(AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have advanced a bill designed to steer the state toward long-term water sustainability.

Senators gave the proposal first-round approval on Wednesday, but say they’ll make additional changes before it comes to a second vote.

The bill by Sen. Tom Carlson, of Holdrege, would expand the state’s Natural Resources Commission from 16 to 27 members. Members would have to come from a variety of major water users, including surface and groundwater irrigators.

The measure would require the commission to set goals and a ranking system for water conservation projects, paid for out of a new state water sustainability fund.

Senators postponed action on an amendment that would require a basin-wide management plan within the Republican River Basin.

(AP) — A gift to the Harris Center for Judaic Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln will aid in the study of methods for teaching about the Holocaust and intolerance.

Nebraska alumni and siblings Peter Sommerhauser, of Milwaukee, and Eileen Sommerhauser Putter, of Seattle, donated $100,000 to the University of Nebraska Foundation to establish the Lou Sommerhauser Fund for Holocaust Education. The fund will provide annual resources to the Harris Center.

The Sommerhauser family provided the money to honor their father, Lou Sommerhauser, and their grandparents, Albert and Babette Sommerhauser, who died in a Nazi concentration camp.

(AP) — A 19-year-old Lincoln man has been given jail time for beating a person who was trying to buy drugs from him.

A judge sentenced Mahir Jejna on Wednesday in Lancaster County District Court to a year each on charges of third-degree assault and aiding and abetting theft by unlawful taking. He will serve the sentences concurrently.

Authorities say Jejna attacked a man at a park last July who was buying marijuana from him. Jejna is accused of grabbing the victim’s neck and punching him. Another man with Jejna allegedly stole the victim’s phone.

Jejna later pleaded no contest to the charges.

(AP) — University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Harvey Perlman is turning to billionaire Warren Buffett for advice on Twitter even though the investor has only sent five tweets.

Buffett appeared Wednesday in one of Perlman’s “Perls of Knowledge” videos that showcase the chancellor’s silly side while promoting Buffett’s alma mater.

In the video posted online at https://perlsofknowledge.unl.edu Buffett takes a break from grading losing entries in his $1 billion NCAA basketball bracket contest to talk to Perlman.

Buffett tells Perlman to go with kittens in his tweet because the cat market is up.

These new videos are supposedly revealing who has been helping Perlman succeed on social media. In previous videos, Perlman offered his thoughts on the zombie apocalypse, the expression “YOLO” and UNL’s skateboarding professor.

(AP) — A Lincoln man has dropped his lawsuit challenging the city’s eviction of his dog based on an ordinance that bans wolf-dog crossbreeds.

Alex Kaftan filed to have the petition dismissed Friday.

In February, Kaftan was forced to move his dog, Mars, outside the city because of the city’s ban. Mars is a Czechoslovakian vlcak (VUHL’-chak), a breed created in 1955 by crossing German shepherds with Carpathian wolves. The breed is now self-propagating and recognized by the American Kennel Club. Neither of Mars’ parents was a wolf.

Kaftan’s attorney, Misty Christo, says Kaftan may ask the City Council to amend the hybrid definition so it doesn’t inadvertently ban the entire Czechoslovakian vlcak breed from the city.

(AP) — Utility officials say a Nebraska nuclear plant is operating at full power again after a brief outage last month.

The Omaha Public Power District said Wednesday that Fort Calhoun resumed generating electricity on March 19 — two days after a problem on the non-nuclear side of the plant during maintenance triggered the shutdown.

It reached full power on March 21.

This is the second time Fort Calhoun went offline briefly since it restarted in December after a prolonged outage.

Fort Calhoun, which sits about 20 miles north of Omaha, had been off line from April 2011 until December. It initially shut down for routine maintenance, but significant flooding in 2011, a small fire and a series of safety violations forced it to remain closed for more than two years.

(AP) — A coroner says an exchange student from Wyoming fell to his death in Denver after eating a marijuana cookie.

An autopsy report released Wednesday says marijuana intoxication was a contributing factor in the death of 19-year-old Levi Thamba Pongi on March 11 in a fall from a motel balcony.

Authorities say Pongi got the cookie from a friend. Police ruled the death an accident but haven’t released the findings of their investigation.

Colorado law bans the sale of recreational marijuana products to people under 21. Authorities say one of Pongi’s friends was old enough to buy the cookie.

Officials at Northwest College in Powell, Wyo., say Pongi, a native of the Republic of Congo, started taking classes as an exchange student in January.

An eastern Nebraska man has been found dead inside a grain bin.

Polk County Sheriff Dwaine Ladwig said employees found Jeremy Zavdosky about 8 a.m. Monday in a bin a block away from the United Farmer’s Cooperative main office in Shelby. Ladwig says the man was not a cooperative employee, and his death is being investigated.

Sheriff’s investigators say they do not suspect foul play, and an autopsy was scheduled for Tuesday.

Zadovsky is survived by his wife and five children.