BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) — Officials with Beatrice Community Hospital and Health Center have announced plans for an expansion that’s expected to cost $7.2 million.

The 15-month construction project revealed on Wednesday will begin this spring, adding more than 17,000 square feet of space to the hospital.

Hospital officials say the expansion allows for additional room for different departments, including the Women and Children’s Clinic, the Infusion Center and the Rehabilitation Services unit. It will also renovate the Physician Clinic and reconfigure the parking to decrease the walking distance for patients.

The hospital has selected Altus Architectural Studios of Omaha, Caspers Construction of Beatrice and Sampson Construction of Lincoln, to lead the project.

ALDA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a Michigan man died after the big rig he was driving ran across a county road and struck several objects as it left Interstate 80 in south-central Nebraska.

The Hall County Sheriff’s Department says the accident occurred around 6 p.m. Tuesday, just off the eastbound exit ramp at the South Alda Road interchange. The truck didn’t halt at the bottom of the ramp. It ran across South Alda, striking a tree, a sign and a power pole before stopping. The driver was trapped in the wreckage, which soon was engulfed by flames.

The Hall County Sheriff’s Office identified the driver as 57-year-old Dennis Lambertson, of Jackson, Michigan.

The accident is being investigated.

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — An 18-year-old from Plattsmouth faces a vehicular homicide charge for a collision that fatally injured her little sister last month.

Sarpy County prosecutors said in a news release Wednesday that the driver was 17 when the accident occurred on Jan. 13.

Prosecutors say she failed to yield the right of way when she tried to turn west onto Platteview Road off northbound U.S. Highway 75. Her sport utility vehicle was struck by a southbound minivan and then a car.

The teenager’s 7-year-old sister was in a right rear passenger seat of the SUV. The younger girl was taken to an Omaha hospital, and authorities say she died there on Jan. 19.

The Associated Press is not using the sisters’ names because the AP generally doesn’t name juveniles accused of crimes.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Omaha Police Department says a robbery suspect who died after being shot by an officer did not have a weapon.

Police said Tuesday that 39-year-old Danny Elrod died at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. The officer involved in Elrod’s shooting has been identified as 31-year-old Alvin Lugod, a six-year veteran with the department.

The department says officers were dispatched to a business around 6:30 p.m. Monday on a report of an armed robbery. Police spokesman James Shade (shayed) says officers saw the male suspect running near the store. An altercation broke out as officers attempted to arrest Elrod, and Lugod fired several shots at him.

Authorities say the incident was captured on two cruiser video cameras.

Lugod has been placed on administrative leave pending investigation into the shooting.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 24-year-old man has been imprisoned for colliding with a motorcycle while driving drunk and in the wrong direction on an Omaha interstate.

On Tuesday a judge sentenced Victor Perez, of Omaha, to eight to 10 years in prison. Perez had pleaded no contest and was convicted of vehicular homicide while driving under the influence. In exchange for Perez’s plea, prosecutors dropped a charge of failure to stop and render aid.

Prosecutors say Perez’s blood alcohol content was more than twice the legal limit on June 23 when his SUV hit the motorcycle driven by 42-year-old Mickey Riesberg, who died later. Omaha police say the accident occurred just east of the U.S. Highway 75 north-Interstate 480 south split. Officers say the SUV was going east in the westbound lanes.

PILGER, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska woman whose house was leveled by a tornado has met the volunteers who are rebuilding her home.

Alice Schultz of Pilger met the volunteers of the Mennonite Disaster Service for a meal Saturday. The Pennsylvania-based network had begun to rebuild her house that was damaged on June 16.

Schultz’s home is one of five that is being rebuilt by the network. A majority of the unpaid volunteers are famers from Iowa who are of the Amish and Mennonite faith. According to the on-site project director for the network, Marlin Gingerich, the volunteers rarely to get to meet the owners of the homes they rebuild.

The volunteers are being housed in the Norfolk City Auditorium for the next several months while they rebuild homes.

ASPEN, Colo. (AP) — The Pitkin County Sheriff’s Office in Colorado says the body of a skier who died in an Aspen Mountain avalanche has been recovered.

The body had been found Monday afternoon at the bottom of a snow-covered chute at about 9,400 feet after a fellow skier notified emergency workers of the avalanche and missing skier.

Conditions were too dangerous to attempt a recovery in the Castle Creek Valley on Monday.

A five-person Mountain Rescue Aspen team set out early Tuesday and completed the recovery in about three hours.

The skier’s name has not yet been released.

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama will veto a Republican bill on Tuesday that would have approved construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

The bill arrived at the White House from Congress on Tuesday morning. The White House says Obama will veto it by the end of the day. It’s the third veto of Obama’s presidency.

The move puts a freeze on a top GOP priority, at least temporarily. It also reasserts Obama’s authority over a project that’s become a flashpoint in the national debate about climate change.

Republicans may try to override Obama’s veto, but they haven’t yet shown they can muster the necessary two-thirds majority in both chambers. Republican Sen. John Hoeven of North Dakota says Republicans are about four votes short in the Senate and 11 votes short in the House.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Omaha Police Department says a robbery suspect shot by an officer has died.

Police said Tuesday that 39-year-old Danny Elrod died at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

The department says officers were dispatched to a business around 6:30 p.m. Monday on a report of an armed robbery. Police spokesman James Shade (shayed) says officers saw the male suspect running near the store. An altercation broke out as officers attempted to arrest Elrod, and one officer shot him.

Police didn’t say whether Elrod had a weapon or how many times he was shot. The officer wasn’t injured. His or her name hasn’t been released.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha woman who says she came home to find her belongings strewn about her front yard and labeled with “free” signs has told police that she believes her landlord is to blame.

The 50-year-old woman says she suspects the incident was her landlord’s way of telling her to move out. In a police report filed Friday, the woman says her landlord had previously mentioned her leaving the residence, but that she was never given an eviction notice.

The woman says a family member called her last week to tell her that her property was stacked in her front yard. She says when she returned, she discovered that many items were missing, including furniture, paintings and antique porcelain dolls.