burklund suffered from a mental illness.

Colborn says in his ruling that “the court acquits solely on the grounds of insanity.”

Police went to the Burklunds’ home to check on Bettina Burklund when she didn’t show up for work. She was dead, her head severed.

Kent Burklund told investigators he was afraid of his wife and believed gang members had poisoned him.

NEWMAN GROVE, Neb. (AP) — A 29-year-old Norfolk man has been killed in an accident along Nebraska Highway 32 in northeast Nebraska.

The accident occurred a little before 7:20 a.m. Tuesday, north of Newman Grove. The Madison County Sheriff’s Department says Benjamin Sunderman was driving east when his truck left the roadway and went into a roadside ditch. Sunderman lost control of the truck when he tried to return to the roadway.

The department says the truck ran back into the ditch and rolled several times, ejecting Sunderman. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Metropolitan Entertainment and Convention Authority is considering adding a Ferris wheel, a zipline and party houses in downtown Omaha for next year’s College World Series and the U.S. Olympic Swim Trials.

Staff members presented ideas for more family-friendly activities near TD Ameritrade Park to the MECA board Tuesday. The proposal also includes temporary bungalows that fans can rent for games and a grassy area north of the CenturyLink Center with food trucks, the Ferris wheel and other activities.

The board’s chairman Dana Bradford says the additions are an opportunity to attract more people, and would cost about $1 million.

The board did not vote on the proposed additions, but told MECA President and CEO Roger Dixon to pursue the proposal.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A veteran Omaha police officer who has been accused of domestic assault will be fired.

Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said Tuesday that he is recommending terminating 41-year-old Christopher Duffek now that an internal investigation is complete.

Authorities said Duffek was arrested on suspicion of domestic assault on Aug. 8 after an argument with his girlfriend. She had injuries consistent with assault.

Duffek has pleaded not guilty to the assault charge, and he is tentatively scheduled for trial next month.

Duffek has been on administrative leave since his arrest. He will have a hearing before he is fired, and he has the right to appeal.

Duffek is a 15-year-veteran of the Omaha department.