BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) – A 29-year-old Beatrice man has pleaded not guilty to rape, strangulation, child porn and other charges.
Joseph Buttercase is due back in court on Dec. 19. No trial date has been set.
He’s accused of raping and strangling a 29-year-old woman at his residence last July.
The eight charges against Buttercase include seven felonies and one misdemeanor.

YORK, Neb. (AP) – Authorities have ruled out a crime in the death of an 18-year-old resident at a behavioral health center in York.
An autopsy showed the 18-year-old man died from “ligature strangulation by hanging.” His body was discovered at one of the residential facilities on Sept. 28.
York Police Chief Don Klug says the autopsy toxicology results showed no drugs or alcohol in the young man’s system.
Klug says “there was absolutely no foul play involved in this situation, and this is officially a closed case.”
Epworth Village provides residential, therapeutic, educational, in-home and foster care services for children and families dealing with severe emotional and behavioral disorders.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Police have arrested three people while evicting Occupy Omaha protesters from a parking lot near downtown.
The Omaha Police Department said officers made loudspeaker announcements around 4 a.m. Thursday to ensure the nine people on the property heard and had a chance to leave before being arrested for criminal trespass on city property.
Two of them immediately refused to leave. A third person later sat in the middle of the lot and said he was staying.
Police say all three were cooperative as they were arrested and taken a few blocks away for booking into the county jail.
The Occupy Omaha group is part of the weeks-old Occupy movement that began in New York, decrying what protesters see as corporate greed and the growing gap between rich and poor.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A Canadian pipeline developer that wants to run an oil line through U.S. six states says delaying the project beyond its expected start date would cost the company $1 million a day.
Robert Jones is a TransCanada vice president overseeing the hotly contested Keystone XL pipeline project. Jones says in a statement given in response to a federal lawsuit that delays would damage the company’s relationship with shippers and threaten its ability to recover money.
TransCanada says it’s already spent $1.7 billion on the $7 billion Keystone XL, which would carry crude oil from Alberta to Texas Gulf Coast refineries. The State Department has jurisdiction over the pipeline because it crosses an international border. Officials say they hope to approve or deny a permit for the project by year’s end.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska lawmakers have introduced two new bills to regulate oil pipelines, including one that would give Gov. Dave Heineman authority to decide their routes.
The proposal by state Sen. Chris Langemeier of Schuyler would let governors certify routes within 30 days of a panel recommendation to approve or deny a pipeline permit. The panel would include governor-appointed members from various agencies, plus one county board member and one resident landowner from each congressional district. The lieutenant governor would serve as chairman.
Heineman called lawmakers to Lincoln to enact oil pipeline regulations amid concerns about the Keystone XL through Nebraska, but he has not introduced a bill of his own.
Another measure by Lincoln Sen. Bill Avery would require a permit before companies could take land through eminent domain.

KIMBALL, Neb. (AP) – A 45-year-old Kimball County man has pleaded no contest to sexually assaulting a 14-year-old girl and to having child pornography.
A news release from the office of Attorney General Jon Bruning says sentencing has been set Dec. 6 for Eric Bass.
The release says two 13-year-old girls had reported receiving sexually explicit photos in text messages from Bass.
Authorities say the child pornography was found during a follow-up search of Bass’ home and business. Investigators say they also found evidence that Bass had sexual contact with the 14-year-old girl during part of 2006 and 2007.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A Nebraska man who raped and killed a
15-year-old newspaper carrier in 2003 is again taking his bid to
get off death row to the Nebraska Supreme Court.
Jeffrey Hessler was convicted in 2004 of kidnapping, raping and
killing Heather Guerrero, of Gering.
In his latest bid for post-conviction relief, Hessler claims
ineffective counsel. He says his attorneys failed to tell the court
that he suffered from mental health problems, including
hallucinations.
Scotts Bluff County District Judge Randall Lippstreu dismissed
that claim earlier this year. Hessler is appealing the judge’s
decision to the Nebraska Supreme Court, which will hear arguments
on Thursday.
Hessler’s conviction and death sentence were upheld by the
Nebraska Supreme Court in November 2007, after he appealed on other
grounds.

FORT DODGE, Iowa (AP) – A judge has blocked jurors from hearing testimony from a psychologist who says a woman charged with murdering a 20-year-old Iowa man has symptoms consistent with being a home invasion victim.
Psychologist David Grove, the first witness for Tracey Richter’s defense, was preparing to testify Wednesday about his opinion when Judge Kurt Wilke cleared jurors to hear arguments about the testimony.
Grove says he couldn’t judge Richter’s truthfulness about claims that Dustin Wehde and another man invaded her home before she shot him. But he says Richter suffered from stress symptoms consistent with a traumatic event such as violent crime based on her retelling of the story.
Wilke says the testimony would open questions about other stresses, such as Richter’s convictions and divorces, and “we don’t want to go there.”