LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha legislator is proposing that Nebraska join 28 other states in making birth control available to more women by expanding access through Medicaid.

A bill by Sen. Jeremy Nordquist would widen eligibility for family planning services to people with family incomes at or below 185 percent of the poverty level. Separately, the bill would spend $1 million over the next two years to expand a federally backed program called Every Woman Matters, which funds breast and cervical cancer screening.

The plan would spend $1.9 million on family planning services, which Nordquist says would save about $13 million in general fund spending in future years.

Opponents say the measure’s savings are hypothetical, and access to contraceptives has not been proven to prevent unplanned pregnancies.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska officials are considering imposing tougher standards for sign language interpreters to make sure the students they are helping understand what’s going on in school.

The interpreter standards haven’t been adjusted in 15 years, but some school officials worry that tougher standards will make it harder to find interpreters.

John Wyvill with the Nebraska Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing says there is a shortage of interpreters, especially in rural parts of the state. But he says the standards should be improved.

Wyvill says most interpreters aren’t bad, but they may omit information or make mistakes that make it tougher for deaf students to keep up.

But some school officials say Nebraska’s interpreters are already well qualified.

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — The average price of a regular gallon of gas jumped 13 cents in the past two weeks to $2.20, ending a sustained drop.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that a rebound in the price of crude oil caused the run-up at the pump.

However, the price is $1.10 below the mark a year ago, on Feb. 7, 2014.

San Francisco continued to have the highest-priced gas in the Lower 48 states at $2.59 a gallon.

The low average was in Tucson, Arizona, at $1.82. The average price in California is up 9 cents, to $2.53.

Lundberg says pump prices could climb as much as a dime in the near future, unless oil prices show significant declines.

In Nebraska, the average price for a gallon of regular is $2.12.

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — A western Nebraska couple is now facing drug charges after they lost their appeal in a child abuse case.

Carlos and Jennifer Herrera have both been charged with possession of a controlled substance because of what their landlord found in their home.

The couple was arrested last month after the Nebraska Court of Appeals upheld their child abuse convictions.

Scottsbluff Police Capt. Brian Wasson says the couple’s landlord contacted police after finding drug paraphernalia and packaging materials with methamphetamine residue.

In the child abuse case, 37-year-old Carlos Herrera was sentenced to 48 to 60 months in prison. Thirty-one-year-old Jennifer Herrera was sentenced to 12 to 24 months in prison.