(AP) — A judge has sided with a 59-year-old inmate who challenged a state law that could keep him in prison for refusing to give his DNA.

Since 2010, people sentenced to prison for any felony have been required to provide a DNA sample to authorities.

The law also requires inmates already in prison to provide DNA samples. Those who refuse must serve their maximum sentence.

Inmate George Shepard, who is serving a 40- to 50-year sentence for first-degree sexual assault, sued. He says the possibility that he will serve all 50 years for his refusal to provide a DNA sample violates his constitutional rights.

Last month, Lancaster County District Judge Andrew Jacobsen agreed.

State officials have not indicated whether they will appeal.

(AP) — A 35-year-old former Omaha man has been sentenced to a year in federal prison for failing to register in Nebraska as a sex offender.

Nebraska U.S. Attorney Deborah Gilg announced that Stephen Tanner was sentenced earlier this week. After his release, Tanner will begin a five-year term of supervised release.

Gilg says Tanner was convicted in an Iowa state court of third-degree sexual abuse, requiring him to register as a sex offender. After his release from prison, Tanner moved to Omaha, but didn’t register as a sex offender in Nebraska. During a routine check in March, officers found Tanner wasn’t at the address he listed as his home.

He was found in West Berlin, N.J., in May and told police he had moved there in March.

(AP) — The University of Nebraska College of Law has announced a new law degree that caters to those who already have a law degree.

Beginning in fall 2014, the NU’s law school will offer an LL.M., or master of laws. The degree is open to those with a law degree from schools outside the United States. The new program is designed to teach them about law and the legal system in the United States.

During the one-year program, students will take an introductory course, U.S. legal system and constitutional principles, and legal writing. They will select the rest of their classes from the regular juris doctorate curriculum.

The college plans to enroll up to five students in 2014 and then develop the program to as many as 20 students.

(AP) — The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission says a chemical will be applied at Pawnee Lake near Lincoln in an attempt to get rid of unwanted white perch and gizzard shad from the fish population.

Rotenone typically is used to eliminate all fish from a body of water; however, a lower concentration will be applied Nov. 12-13 in locations on the lake where white perch and gizzard shad may be concentrated.

Officials say some loss of desirable fish is expected. Additional predator fish will be stocked next spring in the hope that they will feed on the undesirable fish.

The lake will not be closed during the treatment, but fish aren’t likely to be biting following the treatment. Fish killed by rotenone are not approved for human consumption.

(AP) — A Bellevue man has been acquitted of charges in connection with the fatal stabbing of his wife’s lover.

A jury returned the not guilty verdict Friday after deliberating for eight hours in the trial of 24-year-old Anthony Utterback. He faced a second-degree murder charge in the February death of 24-year-old Ryan O’Donnell.

The men had been fighting for months over O’Donnell’s relationship with Utterback’s wife. Following a physical altercation, defense attorneys said Utterback stabbed O’Donnell in self-defense.

O’Donnell later died from a wound to the chest.

(AP) — A former sheriff’s deputy has been given a year of probation for stealing from Hall County.

35-year-old Kevin Bombeck was sentenced on Thursday. The judge also ordered him to pay nearly $1,500 in restitution. Bombeck was fired from the department on Jan. 17.

Authorities say Bombeck had filed for and taken his county pay although he didn’t attend five scheduled training sessions for the U.S. Army Reserve. He’d used the department’s computer system to claim paycheck hours for military leave.

Bombeck apologized during his sentencing hearing and said he wanted to take full responsibility for his actions.

(AP) — This year’s corn crop is the largest the nation has ever seen, and exceeds earlier government projections.

In its first report since the government shutdown, the U.S. Department of Agriculture said Friday it expects 13.99 billion bushels of corn. It had forecast 13.8 billion bushels. The previous record was 13.1 billion in 2009.

Heavy rains delayed spring planting and drought conditions returned to parts of the Midwest. Some analysts thought there would be a subpar harvest.

But adequate rain and cooler temperatures at pollination time produced exceptional results, especially in Alabama, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.

Prices dropped below $4.20 a bushel Friday, the lowest since 2010.

That means some farmers see lower profits, but chicken, pork, and beef producers will have lower feed costs. Grocery prices won’t be impacted.

(AP) — Toxicology tests show an 18-year-old who was pronounced dead at the Waverly home of a friend died because he smoked too much synthetic marijuana.

The Lancaster County Sheriff’s Office said Friday that tests also showed that William “Billy” Tucker had been drinking alcohol, but the pathologist didn’t conclude that alcohol directly contributed to Tucker’s death.

Tucker and three friends had gone to a Lincoln party on Oct. 12 and fell asleep there. Authorities say that around 8:30 the next morning, the four went to the Waverly home of one of them. Tucker was unresponsive when a 20-year-old woman tried to wake him that afternoon.

Tucker graduated from Ashland-Greenwood High School this past spring.

(AP) — The mayor and the Omaha firefighters union may be getting closer to a deal that would avert the layoffs of 19 firefighters on Jan. 4.

The office of Mayor Jean Stothert (STAH’-thurt) said Friday that she’s accepted a counterproposal sent by the Omaha Professional Fire Fighters Association on Thursday night.

But the union said Friday morning that it had received a new offer from the mayor that contained additional conditions. Union President Steve LeClair said the mayor’s offer is being considered.

Omaha started sending layoff notices to 19 firefighters Monday as a way to cut costs because the fire department is $6.2 million over its 2013 budget.

(AP) — More than $1 million in federal grant money has been given for two health centers in Nebraska.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced the Affordable Care Act funding Thursday. It’s aimed at serving about 11,800 more residents through the establishment of centers in Grand Island and Omaha.

Officials say the funds will establish new health centers described as community-based organizations. They will be in business in the next several months.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement that the centers are important to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and they increase access to individuals who need health care treatment.

The funding is part of about $150 million in grant awards aimed at more than 230 health center programs.