LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska lawmakers will decide whether to extend a program that lets parents receive welfare benefits for up to three years if they are working to earn a college degree.
Lawmakers are set to vote Monday on a measure by Scottsbluff Sen. John Harms. The bill would allow recipients to count their class and study time toward the work-activity requirements they must fulfill to qualify for public assistance.
Recipients would be eligible if they spent at least 20 hours a week in college, for up to 36 months. Previous rules had given them 12 months to finish a degree while on public aid.
The bill is LB842.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor this week will help performer Lady Gaga launch a group to promote tolerance and empowerment among youth.
Susan Swearer is a psychology professor and anti-bullying expert at UNL. She will be among the scholars speaking Wednesday at Harvard University as part of Lady Gaga’s Born this Way Foundation.
Swearer says she is honored to be part of the new group and looks forward to bringing her Bullying Research Network to another national stage.
Swearer says Lady Gaga is doing more than giving lip-service to a cause. She says the pop singer is thoughtfully and intellectually trying to solve the problem of bullying.
More details on the foundation are at www.BornThisWayFoundation.org. For more information on the Bullying Research Network, visit http://go.unl.edu/vgf.

FAIRBURY, Neb. (AP) – A Jefferson County jury has found a Fairbury woman guilty of beating her husband to death.
55-year-old Susan DeJong was found guilty Monday of first-degree murder and use of a weapon to commit a felony in the death of 52-year-old Thomas DeJong at their home west of Fairbury in March 2011.
The prosecutor had told jurors last week that Susan DeJong became obsessed with suspicions that her husband was having an affair. Defense attorney James Mowbray had argued the evidence didn’t mean proof of the charges against her.
Both attorneys declined to comment after the verdict was read Monday afternoon. The judge in the case set sentencing for May 3.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say a 10-year-old girl died when a van driven her 14-year-old sister went off the highway and crashed into a ravine in Howard County in central Nebraska.
The sheriff’s office says Shelby Koperski, of Elba, died in the accident Monday morning near Elba. Officials say she was in the back of the van and was ejected. The van ended up on top of her.
The sheriff’s office says the driver, Amy Koperski, lost control of the van. Authorities say Amy Koperski and the girls’ mother, 49-year-old Anne Koperski, who was a passenger in the front seat, were injured.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A medical technician accused of sexually assaulting three women as they were undergoing ultrasound testing at Omaha facilities has pleaded not guilty to two counts of first-degree sexual assault.
27-year-old Kevin Ryan, of Ralston, entered his plea in Thursday. A judge set bond at $1 million.
Online court records show Ryan’s case was bound over to Douglas County District Court.
According to police reports, three women reported being sexually assaulted by a technician in September, October and December. The women told police the assaults happened as they were having ultrasounds performed on their chest, abdomen and legs.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The Nebraska Supreme Court has put on hold the execution of an inmate condemned to die for two 1985 cult-related slayings at a farm near Rulo.
Michael Ryan’s execution had been set for March 6. His attorney, Jerrie Soucie, with the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy had filed a motion with the state’s high court last week asking for a stay of execution while a lower court considers his request to have Ryan’s sentence commuted to life in prison.
The state supreme court granted Soucie’s motion on Thursday, noting that Ryan’s postconviction filing in Richardson County District Court was reason enough to put Ryan’s execution on hold.

NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) – Authorities have arrested a man for allegedly helping a suspect in a shooting in Norfolk.
Carlos Arevalo-Martinez is accused of shooting Edna Gutierrez on Feb. 14. Gutierrez remains hospitalized in Omaha.
40-year-old Bennie Smith was arrested on Wednesday for being an accessory to a felony.
Police Chief Bill Mizner says Smith allegedly gave Arevalo-Martinez a ride to Gutierrez’s house, was present when she was shot and gave Arevalo-Martinez a ride to Stanton after the shooting.
Arevalo-Martinez was arrested after a standoff in Stanton on Feb. 16.
Smith’s case isn’t on the online court system, and it’s not known if he has an attorney.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Chuck Hassebrook, Democrats’ newly minted candidate for U.S. Senate, is taking an extended leave of absence from his job as executive director of the Center for Rural Affairs as he runs his campaign.
The center is a grassroots nonprofit that advocates for rural communities, and Hassebrook has served as its director for nearly 35 years. On Monday, the center’s board granted Hassebrook a 10-month leave to run for public office. The board named its assistant director, Brian Depew, as acting executive director.
Asked why he was taking the leave, Hassebrook said running for Senate “is a full time job. I am all in.”
Hassebrook is seeking the seat currently held by Democrat Ben Nelson, who is not seeking a third term.

CRAWFORD, Neb. (AP) – A Crawford woman wants Nebraska’s Gov. Dave Heineman to order the lowering of flags statewide whenever a Nebraskan dies while on military duty.
Eagle Radio station KQSK says Lory Storm is encouraging Nebraskans to contact the governor’s office and push for changes in the flag policy so that flags are lowered statewide, not just in the soldier’s hometown.
Storm says the death of Marine Sgt. Jeremiah Callahan, of Chadron, who died in a California traffic accident on Feb. 14, should be honored statewide even if he didn’t die in combat overseas.
A funeral for Callahan is scheduled for Saturday in Chadron.
Spokeswomen for the governor didn’t immediately return phone messages or emails from The Associated Press on Thursday.