An Illinois man is in jail after a trooper seizes 45.3 lbs. of marijuana during a traffic stop in Hamilton County.

At approximately 12:41 p.m., Thursday, March 26, a trooper stopped a 2006 Chevy pickup for speeding just off of the I-80 Giltner exit on County Road 9/J. An NSP Police Service Dog (PSD) alerted to the odor of drugs coming from the rear of the pickup. A probable cause search led to the seizure of 45.3 lbs. of marijuana. The marijuana contained in 42 packages was located in two suitcases in the bed of the pickup.

The driver of the pickup, James C. Slater Jr., 47, of Bartonville, Ill., was transported to the Hamilton County Jail.  He’s been charged with possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A father has sued a former University of Nebraska football player who hosted a fundraiser for the man’s son, claiming he didn’t receive money raised at the November event.

Dan Walker filed the lawsuit last week against P.J. Smith, safety for the Huskers from 2009 to 2012, and Scott Wuethrich. Walker alleges the men withheld most donations made on his 11-year-old-son’s behalf, who’s recovering after being hit by a truck in October.

Walker claims Smith and Wuethrich kept all donations except for $1,031, which he says he used to buy Christmas gifts for his six kids. The lawsuit seeks compensation for all money raised at the fundraiser or later by selling donated items.

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A western Iowa youth softball coach accused of having a sexual relationship with a 14-year-old friend of his daughter has been convicted of four counts of sexual abuse.

47-year-old John Osborn, of Council Bluffs, was found guilty Thursday of third-degree sexual abuse in a nonjury trial. He faces up to 40 years in prison at his May 1 sentencing hearing.

Council Bluffs police say the girl and Osborn began exchanging text messages in June and had phone conversations about sex. Court documents show the girl reported that she and Osborn engaged in sexual acts in July when the girl stayed at Osborn’s house for a sleepover with his daughter.

Osborn has denied willingly touching the teen and pleaded not guilty to the charges.

MACY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 10-year-old child has died in a crash off a state highway in northeast Nebraska.

The accident occurred about 6:45 p.m. Thursday on Nebraska Highway 94 west of Macy. The Nebraska State Patrol says Terri Webster was driving east when the vehicle ran off the shoulder. The patrol says Webster overcorrected, causing the vehicle to go into a ditch, hit a grate and flip over.

The child, Carroll Webster, of Macy, died after being ejected from the vehicle.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln man who tied up and threatened to kill his mother has been given two to five years in prison.

Online court records say 48-year-old Adam Herman was sentenced on Thursday in Lancaster County District Court. He’d pleaded no contest and was convicted of felony false imprisonment and misdemeanor assault.

Police say that when Herman and his mother argued on Oct. 23, he dragged her into a basement, threatened to slit her throat, bound her to a chair and repeated his threat to kill her. He released her about two hours later.

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say the death of an 8-year-old girl who was injured before being involved in a Fremont collision does not appear to be suspicious.

The Fremont Police Department said in a news release Thursday that officers were dispatched a little after 7:15 p.m. Wednesday to handle a report of a vehicle collision. The officers were told after they arrived that someone involved already had been taken to Fremont Health Medical Center.

The officers learned at the hospital that Eva Imus had died. Police say the girl sustained a head injury in an accident at a Fremont residence prior to the traffic accident.

An autopsy has been planned and the case remains under investigation, but police say Eva’s death appears accidental.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Omaha-Council Bluffs metro area is edging closer to having a population of 1 million after eclipsing 900,000 people for the first time last year.

U.S. Census Bureau data places the metro area’s population at an estimated 904,421 people. The Omaha metro area includes Douglas, Sarpy, Cass, Washington and Saunders counties in Nebraska; and Pottawattamie, Mills and Harrison counties in Iowa.

David Drozd of the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s Center for Public Affairs Research and chamber of commerce officials say there are benefits to hitting the one million mark. According to them, some larger businesses and high-end retailers will only consider locating to cities with more than a million residents.

According to Drozd, Omaha, which is the 60th-largest metro in the United States, should reach 1 million by 2023.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The American aid workers brought to Nebraska who were exposed to Ebola in Sierra Leone continue to show no symptoms of the deadly virus.

Nebraska Medical Center spokesman Taylor Wilson said Thursday that all five of the individuals who were brought to Omaha earlier this month for monitoring continue to do well.

Wilson said local health officials will determine when the individuals can be released from monitoring. Ebola has a 21-day incubation period.

The health care workers were exposed to Ebola in Sierra Leone when one of their colleagues became ill with the deadly virus. They are all staying on the Nebraska Medical Center’s campus while they are being monitored.

The Omaha hospital treated three patients with Ebola last fall in its specialized biocontainment unit.

COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — A 31-year-old man finally has faced the music in court for possessing alcohol when he was a 19-year-old.

John Stokes was stopped for speeding Tuesday night and held because a bench warrant was issued in August 2003 after Stokes missed a court date. He was 19 on July 5, 2003, when he was given two liquor citations.

On Wednesday Judge Frank Skorupa asked Stokes, “Did you think we’d forget about you?” Stokes, who was appearing via a video link from the Platte County jail, told the judge he was unaware of the missed court date more than 11 years ago.

Skorupa fined Stokes a total of $400 after prosecutors dropped one of the liquor charges and Stokes pleaded guilty.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A judge is deciding what to do about a 66-year-old man who in 1992 tried to shoot up a college classroom in Lincoln but his rifle jammed.

A psychiatrist told Judge Paul Merritt Jr. at a review hearing on Wednesday that Arthur McElroy is still mentally ill but also so afflicted with physical ills that he doesn’t pose a threat to anyone. McElroy was charged and tried for attempted second-degree murder, but a judge ruled that McElroy was insane and not responsible for his actions.

McElroy’s attorney says that if Merritt doesn’t release McElroy outright, the judge should have him placed in a nursing home. But prosecutors say McElroy is still mentally ill and dangerous.

Merritt says he’ll make his ruling next month.