(AP) — A Justice Department official says the federal government will enable financial institutions to transact business with the legitimate marijuana industry without fear of prosecution.

The issue has taken on greater urgency now that Colorado and Washington have become the first states to legalize recreational use of marijuana.

Currently, processing money from marijuana sales puts federally insured banks at risk of drug racketeering charges.

In an appearance before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Deputy Attorney General James Cole said the issue was one that the federal government needed to deal with.

The Justice Department announced Aug. 29 that it won’t try to stop Colorado and Washington state from legalizing recreational marijuana use as long as they implement strong enforcement systems. Marijuana is an illegal drug under federal law.

(AP) — Lancaster County Attorney Joe Kelly is planning to seek re-election in 2014.

The top prosecutor in Lincoln formally announced his bid on Tuesday outside the county courthouse.

Kelly was elected to his first term in 2010, after a decade as chief deputy county attorney. He has served as a prosecutor for 28 years, handling homicide, robbery and sexual assault cases and others involving abuse of vulnerable adults.

Kelly says he wants to continue prosecuting people who use computers to entice children. He also points to a new program that lets veterans stay out of the courts if their offense was non-violent and they are suffering from posttraumatic stress disorder.

The Lancaster County attorney’s office filed more than 1,400 felony and 5,500 misdemeanor criminal charges last year.

(AP) — Nebraska officials say a Japanese manufacturer plans to open its first U.S. office in the state, so it can be near the Kawasaki plant that uses its railcar parts.

Lt. Gov. Lavon Heidemann said Tuesday that Morio Denki Co. plans to open in office in Lincoln by the end of the year.

The company will send two people to set up its Lincoln office with plans to hire more staff, but state officials say it wasn’t immediately clear how many people might be hired.

Nebraska spokeswoman Jen Rae Wang says state officials who are currently on a trade mission to Japan are working to gather more details about the company’s plans.

Morio Denki makes electrical equipment that’s used in railroad, automotive, shipping and real estate applications.

 

(AP) — A judge has dismissed a rape case filed against a 21-year-old University of Nebraska-Lincoln student.

Judge Steven Burns ruled Monday that the evidence against Dustin Trauernicht would not support a guilty verdict. Defense attorney Randy Paragas had asked the judge for a ruling after prosecutors rested their case.

Trauernicht was accused of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old woman in January last year at a booze-filled party. Trauernicht said he didn’t remember what happened that night.

At issue was whether the woman was so drunk she couldn’t give legal consent for sex. She conceded during testimony that it was possible the sex was consensual.

Prosecutors objected to the case’s dismissal, saying the woman’s state of intoxication was something for the jury to decide.