OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — TD Ameritrade executives say the U.S. economy is performing well, but economic and political uncertainty in the rest of the world could affect that this year.

The online brokerage held its annual meeting Thursday.

TD Ameritrade Chairman Joe Moglia says it would make sense for investors to bet on strength in the U.S. economy and weakness in much of the rest of the world.

Moglia says global events will affect TD Ameritrade. But company officials remain optimistic.

TD Ameritrade predicts earning between $1.45 and $1.70 per share in 2015, up from $1.42 in fiscal 2014.

TD Ameritrade said it earned $787 million, or $1.42 per share, in fiscal 2014 on $3.1 billion revenue. That was up from $675 million net income, or $1.22 per share, on $2.8 billion revenue.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s new corrections director is promising to restore his department’s reputation while finding ways to reduce overcrowding.

Scott Frakes told lawmakers Thursday he will also try to end what he described as a “fear-based culture” among employees.

Frakes, of Olympia, Washington, was appointed by Gov. Pete Ricketts to help fix high-profile problems in the department. The agency has faced criticism for miscalculating prison sentences, overcrowding and the use of a re-entry furlough program that some senators say is illegal.

Frakes told lawmakers he has imposed a moratorium on new admissions to the furlough program.

Several senators urged Frakes to continue firing administrators who were involved in hundreds of miscalculated prison sentences. Frakes says he’ll make more changes, but he needs time to get a sense of the department’s needs.

SAN JOSE, California (AP) — Scientists warn the Southwest and Central Plains could face “megadroughts” during the second half of this century. And they could last for decades.

The scientists write in a study in the journal Science Advances that global warming will lead to “unprecedented drought conditions” — the worst in more than 1,000 years.

The study is based on current increasing rates of rising emissions of carbon dioxide and complex simulations run by 17 different computer models, which generally agreed on the outcome.

The Southwest will see less rain. But the biggest problem in both regions will be the heat, which will increase evaporation and dry out the soil.

The lead author is NASA atmospheric scientist Benjamin Cook, who says, “We’re going to have to think about a much drier future in western North America.”

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill to require vaccinations for meningitis is all but certain to die in the Nebraska Legislature.

Its sponsor, Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha, filed a procedural motion Thursday to push the measure to the bottom of this year’s agenda.

The bill would have required all students be immunized before entering seventh grade and again after they turned 16 years old. Parents could opt out for religious reasons. The bill faced a filibuster led by Sen. Mike Groene, of North Platte.

Groene and Krist reached a compromise Thursday with an amendment to let parents opt out for “philosophical” reasons. But Krist says public health officials who first approached him with the bill told him they’d rather see it die than have a less effective law in place.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — A former Kearney restaurant manager has been convicted of making video recordings of his female employees in a restroom.

Twenty-eight-year-old Robert Koziol is scheduled to be sentenced on March 30. He’s pleaded no contest to five felony counts of unlawful intrusion. The pleas are not admissions of guilt, but they are treated the same as guilty pleas for sentencing. Prosecutors dropped another count in exchange for Koziol’s pleas.

Prosecutors say Koziol’s employees found a cellphone in the vent of the women’s restroom on Sept. 25. The phone proved to be Koziol’s, and prosecutors say it contained images and videos of women in varying stages of undress.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill designed to save Nebraska’s cigar bars is headed to a final vote in the Legislature.

Lawmakers advanced the measure Thursday through the second of three required votes.

The proposal by Sen. Tyson Larson of O’Neill comes after the Nebraska Supreme Court struck down a 2009 law that allowed smoking in cigar bars and shops, despite the Nebraska Clean Indoor Air Act.

The bill seeks to address to the court ruling by making it clear that lawmakers intended to create a legal exemption for those establishments so they could continue to operate.