Health providers are scrambling to notify patients in nearly two dozen states that the routine steroid injections they received for back pain in recent months may have been contaminated with a deadly fungal meningitis.

It became apparent Thursday that hundreds, and perhaps thousands, of people who got the shots between July and September could be at risk after officials revealed that a tainted steroid suspected to have caused a meningitis outbreak in the South had made its way to clinics in 23 states.

The Food and Drug Administration urged physicians not to use any products from the Massachusetts pharmacy that supplied the steroid.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that so far, 35 people in six states have contracted fungal meningitis and five of them have died.

Fire officials suspect arson in a fire that gutted a vacant house in Omaha.

According to KETV-TV, firefighters found the home engulfed in flames early Thursday. A witness reported seeing someone run from the scene after hearing a loud noise and breaking glass. Strong winds fanned the flames, causing it to spread.

No injuries were reported.

A new report says the percentages of Hispanic and black students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln rose between fall 2004, when the university removed consideration of race as an admissions factor, and fall 2010, a year after the state implemented a ban on affirmative action.

A Century Foundation report released Wednesday says that over those years, the percentage of Hispanic students increased to 4 percent and the percentage of black students rose to 2.7 percent of overall enrollment.

Nebraska is one of seven states with a ban on racial and gender preferences in public admissions and hiring decisions.

The Nebraska Democratic Party is accusing Republican U.S. Senate candidate Deb Fischer of not disclosing her conflict over a piece of land that was later involved in a bill she introduced.

Fischer and her husband sued their elderly neighbors, Les and Betty Kime, in 1995 claiming ownership of a parcel of land along the Snake River. The Fischers had used the land — free of charge and with permission from the Kimes — for years to water their cattle. Based on that, the Fischers claimed “adverse possession,” of the land, a legal term akin to squatter’s rights.

The Fischers lost.

Incoming state Democratic Party Chairman Vince Powers said Thursday that a bill by Fischer last year hampered the sale of the Kimes’ land to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

Authorities are investigating the discovery of a body in a historic home in Aurora in central Nebraska.

The body was found Tuesday afternoon.

Hamilton County Attorney Michael Powell says the area is being treated as a crime scene. He says the cause of death is unknown, pending an autopsy.

Other details, including the person’s name, haven’t been released.

The Nebraska Department of Revenue is lowering the interest rate the state charges for delinquent taxes, starting next year.

The department announced on its website this week that the state will charge 3 percent interest per year on unpaid taxes and special assessments owed to the state after Jan. 1.

The current 5 percent rate has been in effect since January 2009. That rate will still apply to taxes owed between 2009 and 2012.

Department officials say the rate is set once every two years. It’s based on the federal government’s average short-term borrowing rate.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio is coming to Nebraska to lend a hand to fellow Republican Deb Fischer, the GOP nominee seeking to replace retiring U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson.

Fischer’s campaign announced Wednesday that Rubio will be a special guest at a fundraiser for her on Oct. 25 in Omaha.

Rubio, a rising Republican star who was elected to the U.S. Senate in 2010, introduced GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney at the national Republican Party convention last month and was considered by many to be a potential vice presidential pick.

Fischer faces Democrat Bob Kerrey, a former Nebraska governor and two-term U.S. senator, in the Nov. 6 general election.

A 34-year-old Massachusetts man has been convicted in a Nebraska marijuana case.

A jury found Hokming Chan, of West Roxbury, Mass., guilty on Wednesday.

Chan was asleep in the passenger seat Feb. 4, 2011, when a Nebraska State Patrol trooper pulled over a vehicle being driven by Chan’s friend, 36-year-old Wade Tang.

A search of the vehicle uncovered nearly 80 pounds of marijuana, and both men were charged with possession for sale.

Chan denied knowing anything about the pot. Tang, who already has pleaded guilty, testified that he alone was responsible for the drugs.

Chan’s sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 14.

A 28-year-old man paroled from prison in August has been accused of raping the wife of his former cellmate.

Tyler Chamberlain, of Lincoln, was arrested Tuesday.

Court documents say Chamberlain went to the woman’s home because he’d told the cellmate he’d look after the man’s wife. Chamberlain was paroled in August after serving more than five years for assault and kidnapping.

Investigators say bruising on the woman’s body backed up her account of what happened. Chamberlain told investigators that he and the woman had rough, consensual sex.

A Lancaster County jailer said Chamberlain remained in custody on Thursday. Online court records don’t list Chamberlain’s attorney.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission says Hamburg Bend Wildlife Management Area in Otoe County has reopened for public use.

The agency says most of the work on the flood control levee is finished but some minor modifications are still being made.

Officials say the work shouldn’t affect hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing.