(AP) — An ammonia leak and fire have shut down a beef processing plant in eastern Nebraska, but no employees were injured.

Workers at the Cargill plant in Schuyler detected the ammonia leak around 3:40 a.m. Thursday. Smoke and flames were reported several minutes later above an area where beef carcasses are trimmed to smaller cuts.

Company spokesman Mike Martin says local authorities responded and the fire was quickly extinguished. He says damage was limited and very little product was lost.

Many of the plant’s more than 2,100 employees weren’t there at the time because the leak occurred between production shifts. The cause of the incident remains under investigation.

Production at the plant was canceled for Thursday. It wasn’t clear whether it would reopen Friday.

(AP) — A former Nebraska waitress has been found guilty of serving alcohol to an underage teenager who later died in a car wreck.

A jury returned the guilty verdict Thursday for 21-year-old Amanda Heiman, of Fremont, on a felony charge of procuring alcohol for a minor resulting in death.

Prosecutors say Heiman was a waitress at a Waterloo bar in December 2012 when she served alcohol to 18-year-old Jacob Dickmeyer, of Valley, and another underage friend. Prosecutors say Heiman knew the men were not legally old enough to drink.

Dickmeyer died later that night when the car he was driving rolled. His passenger was injured.

The defense said during trial that Heiman was a scapegoat. Prosecutors said someone needed to be held accountable.

(AP) — Supporters of a Nebraska prison reform effort are arguing that the state needs to expand its supervised release programs and offer more services to help inmates return to society.

Sen. Brad Ashford of Omaha said Thursday that the current system forces inmates to “jam out” of prisons with inadequate medication, housing or oversight, and no real prospects for a job. The state’s prisons have collectively risen to 153 percent of their design capacity, with nearly 4,900 inmates.

Lawmakers have promised a series of prison reform efforts this year.

A new report by the Platte Institute for Economic Research suggests that the prison population soared with the passage of truth-in-sentencing laws.

(AP) — Gov. Dave Heineman is looking for applicants to fill a second vacant position on the Nebraska State Board of Education.

The governor says in a news release Thursday that there’s an opening in the eight-member board to represent residents of District 4. That includes portions of Douglas and Sarpy counties.

The announcement comes after the resignation Tuesday of board member Rebecca Valdez. She is the second board member to resign in a month, after Mark Quandahl of District 2 resigned in late January.

The terms for Valdez and Quandahl both run through 2016.

(AP) — The parties involved have settled a lawsuit filed after a southeast Nebraska barn was destroyed by a controlled burn that got out of control.

Terms of the Gage County lawsuit settlement have not been disclosed.

Court documents say the Barneston Rural Fire Department held a controlled burn on April 2, 2011, on property owned by Frank Borowiak. His property was adjacent to land owned by plaintiffs Vince and Charoyl Koenig near the village of Virginia.

The documents say the fire got out of control and a barn, several other outbuildings, fences and trees were burned.

The Koenigs had been seeking $40,000 in damages from the village, the fire department and Borowiak.

(AP) — A 63-year-old man is scheduled to be in a Polk County courtroom next week to face charges connected to an explosion that severely injured a 14-year-old relative.

Court records say the hearing is set Thursday for Russell Hilger, of David City. The charges include two for assault.

Authorities say Hilger made an explosive device by putting black powder into a pipe and covering it with towels. Then he set it off on July 4 last year during a family gathering at Ernst Lake, which sits a few miles south-southwest of Columbus.

Shrapnel from the device hit Lauren Campbell, who was in a tent. She spent two weeks in a hospital for treatment of internal injuries. Hilger is her great-uncle.

Hilger and his attorney have declined to comment.

(AP) — An April trial has been scheduled for a former Nebraska union official accused of embezzling nearly $103,000.

Ray Lineweber, of Lincoln, faces 29 counts on charges of embezzlement, mail fraud and falsifying union records.

Prosecutors say the Lineweber stole the money from the United Transportation Union between January 2008 and May 2012, when he was legislative director for the union’s Nebraska State Legislative Board 30. The federal indictment says Lineweber misled the union in expense reports requesting reimbursement for food, entertainment, travel and other expenses.

The 66-year-old Lineweber and his attorney have declined to comment.

The trial is scheduled to begin April 7.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — A 26-year-old St. Paul man has been sent to prison for burglary and for using a hammer to kill his 6-month-old puppy.

Michael Berst had pleaded no contest to several charges in a deal with prosecutors. On Wednesday Berst was given 20 to 60 months for cruel mistreatment of animals and the same sentence for tampering with evidence. The sentences will be served at the same time. He was given 30 to 60 months for burglary. That prison time must be served after the two concurrent sentences.

A court document says Berst told a friend he’d first struck the dog on April 15 for relieving itself on a floor and later used the hammer to kill the dog, telling the friend he was putting the animal out of its misery.

A traffic stop for speeding on Interstate 80 near the Lincoln airport exit led to the seizure of nearly 39 pounds of marijuana and the arrest of a California resident.

Just before 10:00 a.m., Wednesday, February 5, a trooper stopped an eastbound 2013 Nissan Altima for speeding on I-80 near the Lincoln airport exit.  An NSP canine alerted to the odor of drugs coming from the vehicle. A search of the vehicle led to the seizure of 38.8 lbs. of marijuana.  The drugs, contained in 36 packages, were located in two duffel bags in the trunk of the vehicle.

The driver of the vehicle, Randall C. Cook, 63, of Klamath River, Calif., was lodged in the Lancaster County Jail on a charge of Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Deliver.