LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Federal regulators have fined a former bank branch manager and banned him from the business.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. issued the order against Daniel Skalberg effective Oct. 31 but didn’t make the actions public until Friday.

Daniel Skalberg was president of Pinnacle Bank’s Madison branch from 1996 to 2010. He agreed to a $25,000 fine and the stipulation that he not work in banking again. He admitted no wrongdoing, however.

Skalberg had been accused of an improper loan scheme involving a Madison vehicle dealer from 2006 to 2010. The FDIC says the scheme cost the bank around $400,000.

There was no answer Friday at a phone listing in the area for a Daniel Skalberg.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a home inspector who’d sued a Seward real estate agent and her company over an email that he says she sent to more than 400 people, calling him a “total idiots.”

Online court records say Judge Robert Otte last week granted a request by Shelly Nitz, Woods Brothers Realty and HomeServices of Nebraska to dismiss the action brought by Matthew Steinhausen in January 2012. He said the email was libelous and hurt his business. Their attorneys said the email was opinion protected by the First Amendment.

In his dismissal order, the judge says the email was a protected opinion that went only to people on a closed company list and says Steinhausen failed to prove the email was sent with actual malice.

WILBER, Neb. (AP) — Thayer County is expected to join the Southeast Nebraska Drug Court program.

Gage County board members soon will vote on the proposal. Jefferson and Saline county boards have already approved the addition of Thayer County.

Gage, Jefferson and Saline counties are the original members of the drug court, which is based in Wilber. It offers people who are convicted of drug felonies a chance to complete a rehabilitation program. If they are successful, the charges can be wiped from their records.

Drug court administrator Kristy Rivers says Thayer County will contribute $1,000 for its first year of membership.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska man convicted for his role in two grisly cult-related murders in 1985 is asking the state to end his lifetime parole supervision.

Timothy Haverkamp has asked the Nebraska Board of Pardons to commute his second-degree murder sentence of 10 years to life, and on Dec. 11, the board will consider whether to grant him a hearing.

Haverkamp was paroled in 2009 after spending 23 years in prison for his role in the murder of a fellow cult member, 25-year-old James Thimm.

Haverkamp testified against cult leader Michael Ryan, who remains on Nebraska’s death row.

The 51-year-old Haverkamp was the subject of controversy in 2008 when officials confirmed he was one of several inmates giving tours of the Governor’s Mansion while serving participating in a prison work release program.

FAIRBURY, Neb. (AP) — An 18-year-old volunteer firefighter from Nebraska and a full-time Iowa firefighter Iowa will be honored as heroes Friday at the Iowa-Nebraska football game in Lincoln.

The Big Ten Conference has dubbed the Iowa-Nebraska meeting each year as the Heroes Game, honoring one person from each state who has performed extraordinary acts of heroism and service.

Caleb Amundson, a rural Fairbury volunteer firefighter, dove into Harlan County Lake on Labor Day and saved a man in a wheelchair who was trapped inside his truck when it rolled into the water.

The Iowa honoree is Mike Klemmensen, a Sioux City firefighter who saved the lives of six people the night of Aug. 20. He raced inside their home, woke everyone and made sure they escaped.

(AP) — A man who was a teenager nine years ago when he planned to attack fellow Nebraska high school students has been cleared to leave a state psychiatric hospital.

26-year-old Joshua Magee is being transferred to a residential program and will receive outpatient care through the Community Mental Health Center.

The transfer order was approved earlier this week by Lancaster County District Court Judge Karen Flowers. She’d ordered his commitment to the Lincoln Regional Center after he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. Charges against him included attempted first-degree murder.

Magee was arrested in March 2004 at Malcolm Middle and High School after taking bomb materials and a rifle to school in his car.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a small plane has crashed while landing at an airport in Omaha, but there are no injuries.

The Federal Aviation Administration says the crash happened Wednesday afternoon at Millard Airport as the single-engine Aeronca aircraft was landing. It bounced, damaging the front landing gear.

FAA spokesman Tony Molinaro in Chicago says two people including the pilot were on board. No one was injured.

Additional information about the plane is limited. FAA records show it was registered in Nebraska, but the name of its owner is not available.