LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A Democratic state senator from Omaha says he’s planning legislation addressing the use of court settlement money by the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office.
Sen. Heath Mello says in a news release that his bill would direct settlement funds into the budgets of Nebraska’s schools. The bill also would require settlement money directed for another purpose must be deposited into a fund created by the Legislature, with appropriate oversight and transparency.
Criticism arose after Attorney General Jon Bruning awarded a $100,000 grant from a cash pool intended for environmental issues to a Nebraska farm coalition that was formed to fight an animal welfare group. The coalition includes the politically influential Nebraska Farm Bureau.
Bruning is a Republican candidate to replace Democratic U.S. Sen. Ben Nelson, who isn’t seeking a third term.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska wildlife officials say they have euthanized a mountain lion found in a steel-jawed bobcat trap in Dawes County in the state’s panhandle.
Officials with the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission say the animal was found and put down on Monday.
The trap was legally set and the trapper called officials as soon as he discovered the mountain lion. The animal was described as an adult female weighing about 120 pounds.
Officials say they try to tranquilize any mountain lion that is accidentally trapped if it can be done safely and the animal is uninjured, but the mountain lion’s leg was still trapped and it was pulling the stakes that secured the trap in the ground free.
Officials say the animal would not have survived had it escaped.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson survived nearly two decades representing heavily Republican Nebraska by carving a distinctive path down the political center.
But with that road becoming more difficult in today’s polarizing political climate, Nelson is stepping away – and swinging the door wide open for the GOP.
Nelson announced Tuesday that he wouldn’t seek a third term. The former two-term governor is the lone Democrat in Nebraska’s five-member congressional delegation.
The 70-yaer-old conservative Democrat was facing a tough campaign against several Republican challengers who’ve spent several months attacking his support for President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul and federal stimulus legislation.
Democrats lamented Nelson’s decision to retire, fearing it sets up the GOP for an easy victory. Republicans must net only four seats to take back the Senate in 2012.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Misdemeanor charges against the son of Nebraska Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy have been dismissed.
Authorities say Joel Sheehy accidentally shot himself in the face with a 9 mm pistol early on the morning of Feb. 2.
The now-22-year-old Sheehy was charged later with possession of an unregistered firearm and failure to appear in court.
Joel Sheehy’s attorney, Michael Kelley, says there was some sort of misunderstanding about the court hearing, but he wasn’t Sheehy’s attorney at the time.
City Attorney Marty Conboy says he asked a judge in August to dismiss the firearms charge and the other allegation because Joel Sheehy was intending to register the pistol. Conboy says other guns at Sheehy’s west Omaha apartment had been registered.

SHELTON, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say a 25-year-old Shelton man has died after being injured in a car crash earlier this month.
Kyle Gilliland died Friday at The Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.
Gilliland was alone in his car when it went out of control northeast of Kearney on Dec. 17.
The Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office says car hit an embankment, went airborne, struck a utility pole and came to rest on its wheels.
Gilliland was first taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Kearney and later was transferred to the Omaha hospital.

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) – Western Nebraska Regional Airport has fallen short of its passenger goal for 2011 and will lose out on federal funding.
Airport director Darwin Skelton says the Scottsbluff airport needed 10,000 boardings but will fall short by about 500. That means the airport will receive only $150,000 for specific airport improvements instead of the $1 million it was seeking.
The money goes for safety items and can’t be used for operations.
Skelton says he’s looking into ways to increase annual boardings, including flights to Phoenix and Las Vegas.

CHADRON, Neb. (AP) – Chadron State is looking for a new football coach after announcing it won’t renew the contract of Bill O’Boyle, who was relieved of his coaching duties after the school self-reported concerns of possible NCAA rules violations.
Chadron State says in a statement that O’Boyle’s contract, which expires in June 2012, won’t be renewed and a search for a new coach will begin after the holidays.
Chadron State raised concerns about fundraising to the NCAA and the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. A report by an independent accounting firm said O’Boyle opened secret accounts for program funds and failed to document $22,000 in spending. O’Boyle said he didn’t use the money for his own expenses.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The Nebraska Supreme Court has rejected death-row inmate Jeffrey Hessler’s claim that his lawyer failed to properly represent the convicted murderer, kidnapper and rapist at his sentencing.
The court issued a ruling Friday denying Hessler’s request for post-conviction relief. Hessler had argued that his trial-court lawyer should have demanded a competency hearing when Hessler moved to represent himself at his sentencing.
Hessler was convicted of first-degree murder, kidnapping, first-degree sexual assault of a child and use of a firearm to commit a felony in December 2004. He was sentenced to die for the 2003 rape and shooting death of 15-year-old Heather Guerrero as she left her home in Gering.
The high court ruled that Hessler had failed to demonstrate a reasonable probability that he was incompetent at his sentencing hearing.

PLEASANT DALE, Neb. (AP) – Two California women are in custody after Nebraska state troopers seized 111 pounds of marijuana from an SUV that was stopped for speeding along Interstate 80 just west of Lincoln.
The Nebraska State Patrol says the SUV was stopped Wednesday afternoon near Pleasant Dale. A trooper smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle and a search found the marijuana in several boxes and trash bags in the back seat and in the cargo area of the vehicle.
The vehicle’s driver, 33-year-old Bounta Thongthap, and a passenger, 33-year-old Ounkham Bounthavong, both of Modesto, Calif., were charged with possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.
They are being held in the Seward County jail, where officials say no bond has been set and no attorney information is available.