NEBRASKA

Republican Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen is scheduled to sign a bill Monday that bans abortion at 12 weeks of pregnancy and restricts gender-affirming medical care for people younger than 19.

A Ponca tribe chief whose landmark lawsuit in 1879 established that a Native American is a person under the law was honored with the unveiling of a U.S. Postal Service stamp that features his portrait.

Nebraska lawmakers have advanced a bill that would ban gender-affirming care for minors, taking it to a final debate before it can be passed.

The Biden administration is urging U.S. meat processors to make sure children aren’t being hired illegally to perform dangerous jobs at their plants.

Nebraska lawmakers have advanced a bill that would ban abortion once cardiac activity can be detected in an embryo.

The Nebraska Legislature has advanced a contentious bill that would ban gender-affirming care for minors, despite threats from several lawmakers that they would filibuster the rest of the session.

Conservative justices in the Supreme Court’s majority seem likely to sink President Joe Biden’s plan to wipe away or reduce student loans held by millions of Americans.

The Department of Labor says one of the country’s largest cleaning services for food processing companies employed more than 100 children in dangerous jobs at 13 meatpacking plants across the country.

Warren Buffett's company has now sold nearly 95 million of its original 225 million shares of Chinese electric carmaker BYD's stock, but it remains a significant shareholder.

Police say the man who was fatally shot by police after entering a Target store in Omaha, Nebraska, armed with an AR-15-style rifle had obtained the weapon just four days earlier at a sporting goods store.

The Iowa athletic department says basketball player Patrick McCaffery will take an indefinite leave of absence to address a mental health issue.

Taxes will be falling and wages rising as new laws take effect Sunday in numerous states.

A Nebraska company is recalling alfalfa sprouts sold in three states after 16 cases of salmonella were linked to the food.

Outgoing Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts is expected to be appointed to the state's U.S. Senate seat being vacated by fellow Republican Ben Sasse.

The operator of a pipeline with a large onshore crude oil spill has reopened all of it except for the stretch in Kansas and northern Oklahoma that includes the site of the rupture.

A massive storm blowing across the country has spawned several tornadoes that wrecked buildings and injured a handful of people in Oklahoma and Texas.

Nebraska agriculture officials say another 1.8 million chickens must be killed after bird flu was found on a farm.

Warren Buffett's company slashed its stake in U.S. Bank's parent company in the third quarter and also sold shares in Chinese electric car maker BYD.

College athletic programs of all sizes are reacting to inflation the same way as everyone else.

Authorities say a Texas teen charged with killing his mother, whose body was found in the trunk of a car he crashed in Nebraska, has been released from the hospital and faces a hearing to be sent back to his home state.

Warren Buffett's conglomerate has completed its largest acquisition in years with its $11.6 billion purchase of the Alleghany insurance conglomerate.

The body of a Texas woman who was reported missing Thursday was found in the trunk of her son’s vehicle in Nebraska, according to authorities.

Billionaire Warren Buffett’s successor bought nearly $70 million worth of stock in the conglomerate he is slated to one day lead.

The mining company that wants to extract an assortment of rare elements from under the ground in southeast Nebraska has announced a deal that will give it up to $285 million to help cover the roughly $1.1 billion cost of building the mine.

In the postgame analysis, free beer at the Nebraska-Northwestern game in Ireland was the right call.

Ryan Hilinski threw for 314 yards and two touchdowns to help Northwestern rally for a 31-28 victory over Nebraska in Saturday’s season opener in Ireland.

Authorities in Nebraska are trying to determine who released 16 million gallons of water by opening a dam on an irrigation channel one night this month — and why.

Federal health officials have confirmed that a Nebraska child died from a rare infection caused by a brain-eating amoeba.

Health officials say a child likely died from a rare infection caused by a brain-eating amoeba after swimming in the Elkhorn River in eastern Nebraska on Sunday.

The director of the FBI has strong words for supporters of former President Donald Trump who have been using violent rhetoric in the wake of his agency’s search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home.

About 6,000 bees were recently removed from inside the walls of an Omaha couple's 100-year-old home.

A Nebraska man has pleaded guilty in federal court to making death threats against Colorado’s top elections official.

An anonymous bidder has shelled out a record $19 million for a private lunch with billionaire Warren Buffet at a steakhouse in New York City.

Horse races are regularly held in only two spots in Nebraska, but the tracks in Grand Island and Columbus are usually pretty quiet apart from the rumble of thoroughbreds that stomp past the often empty grandstands.

Amina Washington was born in Nebraska to military parents and as a military child, moved from state to state on a regular basis.

About 400 workers at Planned Parenthood offices in five Midwestern states plan to unionize.

The mining company that wants to extract a rare heat-resistant element from the ground under southeast Nebraska says a new report shows the deposit it plans to mine holds a significant amount of other rare elements.

In Nebraska, the winner of a crowded Republican primary race for governor will be the overwhelming favorite to win in November.

Firefighters across the country are battling multiple wildfires as tinder-dry conditions and high winds whip up flames from Arizona to Florida.

The world’s most expensive lunch will go on sale again this spring when investor Warren Buffett auctions off a private meal to raise money for a California homeless charity one last time.

Authorities say wind-driven wildfires sweeping through parts of Nebraska killed a retired fire chief and injured at least 11 firefighters.

A major fertilizer company says the limits Union Pacific is putting on rail traffic to clear up congestion will delay shipments that farmers rely on during the spring planting season.

Shares of HP gained nearly 15% after Warren Buffett's company snapped up 11.5% of the company that makes printers and computers over the past week in another uncharacteristic investment for the billionaire in a tech company.

The Alden Global Capital hedge fund is sending its own appeal to shareholders of newspaper publisher Lee Enterprises as part of its campaign to acquire the company.

A strike at Kellogg that has gone on since early October has ended after workers voted to ratify a new labor contract at the company’s four U.S. cereal plants.

Authorities say at least five people died when a powerful storm system swept across the Great Plains and Midwest, spawning hurricane-force winds and likely tornadoes in Nebraska, Iowa and Minnesota.

Playing minus suspended coach Bruce Pearl, No. 18 Auburn made 16 steals and routed Nebraska 99-68.

Kellogg’s has reached a tentative agreement with its 1,400 cereal plant workers that will deliver 3% raises and end a nearly two-month-long strike if it is approved.

Investor Warren Buffett’s company made two new investments during the third quarter while trimming its holdings in several drugmakers and financial firms.

No. 3 Oregon, No. 4 Ohio State and No. 5 Cincinnati all moved up one spot behind No. 1 Georgia and No. 2 Alabama in the second College Football Playoff rankings.

Warren Buffett’s company reported a third-quarter profit that was roughly one-third the amount of last year’s profit because of much smaller paper gains on the value of its investments, but most of its businesses were continuing to recover from the effects of the pandemic.

A Nebraska attorney general’s office investigation has identified 258 victims who made credible allegations of sexual abuse against 57 Catholic church officials in the state going back decades.

Republicans in at least four states where Democrats control the governor’s office, the legislature or both are pursuing statewide ballot initiatives or veto-proof proposals to enact voter ID restrictions and other changes to election law.

During his time as Union Pacific’s CEO, Lance Fritz has had to find ways to keep the freight moving during the coronavirus pandemic as the economy nearly ground to a halt and then roared back to life.

Nebraska's Republican-controlled legislature is considering changes to the congressional map that would give them an edge in a competitive congressional seat — and the presidential election.

Conservative activists in Nebraska are turning to voters to enact a voter identification requirement, an issue that state lawmakers have blocked multiple times even though it's now common in other Republican-led states.

Fans headed back into stadiums for the start of college football season.

Nebraska has confirmed that its football program is under NCAA investigation.

Rural America lost more population in the latest census.

Several states scaled back their reporting on COVID-19 this month just as cases across the country tripled with the delta variant of the virus spreading quickly among the unvaccinated.

Federal regulators say Berkshire Hathaway’s $1.3 billion deal to buy a natural gas pipeline from Dominion Energy that fell apart this week should have never been attempted because a similar deal drew strong opposition in the past.

A Burger King in Nebraska is likely going to be hiring soon because a handful of employees just quit.

Media mogul and billionaire bison rancher Ted Turner is donating an 80,000-acre ranch he owns in western Nebraska to a nonprofit agriculture ecosystem research institute and says he might do the same with four other ranches in Nebraska’s Sand Hills.

A three-judge panel has begun hearing evidence to decide whether a woman should become the first female sentenced to death in Nebraska for her role in the killing and dismemberment of a woman she met through a dating app.

Investor Warren Buffett said the economic impact of the pandemic remains hard to predict but most big companies have fared OK throughout it as long as they weren't tied to travel.

We lost a lot last summer due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and one of those things was the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

States like Nebraska and Florida could soon be sending law enforcement to Texas to help patrol near the U.S.-Mexico border.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts plans to send about two dozen state troopers to Texas later this month to help patrol the nation's border with Mexico.

After fielding multiple offers from around the nation, Southside quarterback Richard Torres made it official on Monday afternoon and committed to continue his football career at the University of Nebraska.

Seven teams closed out their regionals in the NCAA baseball tournament and moved one step closer to the College World Series.

Nebraska prosecutors have been successful in getting death sentences for convicted murderers, but as the state adds to its death row population, many who oversee the state's capital punishment largely ignore the fact that Nebraska has no lethal injection drugs and very likely won’t get any for years, if ever.

What would it cost to make the Texas electrical grid robust enough to weather a terrible winter storm? AdThis year’s winter storm killed 111 people in Texas, the Department of State Health Services said Thursday. Put simply, lawmakers and regulators have been more sensitive to the business sector’s complaints about price increases than about those from residential customers. AdWe’re 23rd for residential prices, third for commercial and for industrial prices. But residential customers are the ones who vote.

Committee Ranking Member Sen. Joe Manchin, D-WVa., speaks during a hearing to examine the nomination of former Gov. – Attorneys general from 21 states on Wednesday sued to to overturn President Joe Biden’s cancellation of the contentious Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada. Led by Ken Paxton of Texas and Austin Knudsen of Montana, the states said Biden had overstepped his authority when he revoked the permit for the Keystone pipeline on his first day in office. Construction on the 1,200-mile (1,930-kilometer) pipeline began last year when former President Donald Trump revived the long-delayed project after it had stalled under the Obama administration. Joe Manchin of West Virginia and Jon Tester of Montana.

This Oct. 2, 2015 photo provided by the Lane Thomas Foundation shows Lane Thomas Graves, in Omaha, Neb. (Lane Thomas Foundation via AP)OMAHA, Neb. Matt and Melissa Graves created the Lane Thomas Foundation after their son was killed by an alligator in 2016. Gillock said organ donation helped ease the pain of losing her 3-year-old daughter to brain cancer in 2015 because she knew her daughter's organs helped five people. “The Lane Thomas Foundation is amazing to help these families that are going through organ donation to not worry about financials.

The storm system, fueled by moisture from the Gulf of Mexico, had moved out of the region and into northeastern Nebraska by Monday, said Evan Direnzo, a meteorologist for the weather service in Boulder. Denver's airport runways were closed just before noon on Sunday due to blowing snow and poor visibilities and some stranded passengers spent the night at the airport. AdIn Wyoming, the National Weather Service warned that driving would remain dangerous for the next several days there because of slick and snow covered roads. Classes were also called off at Colorado State University in Fort Collins and the University of Colorado’s main campus in Boulder. In the Denver metro area, all bus routes were suspended but limited train service was operating, including from downtown’s Union Station to the airport.

FILE - In this May 5, 2019, file photo Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, speaks during a game of bridge following the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting in Omaha, Neb. Investor Buffett's fortune surged above $100 billion Wednesday, March 10, 2021, when shares of his company hit a record high at over $400,000 apiece. – Investor Warren Buffett's fortune surged above $100 billion Wednesday when shares of his company hit a record high at over $400,000 apiece. Buffett's fortune, which is mostly tied to his ownership of 248,734 Class A shares, topped $101 billion at the stock's peak Wednesday. Amazon's Jeff Bezos is listed as the world's richest man with a $179.6 billion fortune.

FILE- In this July 31, 2018, file photo a Union Pacific train travels through Union, Neb. – A federal judge has ruled that the details of conversations between the nation's four largest railroads should be included in lawsuits challenging billions of dollars of charges the railroads imposed in the past. The lawsuits say the railroads conspired to boost prices starting in 2003 by imposing coordinated fuel surcharges and pocketing billions of dollars in profits. In the lawsuits, the railroads have argued that their fuel surcharges were legal and were simply designed to recover the skyrocketing cost of fuel at the time. Union Pacific, which is based in Omaha, Nebraska, plans to continue “vigorously defending itself against the allegations in these lawsuits,” spokeswoman Elizabeth Graham said.

Plastic surgeon Daniel Suver receives the Pfizer-BioNtech COVID-19 vaccine from Andrea Castelblanco during a vaccine clinic on Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020, at Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage, Alaska. Anchorage is averaging about 60 new COVID-19 cases a day, said Dr. Janet Johnston, the epidemiologist for the Anchorage Health Department. More than 90 million doses of the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine will be produced in Japan. Ad___SACRAMENTO -- California reported its second-highest number of COVID-19 deaths — while the rates of new coronavirus infections and hospitalizations continue to drop. ___ALBANY, N.Y. — New York may have undercounted COVID-19 deaths among nursing home residents by thousands.

Cruz led the first challenge to Joe Biden’s defeat of President Donald Trump by objecting to Arizona’s results. Earlier Wednesday, supporters of President Donald Trump breached the U.S. Capitol, forcing a lockdown of the lawmakers and staff inside. __11:10 p.m.Four people died as supporters of President Donald Trump violently occupied the U.S. Capitol. ___6:30 p.m.Republican Sen. Mitt Romney is blaming President Donald Trump for inciting a violent “insurrection” at the Capitol. President Trump lost.″___6:25 p.m.President Donald Trump has appeared to justify the violent occupation of the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.

– Authorities filed additional charges Monday against a 23-year-old man in a shooting at a Nebraska fast food restaurant in which two employees were killed and two others were wounded. Roberto Carlos Silva Jr. faces two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, arson and four gun charges in Saturday's attack at a Sonic Drive-in restaurant in the Omaha suburb of Bellevue. The Omaha man was being held without bond ahead of his first scheduled court appearance Tuesday. Silva was unarmed when he was arrested nearby shortly after the shooting, but police found four guns at the restaurant. Authorities have identified the two employees who were killed in the shooting as Nathan Pastrana, 22, and Ryan Helbert, 28.

Roberto Carlos Silva Jr., of Omaha, was booked into Sarpy County jail early Sunday on suspicion of first-degree murder and first-degree arson in Saturday night's attack at a Sonic Drive-in restaurant in Bellevue, the Omaha World-Herald reported. Officers who arrived found the moving truck burning and four restaurant employees who had been shot. Two were sent to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for treatment, and the other two were declared dead at the scene, Jashinske said. After the shooting, police seized four firearms, though Silva was unarmed and didn't resist when he was arrested outside the restaurant, Jashinske said. Sonic Drive-in, which is based in Oklahoma City, issued a statement Sunday saying the company was “stunned and saddened by what occurred at the Bellevue, Nebraska, Sonic Saturday night.

It's not that people in Nebraska, South Dakota, North Dakota, Iowa and elsewhere don't realize their states are leading the nation in new cases per capita. “They don’t think it’s real," she said. Like most people, Jay Stibbe, 52, of Fargo, North Dakota, said he and his family are respectful of COVID-19 protocols and wear masks where required. However, Stibbe said he doesn’t see enough “concrete information” about the virus to stop him from going about his normal life, even though North Dakota leads the nation in the number of virus cases per capita. ___Associated Press writers David Pitt in Des Moines, Iowa, and Dave Kolpack in Fargo, North Dakota, contributed to this story.

FILE - In this Friday, July 17, 2020 file photo, the Mutual of Omaha logo is seen at the company's corporate headquarters in Omaha, Neb. The insurance company has announced, Thursday, Nov. 12, a new logo without the depiction of a Native American chief. – Mutual of Omaha on Thursday unveiled a new corporate logo depicting an African lion, replacing the Indian chief head that had been the symbol of the insurance and financial services company for 70 years. The new logo now appears on the company’s website. Officials said that over the next year, it will replace the old logo on the company’s printed materials, signs and on the face of its headquarters building in Omaha.

Larry Hogan warned of a major surge in coronavirus cases and urged residents Thursday to wear masks to prevent the virus’s spread. State Health Officer and Department of Health Services Interim Division of Public Health Administrator Stephanie Smiley is the second state health officer to resign in the last six months. Lujan Grisham says people can’t get numb to the troubling data or the threat of the state’s health care system being overwhelmed. State health officials added 45 more coronavirus-related deaths Thursday, raising the overall toll to 4,511 including confirmed and presumed infections. Spain has a 14-day average of 527 coronavirus cases per 100,000 people, one of the highest in Europe.

The U.S. gambling industry was a big winner at the polls on Nov. 3, 2020, with three states authorizing sports betting and three others either authorizing or expanding casino gambling. (AP Photo/Wayne Parry)ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. – The U.S. gambling industry won big at the polls Tuesday, with three states authorizing legal sports betting and three others either approving or expanding casino gambling. Virginia approved casino gambling in four locations, Nebraska authorized adding casino games at its horse racing tracks, and Colorado expanded the number and type of casino games it can offer, along with eliminating some wagering limits. Voters in four Virginia cities — Bristol, Danville, Portsmouth and Norfolk — approved ballot measures authorizing casinos. Nebraska allowed casino games at racetracks in Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, Columbus and South Sioux City.

Missouri, Oklahoma, Iowa, Indiana, Nebraska, North Dakota and New Mexico all reported record high hospitalizations this week. Wisconsin health officials reported 5,771 new coronavirus cases Tuesday, a new record. Meanwhile, Iowa hospital officials warned that facilities and staff could be overwhelmed without serious efforts to curtail the virus spread. Suresh Gunasekaran, CEO of University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, said the state is entering its third peak, one that is higher than previous ones in May and July. Missouri's health department reported 1,659 hospitalizations statewide Monday, surpassing by 10 the previous record set a day earlier.

MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin has canceled Saturday's home game against Purdue, the second straight game the 10th-ranked Badgers have called off as COVID-19 cases within their team continue to rise. This marks the second consecutive week that Wisconsin has canceled a game due to the virus outbreak. Ten players and 11 staffers have tested positive over the last seven days. The second cancellation gives Wisconsin little room for error in its quest to reach a second straight conference championship game. The Big Ten requires teams to play at least six games to be eligible for the league championship game.

President Donald Trump and his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, are in a tight battle for the White House. ___2:40 a.m.President Donald Trump is vowing to ask the Supreme Court to weigh in on the inconclusive election. Nebraska, one of two states that divides its electoral votes, has five total electoral votes up for grabs. The Republican nominee on Wednesday was awarded six electoral votes from Iowa and three electoral votes from Montana. Biden nets 74 electoral votes for the three Western states, while Trump takes four electoral votes from Idaho.

(AP Photo/Andrew Harnik)WASHINGTON – The Latest on the presidential campaign (all times local):8:35 p.m.Joe Biden is getting a boost from Oprah Winfrey in the final days of the presidential campaign. While President Donald Trump won all but Minnesota in 2016, Democrats are increasingly optimistic Biden can win at least Michigan and Pennsylvania back, and he’s making a play for Ohio as well. ___HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE:The presidential campaign shifts west as President Donald Trump visits an Arizona town across the Colorado River from Nevada. The Biden campaign announced the rally on Wednesday but hasn’t said where it will be held. President Donald Trump won Michigan by just under 11,000 votes four years ago, making it his closest margin of victory in any state.

– Union Pacific's profit and revenue slumped by double digits, though the volume of shipments it handled rebounded from the previous quarter as the economy emerged from the worst of the virus-related shutdowns earlier this year. The railroad earned $1.36 billion, or $2.01 per share in the third quarter, down 12% from $1.56 billion, or $2.22 per share, a year ago. Shares of Union Pacific Corp. dipped more than 6% Thursday. Union Pacific cut its expenses 12% to $2.89 billion during the quarter. Volume is up 4% so far in the fourth quarter, and Union Pacific expects that to end up in the low single-digit percentage range.

FILE - In this Tuesday, June 30, 2020 file photo, Mississippi Department of Finance and Administration employees Willie Townsend, left, and Joe Brown, attach a Mississippi state flag to the harness before raising it over the Capitol grounds in Jackson, Miss. (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)The Black Lives Matter movement isn’t named in any of the 120 statewide ballot measures up for a vote on Nov. 3. But this year's nationwide protests over police brutality and racial injustice are major factors in the campaigns in several states for measures with distinctive racial themes. In Mississippi and Rhode Island, Black supporters of the ballot measures hope this year’s nationwide spotlight on racial injustice will bring a different outcome than when similar proposals were on the ballot previously. In Utah, the slavery measure’s lead sponsor was Rep. Sandra Hollins, the only Black person now serving in the Legislature.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kansas City Royals outfielder Alex Gordon, whose rollercoaster career took him from near bust to All-Star and Gold Glove winner, will retire after the season. He wound up playing his entire 14-year career in Kansas City, joining George Brett and Frank White as position players with that much longevity with the franchise. The three-time All-Star also holds the dubious distinction of being the Royals' career leader in getting hit by pitches. It was during the 2015 that Gordon hit one of the iconic homers in Royals history.

Most notable on the Big Ten's schedule was how Nebraska will start the season: at Ohio State and home for Wisconsin. Nebraska had both Ohio State and Penn State on its original nine-game, pre-pandemic conference schedule, along with Rutgers. Ohio State definitely caught a break with the new schedule. It might not have been the plan to cut Ohio State, the league's clear favorite and defending champ, some slack. When the SEC redid its schedule to make it 10 conference games, the league ended up feeding its weaker teams to its powerhouses.

Pete Ricketts will end nearly all of his state's social-distancing restrictions on Monday even as the number of new coronavirus cases has trended upward over the last few months. “We are loosening the restrictions further on Sept. 14,” Ricketts said at a news conference. Nebraska will also allow smaller indoor facilities, such as bars, restaurants, churches, gyms and hair salons, to operate with no formal restrictions. For several days before that, the state's public health data system wasn't receiving results even though laboratories were processing tests. Nebraska ranks 15th highest in the rate of positive cases as of this week, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.

In an age of growing divisive political discourse across the country, a Nebraska man is drawing attention for his impassioned plea to take action against boneless chicken wings. Video of Ander Christensens satirical rant before the Lincoln City Council on Monday pleading to ban the boneless chicken wing moniker has garnered widespread attention on social media and news sites. Christensen, who is the son of a council member, made his case that the meat in boneless wings doesn't come from a chicken's wing at all, but from its breast. WATCH: Nebraska man makes his case for dropping the boneless chicken wing moniker (clip starts at 1:47)Instead, he suggested the dish could be renamed, buffalo-style chicken tenders, wet tenders, saucy nugs or trash.His plea, of course, was for the children. We need to teach them that the wings of a chicken are from a chicken, and its delicious.

A court filing discloed Monday shows that Big Ten Conference presidents voted 11-3 to postpone the football season until spring, bringing some clarity to a key question raised in a lawsuit brought by a group of Nebraska football players. The court documents did not identify how each school voted, but a person familiar with the outcome told The Associated Press that Iowa, Nebraska and Ohio State voted against postponing the fall football season. The Big Ten announced Aug. 11 it would move its football season from fall to spring because of health risks associated with the coronavirus pandemic. The eight football players are seeking the reinstatement of a fall season. The filing said the 11-3 vote far exceeded the 60% threshold the Big Ten requires.

Cory Jefferson scored 16 points and No. 6 seed Baylor kept 11th-seeded Nebraska winless in its NCAA tournament history with a 74-60 second-round victory Friday. The Bears (25-11) kept up a two-month tear and will play either No. Terran Petteway scored 18 points for Nebraska (19-13), which fell to 0-7 in tournament history. Frustration boiled over for Big Ten coach of the year Tim Miles, who was ejected with 11 minutes left.