The Senate has voted to confirm Chuck Hagel to be the nation’s next defense secretary.

The vote Tuesday was 58-41, with four Republicans joining Democrats in backing President Barack Obama’s nominee.

The vote ended a contentious fight over the president’s choice for his second-term national security team.

Republicans opposed the former two-term Republican senator from Nebraska, casting him as out of the mainstream and overly critical of Israel. But Democrats stood together for Hagel, a twice-wounded Vietnam combat veteran.

Hagel will succeed Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, who is stepping down after four years as CIA director and Pentagon chief.

The vote came just hours after Republicans dropped their delay and allowed the nomination to move forward. The Senate vote to end the filibuster was 71-27.

Prosecutors say a former Minnesota nurse convicted of going online and encouraging two people to kill themselves was not exercising his right to free speech.

Fifty-year-old William Melchert-Dinkel was convicted in 2011 of two counts of aiding suicide. His attorney is asking the Minnesota Supreme Court to overturn those convictions, saying Melchert-Dinkel’s actions were protected, and that he did not directly participate in the suicides of an English man and a Canadian woman.

In documents filed Tuesday, Rice County prosecutors say Melchert-Dinkel played an integral role, giving the victims detailed instructions.

Prosecutors also argue the state’s statute barring assisted suicide is constitutional. They say the direct harm to victims and the state’s interest to protect vulnerable people warrant that the law be upheld.

Melchert-Dinkel is free pending appeal.

A 68-year-old Nebraska man has been sentenced to 10 to 20 years in prison for fondling a 9-year-old girl.

Special prosecutor Julie Smith says Kenneth Cranford was sentenced Tuesday for an August incident at his home in Palmyra.

Smith says Cranford fondled the girl after asking her to help unload some boxes from his van.

Cranford had previously been convicted of sexually assaulting a child in Hall County, but sex offender registration wasn’t required when he was released from prison so neighbors weren’t aware of his history.

Smith said the Otoe County judge considered Cranford’s background when sentencing him.

Federal regulators have added several things to the checklist of more than 450 items to be addressed before the troubled Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant can restart.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Tuesday it has added to the to-do list for the Omaha Public Power District.

Regulators and utility officials say the plant about 20 miles north of Omaha won’t restart unless it’s safe. Fort Calhoun has been shut down since April 2011.

The new items on the checklist shouldn’t surprise OPPD officials because they have been discussed at recent meetings with regulators.

OPPD must explain the causes of several safety concerns identified at Fort Calhoun. And OPPD must address concerns about whether structures inside the containment building could withstand extreme circumstances, such as an earthquake or high radiation levels.

A man is charged with setting fire to a Kansas home and then attempting to kill the emergency workers who rescued him.

The Associated Press reports that 58-year-old William J. Outhet Jr. faces charges of arson and attempted first-degree murder in Johnson County District Court. His bond was set at $1 million during a Monday hearing that he wasn’t able to attend because he remained hospitalized.

No one else was injured in the Feb. 1 incident.

Court documents say Outhet “staged” firearms around the home and fired a shotgun. The documents listed emergency responders as the intended victims.

Firefighters ultimately pulled Outhet from the home and rushed him to a hospital.

Outhet is being represented by the Johnson County Public Defender’s Office. The office phone rang unanswered Tuesday.

 A northeast Nebraska man has been given 46 months in prison for an assault in which he bit off one of a woman’s earlobes.

Federal prosecutors say 29-year-old Wisdom Webster, of Macy, was convicted of assault with a dangerous weapon. He must serve three years of supervised release after he leaves prison.

Prosecutors say Webster had argued on Jan. 7, 2012, with the mother of his children at a bar in Walthill. They continued arguing as they drove home to Macy.

Officials say Webster eventually hit and bit the woman.

The Nebraska Court of Appeals has affirmed the attempted kidnapping conviction of man who forced a teenage boy into his car.

Jose Llerenas-Alvarado pleaded no contest to the charge last year and was sentenced to 10-to-15 years. Llerenas-Alvarado tried to withdraw his plea before his sentencing, saying he hadn’t been advised that his conviction could lead to his deportation.

On Tuesday, the Nebraska Court of Appeals affirmed his conviction, saying Llerenas-Alvarado had been told twice at previous hearings that he could be deported if found guilty of the crime.

Authorities say Llerenas-Alvarado propositioned the boy last summer in Newman Grove. When the boy refused, Llerenas-Alvarado forced the teen into his car, drove out of town and attempted to assault the boy. The teen broke one of his arms while escaping.

A northern New York man has admitted he used a baseball bat to smash up a head shop after his son overdosed on bath salts sold at the store.

The Associated Press reports that 49-year-old Dan Avery, of Watertown, recently pleaded guilty to criminal mischief for breaking a glass countertop and merchandise at Tebb’s Headshop in his hometown.

Avery says his 24-year-old son was hospitalized when he overdosed on bath salts the son bought at Tebb’s. Avery says he went to the shop in July after and “just went crazy” after the clerk showed him the products and how to use them.

Avery was sentenced Friday to a one-year conditional discharge and ordered to pay $638 in restitution for the damage he caused.

Tuesday marks the 20th anniversary of the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.

A noontime ceremony is planned to honor the six people who died in the 1993 blast in a garage below one of the twin towers. More than 1,000 people were injured.

A moment of silence will be observed at 12:18 — the moment when a truck bomb was detonated.

Six Islamic extremists were convicted of carrying out the bombing, including mastermind Ramzi Yousef.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly says the scale of the attack was the first dramatic demonstration that “terrorism is theater and New York is the biggest stage.”

The ceremony is being held at the 9/11 memorial that honors more than 2,700 people who died in the 2001 attack at the World Trade Center.

A veteran Lincoln police officer is dead after collapsing at a gym and being rushed to a hospital.

Officer John Clarke died Monday after collapsing at a fitness facility. The cause of the 43-year-old’s death wasn’t immediately clear.

Clarke had been part of the Lincoln Police Department for 21 years. He served as the lead trainer for the canine unit and worked as a canine handler for 15 years.

Lincoln Police Chief Jim Peschong says Clarke was an accomplished officer with many commendations.

For instance, Clarke received an award in 1999 for his efforts to find a missing Alzheimer’s patient. Clarke continued searching the area long after the search was called off for the night and ultimately found the victim.

Clarke is survived by his wife, Lisa, and three children.