LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new report says Nebraska state tax receipts in December were nearly 9 percent higher than projected.

The Department of Revenue reported Tuesday that net receipts for the month totaled $400 million. The certified state forecast for the month was $368 million.

The report says net sales-and-use taxes, individual and corporate income, and miscellaneous taxes all came in above the month’s forecast. The largest factor was corporate income taxes, which were more than 51 percent higher than projected.

The state revenue projection was approved by the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board in February, and updated in July to account for laws passed in the 2014 session.

The board later revised its estimate on the belief that state revenue would grow beyond the first projection, but only downward revisions are certified.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Ben Sasse has been sworn into office as Nebraska’s newest U.S. senator.

Sasse officially took office on Tuesday at a ceremony in Washington. The former Midland University president replaces Mike Johanns, a fellow Republican who stepped down after one term.

Sasse defeated Democratic hopeful Dave Domina, an attorney, in the November general election. He is now the state’s junior senator, serving alongside Republican U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer.

Sasse requested and received the desk that was previously used by Johanns and former Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, R-N.Y.

 

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 3-year-old girl is leaving a Nebraska hospital more than a month after she was injured in a fatal car crash.

Anjellycka Heisz is scheduled to be discharged Friday from Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln. The girl’s father, Andy Partridge, says Anjellycka will require surgery and physical therapy in the future.

Anjellycka was traveling in a vehicle with her mother and grandmother in November when the car crossed the center line and rammed into a semitrailer near North Platte.

Michelle Heisz, Anjellycka’s mother, was killed. The girl’s grandmother, Vicky Allen, was hospitalized along with Anjellycka.

NEW YORK (AP) — To the surprise of even health officials, it turns out that most deaths from drinking too much involve middle-aged adults — not teens or college kids.

A report Tuesday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found six Americans die each day from alcohol poisoning. CDC officials said three-quarters of those deaths are adults ages 35 to 64, and most are men. CDC officials said they thought more would be younger.

The CDC searched death records from 2010 through 2012. Researchers focused on people who died after a single episode of binge drinking. Too much alcohol can shut down areas of the brain that control breathing, heart rate and temperature.

The report found an average of 2,221 alcohol poisoning deaths a year.