Opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline in Nebraska are circulating a petition to try to halt the project.

The group Bold Nebraska sent out an email Wednesday, urging its supporters to sign an online petition that would ask President Barack Obama to deny federal approval.

The group pointed to a recent tar-sands oil pipeline leak in Arkansas as evidence that regulators should reject the Keystone XL.

The proposed Canada-to-Texas pipeline is at the center of a political battle. A coalition of environmentalists, Native Americans and some landowners are fighting the project. Oil companies, some labor unions and the Canadian government are pushing for project approval.

Circulators say the petition will be sent to Obama, Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Keystone XL developer TransCanada.

An Omaha man accused of driving a boat that led to the death of a woman has been given probation and jail time.

Twenty-two-year-old Sean Salisbury was sentenced Wednesday to two years of probation and three weekends in jail in connection with the death of 21-year-old Mickayla Linn. He also was given community service.

Salisbury was driving a boat at Woodcliff Lakes near Fremont in July when he got too close to the docks. Police say he turned the boat sharply, causing an attached inner tube with Linn on it to slam into one of the docks. She later died at a hospital.

A manslaughter charge against Salisbury was dropped because prosecutors say he was not drunk and had no previous criminal history.

___

Federal health officials say the parents of premature babies enrolled in a treatment study several years ago weren’t properly informed of potential risks.

Very premature babies need oxygen. Too much has long been known to cause blindness. Too little can increase risk of death. The study enrolled 1,300 babies at 23 hospitals between 2005 and 2009 to hunt the best dose somewhere in between.

In a March letter publicized Wednesday, the government’s Office for Human Research Protections said researchers didn’t spell out the risks to parents. The University of Alabama at Birmingham, which led the study, said although slightly more babies who received lower-dose oxygen died, the death rates were lower than usual for that time. But university officials pledged to better outline risks in future studies.

 

The attorney for a sheriff’s deputy accused of helping a felon escape the downtown Denver jail says the deputy and his family felt they were in danger.

Deputy Matthew Andrews faces felony charges that he aided in the Sunday night escape of Felix Trujillo, who remained at large Tuesday.

Attorney Donald Sisson says Andrews had been threatened and there was never an agreement to help Trujillo escape in exchange for money.

Sisson says that on Saturday, a driver pulled up next to Andrews, aimed a gun at him and said his family and his life would be in jeopardy unless he helped get Trujillo out of jail.

Denver police refused to comment on the case and reports have been sealed.

The Kansas Highway Patrol says two Nebraska men died in a two-vehicle wreck in south-central Kansas.

The patrol identified the victims of Tuesday’s accident in Pawnee County as 33-year-old Fidel Portillo-Moyao and 23-year-old Efrain Carrerea-Portillo, both of Schuyler, Neb.

The patrol says a pickup truck driven by Portillo-Moyao crossed into the westbound lane of U.S. 56 and was hit by a semi-trailer truck. He died later at a hospital. Carrerea-Portillo died at the scene.

The driver of the semi-trailer was not injured.

 

The Grand Island City Council has voted against trying to oust Mayor Jay Vavricek.

The council decided at its meeting Tuesday night not to proceed with a misconduct hearing. Council members listened to public testimony that largely supported the mayor. Members then debated whether to seek his dismissal from office. A majority finally voted against the proposal.

Councilwoman Peg Gilbert said “the charge doesn’t fit the crime.” She voted against the misconduct hearing.

Councilman Mike Paulick had filed the misconduct charge against Vavricek. It cites Vavricek’s drunken-driving arrest on March 2 in nearby Howard County.

Vavricek pleaded no contest to reckless driving and was fined $500.

A Lincoln man has been sentenced to more than 15 years in prison for helping distribute more than three pounds of methamphetamine.

U.S. Attorney Deborah Gilg says 29-year-old Kenneth Caldwell was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years and 8 months in federal prison.

Authorities say Caldwell helped distribute the drug in the Lincoln area between January 2010 and September, 2012.

Caldwell was also ordered to serve five years on supervised release after he gets out of prison.

The Wyoming Highway Patrol says a man was struck and killed by a car while apparently tending to an injured rabbit on a two-lane highway west of Laramie.

The patrol says 79-year-old William Kieren, of Laramie, died Sunday at a hospital in Fort Collins, Colo.

The accident occurred about 9 p.m. Saturday on Wyoming 230, about six miles west of Laramie.

A trooper says Kieren had stopped his vehicle along the highway and was on or near the center line when he was struck by an oncoming vehicle.

The patrol says the rabbit was still alive on the roadway and was eventually put down by a trooper.

Officials say about a dozen people have been wounded in a stabbing attack at Houston-area college campus.

Cy-Fair Volunteer Fire Department spokesman Robert Rasa says 12 people were taken to area hospitals after the Tuesday attack on the Lone Star community college system’s campus in Cypress. The Harris County Sheriff’s department confirmed at least 11 people wounded and that authorities have one suspect in custody.

Both agencies say at least four of those injured were LifeFlighted in critical condition. Rasa says several patients refused treatment at the scene and all the wounds were consistent with stabbing.

Harris County Sheriff’s Office spokesman Thomas Gilliland says authorities don’t believe a second suspect was involved. Lone Star had earlier posted an alert on its website warning of two armed suspects.

 

The U.S. Navy has canceled the remainder of the elite Blue Angels demonstration team’s 2013 season and the Air Force is grounding about a third of its combat force because of federal budget cuts.

The commanders of the Air Force’s Air Combat Command and the Navy’s air forces announced the moves Tuesday.

The Blue Angels have performed at air shows around the world for more than 60 years. A spokesman for the Navy said team members would be allowed to fly minimal hours to maintain flight proficiency in the F/A-18 fighter jets, but the six-jet squadron would discontinue group practices for the remainder of the season.

The Air Force began grounding about one-third of its active-duty combat aircraft, including squadrons of fighters, bombers and airborne warning and control craft.