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DEVELOPING: XGR–BUDGET WOES, SALMONELLA OUTBREAK,
ADDS: XGR–ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
XGR–BUDGET WOES
LINCOLN—Some Nebraska lawmakers were expecting gloomy economic predictions from a board that on Friday will provide its best guess of where the state economy, and state government revenues, are heading. The board’s predictions will dictate how lawmakers create a two-year spending plan. By Nate Jenkins
AP Photos
XGR–ILLEGAL IMMIGRATION
LINCOLN—Nebraska lawmakers on Friday doused a brewing battle over barring some illegal immigrants from paying lower, in-state tuition rates at Nebraska colleges. But the issue, which has become a rallying cry for some groups fighting to curtail undocumented workers, won’t be far from sight. By Anna Jo Bratton.
AP Photos by Nati Harnik
With:
— XGR–COLLEGE ENTRY—Nebraska students will have another pathway to the University of Nebraska and other state-funded universities.
— XGR–DITCH TRAPPING—Trappers will be allowed to catch varmints in Nebraska’s public roadside ditches.
SUPCO–TROOPER RACISM
OMAHA—The Nebraska Supreme Court has upheld a lower court’s ruling affirming the firing of a State Patrol trooper with ties to the Ku Klux Klan. Justice John Gerrard wrote in the majority opinion released Friday that Robert Henderson voluntarily associated with an organization that uses violence and terror to oppose the state’s founding principles of equality and tolerance. By Eric Olson. Eds: Version also moving on national lines.
AP Photo NENH103.
SUPCO–DIESEL FUMES LAWSUIT
OMAHA—The state Supreme Court says a lower court should not have excluded testimony that found a Nebraska man’s cancer was likely caused by exposure to railroad diesel exhaust. On Friday, the high court released its decision reversing a Douglas County District Court ruling, later upheld by the Nebraska Court of Appeals, granting judgment to BNSF Railway. By Margery A. Gibbs.
SALMONELLA OUTBREAK
OMAHA—State health officials are trying to determine the source of more than a dozen cases of salmonella in eastern Nebraska. By Timberly Ross.
ALSO GETTING ATTENTION:
— DORM INTRUDER—A Grand Island man is accused of sneaking into a dormitory and spying on women in the shower at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
— SCHOOL LAWSUIT—A judge has dismissed a lawsuit against a Lincoln elementary school, saying it wasn’t to blame for a sexual assault on a 5-year-old boy.
— STATE FAIR BUILDINGS—Seven companies have submitted proposals to construct five buildings at the new State Fair site in Grand Island.
— STORM SPOTTING—Nebraska isn’t done with wintry weather just yet, but weather and emergency preparedness officials are already making preparations for severe springtime storms.
— FERAL PIGS—State biologists have killed 15 feral pigs near the Harlan County Reservoir.
— PENSION SHORTFALL—A task force meant to solve the city of Omaha’s pension shortfall will be made up of politicians and business and union leaders.
— SHERIFF INJURED—The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office has joined the investigation of a crash by the Johnson County sheriff, whose blood tested out over the alcohol limit.
— SERIAL SUSPENDED DRIVER—A Lexington man convicted of driving under suspension nine times has been arrested again.
— TODAY IN NEBRASKA-MARCH
The AP, Omaha.
