GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) – More than three dozen people have marched through the south-central Nebraska city of Grand Island as part of the national Occupy movement.
The group marched on Saturday in connection with Transfer Day. Members of the Occupy Wall Street movement had asked people to transfer their accounts from megabanks that many believe helped create the financial crash of 2008 by issuing subprime loans.
The Occupy movement began in New York, decrying what protesters see as corporate greed and the growing gap between rich and poor.
Among signs the Grand Island marchers carried were ones that said “Save The Middle Class” and “Bail Out Our Grandkids, Not The Banks.”

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The first of five Nebraska bills aimed at oil pipelines is set for a public hearing.
The Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee has scheduled a public hearing on a bill by Fullerton Sen. Annette Dubas. The proposal (LB1) would give the state’s Public Service Commission the authority to oversee siting for major oil pipelines. The commission would have to approve a pipeline developer’s application before the developer could use eminent domain to make way for such a project.
Dubas introduced the bill during a special session aimed at the Keystone XL, a proposed pipeline that would cut through the Nebraska Sandhills and Ogallala aquifer. The project is awaiting U.S. State Department approval.

MINDEN, Neb. (AP) – The last of four people charged in the death of a 4-year-old Minden boy has been given probation and a suspended jail sentence.
20-year-old Katie Payne was sentenced on Wednesday to 90 days in jail and five years of probation. The jail time was suspended, pending Payne’s performance on probation.
Payne had pleaded no contest to intentionally committing child abuse without injury.
Dustin Scoville and Sharon Turnell were sentenced to 49-to-50 years in prison. Sharon Turnell’s husband, Charles Turnell, was sentenced to 19-to-20 years.
The child, Landon Payne, was Sharon Turnell’s nephew and had lived with the couple since August 2009. The boy died Dec. 22, 2009, a day after he was taken to a hospital.

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) – A San Francisco-based company has decided to build its new plant in the Nebraska Panhandle city of Scottsbluff.
KYS Foods is using bank loans, $505,000 in federal grant funding and $360,000 in local incentives for its project, which will cost around $4.2 million.
The company turns beef and pork into Asian-style jerky and sausage.
Company President KaiYen Mai said Thursday that the move puts her plant nearer meat supplies and will save money because the costs in Nebraska will be lower than those in California.
The plant is expected to bring at least 20 new jobs to Scottsbluff. The plant will be built at the airport industrial park and is expected to be finished by June.

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) – Closing arguments are scheduled in the trial of a woman charged with killing a 20-year-old rural Iowa man in 2001.
Jurors will hear the arguments Friday after more than a week of testimony for and against Tracey Richter, who is charged with first-degree murder in the Dec. 13, 2001 death of Dustin Wehde.
Richter insists she was the victim of a home invasion, and shot Wehde after she was choked with pantyhose. But she did not take the witness stand, leaving her son who was 11 at the time to tell jurors about the alleged attack.
Prosecutors say the home invasion was made up. They say Richter killed Wehde after forcing him to write in a notebook that he was hired by her ex-husband to kill her and her son.

WASHINGTON (AP) – All the pieces are in place for a re-election bid, but Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson is wavering on whether he’ll seek a third term in 2012 or retire – a decision that could have a big effect on Democrats’ chances of holding their Senate majority.
Nelson says he’ll make a decision over the holiday season. In the meantime, he’s piled up campaign cash, hired a campaign manager and watched his party spend more than $1 million on ads supporting him.
Nelson, a conservative Democrat, has told friends and supporters he’s not a lock for the race and expressed frustration with Congress’ ability to pass meaningful legislation.
Republicans need to net four seats in 2012 to take control of the Senate and will target the seat either way.