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LICENSE SCAN
LINCOLN—Now the only state that doesn’t allow information to be scanned from drivers’ licenses, Nebraska may soon let store clerks do more than just look at them when selling alcohol, tobacco and lottery tickets. On Monday, state lawmakers gave first-round approval to a bill (LB261) that would allow retailers to electronically scan the bar codes on the backs of state-issued drivers’ licenses to determine buyers’ ages. Supporters say it will make it easier for clerks to ensure they don’t sell to kids. Opponents worry that residents would lose control of personal information that could be used to take advantage of them. By Nate Jenkins.
FATAL BELVIDERE FIRE
BELVIDERE—A weekend house fire in southeast Nebraska killed a 4-year-old boy and his 2-year-old half brother and injured three others, Thayer County authorities said Monday. Sheriff David Lee said a state fire investigator’s preliminary findings indicated that children playing with a lighter started the blaze Friday night at the home in Belvidere.
STRESS MAP
WASHINGTON—On the surface, economic stress in some of the Sun Belt’s hardest-hit counties appeared to ease in November. But beneath some positive numbers is a region struggling to rebound from the damage of the housing crisis and recession, according to The Associated Press’ monthly analysis of economic stress in more than 3,100 U.S. counties. In Riverside County, Calif., the nation’s 11th-most economically stressed county, unemployment dipped slightly in November. But that was due mainly to seasonal hiring by retailers—hiring that didn’t extend past the holidays. By Mike Schneider And Martin Crutsinger.
AP Graphic ECON STRESS MAP.
With:
— BC-US–STRESS-LIST
SPORTS:
— T25-NEBRASKA-AMUKAMARA—Nebraska defensive coordinator Carl Pelini says All-Big 12 cornerback Prince Amukamara (ah-MOO-kuh-mare-uh) will remain with the Cornhuskers another year.
— NEBRASKA-COOK—Volleyball star Lauren Cook is returning to her home state to play for her father at Nebraska.
— T25-NEBRASKA-HIGHEST RANKING—The unbeaten Nebraska women’s basketball team has earned its highest ranking ever at No. 11 in this week’s Associated Press poll.
ALSO GETTING ATTENTION:
— DEADLY DEFENSE—A Nebraska state senator is proposing that no legal action be taken against people who use deadly force against someone caught breaking into their homes, workplaces or cars.
— OFFICER-INVOLVED SHOOTING—Police say a 24-year-old man grabbed a knife and lunged at an officer before the officer shot him multiple times at a home in north-central Omaha.
— ROADSIDE MEMORIALS—The roadside memorials families and friends set up after losing a loved one in a car accident could face new restrictions in Nebraska.
— SENATOR PAY—Nebraska lawmakers say they don’t want a pay raise — even though their $12,000 salaries are among the lowest in the country.
— LIQUOR COSTS—It could soon become more expensive to sell or ship liquor for Nebraska license holders.
— WATER WOES—A Nebraska lawmaker has a plan to remove legal issues tying up a tax on irrigated land in the Republican River basin.
— LIVESTOCK CRUELTY—Nebraska’s laws prohibiting livestock cruelty may be rewritten this year, but the changes would be largely clerical.
— CONCEAL CARRY—At least one sheriff’s deputy in Nebraska carries a gun on the job but can’t get a conceal-carry permit because of a misdemeanor conviction years ago for a scuffle.
— PETITION SIGNATURES—Changing the Nebraska Constitution through the initiative process could get tougher, while making state laws could get easier.
— MCDANIEL-HEALTH BILL—Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel is asking congressional leaders to remove the so-called “Nebraska compromise” from a federal health care bill.
— NEB SEX ASSAULTS—A 43-year-old western Nebraska teacher has been charged in two counties with first-degree sexual assault of a child.
— WINTER WEATHER-NEBRASKA—Officials in northeast Nebraska are warning motorists to beware of some slick spots on area roads, despite warmer conditions and work by road crews over the weekend.
— WINTER WEATHER-PLANTS—Nebraska’s harsh winter has the potential to damage grass, plants and trees buried under snow and ice.
The AP, Omaha.
