OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The Nebraska State Patrol says “no credible threat” was found after bomb threats were made to nine courthouses in southeast Nebraska.

Patrol spokeswoman Deb Collins says the calls were made late Friday morning to courthouses in Cass, Gage, Jefferson, Johnson, Lancaster, Otoe, Richardson, Saline and Seward counties.

Collins says all the calls were made within a-half hour. The first call was to Otoe County and the last to Lancaster County.

Collins says in each case, a male caller indicated there was an explosive device in the courthouse. All the courthouses were evacuated and searched. Nothing was found.

No arrests have been reported.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Arizona Sen. John McCain says he and other Republicans are aware that the U.S. Senate race in Nebraska has tightened but are confident that state Sen. Deb Fischer will beat Democrat Bob Kerrey in next week’s election.

McCain briefly stopped in Omaha on Friday morning to bolster Fischer’s campaign while discussing his endorsement of her.

McCain’s visit comes a day after his former Senate GOP colleague Chuck Hagel came to Omaha to announce his endorsement of Kerrey.

Kerrey, Hagel and McCain served together from 1997 through 2000 in the U.S. Senate and formed a bond as Vietnam War vets who were wounded during combat.

McCain is scheduled to fly to Ohio later Friday for a campaign rally with Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

RAPID CITY, S.D. (AP) — An auction for 40 acres of land in the Black Hills has been declared a “no sale” after the man who made the winning bid realized he was bidding per acre — not for the whole parcel as he had thought.

The Rapid City Journal reports that 21-year-old Matthew Astin bid $2,550 during the Thursday morning auction for 40 acres of land west of Deerfield. Astin realized shortly after the auctioneer yelled sold that the bid was per acre, and he could not afford to pay the 20 percent earnest money due immediately, or the $102,000 he had actually bid for the property.

County Auditor Julie Pearson announced the auction would be considered a “no sale” and would be rescheduled by county commissioners.

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) – Former Penn State president Graham Spanier says he’s not guilty of the cover-up charges he faces in the Jerry Sandusky molestation scandal, and he is accusing the governor of trying to settle a personal score.

Spanier’s lawyers issued a statement Thursday responding to charges of perjury, obstruction and child endangerment.

Spanier is a former chancellor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

The attorneys say the charges are the result of Gov. Tom Corbett trying to divert attention from the three-year investigation into Sandusky that began when the governor was attorney general.

His lawyers say facts don’t support the charges, and claim Corbett is behind what they call a politically motivated frame-up.

Spanier has been placed on paid leave by the university.

Corbett spokesman Kevin Harley says Spanier’s statement “sounds like the ranting of a desperate man who just got indicted.”

 

In the race for U.S. Senate in Nebraska, Democrat Bob Kerrey received a cross-party endorsement from former senator and Republican Chuck Hagel.

Kerrey is in a heated battle with Republican state Sen. Deb Fischer to replace the retiring Democrat Sen. Ben Nelson.

CNN reports the Nebraska Democratic Party announced the former, two-term GOP senator’s endorsement Thursday.

CNN reports that a poll released Wednesday from the Omaha World-Herald showed 48% percent of likely voters in Nebraska support Fischer and 45% supported Kerrey, the former governor and U.S. senator from the state. Fischer’s advantage is within the survey’s sampling error. The last Omaha World-Herald poll showed Fischer up ten points over Kerrey indicating the race may be tightening.

For her part, Fischer picked up the endorsement of Republican senator and 2008 presidential nominee John McCain in October. The Republican U.S. Senate hopeful’s team announced Wednesday that McCain will campaign with Fischer on Friday.

 

Secretary of State John Gale Wednesday predicted that 71 percent of registered voters would cast their ballots in Nebraska in the November 6 election.

Gale said “Presidential election years generate the highest voter turnouts in Nebraska,” and predicted the 2012 turnout will be similar to 2008, when 71 percent of the registered voters went to the polls.

The prediction is just shy of the total turnout in 2008, noting voter registrations has been steady but there has been no surge, and they may have been an actual slippage of registered voters. Gale said Nebraska is seeing record numbers for early voting, in-person and by mail-in ballot, all across the state.”

There are 1,164,166 registered voters in Nebraska. The breakdown by party is as follows: 558,170 (Republican), 374,191 (Democrat), 228,563 (Nonpartisan), 3,117 (Libertarian), 125 (Americans Elect). Additional breakdown of registration numbers for individual counties can be found on the 2012 Election page of the Secretary of State’s website.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) _ Former Republican U.S. Senator Chuck Hagel is expected to endorse Democrat Bob Kerrey in his Senate race against Republican state Senator Deb Fischer. Multiple Omaha media outlets report the Kerrey campaign has scheduled a news conference today to announce the endorsement.

Fischer, who will have former presidential candidate John McCain with her at the start of a campaign swing today, will be at West Nebraska Regional Airport Friday afternoon at 4 30.

Kerrey and Fischer are locked in a tight race to replace Senator Ben Nelson.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A pipe bomb found in a city park in south-central Omaha has been detonated.

Omaha police say officers were sent to Seymour Smith Park around 3:45 p.m. Tuesday. The pipe bomb had been found in a wooded area of the city park, near the skate park area.

Bomb squad member say the pipe was filled with an explosive powder. A 300-foot safety perimeter was cleared, and the bomb was detonated a little after 6 p.m.

Officers haven’t determined how or why the bomb ended up in the park.