LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Former Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers, the self- proclaimed “defender of the downtrodden,” wants to come back to the Legislature. Chambers confirmed Wednesday that he will run again for the north Omaha district he represented for 38 years. The 74-year-old left office in 2008 because of new term limits, but is eligible to run again in the 2012 election. Chambers says lobbyists, the governor and the attorney general have “run roughshod” over the Legislature with a right-wing agenda. Chambers, who was legendary for his procedural knowledge and ability to delay bills, says too much legislation is passing without serious debate.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A federal appeals panel has rejected Nebraska death-row inmate John Lotter’s attempt to appeal his conviction in the triple murder that inspired the 1999 film “Boys Don’t Cry.” In a judgment released Tuesday, two members of a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the appeal. The third, U.S. Judge Kermit Bye, disagreed, saying he would have allowed the appeal based on five claims by Lotter. Lotter was convicted in the 1993 slayings of Teena Brandon and two others in a farmhouse near Humboldt. Lotter has maintained he is innocent. He claims that, among other things, the state used a threat of torture to coerce accomplice Thomas Nissen into lying about the killings. Earlier this year, a federal judge denied Lotter’s appeal.