(AP) — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says he’s convinced the effects of climate change have already had a negative impact on agriculture and forestry in the U.S.

Vilsack is citing the intensity and frequency of recent storms, plus droughts, snowstorms and subzero weather. He says the nation must play an active role in preparing for climate change.

Vilsack spoke at the White House as the Obama administration announced it is creating seven regional hubs to help coordinate and distribute information about the effects of climate change.

The hubs will be based at Agriculture Department facilities. They’ll assess local climate risks, such as drought and wildfire, then develop plans for dealing with them.

(AP) — A bill that would keep some $35.7 million in state aid for Nebraska’s public schools has won first-round approval in the Legislature.

The bill that advanced Wednesday would increase state aid by about $35.7 million for fiscal year 2015. The state budget approved last year included $940 million for school aid in that period, based on estimates. But the current state aid formula calls for $900 million.

Sen. Kate Sullivan of Cedar Rapids, chairwoman of the Education Committee, says the bill would ensure roughly the same amount of funding for schools that was approved in the budget.

Supporters say increasing state aid helps reduce pressure on property taxes, though not all districts receive equalization aid.

Lawmakers voted 29-0 to advance the bill.

(AP) — An anonymous donor who has given nearly $7 million to nine groups and organizations in Milford has also given around $26 million more to 32 entities and charitable organizations in or near Lincoln.

Union Bank & Trust, acting for the donor, is notifying the new recipients. The 32 range in size from Nebraska Wesleyan University down to the village of Douglas, which has 173 residents.

The gifts are stock in Farmers & Merchants Investment Inc., a corporation that has majority ownership in Union Bank & Trust Co.

A bank officer wrote in an email that the donor wanted to show “sincere appreciation to the community of Lincoln, state of Nebraska and all those who have made Union Bank successful over the past 50 years.”

(AP) — A federal appellate court has reinstated several portions of a lawsuit brought by five Nebraska guards who alleged their prison was a racially hostile workplace.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday overruled a judge who said the guards’ allegations didn’t meet the exacting standard required for such a distinction.

The guards filed the lawsuit in 2010, saying they were subject to racially charged comments and other bias at the Nebraska State Penitentiary in Lincoln. It named several officials in the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services. The lawsuit dismissal came in 2012.

A spokeswoman for the department declined to comment.

(AP) — Authorities say the man who was shot to death by suburban Denver police after holding a 13-year-old boy hostage for nearly 18 hours had a criminal record and was wanted for a parole violation.

Police say officers fatally shot 34-year-old Don Pooley on Tuesday when he went to the door of the house he was barricaded in to retrieve unspecified items left by negotiators.

Members of a SWAT team immediately rescued the boy.

Authorities say the standoff began after police responded to a report of a domestic dispute involving Pooley at 5:30 p.m. Monday. Police say Pooley fled the home, forced his way into another home and took the 13-year-old, who was in the home alone, hostage.

(AP) — New data shows there’s been a steep decline in horse racing sales in Nebraska.

The Nebraska State Racing Commission released a report last month that shows wagers at thoroughbred tracks in the state fell from $78.8 million in 2012 to $68.3 million last year.

There’s only one weekend of live racing in Omaha and no permanent track in Lincoln. There were 89 days of live racing at Nebraska tracks in 2012, and 51 in 2013. Another 51-day schedule is set for 2014.

Racing advocates say the industry faces challenges, but there are bright spots like the Lincoln Race Course building, which offers simulcasts of races from around the country open to wagering. It doesn’t have a track, which officials say they plan to change.

(AP) — Authorities say a construction worker has been injured in an accident at the Tyson plant in northeast Nebraska’s Dakota City.

Medical workers were sent to the plant around 2 p.m. Monday. The worker was flown to Mercy Medical Center in Sioux City, Iowa.

Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson (MYE’-kuhl-suhn) says the injured person worked for an outside contractor. The person’s name and condition haven’t been released.

(AP) — A 22-year-old Iowa man has pleaded not guilty in the slaying of a Nebraska woman in South Sioux City.

Raymond Gonzalez Jr. on Monday entered the pleas to charges of murder, terroristic threats and disturbing the peace. He’s accused of shooting to death 28-year-old Bonnie Baker on Dec. 15. Investigators say Gonzalez had a dispute with Baker’s brother and had threatened him.

Twenty-five-year-old David Rodriguez, of Walthill, Neb., pleaded not guilty to being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. Investigators have said Rodriguez and another man picked up Gonzalez shortly after the shooting.

(AP) — A new report shows fewer children are dying in traffic accidents, and officials say that’s because more young kids are buckled up.

Over a decade, the number of children 12 and under who died in crashes dropped by 43 percent. Health officials say increased use of car seats and booster seats drove the decline.

Still, a third of the 650 children who died in 2011 were not buckled up. That was the case in almost half of the black and Hispanic deaths compared to a quarter of white deaths.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the report on Tuesday.

(AP) — Authorities are investigating the death of a worker at Cooper nuclear power plant in southeast Nebraska, but foul play isn’t suspected initially.

The Nebraska Public Power District says the contract worker was found dead in Cooper’s reactor building between 7:30 and 8 Tuesday morning. The utility says natural causes are suspected in the death.

The plant’s paramedics tried to help the worker who was employed by a contractor doing work at Cooper, which is near Brownville and about 80 miles south of Omaha.

The worker’s name wasn’t immediately released. The Nemaha County Sheriff is investigating the death.

NPPD officials say they notified the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and Occupational Safety and Health Administration about the death.

NRC spokeswoman Lara Uselding says her agency will monitor the investigation.