LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A spokeswoman for Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning says Bruning has successfully undergone surgery to remove part of his colon and surrounding lymph nodes.

Bruning disclosed Wednesday that he has been diagnosed with colon cancer, but he said he was optimistic that Thursday’s surgery would remove the cancer.

Bruning’s office said late Thursday that doctors will not know whether the disease had spread until test results come back next week. Bruning remains hospitalized in Lincoln.

Bruning has said he believes the cancer was caught early.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has rejected a motion for post-conviction relief by a Wisconsin man serving life for the 2007 killings a rural southeast Nebraska couple.

Gregory Fester was 19 when he and his 17-year-old girlfriend broke into the Murdock house of Wayne and Sharmon Stock on April 17, 2007, and shot and killed them.

Fester and Jessica Reid, both of Horicon, Wis., were each sentenced to life in prison after pleading guilty to second-degree murder.

Fester appealed his sentence, saying it was excessive, and the Nebraska Supreme Court upheld the sentence in 2008.

Fester then filed a motion for post-conviction relief, claiming his lawyer was ineffective. Post-conviction relief motions are filed after all other appeals have been exhausted.

On Friday, the high court said Fester’s attorney was not ineffective.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) — A Colorado sheriff says a suspect in a Denver-area high school shooting has died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson said Friday that the shooter was a student at Arapahoe High School in Centennial. He says another student was wounded when he confronted the armed student and was shot.

Officers found another injured student while securing the school.

Police responded to a report Friday of a shooting at the high school in suburban Denver, state emergency officials say.

The school is about 8 miles east of Columbine High School in Littleton, where two teenage shooters killed 12 classmates and a teacher before killing themselves in 1999.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 59-year-old former Ralston teacher has been convicted at his second trial for inappropriately touching young students.

On Thursday a Douglas County District Court jury found Nicholas Richter guilty of three counts of sexual assault of a child. In August Richter’s first trial ended in a hung jury.

Three boys ranging in age from 10 to 12 testified that Richter groped them during classes. A middle-age man also testified that Richter groped him three decades ago, when Richter was teaching in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Richter faces up to five years in prison on each of the three counts

ATLANTA (AP) — Health officials say the flu season seems to be getting off to more normal start this year.

Reports of the flu have been increasing, particularly in the South. But it’s nothing like last year, when flu hit early and very hard in early December.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Thursday said last year’s flu season landed about 381,000 people in the hospital — the most since at least 2005. A contributing factor: The flu vaccine was only 51 percent effective overall

CDC officials said it’s too early to know how bad this season will be or when it will peak. Flu is usually the worst in January or February.

DENVER (AP) — Legal marijuana sales in Colorado are set to start on Jan. 1, or so the law says. Knowing when the recreational pot shops will actually open, however, is anyone’s guess.

The state’s 160 hopeful pot shops are mired in red tape and confusion. None knows yet when or if they’ll be allowed to open. Not a single shop will clear state and local licensing requirements until about Dec. 27.

Many of the applicants are still waiting on inspections, local zoning hearings and background checks before finding out whether they’ve been approved to open their doors to adults over 21.

Marijuana tourism companies that already lead bring-your-own pot tours in Colorado are putting off new trips, unsure where they’d bring tourists looking to buy legal pot, not just smoke it.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha state lawmaker and attorney has asked a federal court to put on hold his lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of Nebraska’s mandatory state bar membership while both sides mull a Nebraska Supreme Court opinion in the matter.

State Sen. Scott Lautenbaugh, of Omaha, sued the association last year in federal court, saying that mandatory dues of more than $335 a year violate the constitutional rights of those lawyers who object to some of the money being used for political activities like lobbying lawmakers.

On Friday, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled in a separate petition that Nebraska lawyers must still pay annual bar dues to remain in good standing. But the court limited those dues to only activities necessary to regulate the legal profession — like maintaining records.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Fire officials are trying to determine the cause of a blaze at an old recycling plant in south Omaha.

The Omaha Fire Department says firefighters were called to an area near 26th and Center on Thursday morning. Smoke could be seen from miles away.

More than 30 firefighters battled the blaze. They later went inside to put out hot spots.

Authorities have not released additional information about the fire.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Exercise might help women beat breast cancer. A study finds it can ease the achy joints and muscle pain that lead many patients to quit taking medicines that treat the disease and lower the risk of a recurrence.

The study involved 121 women on aromatase inhibitors. The estrogen-blocking pills are recommended for five years after initial breast cancer treatment for hormone-driven tumors, the most common type.

Joint pain is the top reason women quit taking the drugs, but Boston researchers found exercise cut this problem and helped women lose weight.

The study was discussed Thursday at a cancer conference in San Antonio.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lottery ticket holders in Nebraska and Massachusetts will be sharing an estimated $122 million Powerball jackpot.

The Multi-State Lottery Association says a ticket sold in Nebraska and a ticket sold in Massachusetts matched numbers drawn Wednesday night. The numbers are 1, 10, 13, 18, 19 and Powerball 27.

Nebraska Lottery spokesman Neil Watson said Thursday that the winning Nebraska ticket was sold at a Speedee Mart in Gretna. He also said there was no word yet on who bought the Nebraska ticket.

Massachusetts State Lottery spokeswoman Beth Bresnahan says the winning Massachusetts ticket was sold at the Appletown Market in Sterling. She says the winner hasn’t stepped forward yet.

The Multi-State Lottery Association is a nonprofit association owned and operated by its 33 member lotteries.