From Oregon to Mississippi, President Barack Obama’s proposed ban on new assault weapons and large-capacity magazines has struck a nerve among rural lawmen and lawmakers, many of whom vowed to ignore any restrictions — and even try to stop federal officials from enforcing gun policy in their jurisdictions.

In Oregon’s Josephine County, Sheriff Gil Gilbertson said Wednesday that a lot of sheriffs are standing up and demanding the Constitution – especially the Second Amendment – be followed.

And legislative efforts to pre-empt the president’s proposals have surfaced in Alaska, Utah, Wyoming, Tennessee and Mississippi.

But legal experts say their actual powers to defy federal law are limited. And much of the impassioned rhetoric amounts to political posturing until — and if — Congress acts.

A private university in Lincoln is telling its students it will pay the remaining cost of completing their degrees if they don’t graduate in four years.

Nebraska Wesleyan University says the graduation commitment guarantee begins this fall. It says students who satisfy their requirements to graduate can do so in four years.

Those requirements allow students to complete coursework and participate in internships, campus leadership, service learning, research work and study abroad programs. The school says few programs are excluded from the guarantee.

The university’s current four-year graduation rate is 83 percent. The school has 1,600 full-time students.

A pastor says his heavily damaged church building in southeast Nebraska will be rebuilt.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that the sanctuary and other areas inside United Methodist Church in Friend were destroyed by an early morning fire on Dec. 4.

The Rev. Paixao Baptista says church leaders are awaiting final approval from an insurance company before proceeding. He says work could begin in about two weeks, but he didn’t have a cost estimate.

State investigators say a burning candle caused the fire.

A federal appeals panel has upheld the 10-year prison sentence of a 68-year-old Omaha man for possession of child pornography.

Robert Cover was sentenced in March after he had pleaded guilty to the charge. Prosecutors say Cover had three videos and 39 images of child porn on his computer.

Cover’s sentence was enhanced because of his 1998 conviction for child sexual assault.

Cover appealed the sentence, arguing that the 10-year minimum should not have applied to him and that his sentence was unreasonably long.

But a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found Wednesday that the 10-year minimum was correctly applied and that Cover waived any other challenge to his sentence when he entered his guilty plea.

Nebraska officials are reminding various business entities about a spring deadline to file required annual and biennial reports.

Limited liability companies, nonprofit corporations and limited liability partnerships have until April 1 to file the paperwork. The businesses could be administratively dissolved if the deadline isn’t made, which affects liability protection and credit worthiness.

Online filing is available and new and returning businesses this year do not need a username and password to file.

Secretary of State John Gale says the sooner the entities file their paperwork, the better.

A group that represents private, nonprofit colleges in Nebraska is criticizing Gov. Dave Heineman’s plan to increase state aid for the University of Nebraska and the State College System.

The Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Nebraska says the increased funding to allow for a two-year tuition freeze may not be the most efficient use of state resources.

The group’s president, Thomas O’Neill, argues that policy makers should instead commit more money to a state grant program that provides financial aid to students in all sectors of higher education. The governor’s budget includes a $1 million increase for the grant program, which O’Neill says is too little.

The group represents 14 private colleges and universities in Bellevue, Seward, Crete, Hastings, Fremont, York, Lincoln and Omaha.

A new government survey suggests the number of people seeking emergency treatment after consuming energy drinks has doubled nationwide in a recent four-year span.

That’s the same period in which the supercharged drink industry has surged in popularity in convenience stores, bars and on college campuses.

The survey of the nation’s hospitals was conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. It found that from 2007 to 2011, the number of emergency room visits involving the beverages shot up from about 10,000 to more than 20,000. Most of those cases involved teens or young adults.

The report doesn’t specify which symptoms brought people to emergency rooms. But it calls energy drink consumption a “rising public health problem” that can cause insomnia, nervousness, headache, fast heartbeat and seizures.