GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Humane Society employees at Grand Island are looking for untapped potential among the shelters’ unwanted dogs to give them purpose and help out humans.

Central Nebraska Humane Society staffers have undergone training in California conducted by the National Disaster Search Dog Foundation. At that workshop last month, employees learned how to look for skills needed in search and rescue dogs.

The Grand Island facility also works with a program called Heads Up Hounds, which provides diabetic alert dogs from Denver to Boston.

The shelter also participates in the Second Chance Pups program at the Nebraska State Penitentiary, in which inmates are given a dog with behavioral problems and spend nine weeks training the dogs to make them suitable for adoption.

DAKOTA CITY, Neb. (AP) — A Dakota City Fire and Rescue volunteer collapsed and died as he prepared to leave the scene of a fire.

Officials tell the Sioux City Journal (http://bit.ly/1G5WkUA ) that 42-year-old Andrew “Andy” Zalme died Thursday evening after responding to a fire on Highway 35.

Officials say emergency responders on the scene tried to revive Zalme without success. Officials say Zalme’s cause of death isn’t known and will require tests to determine.

Zalme was a longtime member of the department. The Nebraska State Volunteer Firefighters Association said in a statement that Zalme was a dedicated volunteer member.

Zalme is survived by his wife, Bobbi, and three children.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A judge has rejected a request for a change of venue and sequestered jury for a former doctor accused of killing four people with ties to an Omaha medical school.

Douglas County District Judge Duane Dougherty said in his order Friday that news coverage of the case has been biased or inflammatory toward Antony Garcia.

Garcia is charged with first-degree murder in the 2008 deaths of Thomas Hunter, the 11-year-old son of Creighton University pathologist William Hunter, and Shirlee Sherman, the family’s housekeeper, as well as the May 2013 deaths of Creighton pathologist Roger Brumback and his wife, Mary.

Authorities say Garcia was motivated by revenge for being fired from Creighton’s pathology department in 2001.

Garcia’s trial is set for Sept. 14

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Construction workers cleaning out tubs filled with concrete say they accidentally turned a nearby Omaha creek red.

Greg Armstrong, owner of Swain Construction, says his employees were cleaning the tubs Friday afternoon about 70 feet from the Little Papio Creek in Omaha. Armstrong says three to four gallons of the dye leaked into the creek in the process, but the water has since been cleared.

The Nebraska Department of Environmental Equality and county officials were called to test the water.

A supervisor with the state agency says officials are aware of the issue, but had no further information.

Armstrong says the dye isn’t harmful to fish or other wildlife.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A man removed from a California-bound Southwest Airlines flight diverted to Omaha has been sentenced.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nebraska says 24-year-old Joshua Carl Lee Suggs, of Oswego, Illinois, was sentenced Friday to three years of supervised released and ordered to pay $4,400 in restitution to Southwest Airlines. He already served nearly seven months in federal prison.

Suggs was charged in April 2014 with interfering with the crew of the Chicago-to-Sacramento flight. The plane had to land in Omaha so Suggs could be removed.

Authorities say Suggs refused to return to his seat, as instructed, before trying to open a door. The incident occurred about an hour into the flight.

An attorney for Suggs was unavailable to comment on his behalf Friday.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — An Iowa man was killed and his passenger critically injured following a crash between a pickup truck and a John Deere tractor northeast of Council Bluffs.

The Iowa State Patrol says 42-year-old Kurt Sulzman, of Polk City, died in the collision Thursday.

24-year-old Caleb Deist, of Grimes, was taken to Audubon County Memorial Hospital and transferred to Iowa Methodist Medical Center in Des Moines. His condition hasn’t been released.

Troopers say the driver of the tractor, 45-year-old Cory Handlos, of Audubon, was taken to the Audubon hospital. The extent of his injuries wasn’t immediately available.

Authorities say Sulzman was northbound on U.S. Highway 71 when the collision occurred at an intersection. The pickup, tractor and seed planter it was pulling ended up in a ditch.

HALLAM, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Public Power District says it will be converting a unit at one of its coal-fired power plants to burn cleaner-burning hydrogen instead.

The district announced at a news conference Friday at its Sheldon Station near Hallam in southeast Nebraska that the hydrogen would be acquired from a new carbon black plant planned for construction nearby. The hydrogen is a byproduct of the process to make carbon black, which is a fine black powder used to produce rubber, plastics and other products and materials.

Monolith Materials, of Redwood City, California, is partnering with the power district for the project, which officials say will create 100 new jobs.

Scott Holmes with the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department says the project will cut in half Sheldon’s air pollution.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Court officials say Nikko Jenkins, the man convicted of killing four people in separate attacks in 2013, has again mutilated his face.

But he botched his attempt to carve into his forehead the numbers “666” — often viewed as a symbol for the devil. Officials say that because he was looking in a mirror when he carved the numbers, they came out backward.

Jenkins recently referenced the self-mutilation in a hearing, saying he’s not receiving mental illness treatment. He asked Douglas County District Judge Peter Bataillon to order the Nebraska State Patrol to investigate. Bataillon declined.

Jenkins was convicted of four first-degree murder counts last year. His sentencing, which might include the death penalty, has been delayed because of concerns about his competency.

LA VISTA, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska City man accused of stealing sheet metal has been arrested.

The La Vista Police Department says 49-year-old Jimmy Olson is charged with felony theft and carrying a concealed weapon. Officers responded to a report Thursday of a pickup truck hauling a trailer that lost its load, spilling hundreds of pieces of sheet metal into the roadway blocking traffic.

According to a news release, investigation revealed that three of the sheet metal pallets, valued at $6,300, had been stolen from Wright Metal Products in La Vista. Officers connected Olson to the theft.

Authorities say another man is suspected in the robbery, and they plan to issue a warrant for his arrest.

It was unclear Friday whether Olson has an attorney. Online court records don’t yet list the charges.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 33-year-old inmate no longer faces life in prison for a 1998 Lincoln slaying.

Court records say Jerrold McLeod was 16 when he and 19-year-old Ronald O’Neill broke into an apartment on May 10, 1998, in an attempt to rob a cocaine dealer. O’Neill fired a shotgun blast that killed the man’s 15-year-old son. O’Neill and McLeod were convicted of first-degree murder and given life in prison.

McLeod sought resentencing after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in June 2012 that people convicted as juveniles cannot be locked up for life without the chance of parole.

On Thursday, Judge Paul Merritt Jr. vacated the original sentence and gave McLeod to 50 to 75 years in prison, which means he’ll have eight more years to serve before he becomes eligible for parole.