LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln firefighters have rescued two workers from a trench that collapsed.

The two had been repairing a fiber optic cable when the collapse occurred Wednesday night. One man was trapped up to his waist for nearly 90 minutes. The other man, who’d jumped in to help his colleague, was trapped up to his knees for nearly 20 minutes.

The trench was about 10 feet (3 meters) deep.

Fire officials say both were taken to a hospital after being freed. Their names haven’t been released.

A Norfolk man is facing federal charged in connection with the burning of a car on a Nebraska Sioux Indian reservation.

United States Attorney, Joe Kelly, announced the unsealing of a criminal complaint charging Joseph Lloyd James, age 47 of Norfolk, Nebraska, with arson in connection with the burning of a car found on the Santee Sioux Indian reservation.

James’ arrest occurred on November 19, 2018, and was made during the investigation into the death of Phyllis Hunhoff of Yankton, South Dakota.  It is alleged James set fire to Hunhoff’s car.  The maximum punishment for the offense is 25 years imprisonment, a $250,000 fine, a five-year term of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.  James is scheduled for his initial appearance before United States Magistrate Judge ­Susan M. Bazis on November 21, 2018, at 1:30 p.m.  As this matter concerns an ongoing investigation, the United States Attorney’s Office is unable to provide additional comment at this time.

This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Nebraska State Patrol, the Knox County Sheriff’s Office (Nebraska), the Santee Sioux Nation Police Department, the Lincoln Police Department (Nebraska), the Nebraska State Fire Marshal, the Norfolk Police Department (Nebraska), the Niobrara Police Department (Nebraska), and the Yankton County Sheriff’s Office (South Dakota).

A complaint is a formal accusation of conduct, not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

WILBER, Neb. (AP) — A judge has rejected a death penalty challenge from a woman accused of helping kill and dismember a Lincoln woman.

Prosecutors have charged Bailey Boswell with first-degree murder and have said in a Saline County filing that they intended to seek the death penalty for her. In August her attorney filed the legal challenge, saying the state’s sentencing procedure in death penalty cases is unconstitutional.

Judge Vicky Johnson said in a ruling issued Tuesday that Boswell’s challenge was premature, because Boswell has not yet been convicted nor has her case been deemed eligible for the death penalty.

Prosecutors say Boswell and Aubrey Trail strangled Sydney Loofe and Boswell helped Trail cut up Loofe’s body and stuff the remains into trash bags. The remains were found Dec. 4 in Clay County, weeks after Loofe was reported missing.

WILBER, Neb. (AP) – A former southeast Nebraska schoolteacher has been sentenced for misdemeanor sexual assaults.

Saline County Court records say 41-year-old Matthew Hoffman, of Dorchester, was given two years in jail Tuesday and fined $2,000. The judge credited Hoffman with 13 days already served.

Hoffman had pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor sexual assault without consent. Prosecutors lowered the charges from felonies in return for Hoffman’s pleas.

Law enforcement accounts that led to Hoffman’s arrest have been sealed from public view.

Hoffman resigned his Crete High School position in February.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska woman has been sentenced to five years of probation for stealing more than $18,000 from the Nebraska Wind Symphony.

Kelli Lockwood was sentenced after she pleaded no contest to theft. She was the symphony’s former treasurer.

The 44-year-old Lockwood was also ordered to repay $18,181 that she took.

Prosecutors say Lockwood admitted stealing cash and misusing a symphony debit card.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A former auto dealer has been accused of lying to financial institutions about loans taken to buy inventory for his eastern Nebraska dealership.

U.S. District Court records say Jason Siemer is charged with 13 counts of wire fraud, two counts of making false statements on credit applications and one count of money laundering. The records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for him. His first court hearing is scheduled for Dec. 5.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that Siemer had owned Siemer Auto Center in Fremont. Prosecutors say he created false financial statements to obtain lines of credit and loans from various lenders to buy vehicles — often using money from more than one lender to buy the same vehicle and making personal use of the extra money borrowed.

The indictment covers Siemer’s activities from September 2014 to December 2016.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Eastern Nebraska officials have identified a woman killed in a head-on crash in Douglas County.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office says 59-year-old Tammi Croy died in the Friday afternoon crash near 245th and Q streets southwest of Omaha. Investigators say Croy was driving a car westbound on Q Street when she crossed the center line and hit a westbound dump truck head-on. Croy was pronounced dead at the scene.

The driver of the truck, which overturned, was not injured.

A hazardous materials team was called to clean up diesel fuel spilled by the truck.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Custom-designed outdoor climbing structures are among plans for improvements at the Children’s Museum in downtown Lincoln.

A science center also was included in the plans shared with the Nebraska Capitol Environs Commission earlier this week. The museum sits in the shadow of the Capitol, near Centennial Mall, so officials for the museum and its architectural firm sought the commission’s blessing.

“There’s a number of ways we can accomplish what the museum would like to do, as well as be a very sensitive neighbor to Centennial Mall,” DLR Group architect John Badami said.

The commission unanimously voted its endorsement of the plans, the Lincoln Journal Star reported .

The climbing structures could rise 35 feet (10.7 meters) into the air and would light up at night. They’d be made of bent plywood or rotationally molded plastic climbing pads suspended on cables from steel pipes and would be located in a former parking area east of the museum.

The designer, Luckey Climbers, says it offers adventures while challenging kids to solve problems and think spatially.

Museum executive director Tara Knuth and DLR’s Badami architect told the commission the climbing structures would comprise a unique draw for the Children’s Museum. In addition, there would be outdoor space in the play area for camps, fundraisers and other activities in and around the climbing structures, Badami said.

Depending on fundraising, the science center for kids ages 8 to 12 would be built in a former storage area in a lower museum level.

Museum officials intend to begin a fundraising campaign for the project by midsummer.

HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — A woman is accused of embezzling nearly $250,000 from her employer in Hastings.

Adams County Court records say 34-year-old Crystal Maser is charged with felony theft. Her attorney didn’t immediately return a call Friday from The Associated Press.

The records say Maser used a Dutton-Lainson Co. credit card to buy items for herself and pay her bills. The items included clothing, jewelry and furniture.

Her next court hearing is scheduled for Nov. 30. She lives in Hastings.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha landlord accused of bribing an Omaha Housing Authority inspector has been fined $20,000 after making a plea agreement with federal prosecutors.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that Lafi Jafari also was ordered at his sentencing Thursday in U.S. District Court to serve a year of probation. Prosecutors dropped the bribery charge in exchange for Jafari pleading guilty to lying to a federal investigator.

He’d acknowledged in his plea agreement that he gave the inspector $2,100 in cash from 2012 to 2014. Over roughly the same period Jafari received federal rent payments of about $2.1 million as part of Jafari’s participation in a federal housing subsidy program.

Prosecutors have said Jafari offered the cash so housing authority employees would steer prospective tenants his way.