Lawmakers have halted an attempt to repeal state-funded prenatal care for the unborn children of illegal immigrants in Nebraska.

The Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee voted 6-0 to kill the measure, with one lawmaker abstaining.

Sen. Charlie Janssen, of Fremont, introduced the measure after the Legislature voted to restore the benefit last year. The issue sparked a contentious debate among lawmakers, who approved it after narrowly overriding Gov. Dave Heineman’s veto.

Janssen says he was disappointed with the vote. He says he introduced the measure in part to show Nebraska residents where their particular state senator stood on the issue. Term limits have brought 10 new lawmakers into office.

Janssen says he believes that most Nebraskans remain opposed to the benefit at taxpayer expense.

At least 18 residents of Lancaster County recently had their identities stolen by thieves who used the information to make more than $11,000 of fraudulent purchases online.

Most of the victims work for BNSF railroad, but officials say they haven’t found any evidence that hackers broke into their computers.

Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner says the thieves set up PayPal accounts with the victim’s identities and made purchases. The thieves spent several hundred dollars at a time and usually bought video games.

The thefts started last June, and most of the items purchased were shipped to a storage unit in California.

PayPal covered the purchases in several of the cases, so the victims didn’t have to pay for video games they never bought.

A Pennsylvania lawn and garden tool company is closing its manufacturing plant in southeast Nebraska’s Falls City.

Ames True Temper, a subsidiary of New York-based holding company Griffon Corp., said Wednesday it will close the Falls City plant and consolidate operations at its plant in Camp Hill, Pa.

Ames True Temper says the Falls City plant employs about 35 people. The process of closing the plant will begin shortly, and the plant will be completely closed by December.

The company says employees will be offered severance based on years of service.

Lawyers for Colorado theater shooting suspect James Holmes have offered to have him plead guilty and serve the rest of his life in prison to avoid the death penalty.

Lawyers made the offer in a motion filed Wednesday but said prosecutors haven’t accepted the offer because they may want to pursue the death penalty.

Prosecutors are set to announce Monday whether they’ll seek capital punishment.

Prosecutors declined comment. They would likely consult with victims and their families before deciding whether to accept the offer.

Holmes faces murder and attempted murder charges. The judge entered a not guilty plea for him, but he still has the option of changing that to not guilty by reason of insanity.

Holmes’ lawyers say the case could end Monday if prosecutors accept the offer.

Two days of arguments over gay marriage are over at the Supreme Court, where five justices — a majority — today raised questions about a federal law denying benefits to same-sex couples, even though the benefits are given to other couples.

Justice Anthony Kennedy said the law seems to interfere with the ability of states to recognize same-sex marriages.

Justice Elena Kagan also questioned the basis for the 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, pointing to a congressional report explaining that the reason for the law was to “express moral disapproval of homosexuality.”

The law affects a range of benefits available to married couples, including tax breaks, survivor benefits and health insurance for spouses of federal employees.

It’s possible the court could dismiss the case for procedural reasons, though that prospect seemed less likely than it did in Tuesday’s argument over gay marriage in California.

 

A Georgia grand jury has indicted a 17-year-old suspect in last week’s fatal shooting of a baby in his stroller and in another unrelated shooting 10 days earlier in a robbery attempt.

The 11 counts returned Wednesday against De’Marquise Elkins include malice murder for the slaying of 13-month-old Antonio Santiago. The indictment says Elkins shot the boy in the face with a .22-caliber revolver while trying to rob the child’s mother in coastal Brunswick last Thursday.

The indictment charges 15-year-old Dominique Lang on seven counts including felony murder. Elkins’ mother and sister were charged with trying to dispose of the gun in a saltwater pond.

The indictment also charges Elkin with trying to rob a man at gunpoint March 11 and shooting the victim in the arm.

One of the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives has voluntarily returned from El Salvador to Colorado to face charges in a 2011 slaying.

The FBI says suspected gang member Edwin Ernesto Rivera Gracias landed in Centennial, Colo., with FBI agents Wednesday afternoon.

He was wanted in Jefferson County in the slaying of 69-year-old Richard Limon, who was found beaten and stabbed, and dumped along a road in 2011.

An affidavit filed in federal court alleges Rivera Gracias had talked about killing Limon because of allegations that Limon molested Rivera Gracias’ girlfriend. The girlfriend was the daughter of Limon’s wife.

Limon’s wife and another man pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the case. Rivera Gracias’ girlfriend pleaded guilty to being an accessory to commit murder.

A person familiar with Facebook says CEO Mark Zuckerberg is forming a political group to address issues such as education reform, immigration and scientific research.

The person says the group will formally launch in the coming weeks. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the information is not public. The San Francisco Chronicle, Politico and others reported on it earlier.

Zuckerberg, 28, has already used his Facebook wealth to address political issues close to him. He donated $100 million of Facebook stock to Newark, N.J., schools. He also has announced plans to donate nearly $500 million in stock to a Silicon Valley charity to fund health and education issues.

In February he hosted a campaign event in his Palo Alto, Calif., home for New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.

A change-of-plea hearing has been rescheduled for a 31-year-old man accused of threatening personnel at Henderson Community Hospital in eastern Nebraska.

Joseph Palensky and his attorney, Nancy Waldron, appeared in York County District Court earlier this week.

Judge Robert Steinke asked Palensky whether he was taking medication for a back injury. Palensky said yes. Then Steinke said that because Waldron had said Palensky might not be thinking clearly, Steinke wouldn’t consider the plea change.

The judge delayed the matter until April 15.

Palensky has pleaded not guilty to felony terroristic threats. Authorities say he walked into the hospital on July 21, armed with a gun and knife and looking for a specific doctor. Authorities say he threatened a nurse and other workers.

A Lancaster County judge is considering his decision in a wrongful-death lawsuit that alleges a prison doctor missed signs that could have saved an inmate’s life.

The lawsuit by the adult children of 51-year-old Darryl Reed says Dr. John Casebolt provided substandard care at the state’s Diagnostic and Evaluation Center infirmary in Lincoln. Reed died at a Lincoln hospital on Nov. 2, 2010.

A doctor who testified for the plaintiffs says Reed had a heart condition the infirmary should have known about and checked. An autopsy showed Reed had blood clots in his lungs.

Casebolt testified that Reed was under observation because guards thought Reed may have used drugs while at his work-release job.

Casebolt says Reed didn’t seem to be under distress.