(AP) — Omaha police say five officers from three agencies fired their duty weapons at a man who was killed as authorities tried to serve him with a warrant.

The Omaha Police Department says members of a fugitive task force and a gang unit encountered 30-year-old Willie Michalak outside a house around 5:40 p.m. Wednesday. An arrest warrant for Michalak included felony charges of burglary and theft.

Officer James Shade, a department spokesman, says officers fired multiple gunshots as they approached Michalak. None of the officers were hurt. Additional information was not released.

Two officers are from Omaha police; two are from the U.S. Marshals Service; one is from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Two Omaha officers have been placed on paid administrative leave pending investigation of the shooting.

(AP) — Nebraska lawmakers are considering an overhaul of the state’s process for drawing legislative and congressional districts.

Lawmakers began debate Thursday on a bill that would create an independent, bipartisan redistricting commission to propose new boundaries after each U.S. census. Lawmakers would appoint one Democrat and one Republican from each of Nebraska’s congressional districts.

Modeled after a system in Iowa, the measure would give lawmakers up to four up-or-down votes on new districts, after which the Nebraska Supreme Court would decide.

Sen. Russ Karpisek of Wilber says the current process leads to districts where incumbents have no incentive to compromise. Some rural senators say the system increases urban Nebraska’s political clout.

Opponents say the commission could end up cutting senators out of their own districts.

(AP) — Authorities say they’re looking for a man who allegedly robbed a cab driver and placed the victim in a car trunk.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office says the incident occurred early Tuesday morning after a cab driver picked up a man outside a convenience store in Omaha.

The cab driver says the man eventually revealed a firearm and ordered the driver into the truck of the car. The suspect drove the cab around before releasing the victim. The suspect allegedly took money and personal belongings from the cab driver.

The suspect fled in the cab, which was later recovered.

Authorities are asking the public for help in finding the suspect. Callers to a tip line are eligible for a cash reward.

(AP) — A 46-year-old Lincoln woman with nine children and three stepchildren has been given 10 years in prison for possessing methamphetamine.

Online court records say Diane Holbrook was sentenced Wednesday by Lancaster County District Judge Paul Merritt Jr. She was sentenced as a habitual criminal, so she won’t qualify for any good-time credit. Records say Holbrook also is known as Diane Grandel.

She’d pleaded no contest to allegations that she had meth in her bedroom and in her clothing when officers searched her apartment on July 31.

(AP) — The Metro Fugitive Task Force says it has arrested three wanted men at an Omaha hotel.

Omaha police said Wednesday that officers received a tip on Tuesday that the three were at the New Victorian Hotel.

Police say 29-year-old Josh Hurst, 26-year-old Alexander Mejia and 24-year-old Adam Mejia were arrested.

Officers say they also found methamphetamine and a stolen truck in the parking lot.

Hurst is charged in a warrant for theft more than $1,500. Alexander Mejia and Adam Mejia are each charged with possession of a controlled substance, possession of a stolen firearm, being a felon in possession of a firearm and theft more than $1,500.

(AP) — While Creighton University and the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are often viewed as in-state sports rivals, two of their researchers have teamed up in the hopes of stopping the spread of chronic wasting disease among deer and elk.

Jason Bartz, a medical microbiologist at Creighton, and Shannon Bartelt-Hunt, an engineering professor at UNL, have been working together since 2006 to study prions, proteins that cause chronic wasting and mad cow diseases, in the environment.

Bartz and Bartelt-Hunt have focused specifically on chronic wasting disease, which can reduce the growth and size of wild deer and elk, such as seen in southwest Nebraska.

Their hope is that the research eventually leads to ways to stop the spread of not just chronic wasting disease, but other prion diseases in livestock and humans.

(AP) — Police say an Omaha man sought on suspicion of several crimes was fatally wounded at a house in southeastern Omaha.

On Thursday, Omaha police released the name of the man: 30-year-old Willie Michalak. Police say members of the Metro Fugitive Task Force encountered Michalak outside the house around 5:40 p.m. Wednesday. Omaha police spokeswoman Darci Tierney says officers fired after “some sort of threat.” None of the officers were hurt.

Two Omaha officers have been placed on paid administrative leave pending investigation of the shooting.

It’s unclear whether Michalak was armed. Tierney says officers expected him to have a weapon.

An arrest warrant for Michalak included felony charges of burglary, theft, habitual criminal, fleeing in a vehicle to avoid arrest and possession of a firearm by a prohibited person.

A traffic stop on Interstate 80 near the Lincoln Airport exit in Lancaster County landed a Wisconsin man in jail after a trooper seized nearly 18 lbs. of marijuana from the pickup he was driving.

Just before 11:00 a.m., Wednesday, March 19, a trooper stopped an eastbound 2010 Ford F150 extended cab pickup for speeding 80 mph in a 65 mph zone, near the Lincoln Airport exit. An NSP canine indicated to the odor of drugs coming from the pickup. A search of the pickup led to the seizure of 17.8 lbs. of marijuana. The marijuana was located in three duffel bags in the rear passenger side of the vehicle.

The driver and lone occupant of the vehicle, Nicholas Pacocha,28, Cedarburg, Wis., was lodged in the Lancaster County Corrections on a charge of Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Deliver.

(AP) — A woman will receive a traffic ticket in connection to a car collision last month that injured an Omaha police officer.

Omaha City Prosecutor David Smalheiser said Wednesday that a traffic citation for careless driving will be issued to 39-year-old Michele Eshelman.

Police say Eshelman was driving an SUV on the southwest side of the city on Feb. 20 when it rear-ended the patrol car of Officer Lou Tomsu. He had been investigating another crash at the time.

Tomsu suffered serious injuries, including a cut to the back of the head and rib injuries. Eshelman was not injured.

(AP) — A man accused of killing four people in Omaha last summer wants a judge to decide his case.

Records shows 27-year-old Nikko Jenkins recently requested to waive a jury trial. He wants Douglas County Judge Peter Batallion to set a date for a bench trial. A hearing on the matter has been scheduled for Tuesday.

Jenkins is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the August deaths of Juan Uribe-Pena, Jorge Cajiga-Ruiz, Curtis Bradford and Andrea Kruger. He has pleaded not guilty, and claims he didn’t receive proper mental health treatment while previously in prison.

On Friday, Batallion granted Jenkins’ request to act as his own attorney in the case, though a public defender will provide him advice.