(AP) — A trial date has been set for a lawsuit against Lancaster County filed by the father of a teenage inmate who killed himself.

U.S. District Judge John Gerrard scheduled a jury trial for Sept. 15.

Mark Kennedy, of Lincoln, filed the lawsuit after his 16-year-old son, Jonathan Kennedy, hanged himself in a youth detention center on Feb. 26. He was taken to a local hospital, where he later died.

The lawsuit argues that jail staff should have realized Jonathan Kennedy had mental problems and should have more effectively supervised him.

The suit seeks $5,000 in damages for funeral expenses and other unspecified damages.

A judge had ordered the boy detained for suspected drug use and self-harming behavior.

(AP) — Nicollette Brynn Anders was born just in time.

Little Nicollette came into the world at 2:15 p.m. Tuesday at Community Medical Center in Missoula, Mont., meaning she was born on 11-12-13 at 14:15 in military time.

Proud dad Mark Anders tells the Missoulian that’s just when she showed up.

The doctors induced labor Tuesday morning, and mom Amanda Anders says they were aware of the potential 11-12-13 birthdate, but didn’t realize they might possibly have the 14:15 until about 10 minutes before Nicollette was born.

Nicollette weighed 9 pounds, 3 ounces and was 20.5 inches long.

(AP) — A 16-year-old accused of stabbing a fellow student at Lincoln’s Pius X High School is asking a judge to move her case to juvenile court.

The suspect appeared in court Friday morning. Prosecutors argued against the request, saying the girl intended to kill as many people as she could.

Lincoln police say the girl attacked 17-year-old Ellen Kopetzky at the school on Oct. 7, using a knife and hammer. She was arrested the next day in Yates Center, Kan., and charged with first-degree assault and using a weapon to commit a felony. She has pleaded not guilty.

The Associated Press generally doesn’t identify juveniles accused of crimes.

A judge says he will rule on the issue later.

(AP) — University of Nebraska President J.B. Milliken says a new tuition plan would encourage students to take more credit hours per semester and improve the school’s graduation rate.

The block tuition plan would charge students a flat rate for taking a certain number of credits. Students would pay the same regardless of how many credit hours they take above a set number per semester. For example, a student taking 15 credit hours could pay the same amount as one who takes 18.

Milliken says block tuition is an example of something university leaders may consider as a way to improve timely degree completion. He didn’t offer a timeline for when university leaders might propose such a plan.

(AP) — The Omaha Public Power District isn’t proposing any rate increases for next year even though it still can’t generate power at its Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant.

The utility that serves 13 southeast Nebraska counties says it successfully limited expenses this year while it continued rehabilitating Fort Calhoun.

OPPD’s board reviewed a proposed 2014 budget Thursday. The budget won’t be official until the board votes on it on Dec. 19.

OPPD officials say they were able to negotiate cheaper coal contracts earlier this year. And the cost of electricity the utility had to buy to replace Fort Calhoun’s output will be spread over three years.

OPPD increased electricity rates 6.9 percent last January largely to pay for the cost of repairing the nuclear plant that has been idle since 2011.

A Grand Island defense attorney was shot and killed in downtown Grand Island Wednesday evening.

According to a Grand Island Police Department (GIPD) news release, 52-year-old Todd Elsbernd was shot in a parking lot near Third and Locust Streets at around 6:30 pm.

GIPD Captain Kerry Mehlin said during a press conference, that Elsbernd was shot in the torso by a rifle.  He was transported to a local hospital where he died.

Police say witnesses reported hearing two gunshots.

The suspect in the shooting is described as a white male with glasses who was driving a small white car.  Police do not believe the shooting was random.

Anyone with information is asked to contact GIPD at 308-385-5400.

(AP) — A Nebraska inmate has appealed a judge’s ruling against him over return of his drawings that depict nudity and sex acts.

Christopher Payne filed a lawsuit in April against the state Department of Correctional Services. He says Tecumseh prison officials violated his constitutional rights by taking 11 pencil drawings from his cell between October and January. Payne is serving a 40- to 50-year sentence for raping two boys

The department policy on hobbies bans artwork depicting nudity, sex acts, violence, bondage, sadomasochism, bestiality and acts of degradation.

Judge Karen Flowers ruled in October that Payne’s rights were not violated.

The Nebraska Court of Appeals earlier this month notified both parties that it would consider the case.

(AP) — The city of Omaha and the Omaha firefighters union have reached a deal that will cut paramedic trainees, but avoids layoffs next year.

The office of Mayor Jean Stothert (STAH’-thurt) announced Wednesday that an agreement had been reached that put the Omaha Fire Department on target to reach its 2014 budget of nearly $91 million.

The deal cuts the January 2014 paramedics training class from 24 to nine and eliminates the June 2014 class. It also cuts the December 2014 class cut to nine from 24.

In exchange, the city guarantees no layoffs in 2014. The layoff protection will expire when a new labor agreement is reached for 2015 or — in the absence of an agreement — a state labor board establishes new firefighter employment terms and conditions