A traffic stop for speeding on Interstate 80 in Seward County led to one arrest and the seizure of two pounds of heroin.

Just before 11:30 a.m., Wednesday, June 25, a trooper stopped an eastbound 2007 Dodge Charger for speeding just west of the Beaver Crossing exit on I-80. The trooper was given consent to search the vehicle. The search led to the seizure of two pounds of heroin. The heroin, concealed under the center console, was contained in three packages and has an estimated street value of $360,000.

The driver and lone occupant of the vehicle, Joe T. Bolanos, 31, King City, Calif., was lodged in the Seward County Jail on Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Deliver.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — An 18-year-old Lincoln man was injured when the personal watercraft he was riding collided with a motorboat on a Lancaster County lake.

The Nebraska Games and Parks Commission says the crash happened Tuesday evening at Pawnee Lake.

Nicholas Esparza was riding the watercraft on the lake’s west side when he hit the side of a boat operated by 65-year-old Fred Schlegel, of Lincoln.

Esparza, who was wearing a life jacket, was found unconscious, floating face-down in the water.

Occupants of Schlegel’s boat pulled Esparza from the water and took him to a boat ramp.

Esparza was taken to a Lincoln hospital, where he was treated for a concussion, three broken ribs, pierced lung and facial cuts.

The Nebraska Games and Parks Commission and sheriff’s office are investigating the crash.

The Nebraska State Patrol is investigating the discovery of a body just south of the town of Beaver Crossing in Seward County.

Just before 1:00 p.m., the Nebraska State Patrol responded to reports from the Seward County Sheriff’s Office of a male body lying along the bank of the Big Blue River, south of the bridge, off of 406^th Road in Seward County.

A cause of death has not been determined and an autopsy has been ordered by the Seward County Attorney. The name of the deceased is unknown at this time.  The investigation continues.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Federal prosecutors have charged a Lincoln dentist with stealing nearly $17,000 worth of precious metals from the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in Omaha.

Prosecutors say Randall Toothaker had been working in the hospital’s dental prosthetics office before the alleged theft last summer.

A lab technician reported seeing the 57-year-old dentist open a locked cabinet where precious metals used in dental procedures, including gold, were kept.

While VA officials investigated the missing metals, prosecutors say Toothaker tried to leave the property. Officers pulled him over and found the missing metals in a bag in his vehicle.

Toothaker told officers he didn’t know how the metals got into his bag.

Toothaker’s initial appearance in federal court is scheduled for July 18. His attorney didn’t immediately respond to a message Wednesday.

WATERLOO, Neb. (AP) — The Douglas County attorney’s office has cited a Fremont man who was driving a pickup truck that hit and killed a motorcyclist last month.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office announced Wednesday that 30-year-old Jonathan R. Mumm voluntarily came to the sheriff’s office, where he was issued a misdemeanor citation charging him with motor vehicle homicide. He was then released.

The citation followed a May 30 crash in western Douglas County that killed Scott C. Petersen, a 37-year-old off-duty Omaha firefighter.

An investigation indicated a pickup truck driven by Mumm crossed the center line of the roadway, causing the crash.

A telephone call left with Mumm wasn’t immediately returned.

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — Two Fremont women accused of helping embezzle nearly $2.5 million from Gavilon Grain over several years have pleaded not guilty.

42-year-old Joleen Cameron made the plea Tuesday as she waived her preliminary hearing in Dodge County Court. Fifty-year-old Kathy Springer-Hesman made her plea on June 17.

Also suspected in the theft scheme is 66-year-old Dennis Hesman. He is charged with falsifying documents at the grain elevator he ran to create fake receipts for grain. Authorities say Hesman created the false documents in the name of his daughter, Cameron, or his daughter-in-law, Springer-Hesman.

Investigators at Gavilon say they found 307 examples of falsified documents between 2007 and 2013.

Hesman’s attorney says Hesman is cooperating with authorities.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Police suspect another vehicle may have been involved in the death plunge of a motorcyclist in Lincoln.

The accident occurred around 5 p.m. Tuesday. Officers say the motorcyclist was headed toward downtown when something caused him to fall off his bike while on the Rosa Parks Way overpass and land in a parking lot below. Police Capt. Danny Reitan says a hit-and-run driver may have been the cause.

The victim’s name hasn’t been released.

COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — A sex offender who moved into the home of a Columbus woman and later molested two of her children has been given five years in prison.

The 25-year-old man had pleaded no contest and was convicted of sexual assault of a child. The man is not being identified in order to protect the privacy of the teenage boys the man was accused of molesting.

Court documents say the man stayed at the woman’s home from late May until late July last year, when the woman demanded that he leave.

The man was convicted of sexually assaulting a child in May 2011 in Antelope County.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Salvation Army is reminding Omaha residents of its summer fan distribution program as summer temperatures rise.

Fans are free of charge to qualified individuals. Priority is given to people who are older than 50 years or those with medical disabilities. Proof of medical disability is required when applying for a fan.

New fans may be dropped off at The Salvation Army in Omaha any day of the week throughout the summer. Monetary donations to buy new fans are also accepted. The campaign is running through Sept. 5.

More information can be found by calling 402-898-5869 or going online to www.GiveSalvationArmy.org.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Responding to a major case of research misconduct, federal prosecutors are taking a rare step by filing charges against a scientist after he admitted falsifying data while researching an HIV vaccine.

Authorities say former Iowa State University laboratory manager Dong-Pyou Han has confessed to manipulating data that helped his team get millions in grants and increased hopes of a major breakthrough in AIDS research.

Experts say the misconduct was particularly brazen, and charges are rare in part because less money is usually involved. The National Institutes of Health is reviewing the case’s impact on research it funds.

Han resigned from the university last fall. He was indicted last week and could face prison time if convicted. He’s free on bond but didn’t respond to a message seeking comment Tuesday.