Nebraska farmers and ranchers are being encouraged to apply for grants that will help them test out practices to deal with drought.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service has up to $5 million available for the grants.

State Conservationist Craig Derickson says Nebraska is in the midst of one of the worst droughts since the dust bowl years. The NRCS wants to help farmers and ranchers develop new techniques to cope with dry conditions.

Applications are due Oct. 15. Private individuals, Tribes, local and state governments and other organizations can apply.

‘s new $27 million Joint Forces Headquarters building officially opened Tuesday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

The 165,000-square-foot building houses the leadership and administrative functions of the Nebraska Army and Air National Guard, as well as the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency.

It also houses the state’s Emergency Operations Center, the Nebraska National Guard’s Joint Operations Center and a State Patrol dispatch center.

Attending Tuesday’s ceremony was U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, who said he was proud of the work he did to help allocate funds for the new headquarters.

A 24-year-old convicted in a 2006 burglary case has lost probation and is going to prison.

Christopher Marsh was given probation after he pleaded no contest to aiding and abetting a felony. Police say he broke into a pharmacy to steal drugs.

Prosecutors say that since his original sentencing Marsh has had several brushes with the law and violated his probation terms.

On Monday his attorney, Nancy Waldron, said Marsh has “messed up over and over.”

But Waldron asked the court to give Marsh a short sentence with the hope that Marsh could get help for his alcohol and drug problems.

Judge Alan Gless declined to do so and gave Marsh 10 to 20 years in prison.

Police say a man is in custody after a brief standoff in Lincoln.

Police converged on an area Tuesday afternoon after several reports about a man with a handgun sitting on a curb. Police say the man surrendered about 20 minutes later.

Police say the man was not armed with a real gun but with a toy pistol. Police had no word on whether the man would be charged with a crime, but would probably have a mental evaluation.

Three area schools were locked down as a precaution during the incident.

Ag Processing Inc. plans to expand one of its soybean processing plants in Minnesota to boost production of a soy feed additive for cattle.

AGP said Tuesday it plans to invest millions of dollars in expanding the Dawson, Minn., plant, but the company did not say exactly how much the project will cost.

CEO Keith Spackler says demand is strong for the AminoPlus product, and this expansion will help the company serve customers in the upper Midwest, Canada and other international locations.

AGP says its AminoPlus supplement helps improve milk production at dairies. It is already produced at AGP’s plants in Hastings, Neb., and in Mason City and Sergeant Bluff, Iowa.

AGP is owned by co-ops representing more than 250,000 farmers in 16 states.

The Omaha City Council has approved a 3 percent tax on cigarettes and tobacco products to help pay for a new University of Nebraska cancer center.

The council voted 5-2 on Tuesday to approve the new tax. Council members Jean Stothert and Franklin Thompson voted against it.

The original proposal would have imposed a 7 percent tax on tobacco sales in Omaha to help pay for the center. The measure has drawn criticism from Republican Gov. Dave Heineman.

The cancer center is scheduled for completion in 2016, but city leaders say it would have to change drastically without the revenue the cigarette tax will generate.

Authorities say a man has died after being run over by a combine in a southeast Nebraska cornfield.

the accident occurred Tuesday morning in a field about five miles south-southwest of Geneva.

The Fillmore County Sheriff’s Department identified the man as 58-year-old James Gable, of Grand Island. The department says Gable worked for Allied Genetics in Grand Island and was measuring a test plot when the combine backed over him.

The department says Gable died after being taken to Fillmore County Hospital in Geneva.

Bellevue’s former police chief has lost his legal fight to have a misdemeanor gun charge against him thrown out.

John Stacey had challenged the charge, calling it unconstitutional.

On Monday, a judge threw out Stacey’s argument, meaning he will face the charge in court. His arraignment has been set for Oct. 19.

Investigators say Stacey loaned a handgun to Gretna’s former City Administrator Colleen Lawry, who did not have the proper handgun certificate.

Stacey was placed on leave in May for an unrelated case and retired later that month.

A 25-year-old Iowa man has been given 60 to 90 years in a Nebraska prison for stabbing his former girlfriend and her stepmother in the Omaha suburb of La Vista.

Brandon Hendon, of Essex, Iowa, was sentenced Monday in Sarpy County District Court. He’d pleaded guilty to two counts of assault and one weapons count. In return, prosecutors dropped two other assault charges, a burglary charge and another weapons count.

Prosecutors say Hendon stabbed 18-year-old Jaimee Kirsch and 31-year-old Jessica Walker after he broke into Walker’s apartment on March 23. Three others in the apartment, including two children, were not injured.

Hendon was arrested later that morning in Plattsmouth, which is 13 miles south-southeast of La Vista.

Beatrice school officials hope to name an interim superintendent soon to replace Superintendent Jon “Tommy” Lopez, who died last week.

District board President Tobias Tempelmeyer says the search for an interim superintendent will begin immediately and may include candidates inside and outside the district. The board members hope to make their selection in the next 10-14 days.

Tempelmeyer says the interim superintendent likely will remain in charge for the rest of the school year and that a permanent replacement will take over in fall 2013.

Lopez was 48 and had been superintendent since July 2010. Lopez died Friday after a yearlong battle with pancreatic cancer.

Tempelmeyer says the loss of Lopez is a “huge blow to the district.”