(AP) — The people behind Trees-4-Branches are already hard at work to make sure some U.S. troops will have a Christmas tree at their overseas outposts this year.

The group was founded in 2008 by a Hastings couple, Dave and Dee Koehler, and a veteran of Desert Storm, Jeff Hankins. Their goal is to raise enough money to buy 100 trees from a Christmas tree farm in Oregon. The 30- to 36-inch trees are shipped no later than Dec. 6 so they can reach their overseas destinations by Dec. 25.

Money comes from donations and from the sale of T-shirts bearing the Trees-4-Branches logo.

Emails and letters of thanks pour in from the troops and their families.

Dave Koehler says “it’s phenomenal knowing we’ve made a difference.”

(AP) — An Omaha man who says he was under the influence of drugs when he fatally stabbed his roommate will serve at least 15 years in prison.

According to court records, Gregory Dodds was recently sentenced to 30 to 45 years in prison. He will serve at least 15 years under state sentencing guidelines.

Dodds pleaded no contest to second-degree murder in September in the March 2012 death of 22-year-old Verdant Patel, an engineering student at the University of Nebraska Omaha.

Two doctors say Dodds was insane at the time of the stabbing because of his extensive use of K2, a synthetic substance designed to mirror marijuana. State law says use of drugs is not a defense for insanity.

(AP) — A convicted sex offender who moved into the home of a Columbus woman has been accused of molesting two of her five children.

The 24-year-old man was arraigned on six sexual assault charges and one of violating the state’s sex offender registration law. The man is not being identified in order to protect the privacy of the 14- and 16-year-old boys the man is accused of molesting.

Court documents say the man stayed at the woman’s home from late May until late July, when the woman demanded that he leave.

The man was convicted of sexually assaulting a child in May 2011 in Antelope County.

(AP) — Lincoln police are trying to determine how a 47-year-old homeless man was fatally injured: a beating? A traffic accident?

Police spokeswoman Katie Flood says George Ike died about 8:30 p.m. Saturday. A passer-by had noticed Ike behind a building around 2:30 p.m., either passed out or injured.

Ike said at a hospital that a car had driven over him. But he later said he’d been beaten.

Flood says Ike’s injuries suggested to doctors that he’d been struck by a vehicle, but investigators are still checking.

(AP) — Heart experts who wrote new guidelines for preventing heart attacks and strokes are defending a formula that some doctors say overestimates risk for certain groups.

The American Heart Association experts say that any flaws in the formula are small and should not delay implementing the new advice, which greatly expands how many people should consider taking cholesterol-lowering statin drugs.

The Heart Association held a news briefing at its annual conference in Dallas to discuss the guidelines after a newspaper story featured criticism by several prominent cardiologists.

Even the critics say the guidelines are a big improvement. For the first time, they aim to prevent strokes as well as heart attacks and customize risk assessment for women versus men and blacks versus whites. Heart disease is the leading killer worldwide.

(AP) — Officials say Google will pay Nebraska more than $247,000 as part of a $17 million national settlement over consumer tracking.

Attorney General Jon Bruning announced Monday that Nebraska is one of 37 states and the District of Columbia receiving a portion of the settlement, which involved allegations that Google was improperly tracking data on Safari.

Google is accused of using coding to circumvent default privacy settings on Safari without consumers’ knowledge or consent. Such coding allowed the company to gather information like online surfing habits, despite consumers’ opting out of having third-party advertising tracking, or cookies, set on their browsers.

The company disabled the coding in early 2012 after the practice was widely reported.

Nebraska’s share of the money will be deposited into the State Settlement Fund.

(AP) — A Nebraska woman has pleaded guilty to two charges related to a July accident that killed an Amish teenager.

56-year-old Vivian Cockrell entered her pleas Monday and a judge scheduled a Feb. 10 trial.

Cockrell is charged with felony motor vehicle homicide and misdemeanor misuse of a learner’s permit.

Prosecutors say Cockrell was driving a Cadillac that struck a horse-drawn buggy carrying 21-year-old Fannie Yoder and her 17-year-old brother Reuben.

The two were on their way to church at the time of the accident. Reuben Yoder died and Fannie Yoder was critically hurt.

Cockrell was driving on a learner’s permit when the July 21 crash happened on Nebraska Highway 8/50 east of Pawnee City.

(AP) — Authorities say five juveniles are in custody on suspicion of breaking into the home of an Omaha City Council member.

Councilman Garry Gernandt said authorities arrived at his home Monday afternoon after his neighbor reported seeing young people breaking into the property.

Gernandt says the burglars attempted to take his old police gear and loaded guns. He says police arrived at the scene as the suspects were packing up.

Lt. Darci Tierney tells the station that five juveniles are in custody. Additional information about the case has not been released.