LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Critics of a proposed Canadian oil pipeline worry it could foul a source of drinking water for about 2 million people. But pipeline supporters accuse environmental groups of fear-mongering. Many of the speakers who signed up at Tuesday’s hearing in Lincoln fell into one of two camps: Business and union representatives who say the Keystone XL project will create thousands of jobs and environmentalists, landowners and others concerned it will leak. Pipeline opponent Dan Rudnick of Lincoln said he’d like to see a new route around the Ogallala Aquifer. John Blasingame believes the pipeline will reduce the nation’s dependence on oil from the Middle East. As he put it, “None of these people who are against the pipeline are willing to give up their automobile.” The State Department must approve the pipeline and is expected to decide by the end of the year.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Recent dry weather is helping Nebraska farmers move forward with this fall’s harvest.  But the U.S. Department of Agriculture says moisture levels in grain remain high across most of the state, so the amount of progress farmers can make is limited right now. The USDA says in its weekly report the dry bean harvest is about 49 percent done, but the harvest of soybeans and sugar beets is just getting started. And only about 6 percent of Nebraska’s corn crop has been harvested. About 76 percent of the corn rates in good or excellent condition. That’s close to the average at this time of year of 75 percent. About 79 percent of the soybean crop is in good or excellent shape. That’s better than the 74 percent average.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A 24-year- old North Platte man has been given 5-to-10 years in prison for using a hammer to beat a man and steal his prescription medications. Court records say Ryan Houghtaling had pleaded no contest to the assault charge and guilty to two felony drug charges. In return, prosecutors dropped robbery and weapons charges. He was sentenced on Monday by Lincoln County District Judge Donald Rowlands. Rowlands gave Houghtaling the prison time for the assault and 231 days for each drug charge, then credited Houghtaling for 231 days already served while awaiting disposition of his case. Houghtaling had been arrested Feb. 8 after assaulting another resident of his apartment complex.

PORT ARTHUR, Texas (AP) – After a largely amicable first round of public hearings into a proposed Canada-to-Texas oil pipeline, U.S. State Department officials could encounter fierce resistance during a listening session in Nebraska.  Environmentalists and some landowners are planning to rally outside the Pershing Center near the state Capitol in Lincoln. They argue the Keystone XL pipeline would carry dirty oil. The proposed $7 billion pipeline would move tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada, through six U.S. states. During the opening round of hearings Monday, Texans praised the project while Kansas residents were concerned about its potential dangers. But the opposition could be stronger Tuesday in Nebraska. There’s growing concern about the pipeline’s effect on a vast subterranean reservoir that provides water across a large swath of the Great Plains.