(AP) — Abortions in Nebraska have fallen to at least a 20-year low following passage of state laws that restrict the practice, but a number of factors could be behind the trend.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services says the number dropped to 2,299 last year, a decline of more than 3 percent. The numbers have dropped consistently since 1992, when more than 5,600 abortions were reported.

Nebraska Right to Life executive director Julie Schmit-Albin says part of the decline is likely due to a 2010 Nebraska law that bans abortions starting at 20 weeks into a pregnancy.

University of Nebraska assistant law professor Beth Burkstrand-Reid says the decline could also be due to other factors, including the more effective use of birth control.

TOTAL ABORTIONS BY YEAR

2008: 2,813

2009: 2,551

2010: 2,464

2011: 2,372

2012: 2,229

NUMBER OF ABORTIONS PER 1,000 LIVE BIRTHS:

2008: 103.9

2009: 93.8

2010: 93.9

2011: 90.9

2012: 87.5

 

• William Dean Mercer, 21, Gothenburg NE and Kendra Lanae Karaffa, 19, Gothenburg NE

 

• Jamone Earl Lee Thomas, 33, North Platte NE and Janna Kay Nalley, 28, North Platte NE

 

• Bradley Duane Williams, 25, North Platte NE and Teri Jo Bossert, 23, North Platte NE

 

• Daniel Mark Manookin, 42, North Platte NE and Lorien Bowns Hardy, 36, North Platte NE

 

• Edward George Delso, 20, North Platte NE and Hilda Valeria Galvan, 21, North Platte NE

 

• Alfredo Vega Sotelo, 34, Dickens NE and Paula Gladiola Lopez, 30, Dickens NE

 

• Lester Andrew Hyland, 58, North Platte NE and Ruth Ann Eicke, 56, North Platte NE

(AP) — The number of people who have contracted West Nile virus has risen.

Nebraska health officials said Wednesday that they had recorded 11 human cases of West Nile virus in the state for 2013. By Friday, that number had risen to 14.

Four people have been hospitalized with the virus. No one has died this year from the virus.

West Nile is transmitted to people through mosquitoes that feed on an infected bird. Most people with the virus will have no symptoms or only mild flu-like symptoms. A small percentage will develop a serious illness.

Last year, there were 193 human cases of West Nile virus in Nebraska and four deaths.

(AP) — Lincoln police are looking for a man who kidnapped his estranged wife at gunpoint Saturday from the hair salon where she worked.

Police say at least two witnesses saw Dwayne Lawrence take his wife, Julie Hanes, from the Audacious Hair Salon & Massage around noon Saturday. The couple was gone before officers arrived.

Police found Lawrence’s truck at his work Saturday, but didn’t find Lawrence and Hanes.

Court records show that Hanes filed for divorce July 30 about two weeks after getting a protection order against Lawrence. She told a judge that Lawrence had threatened her several times.

Police say they believe the couple may be headed west toward Imperial, North Platte or Denver in a gold 1998 Chrysler Concorde with license plate number TKA048.