LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Insurance companies that cover cancer would have to treat chemotherapy pills the same as medication administered through an IV, under a bill set for a vote in the Nebraska Legislature.
The measure (LB882) by Omaha Sen. Jeremy Nordquist would require insurance companies to treat oral chemotherapy drugs the same as intravenous chemotherapy.
Nordquist says the problem for patients stems from how companies classify the treatments. Insurance policies usually cover the cost of IV chemotherapy as a medical benefit, while oral medications are viewed as prescription drug benefits with much larger copayments.
The bill has drawn support from the American Cancer Society and other health advocates, but insurance industry officials say such proposals would combine over time to increase costs for small businesses and the self-employed.

COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) – A Platte County man charged with attacking his boss over a paycheck dispute is going to prison.
Twenty-eight-year-old Michael Dennis was accused of threatening to shoot his boss, Joshua Slonecker, with a shotgun and then using the gun to hit in the face and open bloody gashes on his eye last September.
Dennis pleaded no contest to attempted second-degree assault and terrorist threats in January.
Dennis was sentenced to 20 months to 4 years in prison.
During last week’s sentencing in Platte County District Court, Dennis told the judge he didn’t cut his boss’ eye with a shotgun, he used his fist.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Omaha police say a medical technician has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting three women as they were undergoing ultrasound testing.
Police reports indicate three women – ages 27, 55 and 64 – reported being sexually assaulted by a technician at Omaha facilities in September, October and December. The women told police the assaults happened as they were having ultrasounds performed on their chest, abdomen and legs.
Police say 27-year-old Kevin Ryan, of Ralston, was arrested Wednesday morning with his attorney present. He faces three counts of first-degree sexual assault.
Police did not name Ryan’s attorney, and Ryan’s case had not been listed among online court records by Wednesday afternoon.
A public phone listing for Ryan could not be found.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The Nebraska Attorney General’s office has asked the state Supreme Court to reject a request by death row inmate Michael Ryan to put his upcoming execution on hold.
Nebraska Solicitor General J. Kirk Brown filed his request Tuesday.
Ryan was sentenced to death for the 1985 cult-related murder of a man and child near Rulo. His motion says Nebraska’s lethal injection protocol did not exist during his conviction, sentencing and previous appeals. For that reason, he says, none of the grounds for relief he’s seeking could have been raised in previous pleas.
Brown argues that the Nebraska Supreme Court has repeatedly held that the mode of execution is separate from the procedures a trial court uses to sentence a defendant.

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) – A Nebraska city’s attempt to fight illegal immigration appears likely to be more of an inconvenience for legal residents than a deterrent to illegal immigrants.
Fremont’s newly court-approved ordinance won’t have any effect beyond the city limits. That means two major meatpacking plants and some neighborhoods that have large immigrant populations won’t be covered by the requirements.
The rules add red tape for businesses and renters.
Businesses must use the federal E-Verify database to ensure employees are legal.
Potential renters must swear they are legal residents and pay $5 to obtain a renting permit. But the city won’t be able to revoke the permits of applicants found to be illegal immigrants.
Backers say the provisions approved by a federal judge represent progress on the issue.

NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) – The suspect in a Norfolk shooting says it was an accident.
34-year-old Carlos Arevalo-Martinez twice told a Madison County judge on Tuesday that the Feb. 14 shooting was accidental. Arevalo-Martinez made the statements through an interpreter.
Arevalo-Martinez is charged with assault and use of a firearm to commit a felony. He’s suspected of shooting 33-year-old Edna Gutierrez. Gutierrez, who was shot in the head, remains hospitalized in Omaha. She’s also known as Edna Little Elk.
Arevalo-Martinez remains in jail on $1 million bond.
He’s due back in court on Tuesday.

HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) – Organizers of Hastings’ annual Kool-Aid Days festival are seeking contest entries for the festival’s official T-shirt.
The 2012 festival theme is “Still rockin’.” That’s short for “Still rockin’ after all these years.”
The festival honors Edwin Perkins’ 1927 invention of Kool-Aid in Hastings.
The winner of the T-shirt competition will receive a $250 prize.
The design will be featured on memorabilia for the event, which will run Aug. 10-12.
The T-shirt logo must have the words Kool-Aid Days 2012, Still Rockin’ and an image of the Kool-Aid Man. The Kool-Aid Days website, kool-aiddays.com, lists other requirements.
The entry deadline is Feb. 29.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) – A legal action has been filed against the city of Grand Island because it’s lacking a fire chief.
Wednesday’s filing in Hall County District Court asks the court to order the city to appoint a fire chief “with all deliberate speed.”
Nebraska statutes say cities with 37,500 or more residents must have a full-time fire chief.
Chief Troy Hughes resigned in October 2011. Civil service rules limit the term of the interim chief’ to only four months in a fiscal year, so he stepped down Monday.
City Administrator Mary Lou Brown says the city is following state law because there is a fire chief position that’s just vacant.

MORRILL, Neb. (AP) – Authorities are investigating a western Nebraska fire that destroyed an outbuilding, including a vintage car and a variety of workshop tools.
The Nebraska State Fire Marshal is still investigating the Friday afternoon fire, which destroyed an outbuilding and workshop north of Morrill. Turner says the fire started in the workshop, but the cause has not been determined.
Turner says the building was locked when they arrived, and firefighters had to kick the door in to fight the blaze. He says a pickup inside the building was retrieved, but a renovated 1968 Chevy Chevelle worth about $20,000 was destroyed.
The total damage is estimated at $100,000.