LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Activists from California, Texas and Nebraska have converged in Lincoln to present their case against a proposed tar sands oil pipeline.  Approximately 40 people gathered Wednesday for a discussion of the Keystone XL pipeline, which is designed to carry oil from Canada to Gulf Coast refineries. Several activists were on their way to an ongoing White House protest against the pipeline, or had just come from it after being arrested. Environmental groups have raised concerns that the pipeline could foul underground and surface water supplies, increase air pollution around refineries and harm wildlife. Pipeline supporters say it is safe and will create much-needed jobs. David Daniel, an east Texas landowner, says he was repeatedly pressured into signing a portion of his property away with legal threats.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Former Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers, the self- proclaimed “defender of the downtrodden,” wants to come back to the Legislature. Chambers confirmed Wednesday that he will run again for the north Omaha district he represented for 38 years. The 74-year-old left office in 2008 because of new term limits, but is eligible to run again in the 2012 election. Chambers says lobbyists, the governor and the attorney general have “run roughshod” over the Legislature with a right-wing agenda. Chambers, who was legendary for his procedural knowledge and ability to delay bills, says too much legislation is passing without serious debate.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A federal appeals panel has rejected Nebraska death-row inmate John Lotter’s attempt to appeal his conviction in the triple murder that inspired the 1999 film “Boys Don’t Cry.” In a judgment released Tuesday, two members of a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the appeal. The third, U.S. Judge Kermit Bye, disagreed, saying he would have allowed the appeal based on five claims by Lotter. Lotter was convicted in the 1993 slayings of Teena Brandon and two others in a farmhouse near Humboldt. Lotter has maintained he is innocent. He claims that, among other things, the state used a threat of torture to coerce accomplice Thomas Nissen into lying about the killings. Earlier this year, a federal judge denied Lotter’s appeal.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – A man sentenced to life in prison for the beating death of his toddler daughter has filed a request to be released from prison. Germai Molina filed a petition for habeas corpus on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Lincoln, saying he is being illegally held. Molina’s plea for relief comes after twice being rejected on appeal by the Nebraska Supreme Court. The state’s high court first rejected Molina’s arguments in 2006 about the effectiveness of his trial lawyer. Last year, the high court rejected Molina’s contention that it had erred in denying his first appeal. Molina was convicted in 2004 of second-degree murder and felony child abuse in Grand Island for the 2003 beating death of his daughter, Diana Molina.

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. (AP) – A flyover by a B-2 stealth bomber and aerial acrobatics by other planes mark the annual air show at Offutt Air Force Base south of Omaha. The B-2 also will be sitting in a ground display at the show this coming Saturday and Sunday. Aerial demonstration aircraft scheduled to perform include Air Force F-15E Strike Eagle jets as well as propeller-driven planes such as the T-34 and T-28 trainers. The U.S. Army’s Golden Knights parachute team will take to the sky and drop through it to return to the ground.

OKETO, Kan. (AP) – Authorities are looking for a man who allegedly has threatened to kill law enforcement officers. Police say 27-year-old Kyle Joekel left a bar in Barneston, Neb., Sunday afternoon after saying he was going into Kansas to kill law enforcement officers. U.S. marshalls, Marshall County sheriff’s deputies and Gage County, Neb., deputies are searching for Joekel. WIBW reports that Joekel fled on foot Sunday night after he crashed a car into a home in the northeast Kansas town of Oketo while being chased by Marysville police. Gage County, Neb., authorities say they know Joekel for making threats, firearms activity and drug deals. He is considered armed and dangerous. He is white, 6-feet tall, with reddish brown hair and was
wearing a grey shirt and blue jeans.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Growing conditions are improving in Nebraska as more normal temperatures return, but some areas have had problems with hail and grasshoppers. The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued its weekly update on the state’s crops on Monday. The USDA says some recent rain storms brought hail that damaged crops in the eastern end of the state. And grasshoppers remain a concern in parts of western Nebraska. But the state’s two main crops appear to be in pretty good shape. About 78 percent of the corn crop rated in good or excellent condition at the end of last week. And about 79 percent of the soybean crop was in good or excellent condition.