(AP) — A 27-year-old York woman has been given two years of probation in a check fraud case.

Online court records say Cassandra Tritt was sentenced on Monday in York County District Court. Judge James Stecker also sentenced Tritt to 90 days in jail, to be served in three increments of 30 days. He said the time could be waived later.

Tritt had pleaded no contest to felony forgery after prosecutors lowered the charge.

York police were told in November that a man’s checkbook was missing and that checks had been fraudulently written at numerous local businesses. Prosecutors say Tritt forged 29 checks on the account, totaling nearly $1,800.

Prosecutors say Tritt has already paid restitution to the man.

(AP) — The names of two people have been forwarded to the governor for his consideration in filling an open judgeship in eastern Nebraska’s 5th Judicial District.

A judicial nominating commission selected Rachel Daugherty, of Grand Island, and Jason Mielak, of Columbus, for interviews and a decision by Gov. Dave Heineman.

The district court opening was created by the retirement of Judge Michael Owens, who was appointed to the post in 1996.

The 5th District covers Boone, Butler, Colfax, Hamilton, Merrick, Nance, Platte, Polk, Saunders, Seward and York counties.

(AP) — Omaha police say two people have been injured in a collision involving a school bus and a vehicle.

Officer James Shade says the crash happened around 3 p.m. Thursday. Two people from the scene were taken to a hospital, but additional information has not been released.

Omaha Public Schools spokesman Todd Andrews said a driver and eight students from King Science and Technology Magnet Center were onboard the bus. None of them were injured.

Another bus took the students home. Shade says the crash remains under investigation.

(AP) — A former Ralston elementary school teacher has been sentenced to 14 to 15 years in prison for inappropriately touching young students.

A Douglas County district judge issued the sentence Wednesday to 60-year-old Nicholas Richter. He has more than 100 days of credit for time served, and he must serve about seven years before he is eligible for parole.

Richter was found guilty in December of three counts of sexual assault of a child. His first trial in August ended in a hung jury.

Three young boys ranging in age from 10 to 12 testified that Richter groped them during classes. A middle-aged man also testified that Richter groped him three decades ago, when Richter was teaching in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

(AP) — Authorities removed six children from a Lincoln home after police learned that an 8-year-old boy had been left in charge of his siblings.

The boy showed up at a youth center around 11 a.m. Tuesday and told an employee that he had stayed home from school to care for his sisters. They range in age from 2 to 6.

Officers called to the center said the boy reported that his 9-year-old brother had gone to school, leaving him in charge. Officers soon found the boys’ 6-year-old sister at their home watching the three younger girls.

Officer Katie Flood says the children’s mother was at work. The mother was later cited for child neglect.

(AP) — Microsoft is unveiling Office for the iPad, a software suite that includes programs such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint, and works on rival Apple’s hugely popular tablet computer.

The app will be available for download on Thursday in the App Store at 11 a.m. Pacific time.

Office for the iPad corrects layout problems that users experienced when accessing files they had saved on Microsoft’s cloud storage platform, OneDrive.

The app has touch-enabled features that allow users to drag photos around Word documents and grab elements like pie charts in Excel.

The software giant unveiled the app at an event in San Francisco where Satya Nadella addressed reporters on his 52nd day as the company’s chief executive.

A 31-year-old Lincoln woman is facing charges after lying about having a fatal illness in order to collect nearly $12,000 in gifts from fellow church members.

Lincoln Police said April Nesslein was arrested on suspicion of felony theft after preying on other people’s sympathies for two months by claiming to have cancer and brain tumors.

Officer Katie Flood says Nebraska Health and Human Services officials contacted police last fall because they believed Nesslein might be improperly receiving benefits.

Flood says Nesslein received $11,888.39 in rent payments, new furniture, groceries, clothing and other household items.

Medical documents refuted the her cancer claims.

 

ST. PAUL, Neb. (AP) — Firefighters are working to extinguish a wildfire that already burned nearly 11 square miles of pastureland in central Nebraska.

The fire north of St. Paul had been mostly contained Wednesday, but it flared up Thursday and ignited some trees.

Howard County emergency manager Michelle Woiltalewicz two fire departments are battling the latest flare-up on the fire that began Monday. More than a dozen fire departments were involved Wednesday.

Woiltalewicz says the fire destroyed one abandoned home and barn, and it killed several cattle but it was unclear how many. One firefighter also sustained minor injuries.

The cause of the fire is being investigated.

Woiltalewicz says she hopes the snow falling in the area now will help firefighters contain the fire.

(AP) — Omaha police say a 17-year-old forced a woman and her son out of their car at gunpoint, but then struggled to steal the car because it has a manual transmission.

The teenager was arrested shortly after the attempted carjacking shortly after 7 Thursday morning, and he has been charged with robbery.

Police say the teen forced the woman and her 13-year-old son out of their Dodge Caliber in midtown Omaha.

Neighbor Beth Meiches says she watched the teen try unsuccessfully to put the car in gear. He sat in the car for several minutes before fleeing when police arrived.

Omaha Police Lt. Mike McGee says the fact that this car is a stick shift helped prevent its theft.

The teen was arrested a few blocks away.

(AP) — Discount retailer Gordmans Stores Inc. has announced that President and chief executive Jeff Gordman will be retiring.

The company said Tuesday that Gordman is leaving to pursue outside interests and spend more time with his family.

Gordman’s great-grandfather founded the company nearly 100 years ago. Gordman joined the Omaha-based company in 1990 and has held the posts since 1996. Board chairman T. Scott King will become interim CEO while the board seeks a successor for Gordman.

Also on n Tuesday the company posted its fourth-quarter 2013 earnings, noting a 7.4 percent drop from 2012 in sales at stores open a year or more. Net income for the quarter was $2.7 million, compared with $7.9 million a year ago.

Gordmans has 95 stores in 20 states, including Nebraska.