All Nebraska Public Power District employees will receive 2.5 percent raises next year, and some will receive merit raises on top of that.

The Columbus Telegram reports the utility’s board approved spending $4.21 million on employee raises at its Friday meeting even though NPPD expects to finish 2012 with a $4 million deficit.

The utility decided to go ahead with the raises to recognize how its 2,200 employees performed and because NPPD found that comparable utilities were offering raises of 2.9 percent next year on average.

Human resources manager Laurie Schilling says the raises will ensure that NPPD remains competitive with other utilities.

NPPD customers will see their rates increase 3.75 percent on average starting Jan. 1.

Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman says last week’s shooting at a Connecticut elementary school that killed 26, including 20 children, was an evil tragedy, but the response should include more than just gun control.

Heineman said Monday he finds it unthinkable that anyone would shoot and kill elementary school students, but preventing mass shootings is a complicated problem.

He says any response to Friday’s shooting in Newtown, Conn., should look at issues related to family structure, mental health care, the justice system, society’s values and television violence as well as gun control.

Heineman says he thinks the Connecticut elementary school where the shooting happened had done more than most schools to improve security.

Heineman says it will be important to gather all the facts about this latest shooting before responding.

Police have arrested a man for allegedly posting Facebook threats against Los Angeles elementary schools.

Officer Venus Hall says weapons were confiscated when the man was arrested at his home Sunday afternoon by officers in the Northeast Division, an area covering east Hollywood to Glassell Park and Silverlake. He remains in the downtown jail.

The location of the arrest and information about the man and the nature of the threats are being withheld. Details on the weapons also haven’t been revealed.

Students in the Los Angeles Unified School District are on winter break.

Cmdr. Andrew Smith says police are taking threats very seriously.

The arrest came two days after 20-year-old Adam Lanza shot and killed 20 children and six adults before killing himself at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, Conn.

Montana is approving easements to let the Keystone XL pipeline cross state-owned land, including the Missouri and Yellowstone rivers.

The Land Board chaired by Gov. Brian Schweitzer on Monday sold a package of 50-year easements to TransCanada for $741,000.

Critics argued the board isn’t doing enough to make sure the pipeline will be safe for the environment, pointing to last year’s oil spill on the Yellowstone when a pipeline ruptured. Opponents also argued it shouldn’t be built at all due to global warming concerns from oil production.

TransCanada told the board that it has agreed to bury the pipeline 40 feet under the major rivers.

The board also gave the backers of the Montana-Alberta Tie Line easements across state land in north-central Montana to complete its project early next year.

Employees of a Lincoln massage parlor have been robbed at gunpoint.

Lincoln Police Capt. Jim Davidsaver tells the Lincoln Journal Star that just after 6:30 p.m. Sunday, a man walked inside Golden Jasmine Massage and pointed a black handgun at two female employees.

Davidsaver says the man demanded cash, and after getting a small amount, forced the employees into a bathroom. He then fled.

Officers arrived minutes later, but could not find a suspect.

Police continued to investigate.

The White House says curbing gun violence is a complex problem that will require a “comprehensive solution” including addressing gun control measures.

Still, spokesman Jay Carney says gun control is not the only solution to stopping shootings like the horrific attack at a Connecticut elementary school Friday. He says no single piece of legislation or single action will fully address the problem.

Obama has said he is going to use the “power” of his office to tackle gun violence. Carney says the president will engage the American people and lawmakers on this issue in the coming weeks, as well as meet with law enforcement officials and mental health professionals.

Carney did not offer any specific policy proposals or timeline for tackling gun violence.

A mediator who worked with Adam Lanza’s parents during their divorce in 2009 says his mother said she didn’t like to leave him alone and that his parents went out of their way to accommodate him.

Lanza killed his mother before going to Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn., on Friday morning and killing 20 children and six adults before taking his own life.

Marriage therapist Paula Levy recalled Monday that during about 10 two-hour sessions, Nancy and Peter Lanza were respectful of each other and concerned about their son’s needs. She says the couple told her Adam Lanza had been diagnosed with Asperger’s syndrome, an autism-like disorder, and they spent considerable time talking about how to provide for his well-being.

Levy says the Lanzas agreed how to divide caretaking responsibilities and as a result said little about Adam’s problems.

A weekend fire in an apartment complex near downtown Omaha kept firefighters busy and left one pet dead.

The fire occurred Sunday on the fourth floor of the Central Park Tower Apartments. No one was home in the apartment were the fire started, so firefighters had to force their way into the apartment.

Once inside, they found a small dog dead. The fire, caused by a pot of oil left unattended on the stove, was contained to the apartment.

Firefighters estimate the fire caused $100,000 damage to the building. A fire report says no other occupants of the building were displaced.