LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new warden has been appointed to oversee a southeast Nebraska prison that has faced numerous problems.

Longtime corrections employee and administrator Brad Hansen will begin his new role at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution on Monday.

Hansen replaces Brian Gage, who resigned.

The leadership change follows a series of high-profile disturbances at the prison, including a May 10th riot that caused extensive damage and left two inmates dead. Last week, three corrections officers were assaulted.

Hansen began his career with the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services in 1977, as a corrections officer in the Nebraska State Penitentiary. He later became a unit administrator.

Corrections Director Scott Frakes says corrections leaders are held to a high standard, occupying a unique position of trust and responsibility.

ARKANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — An Arkansas City woman has been found guilty in connection to the death of her 16-month-old daughter.

KAKE-TV reports that Lindsey Abegg pleaded guilty to aggravated endangerment of a child in the August 2015 death of Astra Abegg. She also pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine and marijuana.

Police say that Astra Abegg was found dead at an Arkansas City apartment when emergency crews responded to a report of a medical emergency involving a child.

The cause of the child’s death has not been released.

LESTERVILLE, Mo. (AP) — Two people have been charged in the death of a woman who had been missing since November and was found dead in southeast Missouri near the Black River.

Thirty-six-year-old Brad Kopf was charged with first-degree murder and 40-year-old Carrie Chitwood was charged with abandonment of a corpse on Monday.

Sixty-three-year-old Sharon Nelson was discovered on January 13th near Lesterville in an area that had been recently flooded. An autopsy says that Nelson suffered a gunshot wound to the head. She had been missing since November 4th.

The Associated Press left a message seeking a comment from an attorney listed as representing Kopf. Online records do not list an attorney for Chitwood.

A preliminary hearing has been scheduled for both Kopf and Chitwood on April 6th.

PROSSER, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a Kearney man has died in a grain elevator accident.

The accident occurred around 1:30 p.m. Wednesday at an elevator just south of Prosser in Adams County. The Sheriff’s Office identified the victim as 41-year-old Jason Weston.

Initial reports suggest Weston was removing grain from a bin when he was caught by an auger.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating the death. Darwin Craig with OSHA’s Omaha office says these types of incidents are generally preventable with proper training and equipment.

OSHA says the elevator is affiliated with Cooperative Producers Incorporated of Hastings, which operates 40 grain handling facilities in Nebraska.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Motorcyclists will go at least another year without the Nebraska wind in their hair as state senators continue to back the state’s mandatory helmet law.

Senators rejected a bill Thursday by Senator Dave Bloomfield of Hoskins that would have allowed motorcycle riders 21 and older to ride without head gear.

The proposal fell three votes short of the 33 required to end debate and force a vote.

Supporters say riders should have the right to choose in matters of personal safety.

Opponents say the current law saves lives and repealing it would ultimately drive up the state’s Medicaid costs.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Senate’s eight Democrats have sent a letter to President Barack Obama opposing moving terror suspects to Fort Leavenworth from Guantanamo Bay in Cuba. The letter Thursday to the Democratic president came two days after the Republican-dominated Legislature adopted a resolution decrying Obama’s push to close the Guantanamo detention center.

The GOP-sponsored resolution goes to Obama. It not only criticizes his plans but declares that he’s shown a willingness to violate American law and sought to lower the nation’s standing in the world.

Kansas officials and members of the state’s congressional delegation have promised to fight any effort to close Guantanamo and move its prisoners to Fort Leavenworth.

But state Senate Minority Leader and Topeka Democrat Anthony Hensley said the resolution contained “polarizing and uncivil rhetoric.”

ST. LOUIS (AP) — An Arizona man accused of misspending his suburban St. Louis company’s money on strippers has pleaded guilty to federal charges.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that 41-year-old John David Berrett, of Gilbert, Arizona, entered the plea Wednesday in St. Louis to federal charges. Prosecutors said the Internet technology architect for World Wide Technology Inc. cost the Maryland Heights-based company more than $476,000 in fraudulent expenses.

The indictment says Berrett spent the money on a sex toy and college tuition, flowers, shoes and chocolates for online strippers. At the hearing, Berrett admitted to submitting expense claims totaling more than $10,000 at a time. He also acknowledged that the expenses were for personal items, and that he wasn’t allowed personal use of his company credit card.

He’s expected to be sentenced in June.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The University of Missouri system’s governing board is dismissing a national professors group’s claims that an educator was unjustly fired over her run-ins with student journalists.

The curators rebuffed the American Association of University Professors’ contention that assistant communications professor Melissa Click didn’t get due process before the board fired her last month. The curators rejected her appeal Tuesday.

The Columbia campus educator’s caught-on-video confrontations with police during October protests in Columbia and with two student journalists weeks later drew national attention.

She has insisted that her ouster was unfair and that normal, on-campus procedures weren’t followed.

But the curators said Thursday it has ultimate authority to fire a faculty member and was compelled to in Click’s case because “existing university procedures failed to address the seriousness of (her) conduct.”

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A top Missouri business association is opposing legislation to create religious protections for some businesses objecting to gay marriage.

The Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry said Thursday that the measure would hurt the state’s economy.

The proposal would prohibit government penalties against businesses and employees who cite religious beliefs while declining to provide wedding-related services to same-sex couples. The religious protections would also apply to clergy and religious organizations.

If passed by lawmakers, the proposed constitutional amendment would head to voters for approval.

The Missouri Chamber says it wants businesses taken out of the measure pending in the House. It passed the Senate last week after a failed 37-hour filibuster by Democrats.

Indiana faced criticism last year from businesses and threats of boycotts over a different religious-objections law.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Girls who want an abortion in Missouri would need to tell both their parents under a bill that has passed the House.

Lawmakers voted 121-34 Thursday to pass a bill requiring a minor to submit to her abortion doctor the written consent of one parent along with written proof that the other parent was notified. Currently, a minor requires only the written consent of one parent.

The bill now goes to the Senate.

The legislation wouldn’t apply to parents convicted of crimes such as child abuse. Bill sponsor Rep. Rocky Miller said those exemptions would protect children from harm.

Opponents said many abusers are never convicted, and some girls could turn to more dangerous options rather than tell their family about a safe and professional abortion.