LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Court of Appeals has upheld the conviction and sentence of a 24-year-old western Nebraska woman who sexually assaulted a 14-year-old girl.

But the appeals court on Tuesday lowered the requirement for Molleigh Valdez, of Alliance, to serve a lifetime on the state’s sex offender registry to 25 years on the registry. The appeals court found that the judge was wrong to find Valdez committed an aggravated offense, requiring the lifetime registration, without a hearing or receiving evidence.

The appeals court upheld her conviction of third-degree sexual assault of a child and sentence of five years in prison.

The girl told authorities that she and Valdez had engaged in sexual activity after the girl’s mother contacted police about suspicions of a relationship between the two.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Republicans have cleared a major hurdle in their efforts to reinstate in the winner-take-all system in presidential elections, a move that would wipe out any chance of the state splitting its electoral votes as it did for Democrat Barack Obama in 2008.

Lawmakers voted 32-15 on Monday to advance a bill that would end Nebraska’s practice of awarding its votes by congressional district.

Nebraska and Maine are the only states where it’s possible to split electoral votes between opposing presidential candidates. Two of Nebraska’s electoral votes are awarded to the statewide winner. The remaining three are distributed by congressional district.

One final vote is required before the bill goes to Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts.

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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A push to create “Choose Life” specialty license plates is dead in the Nebraska Legislature.

Senators abandoned the bill Monday at the sponsor’s request.

Sen. Tommy Garrett of Bellevue says the measure faced sharp opposition from lawmakers who support abortion rights, and he is choosing to focus on other bills in the legislative session’s final days, such as his priority measure to legalize medical marijuana.

The bill would have authorized the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles to create “Choose Life” plates that cost $5 more than standard plates. The additional revenue would go toward funding prenatal care facilities.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska senators say the federal process law enforcement agencies use to seize property from people suspected of crimes is robbing schools of valuable funding.

Lawmakers voted 36-0 Monday to advance a bill by Sen. Tommy Garrett of Bellevue to reform Nebraska’s civil forfeiture laws.

Current law allows schools to collect half of the forfeited money, while state law enforcement gets the other half. But if assets are seized through the federal forfeiture process, the local police agency gets back up to 80 percent of the money seized.

Garrett says law enforcement chooses the federal process because it’s easier and has a better payout.

Garrett’s measure would prohibit law enforcement from using the federal process unless the money seized is more than $50,000.

A North Platte man has been charged with multiple felonies after an alleged disturbance involving his ex-girlfriend, on Friday night.

At around 10:56 p.m., officers with the North Platte Police Department responded to the report of a prior disturbance at a residence in the 2800 block of Pawnee Avenue.

Officers met with a female, who alleged that her ex-boyfriend, 39-year-old Terry Yonker, came to her house and knocked on the door.

The victim claimed that she thought it was her friend knocking, so she opened the door.  As she did, she alleges that Yonker forced his way into her house, pinned her arms behind her back and held a pocket knife to her throat.

According to Investigator John Deal, the victim was able to somewhat reason with Yonker and convince him to let her go and leave the residence.

Police located Yonker inside a parked car in the 4oo block of South Tabor Street and placed him under arrest without incident.

Deal said officers recovered a pocket knife matching the description given by the victim.

Yonker was charged with felony burglary (for forcing his way into the home), felony terroristic threats, use of a weapon to commit a felony and domestic assault.

He was transported to the Lincoln County Detention Center and jailed.

The victim did not sustain any injuries, according to Deal.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska is one step closer to overhauling the process it uses to draw legislative and congressional districts in an effort to reduce direct political influence.

Lawmakers voted 30-5 on Monday to advance a bill that would create an independent redistricting commission to draw the maps, which lawmakers and the governor would have to approve.

Nebraska’s current process requires a legislative committee to propose new boundaries once every decade, after the census. Once the maps are drawn, they’re sent to lawmakers and eventually the governor for approval.

The system was criticized as overly partisan during the last redistricting in 2011.

Republican Sen. John Murante of Gretna and Democratic Sen. Heath Mello of Omaha worked on the proposal to try to increase public trust in the process.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s longest-serving lawmaker has adopted a new cause that he plans to pursue every year: allowing adults with terminal illnesses to end their own lives.

Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha filed a motion Monday to pull his aid-in-dying bill out of a legislative committee where it remains stuck. Nine senators supported the motion while 28 voted against it, but Chambers says he plans to keep pursuing it.

Chambers and other supporters say the measure would ease suffering and allow death with dignity. Some medical groups oppose the bill, saying it would force doctors to make value judgments about the quality of a patient’s life.

Chambers is well-known for his efforts over four decades to abolish the death penalty. Lawmakers repealed it last year.

FREEMAN, S.D. (AP) — TransCanada Corp. has shut down the Keystone pipeline while it investigates a possible spill in southeastern South Dakota.

The company says the potential leak was first reported Saturday afternoon. Crews sent to the scene in Hutchinson County found signs of oil on what the company says is a “small surface area” about 4 miles from its Freeman pump station.

TransCanada is removing the oil and investigating where it came from. The company says it has found no significant harm to the environment.

The Keystone pipeline runs from the Canadian province of Alberta to refineries in Illinois and Oklahoma, passing through the eastern Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas and Missouri. It is separate from the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

TransCanada says it has notified landowners, regulatory and government agencies, and pipeline customers.