LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Lincoln Diocese says the ornamental cross reported stolen from the home of Bishop James Conley has been found on the bishop’s property.

The gold pectoral cross was found Thursday. Diocese spokesman JD Flynn wouldn’t say exactly where the cross was recovered, citing the police investigation and a desire for the privacy of those involved. He says the gold pectoral cross is irreplaceable because it was a gift from Pope Benedict XVI. It’s valued at about $1,000.

It was reported stolen on Oct. 10. Police say a house alarm was tripped, a door had pry marks and a window was broken. Only the cross was taken. The bishop wasn’t home at the time.

No arrests have been reported.

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a married couple were killed in the fiery collision between their sport utility vehicle and a semitrailer hauling a combine just west of Fremont.

The two people killed were identified Thursday as 28-year-old Jorge Medina, of Schuyler, and his wife, 26-year-old Liliana Chavez-Ortiz, of South Sioux City.

The crash occurred around 11:35 a.m. Wednesday on U.S. Highway 30. Authorities say the SUV crossed the center line and rammed into the truck driven by 53-year-old Vernon White, of Ringsted, Iowa. He was rescued from the cab and flown to an Omaha hospital for treatment. Medina and Chavez-Ortiz were pronounced dead at the scene.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska prosecutors want to try two California teenagers as adults for what prosecutors say was the teens’ involvement in an ATM fraud scheme.

Police suspect the two are part of a group of Romanians under investigation for mounting “skimming” devices and pinhole cameras on ATMs so they can steal account numbers. The two were arrested Sept. 25 in Lincoln after one was seen planting devices on a bank ATM.

On Wednesday a judge delayed a decision on the request by Deputy Lancaster County Attorney Christopher Reid to move the case out of juvenile court. Defense attorney Steffanie Kotik argued that if the operation is as sophisticated as prosecutors believe, the teens clearly “are not the brains behind the organization.”

HARTINGTON, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska kidnapping charges filed against a Florida woman have been dismissed.

The charges against 33-year-old Leah LaCroix, of Aripeka, Florida, were dismissed Wednesday. She’d been accused of kidnapping two of her nieces from Hartington in July. An Amber Alert was issued, and the children and LaCroix were found safe in Omaha.

It’s unclear why the charges were dropped. Some court files have been sealed, but a court affidavit from the children’s mother says the Amber Alert resulted from a miscommunication between her, her husband and LaCroix.

TECUMSEH, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say two inmates have been placed in solitary confinement after assaulting a staff member at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution, where a riot earlier this year left two other inmates dead.

According to James Foster, spokesman for the State Department of Correctional Services, the inmates struck the employee with their fists. Foster says other correctional officers subdued the inmates with pepper spray before restraining them.

The employee was treated by prison medical staff and did not seek additional treatment outside the facility.

Officials are investigating what led to the incident and are trying to determine whether to turn the matter over to the Nebraska State Patrol for additional investigation.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An arrest affidavit for a man charged in an Omaha double homicide says the shooter fired shots through a closet door to kill one victim and wound another.

Investigators believe 53-year-old Michael Nolt, 26-year-old Malquan King and 23-year-old Arelius Hassell were in the home of 25-year-old Tommynique Valentine, who was King’s girlfriend, early Saturday when the shooting occurred.

Valentine reported hearing Nolt and Hassell arguing, then gunshots. She and King hid in a closet before the gunman fired several shots through the closet door, hitting King several times.

Valentine says the gunman then shouted, “Is everyone OK?” before firing several more shots — hitting Valentine in the leg — then fleeing.

King and Hassell died. Nolt is awaiting extradition to Omaha from Mesa, Arizona.

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — The new Dodge County assessor has fired five employees on her first day in her office.

Debbie Churchill took the oath of office Tuesday and fired the employees, who questioned her actions Wednesday during a county Board of Supervisors meeting. She says the fired employees represented the office’s appraisal staff, whose actions faced criticism from state Department of Revenue officials.

Churchill says she needs her own staff that she knows “can do a good job.” Fired employee Rick Colgan says the board chairman had assured them they wouldn’t lose their jobs.

Former Dodge County assessor Brittny King resigned last month amid officials’ concerns about her management of the office and missed deadlines for paperwork. She now faces criminal charges and is accused of stealing from the county.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Federal regulators have proposed a $14,700 penalty against a Missouri contractor over the death of a worker at a Nebraska job site.

Authorities say the 41-year-old man from Sedalia, Missouri, died June 24 when a piece of metal fell 130 feet from a crane and hit him in the head. The accident occurred on the southeast edge of the downtown campus of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration says CBS Pilings Solutions Inc., of Riverside, Missouri, didn’t properly rig the load, failed to train people who work around cranes and didn’t remove all nonessential workers from the area.

CBS Pilings Solutions president Bill Berry says the company will meet with OSHA to learn more about the proposed penalty and couldn’t comment further.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — The Grand Island City Council has paid a $110 cleaning bill for a city car that came back from a meeting in Omaha with dog hair.

The City Council paid the bill among other claims Tuesday night. The bill was much higher than the routine $5.35 wash for police cars and public works trucks.

Public Works Director John Collins says pets will no longer be allowed in city vehicles.

City Attorney Bob Sivick says he checked out the car late last month for a seminar in Omaha and he took his Jack Russell terrier with him, dropping the dog off at a caretaker. He says he has taken his dog in city vehicles for four years without hearing of complaints.