(AP) — Colorado’s second-highest court says some people convicted of possessing small amounts of marijuana can ask for those convictions to be thrown out under the law that legalized recreational marijuana in the state.

The Colorado Court of Appeals ruled Thursday that people whose cases were under appeal when Amendment 64 took effect in December 2012 are eligible to have their convictions reversed.

A spokeswoman for the Attorney General John Suthers says prosecutors are reviewing the opinion to determine any next steps.

Marijuana advocate Brian Vicente says the ruling could affect hundreds of people who were given jail terms for petty marijuana offenses.

The case involved a woman who was convicted of multiple drug charges, including possession of about a third of an ounce of marijuana. Amendment 64 decriminalized possession of an ounce or less of marijuana.

(AP) — Lawmakers on a Nebraska education committee are looking for new long-term goals for the state’s K-12 schools and colleges.

Senators voted 33-0 to advance the bill on Tuesday that would create a “statewide vision” for education.

Sen. Kate Sullivan of Cedar Rapids, chairwoman of the Education Committee, says its members will reach out to various groups to help determine what the state’s goals and priorities should be for education. Possible changes include changes to the state aid formula for schools.

At least three public hearings would be held as part of the process. The committee would issue its report to the Legislature before the end of the year.

(AP) — Nebraska officials have launched a website aimed at connecting businesses with skilled workers.

The Nebraska Department of Education says its vocational rehabilitation program has a new website that outlines services available to businesses.

The website is aimed at helping businesses find skilled and qualified individuals. It’s also aimed at helping people with disabilities gain or retain a job.

Jim Coyle, director of employment for the program, says there’s an untapped resource of prescreened clients available to employers.

The vocational rehabilitation program is a state and federal program that operates in all 50 states and other areas.

(AP) — The Nebraska Safety Center has received a $639,300 grant to train bus and transit-company drivers from around the state.

The three-year grant from the Nebraska Department of Roads will help train more than 1,000 drivers. It’s the largest award in the history of the 36-year-old center, part of the University of Nebraska Kearney.

Drivers will learn defensive driving strategies, passenger awareness, safety and sensitivity and emergency procedures. The first phase started in January, and the program is expected to end in August. Additional phases will follow in the next two years.

Nebraska Safety Center director Mick Anderson says the project could become a model for the nation. Courses will be taught in Kearney and 14 other cities.

(AP) — Sheriff’s officials have identified a south-central Nebraska farmer killed this week in a grain bin accident.

Clay County Sheriff Jeff Franklin said 66-year-old Alan Watson, of rural Fairfield, was engaged in a routine activity when he died inside the 1 1/2-story grain bin on Tuesday. Investigators say Watson was using an auger to move corn out of the bin and into trucks when he died. The bin was about half-full of corn at the time.

Franklin says Watson’s wife and a truck driver were outside the bin when they noticed no grain was coming through. They began looking for Watson, but could not find him, then called for rescue crews.

Franklin says it’s possible Watson’s death resulted from a medical issue.

(AP) — Trials have been scheduled for a mother and son charged with killing a 68-year-old southern Nebraska woman.

Online court records say the trial for 41-year-old Shelley Casterline is scheduled to begin April 21 and the trial for her son, 23-year-old Andrew Casterline, is to begin May 27.

The two are charged with first-degree murder. Authorities say they stabbed to death Virginia Barone at her home in Guide Rock on Oct. 4. Her body was found the next day.

The Casterlines were arrested Oct. 5 in Newton, Iowa. Police said the two had been traveling in a sport utility vehicle stolen in Cass County, Neb., earlier that day.

(AP) — Classes are resuming Wednesday at Burwell’s public schools after they were canceled so administrators could prepare new security measures.

A menacing letter sent to Burwell’s city hall last week contains what’s being called a “hit list” of more than a dozen names of Burwell school administrators, teachers and students. No arrests have been reported as officials and investigators try to find out who sent it.

On Monday the school board decided to cancel Tuesday’s classes for the district’s 323 students.

Among the security changes being imposed, the school junior-senior high school will become a closed campus. All bags being taken into the school will be checked, and all high school students and staffers must park in the high school parking lot.

An increased police presence also is expected.

(AP) — A trial date has been scheduled for a man who was granted a new trial by the Nebraska Supreme Court.

A pretrial conference is set for March 31 for De’Aris Trice, to be followed by a trial beginning May 12. In July the state’s high court overturned the second-degree murder conviction of Trice. He’d been sentenced to 40 years to life in prison for killing 27-year-old Timothy Warren on Dec. 26, 2010.

The high court said it found fault in an instruction to Trice’s jury.