LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska’s college savings plan is making some changes designed to reduce costs and expand the investment options.
Nebraska State Treasurer Don Stenberg says the changes will help make Nebraska’s plan more competitive.
First National Bank of Omaha says portfolio expenses will be reduced in the plan. And some of the investment funds will now offer investors more diverse choices.
The changes will take effect in July after investors are formally notified in May.
Investors in so-called 529 plans offered by states across the country get tax benefits while saving for college. More than 52,000 families in Nebraska, and more than 189,000 nationwide, are saving through the Nebraska Educational Savings Trust, a 529 college savings plan.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Thousands of Nebraskans are expected to participate in this year’s “National Walk at Lunch” event later this month.
The Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska event is slated for April 25.
To date, 7,500 people and 65 organizations across the state have committed to this year’s walk. Nebraskans can register themselves, their friends or their businesses and learn more by visiting www.nebraskablue.com.
Businesses and schools organize their own walks, choosing a time and place that is most convenient, while individuals walk at their leisure. So far, 35 Nebraska cities, from Omaha to Scottsbluff, have organizations or individuals signed up to walk.
The event is designed to encourage healthy living habits for a lifetime.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The state Department of Health and Human Services is warning Nebraskans about a scam that promises public assistance grants.
Thomas Pristow, director of DHHS’ Children and Family Services, says some recipients of public assistance reported receiving fraudulent phone calls last week that promised up to $7,000 in grants in exchange for a deposit fee. Pristow says the state doesn’t require deposits or pre-payments in order to receive assistance.
Pristow says Nebraskans who receive such calls should contact their local police department and DHHS’ investigations unit at 402-471-9407 in Lincoln and greater Nebraska or 402-595-3789 in Omaha.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A western Nebraska man has been arrested in a child pornography case involving children who prosecutors say appear to be as young as 3 years old.

Attorney General Jon Bruning says 58-year-old Andrew Wennberg, of Imperial, was arrested on Thursday on four counts of distribution of child pornography.

Officials say the arrest stems from a two-month investigation by a cybercrime unit into Wennberg’s sharing of online child pornography. Bruning says the images displayed the victimization of very young children. Additional charges are possible as the investigation proceeds.

Wennberg was being held in the Chase County jail.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) – A 39-year-old Hershey woman whose child-abuse case was dropped in November has been charged with sexual assault of a child. The three new counts against Deanna Fischer, of Hershey, are based on two incidents that prosecutors say occurred in February 2006 and one that prosecutors say occurred in February 2005. In November a child-abuse charge against Fischer was dropped. She’d been accused of not stopping her husband from sexually assaulting children. Authorities say Daniel Fischer committed suicide after he was charged. Deanna Fischer remained in Lincoln County Jail on Friday, pending $50,000 bail. Her attorney in the earlier case says he isn’t representing her in the new one.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The trial of a man charged with killing a fellow inmate at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln is set for June.

The Lincoln Journal Star (http://bit.ly/HSarxZ ) says a judge on Tuesday granted a defense motion to delay the trial of Mohamed Abdulkadir until the June 11 jury term.

Abdulkadir is charged with first-degree murder and a weapons charge. He’s accused of fatally stabbing Michael Grandon in June 2011.

Grandon was serving a life sentence for first-degree murder and aiding and abetting first-degree murder in the 2007 deaths of a North Platte woman and her 5-year-old daughter.

Abdulkadir is in prison for aiding and abetting second-degree murder and drug and robbery charges in the 2009 killing of a man in Grand Island.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) – A 19-year-old woman has been given 57 months in federal prison for helping to sell cocaine in North Platte.

A news release from the office of U.S. Attorney Deborah Gilg says Megan Miller, formerly of Denver, was sentenced on Wednesday. Miller must serve five years on supervised release after she leaves prison.

Gilg’s office says Miller hauled cocaine from Denver to North Platte for her accomplice to sell. The drug sales occurred between April 26 and June 14 last year.

The accomplice, 27-year-old Lisa Rosenberg, of North Platte, also has been sentenced to 57 months in prison.