WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Officials say at least two people are dead after a small plane reported losing engine power and crashed into a building at a Kansas airport.

Wichita Fire Chief Ronald D. Blackwell says at least four other people were taken to a hospital and five more are unaccounted for after the Thursday morning crash at Mid-Continent Airport, from which huge plumes of black smoke could be seen for miles around the city.

Blackwell says only the pilot was on the plane and that both people confirmed dead were found inside the building.

Federal Aviation Administration spokesman Tony Molinaro says a twin-engine Beechcraft King Air reported trouble just after takeoff Thursday morning.

Molinaro says the plane crashed into the building on airport property while attempting to return to the runway.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities in Lincoln have arrested three men in connection to the August shooting death of a man.

Nineteen-year-old Joshua Nootenboom-Carr and 23-year-old Derick Lewis each face charges of first-degree murder and attempted robbery in the death of 21-year-old Maurice Lamont Williams. Nootenboom-Carr also faces other citations.

Twenty-three-year-old Jason Holmes faces charges of accessory to first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit robbery. Police say Holmes was waiting in a car when Nootenboom-Carr and Lewis entered an apartment for a robbery.

Police say Williams was shot in the chest during the home invasion. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital.

Holmes was arrested Wednesday. Nootenboom-Carr and Lewis were already incarcerated on unrelated charges. Court records do not list attorneys.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln’s wastewater is helping heat and cool a building on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Innovation Campus.

About 70 percent of Lincoln’s wastewater is treated at the Theresa Street facility that’s near the campus.

The campus uses a renewable energy system that captures heat from the wastewater that’s funneled to the plant. It helps power heating and cooling systems for the Nebraska Innovation Commons and Conference Center.

Executive Director Dan Duncan of the Innovation Campus says the Centralized Renewable Energy System will eventually reduce heating and cooling costs for Innovation Campus partners by up to 30 percent. It’s also expected to be a way to attract companies needing office space but looking to reduce their carbon footprint.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Convicted Omaha killer Nikko Jenkins, whose release from prison last year has been dragged into the race for Nebraska’s 2nd House District, mentioned the Republican incumbent in a courtroom appearance.

Jenkins said loudly Wednesday as he entered a courtroom, “Vote for Lee Terry, guys. Best Republican ever.”

Jenkins awaits sentencing for killing four Omahans in August 2013.

Terry and Republicans have accused Democratic challenger Brad Ashford, a state lawmaker from Omaha, of supporting a state law that allows criminals like Jenkins to be released from prison early.

At the hearing Wednesday, Jenkins’ public defender renewed a request for Jenkins to be transferred to a state psychiatric hospital, instead of having doctors treat him at the Lincoln prison where he’s being held. The judge did not rule on the request Wednesday.

 

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a man who was shot while trying to break into a northeast Omaha home has died.

Police say the home’s lone resident shot the man in the chest around 2:30 a.m. Wednesday. The wounded man was found by officers on a sidewalk a few blocks from the home. Police say he died later at an Omaha hospital. He was identified as 41-year-old Lee Harvey.

The resident told police the man had tried to get in through the front door, and Lt. Catherine Milone told the Omaha World-Herald the door was “pretty banged up where he was trying to get in.”

The resident’s name hasn’t been released.

 

SIOUX CITY, Iowa (AP) — Authorities in northwest Iowa say several schools are no longer on lockdown after a 16-year-old student suspected of bringing a gun to his school was taken into custody.

The Woodbury County Sheriff’s Office says the student was captured Wednesday afternoon without incident. Additional information was not released.

Authorities placed Siouxland Community Christian School in Sioux City and two other schools on lockdown following a search for the student. He’s suspected of bringing a handgun to Siouxland Community Christian on Tuesday and making threats.

Officials at the nearby Kingsley-Pierson Community School District also placed their facilities on precautionary lockdown.

Sheriff’s Maj. Todd Wieck says the student was considered armed and dangerous because the handgun was unaccounted for at the time of the search. It has since been recovered.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska woman charged with bigamy has pleaded guilty to a lesser charge.

35-year-old Laura McIntyre-Goins of Yutan took a plea deal with prosecutors on Monday. She pleaded guilty to disturbing the peace in exchange for dropping the bigamy charge, which alleged she was still married to her second husband when she married her third husband, Phillip Kapsa.

McIntyre-Goins was ordered to pay a $100 fine and $2,500 in restitution to Kapsa.

The former couple was married last fall in Rapid City, South Dakota. Kapsa tells police he became suspicious when the couple discussed their tax filing options. He had the marriage annulled last month.

McIntyre-Goins says she thought she was divorced from her second husband. They separated in 2007.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 65-year-old Nebraska woman has been charged with a felony after police say she stole $56,000 from a nursing home resident suffering from dementia.

Linda Frain faces up to five years in prison if convicted of abusing a vulnerable adult. Police say she used her power of attorney to steal from 88-year-old Dorothy Palleck.

A Nebraska Adult Protective Services employee told police in March that Frain withdrew the money from Palleck’s bank account during a 13-month period. Officers say she transferred the money for personal use.

Frain was released from jail after posting $1,000 bond. It wasn’t immediately clear if she has an attorney.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Lincoln Public Schools superintendent says gender identity handouts given to teachers will be removed from district campuses.

Steve Joel made the announcement at the Lincoln Board of Education meeting Tuesday night. He said the handouts weren’t appropriate, purposeful or clear.

District officials spoke with school leaders before the academic year began to help them better understand issues transgender students face. The handouts suggested words to replace gendered terms like “girls” and “boys.” School officials have stressed that they were suggestions and not mandates.

Some parents have decried the handouts at the last two meetings. They say the district promoted one view of gender over another and hasn’t been transparent.

LOUISVILLE, Neb. (AP) — An eastern Nebraska woman has been released from the hospital after suffering burns in what authorities believe was a mobile methamphetamine lab explosion.

The 43-year-old woman was discharged Tuesday after suffering burns to her face, neck and arms on Sunday.

Cass County Sheriff’s Capt. Dave Lamprecht says the woman ran into her home near Louisville after a fire started in her car. He says investigators found a bottle with tubing in the passenger seat that they believed was used to make meth.

The Nebraska State Patrol dismantled the equipment.

Authorities are investigating. No charges have been reported.