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DEVELOPING: XGR–NEBRASKA BUDGET WOES, EARNS-BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY
ADDS: USED VEHICLES-SAFETY, FBC–T25-OKLAHOMA-NEBRASKA
XGR–NEBRASKA BUDGET WOES
LINCOLN—To hear directors of some state agencies, managing Nebraska’s fiscal crisis isn’t that big of a deal. Others tell a totally different story, one of drastic cutbacks in services. It’s easy to predict who will say what: Just look at who hires them. By Nate Jenkins.
With:
— XGR–NEBRASKA BUDGET WOES-CHECKOFF
USED VEHICLES-SAFETY
OMAHA—Car dealers must inspect used vehicles for safety defects and either make repairs or warn potential buyers before they are resold, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled Friday. The high court said that an “as is” sticker does not absolve dealers of their duty to look out for public safety. By Timberly Ross.
BUSINESS:
EARNS-BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY
OMAHA—Billionaire Warren Buffett’s company will finish off a headline-making week by releasing its third-quarter earnings report Friday. Earlier this week, Berkshire Hathaway Inc. announced a $26.3 billion cash and stock deal to buy Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. That deal to acquire all the BNSF shares Berkshire doesn’t already own will be the Omaha-based company’s biggest if shareholders and regulators approve it. By Business Writer Josh Funk.
ALSO:
— STIMULUS-NEBRASKA-BUSINESS—Two Nebraska banks have obtained federal loan guarantees through the U.S Department of Agriculture, which is using federal stimulus funding. Eds: Moved on state news and financial lines.
— FINANCIAL LITERACY-CAMPAIGN—An initiative to help Nebraskans better manage their personal finances will get under way next week. Eds: Moved on state news and financial lines.
SPORTS:
T25-OKLAHOMA-NEBRASKA
LINCOLN—Mention the Oklahoma-Nebraska rivalry to longtime college football fans, and it conjures memories of November classics from yesteryear. Those were the days in the 1970s and ’80s when Big Eight championships and, often, national title hopes were on the line. Even as the Big Eight morphed into the Big 12, and the scheduling format allowed the teams to meet only twice every four years, the series still had its moments. By Sports Writer Eric Olson.
ALSO GETTING ATTENTION:
— COLUMBUS FATALITY—A 12-year-old boy died an Omaha hospital after he was injured in a collision on the north end of Columbus.
— NEB GIRLS ASSAULTED—A 25-year-old Kearney man has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two young girls.
— SHERIFF’S OFFICE BREAK-IN—Officers in Beatrice talked a man into dropping the pry bar he was brandishing, then arrested him for breaking into the sheriff’s department offices.
— NEB SUSPICIOUS DEATH—A 23-year-old Lincoln man remains in jail on $250,000 bail after his first appearance in court to face a manslaughter charge.
— NEIGHBOR SHOT—A 29-year-old Broken Bow man who shot an apartment neighbor has been given two-to-three years in a Nebraska prison.
— FIRE TRUCK THEFT—A Nebraska woman has been given a six-month suspended jail sentence for helping her husband steal a fire truck in South Dakota.
— RURAL POLL-COMMUNITIES—Pollsters say economic worries may have contributed to a decline in rural Nebraskans’ views of their communities.
— JOHANNS-HEALTH OVERHAUL—U.S. Sen. Mike Johanns will be holding another round of town hall meetings in Nebraska to address health care reform.
— MILLION-DOLLAR DONATION—A Lincoln technology entrepreneur has given $1 million to a Nebraska Educational Telecommunications fundraising drive. Eds: Moved on state news and financial lines.
— FORT CALHOUN OFFLINE—The Omaha Public Power District’s nuclear power plant, Fort Calhoun Station, has been taken offline for a scheduled refueling and maintenance outage.
— PONY EXPRESS MONUMENT—Formal fundraising efforts begin later this month for a Pony Express Monument in Sidney.
The AP, Omaha.
