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UNEMPLOYMENT TAX-NEBRASKA
LINCOLN—Nebraska businesses will be hit with a sharp increase in their tax bills next year to replenish the state’s unemployment fund after a year in which payments from the fund more than doubled to $190 million. Nebraska is one of 33 states expected to increase its unemployment tax in 2010 in response to the sharp increase in the number of people claiming jobless aid over the past year. But the tax hike comes at the worst possible time: when a fragile economy recovery is taking shape. By Business Writer Josh Funk. Eds: Also moving on financial lines.
DEATH PENALTY-OHIO
COLUMBUS, Ohio—Condemned killer Kenneth Biros could become the first person in the country put to death with a single dose of an intravenous anesthetic instead of the usual—and faster-acting—three-drug process if his execution proceeds Tuesday. The execution could propel other states to eventually consider the switch, which proponents say ends arguments over unnecessary suffering during injection. California and Tennessee previously considered then rejected the one-drug approach. By Andrew Welsh-Huggins. Eds: Note Nebraska mention.
AP Photos.
SPORTS:
FBC–NEBRASKA-BOWL
LINCOLN—Nebraska is going to the Holiday Bowl in San Diego to face Arizona, a rematch of the 1998 bowl game. The Cornhuskers (9-4) lost that last meeting 23-20, but it will get another shot at the Wildcats (8-4) on Dec. 30. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. CST. By Eric Olson.
WITH:
— FBC–NEBRASKA-BOWL-TICKETS
— FBC–HOLIDAY BOWL
T25-COLLEGE FB POLL
NEW YORK—Alabama will head into the postseason as the No. 1 team in the AP Top 25 for the first time since 1973, and Southern California is out of the ranking after an eight-year run. The Crimson Tide claimed the top spot in the media poll Sunday in overwhelming fashion, receiving 58 first-place votes after its emphatic 32-13 victory against previously No. 1 Florida in the Southeastern Conference title game. By College Football Writer Ralph D. Russo. Eds: Note Nebraska mention.
AP Photos GAJA108, LAC213.
VOL–NCAA-OMAHA
OMAHA—Nebraska will meet Iowa State in the regional semifinals of the NCAA women’s volleyball tournament next weekend in Omaha. The seventh-ranked Cornhuskers swept Coastal Carolina and No. 20 Northern Iowa in the first round to advance.
AP Photos NENH101-107 by Nati Harnik
BKC–NEBRASKA-CREIGHTON
OMAHA—Kenny Lawson Jr. scored a career-high 25 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, leading Creighton to a 67-61 victory over Nebraska on Sunday. Creighton (3-4) broke a three-game losing streak with the win in the meeting of the state’s only Division I basketball programs. Nebraska (5-2) leads the all-time series 24-19. By Sports Writer Eric Olson.
AP Photos NENH102, NENH101.
ALSO GETTING ATTENTION:
— TEEN APPROACHED—Ralston Public Schools is warning parents about a suspicious man who approached a teen as he was walking home from school.
— SAVE A LANDMARK—Grand Island’s Stuhr Museum beat two other Nebraska landmarks in an online competition for volunteers.
— KIDNAPPING CHARGES—Two Grand Island residents have been sentenced for their roles in a woman’s kidnapping.
— SNOWSHOEING EVENT—A moonlight snowshoeing event is being planned for the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission’s women’s group.
— WOMAN SHOT—Police say a woman was shot to death outside a house in north Omaha.
— FOOD HANDLER PROGRAM—The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department classes required for food-handler permits are becoming available online.
The AP, Omaha.
