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DEVELOPING: XGR–SCHOOL AID-STIMULUS,
ADDS: MISSING COURT FUNDS, GE CAPITAL-INVESTORS
XGR–SCHOOL AID-STIMULUS
LINCOLN—A handful of Nebraska lawmakers are worried stimulus dollars may be spent inappropriately. The criticisms were levied Thursday before the Legislature gave first-round approval to a bill (LB548) from Sen. Greg Adams of York. It would push back the date that state aid to schools has to be certified, making it June 1 rather than April 1. By Nate Jenkins.
ALSO:
— XGR–AGENT ANGST—Nebraska lawmakers are trying to crack down on rogue sports agents.
— XGR–SAFE HAVEN—A shortage of mental- and behavioral-health professionals in Nebraska highlighted by use of the state’s safe-haven law last year is being addressed by state lawmakers.
MISSING COURT FUNDS
OMAHA—State Auditor Mike Foley says Otoe County District Court is missing $29,000 and that a former court employee is responsible. Foley blames the court’s poor accounting practices, including allowing now-former deputy court clerk Teresa White to handle transactions from beginning to end. By Jean Ortiz.
BUSINESS:
GE CAPITAL-INVESTORS
WASHINGTON—General Electric Co. on Thursday forecast a profitable first quarter and full year for its struggling finance unit, aiming to soothe investor fears that factors like falling real estate values and unpaid credit cards could further damage GE Capital. At an investors conference in New York, the company backed an earlier forecast that GE Capital could earn up to $5 billion this year, despite a U.S. recession and global slowdown. The unit, which provides loans for consumer credit cards, energy projects like power plants, and overseas home sales, has been battered by cautious spending and losses in areas such as mortgages and commercial real estate. By Business Writer Stephen Manning. Eds: NOTE Nebraska mention. Also moving on national lines.
AP Photo NYBZ142.
ALSO GETTING ATTENTION:
— HAZING ACCUSATION—Allegations of hazing have led to a police search of a University of Nebraska-Lincoln fraternity house.
— DOG SHOT—A basset hound shot and left for dead in a central Nebraska field is now ready to be adopted.
— BOY DRIVER—Authorities say a central Nebraska boy suffered minor injuries after crashing the car he was driving.
— FIREFIGHTER CHARGED—A former Lincoln firefighter accused of stealing a dying woman’s pain medication has pleaded no contest to two charges.
— PREMATURE BIRTHS—The rate of premature births in Nebraska and the nation has declined slightly.
— MENTAL HEALTH RESOURCES—Nebraska has set up a Web site to help people find community resources to handle mental-health problems.
— ESTATE GIFT—The University of Nebraska at Kearney has received its second-largest estate gift and university officials are heralding the help it will offer students.
— SPRING SERVICE—Some college students spend their spring break on service projects instead of beach vacations, and U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson wants to recognize them.
— HASTINGS FIRE—The city of Hastings is now set to finally clean up the burned-out site of a 2006 fire downtown.
— VOLUNTEER PRISONERS—More than three dozen teenage “prisoners” have volunteered to help Saunders County authorities get ready for their new Wahoo jail building.
— MISSOURI PULSE—The Corps of Engineers plans to send more water down the Missouri River to help the endangered pallid sturgeon.
— UNION ORGANIZING—State Treasurer Shane Osborn is forming an organization to oppose a federal bill that would make union organizing easier.
— COUNCIL BLUFFS DRUG RAID—Two people are in custody and a pit bull is dead after a drug raid in Council Bluffs. Eds: Contains Nebraska mention.
— EDITORIAL RDP—Excerpts from recent Nebraska daily newspaper editorials on topics of statewide interest.
The AP, Omaha.
