(AP) — A grain elevator worker in southeast Nebraska has died in an anhydrous ammonia explosion that injured another worker.

Johnson County Attorney Julie Smith says in a news release that the 63-year-old worker died Thursday night after the explosion at Midwest Farmers Cooperative in Tecumseh.

Smith says the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office received a 911 call about the explosion around 6 p.m. Thursday. Rescue crews took two workers to a local hospital, where one of then later died. Officials did not release the names of the men.

Two others, including a sheriff’s deputy, were treated for non-life threatening injuries or exposure to anhydrous ammonia.

Anhydrous ammonia is used by farmers as fertilizer. The colorless gas can burn the eyes, throat and damage lung tissue at high exposures.

 

(AP) — The University of Nebraska at Omaha says it will rebuild a student apartment building partially gutted by fire last month.

The Feb. 26 fire destroyed the roof and third floor of the three-story building at UNO’s Scott Village. No students were injured. Investigators say the fire was caused by a discarded cigarette on an apartment balcony.

A university news release Friday says it will replace all mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems in the building and reconstruct the roof and third floor, and all interior finishes will be replaced.

UNO hopes to have the building ready for students by the 2014 fall semester.

UNO says officials spent weeks working with architects, engineers and insurance adjusters to determine the best course of action for damaged building.

(AP) — A Guide Rock woman accused of killing her boyfriend’s 68-year-old mother has pleaded guilty to a reduced murder charge.

Shelley Casterline pleaded guilty to second-degree murder on Wednesday in Adams County District Court. She and her 23-year-old son, Andrew, were charged with first-degree murder and other crimes connected to the Oct. 4 slaying of Virginia Barone at Barone’s home in Guide Rock. Her body was found partially covered by boards in her home the next day. An autopsy showed she’d been stabbed twice in the back and 20 times in the chest and torso.

Andrew Casterline has pleaded not guilty, and his trial is scheduled to begin on May 27. His mother’s sentencing is scheduled for June 10.

Authorities say the Casterlines were captured in Iowa on Oct. 5.

(AP) — A former fire chief has been convicted of stealing from his fire department in southeast Nebraska.

Forty-seven-year-old John Porter pleaded no contest on Thursday in Lancaster County District Court to theft and attempted possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. His sentencing is scheduled for May 22.

Prosecutors say Porter manipulated accounts and stole more than $33,000 from November 2010 through January 2013. He’s repaid the money to the Southeast Rural Fire Department, from which he was fired last year.

Police say they found more than a dozen shotguns and rifles while searching Porter’s home in May. Because Porter was convicted of theft in 2006, he’s ineligible to own guns.

(AP) — An 81-year-old driver who may have been suffering a medical problem has died after his pickup rammed a tree in Lincoln.

The accident was reported just after 11:15 a.m. Thursday. Police say Connell Rector’s truck ran over a curb, hit a small tree and continued for a half a block down a sidewalk before striking the bigger tree. Police say Rector was pronounced dead later at a Lincoln hospital.

Police Capt. David Beggs says Rector may have had a medical emergency before the accident.

(AP) — Jail time and probation have been given to a southeast Nebraska man and his ex-wife accused of looting his mother’s accounts.

Online court records say 46-year-old Brian Robinson, of Roca, and 40-year-old Carla Robinson, of Hickman, were sentenced on Thursday. He was sentenced to six months in jail and five years of probation. She was sentenced to six months in jail and four years or probation. Both were ordered to pay restitution.

The Robinsons pleaded no contest to felony charges of abuse of a vulnerable adult. Prosecutors dropped theft charges in exchange for their pleas.

Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner has said the Robinsons violated guidelines of a power of attorney granted by Brian Robinson’s mother. Prosecutors say the two spent more than $150,000 of his mother’s money.

(AP) — A man serving life in prison for shooting another man to death at an Omaha restaurant drive-thru has again been denied his request for DNA testing of evidence gathered in the case.

Antoine Young appealed after a Douglas County District Court in 2012 denied his request to conduct DNA testing of a black sweatshirt and shell casings found at the scene of the 2007 shooting that killed Ray Webb. Young maintains that testing will show that genetic material on those items came from someone else.

On Friday, the Nebraska Supreme Court upheld the lower court’s denial, saying Young did not request the testing at his 2008 trial and offered no evidence that such testing was not available at the time of his trial — as required by state law.

(AP) — A former chairman of the Nebraska Republican Party has won confirmation to the State Fair Board, despite criticism that the party under his watch tried to influence the state’s officially nonpartisan Legislature.

Lawmakers voted 31-4 on Friday to confirm Lincoln attorney Mark Fahleson to the board. The vote came in spite of a legislative committee’s recommendation to reject Fahleson’s appointment.

Opponents of the appointment pointed to the state party’s efforts to pressure Republican lawmakers on issues such as a voter identification bill and a measure to provide state-funded prenatal care benefits to women in the country illegally. Those attempts ultimately failed.

Fahleson’s supporters say he’s well-qualified for the State Fair Board position, and the job has nothing to do with partisan politics.

(AP) — The fixed-base operator at the Grand Island airport is planning a service and product expansion that officials say could land business from the owners of thousands of planes.

Trego-Dugan Aviation at the Central Nebraska Regional Airport plans to boost the capability of its avionics division to sell and install a new tracking system that uses satellite data links.

Trego-Dugan’s Aaron Hall told the Hall County Airport Authority board on Wednesday that the company is partnering with Garmin, Avidyne and FreeFlight to develop the tracking system.

The system would help the aircraft owners comply with the federal government’s mandate that planes upgrade by 2020 to what’s called an automatic dependent surveillance broadcast system.

(AP) — Authorities say an 82-year-old woman whose vehicle struck and killed a cyclist in Omaha was trying to avoid a stopped car.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office says Ruth Jeffers, of La Vista, was driving on March 13 when she failed to yield to a vehicle stopped in front of her. The stopped vehicle was waiting for cyclist Jim Johnson to pass in order to turn into a driveway.

Jeffers’ vehicle crossed the center line and swerved into a shoulder lane. She hit 56-year-old Johnson in the process.

Johnson was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

The newspaper reports the Douglas County attorney has not announced whether charges will be filed against Jeffers. A message for Jeffers was not immediately returned Thursday.