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Officials: 2 injured in chemical explosion in UNL lab

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Two students have been injured in a chemical explosion in a University of Nebraska-Lincoln laboratory.

Authorities say a container holding nitric acid and other chemicals burst inside the lab in Theodore Jorgensen Hall, which houses the school’s physics and astronomy department. The container explosion injured two male students, ages 19 and 22.

Officials say one student suffered facial injuries and the other suffered inhalation burns. Neither student is believed to have suffered life-threatening injuries.

Firefighters say the hall was evacuated, but that the danger was contained to the lab.

No other injuries were reported.

Disputed Keystone Pipeline project focus of court hearing

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Attorneys for the Trump administration were due in a Montana courtroom Thursday to defend the disputed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline against environmental groups that want to derail the project.

The 1,179-mile (1,800-kilometer) line proposed by TransCanada Corporation was rejected in 2015 by former President Barack Obama because of its potential to exacerbate climate change.

President Donald Trump revived the project soon after taking office last year, citing its potential to create jobs and advance energy independence.

Environmentalists and Native Americans who sued to stop the line have asked U.S. District Judge Brian Morris to overturn its approval by the State Department. They and others, including landowners, are worried about spills that could foul groundwater and the line’s impacts to their property rights.

But U.S. government attorneys assert that Trump’s change in course from Obama’s focus on climate change reflects a legitimate shift in policy, not an arbitrary rejection of previous studies of the project.

“While the importance of climate change was considered, the interests of energy security and economic development outweighed those concerns,” the attorneys recently wrote.

Morris previously rejected a bid by the administration to dismiss the suit on the grounds that Trump had constitutional authority over the pipeline as a matter of national security.

Keystone XL would cost an estimated $8 billion. It would begin in Alberta and transport up to 830,000 barrels a day of crude through Montana and South Dakota to Nebraska, where it would connect with lines to carry oil to Gulf Coast refineries.

Federal approval is required because the route crosses an international border.

TransCanada, based in Calgary, said in court submissions that the line would operate safely and help reduce U.S. reliance on crude from the Middle East and other regions.

The project is facing a separate legal challenge in Nebraska, where landowners have filed a lawsuit challenging the Nebraska Public Service Commission’s decision to approve a route through the state.

Grand jury finds no wrongdoing in death of Nebraska inmate

Lucious Turner

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A grand jury has found no wrongdoing in the August death of an inmate who collapsed while playing basketball.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that the grand jury report says 35-year-old Lucius Turner died last year at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln as a result of an abnormal heartbeat due to heart disease.

A criminal investigator with the Nebraska State Patrol testified that Turner had just made a jump shot, high-fived another inmate, and then collapsed as he went to sit down.

Staff called 911, began CPR and used a defibrillator before medics took over. Turner was later pronounced dead.

Turner was serving a sentence of 40-55 years for robberies in Gage and Lancaster counties.

State law requires a grand jury investigation whenever someone dies in custody.

Ex-Omaha youth pastor in teen sex case sent to prison

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — A former Omaha youth pastor accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl has been sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to a reduced charge.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that 35-year-old Klint Bitter was sentenced Wednesday in Sarpy County District Court for a count of attempted first-degree sexual assault.

Authorities say Bitter found the girl in an online classified ad for an 18-year-old girl and had sex with her in 2017. Bitter has said he had asked the girl whether she was underage.

Officials say Bitter was youth pastor at Christ Community Church in Omaha but was fired after he was charged.

Drivers identified in fatal collision near Elwood

ELWOOD, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have released the names of a driver killed and another injured in a southern Nebraska collision.

The crash occurred around 9:20 a.m. Tuesday on Nebraska Highway 23, about 3 miles (5 kilometers) east of Elwood.

Gosper County Sheriff Dennis Ocken says a pickup truck driven by 73-year-old Marlow Anderson crossed into the path of an oncoming fuel truck being driven by 43-year-old Christopher Brink, of Holdrege.

Ocken says Anderson died at the scene, before he could be flown to a hospital. He lived in Lincoln. Brink suffered only minor injuries.

Omaha school bus driver fired for cellphone use behind wheel

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A contracting company has fired an Omaha school bus driver shown using his cellphone for more than two minutes while driving.

A Norris Middle School student recorded what she saw and then posted it Monday on Facebook. It shows him looking down at the phone screen, occasionally tapping it and then holding it to an ear. The video ran more than two minutes.

Omaha Public Schools spokeswoman Monique Farmer says Student Transportation of America immediately dismissed the driver once it learned of the video Tuesday.

Driver Niquet Belizere told station KETV he knew what he did was dangerous but necessary. He said he was scrolling through contacts to find his daughter a ride home from school because her usual ride didn’t show up.

He’d driven more than two years for the company.

Nebraska woman gets prison for death of dogs in hot car

Ashley Alberts-Roach

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — A Bellevue woman convicted of animal cruelty after she left two dogs to die in a hot car has been sentenced to a year in prison.

Omaha television station KETV reports that 38-year-old Ashley Alberts-Roach was sentenced Wednesday in Sarpy County District Court. The judge rejected her attorney’s request for probation.

Alberts-Roach is also banned from owning or having a dog in her possession for the next 30 years.

Alberts-Roach was charged with two felony counts of animal cruelty after she left her boyfriend’s two dogs inside her car for four hours in August 2016. The dogs died from the heat.

Iowa-based Planned Parenthood president stepping down

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The president of the Planned Parenthood chapter for Iowa and Nebraska will step down as the organization prepares to join a larger chapter based in Minnesota.

The Des Moines Register reports the agency announced Tuesday that Suzanna de Baca will step down effective Sept. 30 after leading Planned Parenthood of the Heartland since 2014.

Planned Parenthood of the Heartland is joining Planned Parenthood Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota. Together they will form a new regional affiliate, called Planned Parenthood North Central States.

Sarah Stoesz, the longtime leader of the Minnesota-based chapter, will be the president of the new consolidated organization. De Baca plans to fill an unpaid seat on its board.

De Baca says there are no plans to close any of the eight Planned Parenthood clinics in Iowa or two in Nebraska.

Man accused of sex assault on co-worker gets 12-20 years

Edmundo Leon Vera

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A man accused of sexually assaulting a co-worker behind a Lincoln restaurant has been given 12 to 20 years in prison.

Court records say 44-year-old Edmundo Leon Vera was sentenced Monday. He’d pleaded guilty to attempted sexual assault after prosecutors reduced the charge. He also was credited for 327 days already served.

The records say Vera attacked the co-worker in the restaurant storage shed on April 14 last year after asking her whether she wanted to see inside it.

Vera’s 37-year-old brother, Ivan Leon, was sentenced in November to two years for tampering with a witness — the woman. Police say in court records that he gave her $1,000 to ask police to drop the case against his brother.

Scotts Bluff County repairing rain-damaged roads

GERING, Neb. (AP) — Scotts Bluff County authorities are working on gravel and other roads damaged by heavy rain over the weekend.

Around 7 miles (12 kilometers) of roads were still closed Monday. County highway superintendent Linda Grummert says clay will be used to repair road grades, and more gravel will be spread as well.

More than 9 inches (23 centimeters) of rain fell on rural areas south of Gering.

School officials say up to an estimated 150,000 gallons (nearly 570,000 liters) had to be pumped from Gering High School boiler room. The rainwater got in through utility tunnels created for renovations at the school. Workers labored through the weekend so school could be opened Monday.

County commissioners are considering seeking a disaster declaration to see whether the state and federal government can help pay for the repairs.

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