OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 31-year-old man has been given 35 to 40 years in prison for running into and killing a Creighton University professor while driving drunk in Omaha.

Pedro Diego-Antonio had pleaded guilty to a felony charge of vehicular homicide with a prior conviction for driving under the influence. He was sentenced on Wednesday in Douglas County District Court.

Authorities say Diego-Antonio had drunk more than a dozen beers last June and was driving down Dodge Street when his car struck Dr. Edward Horowitz, who was in a crosswalk, crossing with the proper signal. Horowitz was a physician and an associate professor of medicine at Creighton.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Government scientists say more than a dozen regions in the United States have experienced a rise in man-made earthquakes in recent years.

A report released Thursday found that 17 areas in eight states have seen small quakes triggered by oil and gas drilling. They include parts of Alabama, Arkansas, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas.

The U.S. Geological Survey says most of the shaking is caused by the oil and gas industry injecting wastewater deep underground, which can activate dormant faults. A few cases stemmed from hydraulic fracturing, or fracking.

The agency plans to study how often man-made quakes are expected to occur in the next year and how much shaking they would produce.

Scientists released the report at an earthquake meeting in Pasadena, California.

DENVER (AP) — Colorado Republicans have advanced legislation to make the killing of a fetus a homicide in response to the case of a woman accused of cutting into the belly of an expectant mother to claim the baby.

A GOP-led state Senate committee voted 3-2 along party lines Wednesday to advance the bill to the full Senate.

Prosecutors say under current law they can’t pursue murder charges in the attack against the Colorado pregnant woman because a medical examiner found no evidence the infant was alive outside the womb.

The suspect faces charges that could send her to prison for life if she is convicted of all the counts.

Republicans say that doesn’t do the case justice.

Democrats contend the bill infringes on abortion rights by extending certain protections to unborn children.

Republicans insist the measure has exceptions to protect abortion rights.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Prairie grass at the Nebraska State Fairgrounds has been cleared through prescribed burning.

Dave Carr, the prescribed burn coordinator for the Central Platte Natural Resources District, burned grass at the fair grounds on Tuesday. Prescribed burns are conducted to kill cool-weather grasses while promoting the growth of native prairie grasses, flowers and plants.

Carr says native grasses make excellent habitats for birds, which can roost in the tall stems as they look for insects to eat. He also says the native grasses make good cover for small wildlife species.

The coordinator says Tuesday’s prescribed burn was requested by the Groundwater Guardians, which received grants to help develop the native grass area known as the Outdoor Learning Center.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Hoping to raise people’s awareness about fuel taxes, Americans for Prosperity have paid part of what people were paying for fuel at a Lincoln convenience store.

The group paid 45 cents of the cost of each gallon pumped by the first 200 fuel customers at the U-Stop at 84th Street and Cornhusker Highway on Tuesday.

Matt Litt is Nebraska director for the organization, which advocates for smaller government. He says the 45 cents signifies what Nebraskans pay in state and federal gas taxes. The Legislature is considering a bill that would raise the state fuel tax by 6 cents a gallon over four years.

Litt says he expected the promotion would cost the group between $1,000 and $2,000.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Omaha City Council is bolstering the city’s watch over boardinghouses.

On Tuesday the council approved an ordinance that will require licensing of boardinghouses. They’ll also be subject to annual fees and regular inspections.

City officials formulated the ordinance in response to a Dec. 23 fire that fatally injured two residents of a south Omaha boardinghouse.

Under the ordinance, boardinghouses will be required to have working smoke alarms, two ways out of each sleeping room and have fire walls.

The ordinance won’t apply to properties where landlords rent to three or fewer unrelated people.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha’s mayor says she will continue to use text messaging after City Attorney Paul Kratz issued a legal opinion stating text messages are not public record.

Kratz gave the legal opinion in response to the newspaper’s request for city-related text messages to and from Mayor Jean Stothert and City Council members. Stothert says that she will be more cautious about her use of text message, but she will continue to use it because it is convenient.

Councilman Chris Jerram says he plans to use email more often so the message may be on record.

Kratz says the text messages are held by the wireless carriers the city officials have a contract with, and the carriers are not delegated authority to perform a government function.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Some officials want their community college district to open an education center in far southeastern Nebraska.

Former Auburn Mayor Bob Engles and other members of the Southeast Career Development Committee made the request at Tuesday’s meeting of the Southeast Community College board in Lincoln.

Engles say that when students from his area go to the district campus in Lincoln for classes, they end up getting jobs in Lincoln and don’t return to their hometowns in far southeastern Nebraska. He says his group members think there are good jobs waiting for trained workers in southeast Nebraska.

College President Paul Illich says the 15-county district is looking at ways to expand its reach beyond its campuses in Beatrice, Lincoln and Milford.