REPUBLICAN CITY, Neb. (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers will begin repairing the Harlan County Dam’s discharge gates early next year in a $12.3 million project.

Corrosion has built up on the dam’s gates after more than 50 years of use in south-central Nebraska.

Ken Stark with the Corps says the dam’s gates are also difficult to operate because of friction problems with the bearings.

The gates are used to release water stored for the downstream Bostwick Irrigation districts in Nebraska and Kansas. They’re also used to release floodwaters when the lake is high.

The initial project will take about 3½ years to complete. Stark says funding is available for repairs to the dam’s other 12 gates.

CHICAGO (AP) — Millions of people with stents that prop open clogged heart arteries may need anti-clotting drugs much longer than the one year doctors recommend now.

A study finds that taking the medicines for another 18 months lowers the risk of heart attacks, clots and other problems.

The study concerns care after an artery-opening procedure called angioplasty. People who continued to take aspirin plus a second type of blood thinner were less likely to have another heart problem than those who took aspirin alone.

Researchers say patients need to discuss their own situation with their doctors, because the drugs can carry a risk of bleeding.

Results were discussed Sunday at an American Heart Association conference in Chicago.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Residents in Nebraska and Iowa are getting a shot of snow more than a month before winter official begins.

Northern and eastern parts of Nebraska and all of Iowa are under a winter weather advisory for Saturday. In Nebraska the National Weather Service says 1 to 3 inches of snow is likely. The service says blowing snow could become a problem in some areas by Saturday night.

In Iowa the service says 2 to 4 inches of snow is likely for most of Iowa, with up to 5 inches in northern Iowa.

Winds are expected to remain light in Iowa, keeping blowing snow from becoming a problem.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Gov.-elect Pete Ricketts says Rhonda Lahm will remain in her position as head of the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles.

Ricketts announced that Lahm will continue in her current role within his administration. Lahm was appointed director by Gov. Dave Heineman in January 2013.

Lahm, of Eagle, previously served as a driver’s license examiner for the department. She also held several jobs in the Nebraska State Patrol.

Lahm earned a bachelor’s degree from Nebraska Wesleyan University and a master’s degree from Doane College. In a statement, Ricketts says Lahm brings experience and a successful track record to the job.

COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — For the second straight year, Nebraska’s largest public power utility will not raise electricity rates.

The Nebraska Public Power District voted Friday to keep rates steady going into 2015.

Earlier this year, the utility had said it would likely need to implement a rate hike for its wholesale customers. But NPPD was able to use $12 million from a rate stabilization account to avoid that.

NPPD President and CEO Pat Pope said efforts to reduce costs, coupled with strong revenues from the utility’s participation in the Southwest Power Pool’s energy market reduced the need for rate increases.

NPPD helps serve an estimated 600,000 Nebraskans in 86 counties with retail or wholesale electric power.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraskans can once again sign up for health insurance under the federal health care law, starting Saturday. Some things to keep in mind:

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3 MONTHS TO ENROLL

Open enrollment started on Saturday and will continue through Feb. 15. Nebraskans who want coverage by Jan. 1 must sign up by Dec. 15 at the latest.

The federal government is once again using the website healthcare.gov to help residents shop for insurance. The website was plagued with problems at its launch but has since been streamlined. Amber Hansen, executive director of Community Action of Nebraska, says her group initially experienced technical problems during the first enrollment period, but the website now runs smoothly.

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PAST ENROLLMENT

Nearly 43,000 Nebraskans signed up for health insurance in the six months after the federal marketplace first began accepting applicants. More than 40 percent of those customers enrolled during a last-minute surge in March, near the end of the enrollment period. Groups that are helping sign residents up predict a similar surge at the end of the upcoming period.

Of those who successfully enrolled in Nebraska, 87 percent qualified for federal assistance to help pay for their plans.

Nebraska is among 37 states relying on the federal website to enroll residents in the health marketplace, which is part of the federal health care law. Nationally, more than 8 million people had signed up by the end of the first national enrollment period.

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OUTREACH

Community Action of Nebraska offices throughout the state are working to encourage uninsured residents to enroll. Those who signed up last year can also change their plan during the enrollment period.

In addition to the website, local health insurance navigators can be found at canhelp.org/map or by calling 402-471-3714. The navigators are available to help individuals, families and small businesses buy health insurance through the marketplace.

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PENALTIES

Those who don’t have insurance coverage in 2015 will face a tax penalty of $325 or 2 percent of their annual household income, whichever is higher. The fee for uninsured minors is $162.50 per child, up to a maximum of $975 per family.

The fees will grow over time, to a minimum of $695 in 2016.

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — Jury selection has begun in the trial of a Wyoming teenager accused of killing a Scotts Bluff County jailer.

Potential jurors met Friday in the Scottsbluff Elks Lodge.

Dylan Cardeilhac of Torrington, Wyoming, is charged in the death of 24-year-old corrections officer Amanda Baker at Scotts Bluff County Detention Center. The 16-year-old has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder. He’s accused of strangling Baker on Valentine’s Day so he could steal her keys and try to escape.

Scotts Bluff County Sheriff Mark Overman said the lodge was selected as the venue for jury selection because a large jury pool had been chosen for the case.

Opening statements in the case are expected to begin Monday at the Scotts Bluff County Courthouse.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has decided not to reconsider its ruling that threw out exceptions to the state’s indoor smoking ban.

The court on Wednesday decided to deny the state’s motion to reconsider its ruling. The court said in its Aug. 29 decision that exceptions for cigar bars and tobacco retailers amounted to unconstitutional special legislation and didn’t conform to the purpose of the ban, “which is to protect the public and employees from the dangers of secondhand smoke.”

The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office subsequently asked the court to rehear the case, arguing in part that the judges failed to properly consider that lawmakers intended to protect cigar bars and tobacco shops from going out of business.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A new study says lightning strikes in the United States will likely increase by nearly 50 percent by the end of the century, as the world gets warmer and wetter.

Researchers used weather data to show just how much more often lighting strikes as air warms and rainfall increases.

They calculated that for every degree Fahrenheit the world warms in the future, lightning strikes will go up nearly 7 percent. That’s 12 percent for every degree Celsius.

David Romps, an atmospheric scientist at the University of California Berkeley who led the study, said the key is that warmer air holds more water vapor. Water vapor is fuel for thunderstorms, sparking more lightning.

The study was released Thursday by the journal Science.

CHADRON, Neb. (AP) — A 38-year-old Nebraska Panhandle man has been given 20 years in prison for incest.

The Chadron man had pleaded guilty. Court records say prosecutors dropped a charge of forcible sexual assault in exchange for the man’s plea. The Associated Press is not naming the man in order to protect the privacy of his victim. The incident occurred in May.

The man was sentenced on Monday.