LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A man who was sentenced to death in Maryland but later exonerated by DNA evidence is urging Nebraska lawmakers to adopt statewide standards for the use of law enforcement photo lineups.

Kirk Bloodsworth testified before the Judiciary Committee Thursday on behalf of the Innocence Project. Bloodsworth was wrongfully convicted in 1985.

Five witnesses misidentified him as the man who raped and murdered a 9-year-old girl.

Senator Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln introduced legislation that would require all law enforcement agencies to adopt “best practices” when presenting photo lineups to witnesses. Roughly 60 percent have already done so, but civil liberties groups say practices should be uniform statewide.

The Nebraska attorney general’s office voiced concerns that “best practices” could change over time, requiring additional legislation.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Court of Appeals is deciding whether to allow the state’s first-in-the-nation ban on a common second-trimester abortion method.

The court is expected to release its decision Friday, the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s Roe versus Wade decision.

The lawsuit was filed by two abortion providers who said the 2015 law unconstitutionally burdens women seeking to end their pregnancies. A lower court has temporarily put the law on hold.

At issue is whether the Kansas Constitution’s broad language about individual liberty protects abortion rights.

The law prohibits doctors from using forceps or similar instruments on a live fetus to remove it from the womb in pieces. The Center for Reproductive Rights says the procedure is the safest and most common in the U.S. in the second trimester.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — The highest court in Kansas is expected to rule whether a Wichita ordinance that reduces the penalties for possessing small amounts of marijuana is legal.

The Kansas Supreme Court is slated to issue its decision Friday.

The issue has been closely watched by activists in other Kansas communities who are considering similar voter-led initiatives. The Kansas Legislature has repeatedly rejected efforts to liberalize marijuana laws.

Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt is asking the court to strike down the ordinance in the state’s largest city, saying it conflicts with state law.

Wichita voters approved the ordinance in April, with 54 percent in favor of the measure.

The Supreme Court had earlier put the measure on hold while it considered its legality.

FREMONT, Nebraska (AP) — A 17-year-old is facing multiple charges after Fremont police say he posted a Snapchat featuring a firearm.

A police department news release says a Fremont High School administrator called authorities Thursday morning after a student posted a Snapchat involving what appeared to be a firearm. Police say the post indicated a possible threat against the school.

Snapchat is a social media site where users can post videos or photos that are automatically erased after a certain time frame.

The 17-year-old suspected of making the post was not at school and was contacted at home. The firearm was later located at another residence and determined to be an airsoft gun.

An investigation determined the complaint was valid and the teenager was charged with terroristic threats, disturbing the peace and disorderly conduct.

OMAHA, Nebraska (AP) — The Omaha Fire Department has determined the fire that severely damaged a portion of Omaha’s downtown Old Market district was as an “accidental fire.”

An investigation found that crews had struck a gas line underneath the sidewalk in front of M’s Pub. The gas line was the main gas feed to the building.

Investigators removed the sidewalk revealing obvious damage to the gas line. The damage allowed gas to leak into the basement of the building where the explosion was ignited.

The fire department responded to reports of an explosion on January 9th in the city’s Old Market district. Federal safety officials were also investigating the cause of the explosion.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A national songwriters’ organization filed lawsuits against a handful of bars nationwide this week for failing to pay fees to use copyrighted music, including songs played at a Missouri bar during karaoke night.

The lawsuits aren’t a new tactic by the American Society of Composers, Authors, and Publishers.

 

Jackson Wagener, ASCAP’s vice president for business and legal affairs, says the group typically files about 40 such complaints a year to push establishments to pay licensing fees that largely go to songwriters. Wagener says lawsuits are a last resort.

ASCAP’s other lawsuits filed Wednesday were against bars in Arizona, California, Florida, New York, Ohio and Texas.

WENTZVILLE, Mo. (AP) — A woman and her two young daughters are dead following a three-vehicle accident in eastern Missouri.  The accident happened about 7:45 a.m. Thursday on U.S. 61 near Wentzville.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says 36-year-old Jacqueline Faudi of Troy died in the accident, along with her daughters. One girl was 6 years old, the other 7 months old.

Patrol Corporal Juston Wheetley says Faudi’s northbound car was struck from behind, causing both cars to spin out of control and cross the median into southbound lanes, where a sport utility vehicle was hit.

The driver of the car that struck Faudi’s car told authorities the vehicle slid on ice. Wheetley says the accident remains under investigation.

The SUV driver suffered moderate injuries.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Mathematicians at the University of Central Missouri have discovered a record-setting prime number that’s so large it would take about 6,000 pages of paper to print.

The 22.3-million-digit discovery is the 49th known Mersenne prime number and the fourth discovered at the university. Primes are numbers such as 3, 7 and 11 that are divisible only by themselves and 1 without leaving a remainder.

The Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search says the number was independently verified. The cooperative relies on underused computing power to perform the calculations needed to find and verify Mersenne primes.

The organization said in a news release Thursday that prime numbers are important for cryptography but that the newly discovered number is too large for that purpose. One benefit of Mersenne primes is testing computer hardware.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A survey shows some bankers had a dire view of the rural economy in their 10 Western and Plains states.

A report released Thursday says January’s Rural Mainstreet Index plunged to 34.8 from 41.5 in December. It’s the lowest overall index figure since August 2009. Survey officials say any score below 50 on any of the survey’s indexes suggests that factor will decline.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the monthly survey of rural bankers and says it’s the fifth straight month for a decline. He again blames lower prices for agriculture and energy commodities and downturns in manufacturing.

The farmland and ranchland price index dropped to 23.9 in January from December’s 28.8

Bankers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — A southwest Missouri woman has pleaded guilty to fatally poisoning her husband and son with antifreeze and attempting to kill a daughter over a 14-month period.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that 53-year-old Diane Staudte pleaded guilty Thursday to one count of first-degree murder, one count of second-degree murder and one count of first-degree assault.

Under the plea deal, Staudte, of Springfield, will avoid the death sentence. She faces a life prison sentence.

A medical examiner initially ruled that her husband’s April 2012 death was from natural causes and that her 26-year-old son died of prior medical issues in September 2012. Those deaths were re-examined after Staudte’s 24-year-old daughter, who had been poisoned, was hospitalized in June 2013.

Another daughter pleaded guilty earlier to helping her mother with the poisonings.