LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a Nebraska Wesleyan University student who was struck and killed while walking on Interstate 80 near Lincoln had a blood alcohol level that was more than three times the legal limit to drive.

The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office says 22-year-old Maury Lorence had a blood alcohol level of .245 when he was killed in the early hours of Oct. 12.

Authorities say Lorence, of Doniphan, had been a passenger on a party bus that had halted at a truck stop and left without him. He later walked on the highway and was hit repeatedly by vehicles.

Lorence was pronounced dead at the scene. Authorities say they’re still looking to interview the driver of an unidentified semitrailer as part of their investigation.

HUMBOLDT, Neb. (AP) — A former sheriff’s deputy in Nebraska has pleaded no contest to charges that he accidently shot himself, then tried to make it look like he’d been the victim of a crime.

26-year-old Joshua Nincehelser entered the plea on Nov. 4 to felony criminal mischief and misdemeanor false reporting. Sentencing is set for Dec. 16.

Nincehelser told authorities in June that he was shot by a driver he had pulled over near Humboldt, but authorities determined he lied. Nincehelser then told investigators he’d accidentally shot himself and shot at his cruiser to make his story look real.

Nincehelser was later fired. The newspaper reports prosecutors dropped charges of use of a firearm to commit a felony, obstructing government operations and abuse of public records.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska Medical Center and its clinical partner, Nebraska Medicine, will provide physician and academic services to the new Madonna rehabilitation and long-term care hospital being built in west Omaha.

Under the partnership, the Omaha Madonna campus will also serve as the primary training site for the a new UNMC residency program in physical medicine and rehabilitation — the first such program in Nebraska and one of the few in the upper Midwest region.

In a news release Thursday, UNMC said Omaha is underserved in physical medicine and rehabilitation services. Because of that, some 1,300 people who would quality for rehabilitation each year in the Omaha area are instead referred to nursing homes and other facilities.

The Madonna Omaha campus is expected to open in 2016.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A California truck driver has been sentenced to five years and 10 months in federal prison for distributing meth in Lincoln.

26-year-old Jose Garcia of Palmdale, California, was sentenced Wednesday for conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of meth.

Authorities say he brought 6 pounds of methamphetamine to Nebraska that was found hidden in an air compressor in April.

Garcia agreed to forfeit the semitrailer as part of the plea deal.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — As a blast of wintry weather hits the Midwest, Union Pacific Railroad is reminding motorists to use caution at rail crossings during slick, cold-weather conditions.

The Omaha-based railroad says that with blowing and drifting snow, it could be difficult for motorists to see where crossing surfaces are located. When possible, motorists should use overpasses or underpasses to get to the other sides of railroad tracks.

The railroad also warns that those driving too fast for slick conditions could slide into the path or the side of a moving train at a crossing. It can take a mile or more for a moving train to come to a stop.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — After 12 years as the state’s top lawyer, Attorney General Jon Bruning says he’ll open a law firm in Lincoln when he steps down in January.

Bruning said Wednesday that he’ll be taking two top attorneys from his staff with him: Dave Cookson and Katie Spohn. Bruning’s chief of staff, Holley Bolen, will be joining them.

Bruning says a big part of the practice will be to help clients “navigate the regulatory regime here in Lincoln and in Washington.” He also says it will be “a little law firm that we’d like to grow up to be a pre-eminent law firm in the Midwest.”

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln woman has been given prison time for delivering heroin to a man who later died of a drug overdose.

Lancaster County District Judge Stephanie Stacy sentenced 37-year-old Crystal Wilson on Wednesday to eight years and eight months in prison. The Lincoln Journal Star reports (http://bit.ly/1BbpIqn ) she could serve up to 17 years.

Prosecutors say Wilson delivered $100 worth of heroin to a motel in April. She is accused of using the drugs alongside several people, including Jeffery Arredondo and his wife, Marla. The couple overdosed, and Jeffery Arredondo was later pronounced dead.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 41-year-old Iowa woman has pleaded guilty to stealing federal funds while managing property in northeast Nebraska’s South Sioux City.

Melissa Edwards, of Sioux City, entered her plea Monday to a charge of theft of government money. She’s scheduled to be sentenced on Feb. 9.

Prosecutors say Edwards stole more than $150,000 by altering and forging checks to real and fake Housing and Urban Development tenants. Prosecutors say Edwards deposited more than 500 falsified checks and forged Section 8 checks into her bank account from October 2011 to October 2013.

In August Edwards was placed on probation in Iowa’s Woodbury County District Court after pleading guilty to second-degree theft for stealing more than $8,000 while manager of a Sioux City apartment complex.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha homeless shelter is seeking the public’s help in serving those looking for a warm place to stay.

The Siena/Francis House homeless shelter is running critically low on its supply of bathroom tissue.

The shelter has been purchasing a week’s supply of bath tissue at a time. Now, it hopes the public might be able to step up with donations in order to help alleviate the shortage.

The shelter says it’s currently providing overnight accommodations for nearly 550 children and adults every night, providing all of them with up to three meals a day.

The facility says it’s on track to reach a record number of overnight stays in 2014.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Omaha school board is backing a plan to eliminate the property tax levy it shares with neighboring districts to support the Learning Community.

The board voted Tuesday in support of recommendations devised by superintendents of the 11 districts in the Learning Community of Douglas and Sarpy counties. One of the recommendations calls for more state aid to Nebraska districts that have large numbers of poor and immigrant students.

Eight of the districts’ boards already support the recommendations, and two more boards are scheduled to vote soon.

The recommendations then will be presented to the Legislature’s Education Committee.

Under state legislation, the Learning Community was created to unite Omaha-area districts in their efforts to close the achievement gap between poor students and their middle-class peers.