Health officials are urging 7,000 patients of an Oklahoma Dentist to seek medical tests to ensure they haven’t been exposed to hepatitis or the virus that causes AIDS.

The Oklahoma and Tulsa health departments said Thursday that the patients may have been exposed to viruses at clinics operated by Dr. W. Scott Harrington. The agencies said they found “major violations” of the Oklahoma Dental Act.

Spokeswoman Kaitlin Snider of the Tulsa Health Department says Harrington voluntarily closed his practice and is cooperating with investigators.

Letters are being sent to 7,000 patients from Harrington’s clinics in Tulsa and suburban Owasso since 2007. The letters recommend testing for hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV. The agencies say it is rare for infections to spread in occupational settings but that tests are important.

Two Iowa men have pleaded guilty and face up to 40 years in prison for conspiring to rob a store in northeast Nebraska.

Federal prosecutors say 20-year-old Terrence Miles, of Sioux City, and 19-year-old Austin Peters, of Nemaha, made their pleas on Tuesday in federal court in Sioux City. Peters also is known as Austin Stadler.

Miles and Peters pleaded guilty to two weapons charges as well.

Prosecutors say the two joined two others in planning to rob the Seoul Oriental Food Store in South Sioux City, Neb. Miles and the others then robbed the store on June 19, 2012, while Peters acted as lookout and getaway driver.

Sentencing dates for Miles and Peters haven’t been set.

A proposal to identify long-term water conservation projects in Nebraska has cleared a key hurdle in the Legislature, but lawmakers will likely scale it back to reduce its cost.

Lawmakers gave first-round approval Thursday to a bill that would create a 28-member water task force. The group would identify water-project needs, organize them and recommend a set of priorities to the Legislature.

Sen. Tom Carlson of Holdrege introduced the bill in the wake of a drought that affected the entire state. The Natural Resources Committee chairman says Nebraska needs to act quickly to ensure that the water supply is sustainable.

The proposal would cost about $3 million, mostly for consultants and research within a six-month window. Lawmakers are looking at ways to reduce the cost.

Police say a man has died after crashing a stolen car into a traffic light pole in Lincoln.

The crash occurred just before 9 a.m. Thursday in north-central Lincoln. Police say the car was speeding when it jumped a curb, knocked down a speed limit sign and rammed into the pole.

Lincoln Police Capt. David Beggs says the car had been reported stolen before the crash. State records say it is owned by a woman who lives in Dorchester.

The man’s name hasn’t been released.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel says the addition of nuclear-capable B-2 stealth bombers to military drills with South Korea was part of normal exercises and not intended to provoke a reaction from North Korea.

Hagel said Thursday that North Korea’s belligerent tones and actions in recent weeks have ratcheted up the danger in the region. He said the United States has to be prepared to defend its interests as well as the interests of its allies.

The defense secretary says there are a lot of “unknowns” with North Korea.

U.S. Forces Korea said in a statement Thursday that two B-2 stealth bombers flew from an air base in Missouri and dropped dummy munitions on the South Korean island range before returning home.

Lawmakers have halted an attempt to repeal state-funded prenatal care for the unborn children of illegal immigrants in Nebraska.

The Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee voted 6-0 to kill the measure, with one lawmaker abstaining.

Sen. Charlie Janssen, of Fremont, introduced the measure after the Legislature voted to restore the benefit last year. The issue sparked a contentious debate among lawmakers, who approved it after narrowly overriding Gov. Dave Heineman’s veto.

Janssen says he was disappointed with the vote. He says he introduced the measure in part to show Nebraska residents where their particular state senator stood on the issue. Term limits have brought 10 new lawmakers into office.

Janssen says he believes that most Nebraskans remain opposed to the benefit at taxpayer expense.

At least 18 residents of Lancaster County recently had their identities stolen by thieves who used the information to make more than $11,000 of fraudulent purchases online.

Most of the victims work for BNSF railroad, but officials say they haven’t found any evidence that hackers broke into their computers.

Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner says the thieves set up PayPal accounts with the victim’s identities and made purchases. The thieves spent several hundred dollars at a time and usually bought video games.

The thefts started last June, and most of the items purchased were shipped to a storage unit in California.

PayPal covered the purchases in several of the cases, so the victims didn’t have to pay for video games they never bought.

A Pennsylvania lawn and garden tool company is closing its manufacturing plant in southeast Nebraska’s Falls City.

Ames True Temper, a subsidiary of New York-based holding company Griffon Corp., said Wednesday it will close the Falls City plant and consolidate operations at its plant in Camp Hill, Pa.

Ames True Temper says the Falls City plant employs about 35 people. The process of closing the plant will begin shortly, and the plant will be completely closed by December.

The company says employees will be offered severance based on years of service.

Lawyers for Colorado theater shooting suspect James Holmes have offered to have him plead guilty and serve the rest of his life in prison to avoid the death penalty.

Lawyers made the offer in a motion filed Wednesday but said prosecutors haven’t accepted the offer because they may want to pursue the death penalty.

Prosecutors are set to announce Monday whether they’ll seek capital punishment.

Prosecutors declined comment. They would likely consult with victims and their families before deciding whether to accept the offer.

Holmes faces murder and attempted murder charges. The judge entered a not guilty plea for him, but he still has the option of changing that to not guilty by reason of insanity.

Holmes’ lawyers say the case could end Monday if prosecutors accept the offer.