(AP) — Doane College has opened its fourth campus in Omaha, and classes began on the Omaha campus this week.

The campus is located in a building just off of 144th and F streets in southwest Omaha. The intent is to expand Doane’s School of Graduate and Professional Studies into the Omaha metro area.

Doane College is the first private liberal arts and sciences college in Nebraska, getting its start in 1872. Doane has campuses in Crete, Lincoln, Grand Island and Omaha.

(AP) — Nebraskans could register to vote online and would have to present a photo ID in certain situations under a pair of bills that will have a public hearing next week.

Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha introduced the bills on behalf of Secretary of State John Gale.

One bill would allow Nebraskans to register to vote or update their voting information online.

The second bill would require a government document with a photo, such as a driver’s license, in certain situations.

Gale says three areas have a high potential for voter fraud, including when voters provide notice to the post office of a change of address but do not return their confirmation card.

(AP) — Authorities are looking for a driver whose vehicle hit a road worker on Interstate 80 near Lincoln.

Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner says the road worker was hit Friday morning as he put up a traffic barrier near the Waverly exit. He was taken to a local hospital with serious but non-life-threatening injuries.

Witnesses say the driver took off after the accident.

Authorities are investigating whether the driver realized a person had been hit. But Wagner says the driver must know some sort of accident took place, since the crash knocked parts of the vehicle off and caused damage to its right front end.

Investigators are looking for a dark blue Toyota with a Nebraska license plate.

(AP) — The latest monthly economic forecast report from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s department of economics improved from the previous month, and an economist who oversees the report says it could indicate strong economic growth for Nebraska this summer.

The Leading Economic Indicator, produced by UNL economics department faculty and students, increased by more than three-quarters of a percent in December from November.

Economist Eric Thompson, director of UNL’s Bureau of Business Research, says the increase “suggests that economic growth in Nebraska may accelerate during the summer of 2014.”

The indicator is a composite of six components used to predict future economic growth: Single-family building permits, airline passenger counts, unemployment claims, manufacturing hours, the value of the U.S. dollar and business expectations as reported in a survey of Nebraska businesses.

In an effort to reduce serious injury and fatality crashes, troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol Headquarters Troop-Lincoln will conduct an extended special enforcement effort designed to increase seat belt usage.

“There are several counties within Headquarters Troop in which we are seeing a high rate of serious injury and even fatal crashes involving unrestrained drivers,” said Captain Lance Rogers, Commander Headquarters Troop-Lincoln. “Through this extended enforcement effort, we hope to raise awareness and increase voluntary compliance with all traffic safety laws.”

The special enforcement which will run from January through March, will involve high visibility patrols in Gage, Saline and Otoe counties. A $6,600 grant from the Nebraska Office of Highway Safety (NOHS) will help to provide funding for overtime hours utilized by troopers during the enforcement.

Captain Rogers said, “We need your help to save lives. Always wear your seat belt and never drive impaired or distracted.”

(AP) — Secretary of State John Kerry says he won’t be pushed into making a decision on the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline, despite pressure from Canada and other pipeline supporters for quick action.

At a joint appearance Friday with Canada’s foreign affairs minister, Kerry said he has not received a crucial environmental report on the $7 billion pipeline, which would carry oil from western Canada to refineries in Texas.

Kerry said “a lot of questions” have been raised on the 1,700-mile pipeline proposed by Calgary-based TransCanada. He said the questions require answers.

Kerry said he “can promise our friends in Canada that all the appropriate effort is being put into trying to get this done effectively and rapidly.”

The State Department has jurisdiction over the pipeline because it crosses an international border.

(AP) — A Nebraska man has been convicted of sexually abusing an 8-year-old relative in Maine nearly a quarter century ago.

Clarence Cote of Nemaha, Neb., was found guilty Friday of two sexual assault counts.

He testified Thursday in Penobscot County court he did not abuse the now 31-year-old woman when he lived in Lincoln, Maine in 1990. He said the pair had a good relationship and even kept in touch when he moved out of state.

Cote’s lawyer says he will appeal. He had questioned why the state took so long to prosecute when it knew of the allegations in 1994. He said the state had lost key evidence.

Prosecutors say they had trouble finding Cote after he moved to Nebraska.

(AP) — The airport in Grand Island is seeing a small increase in passengers.

56,902 passengers used the Central Nebraska Regional Airport in 2013. That’s an increase of 843 passengers over the count in 2012.

The 6,162 passengers in December set a one-month boarding record at the airport.

The airport is served by American Eagle Airlines and Allegiant Airlines.

(AP) — Officials are tightening security at the Platte County Courthouse in Columbus.

The county Board of Supervisors this week changed rules to require that every package that enters the courthouse must be scanned. When employees enter through the courthouse’s front doors, they also must walk through a metal detector.

Visitors to the courthouse already have had to walk through a metal detector and have their bags scanned, but employees previously were exempt. Delivery people also didn’t previously have to put packages through scanners.

Employees who use access cards to enter through other courthouse doors still are exempt from the new rules.

This is the second time in three months that supervisors have discussed courthouse safety.

(AP) — A 43-year-old Lincoln bus driver who was fired after being caught on video punching a passenger has been sentenced to probation and community service.

Troy Fischer was sentenced Thursday in Lancaster County Court to a year of probation and 100 hours of community service.

A surveillance video of the incident, which was posted online, showed Fischer repeatedly punching 40-year-old passenger Torrance Rose on March 23. Fischer also is shown dragging Rose off the vehicle and leaving him on the side of the roadway east of downtown Lincoln.

Fischer eventually was suspended without pay by the city bus service, StarTran, and then fired on April 11.

Fischer had faced up to a year in jail. He pleaded guilty in July to misdemeanor assault.