The American Red Cross urges eligible donors to help ensure a sufficient blood supply for patients by giving blood this February.

During the winter months, inclement winter weather and seasonal illnesses can keep regular donors from giving blood. Healthy donors of all blood types are needed to help maintain an adequate blood supply for patients in their own communities as well as areas where donors were unable to give due to severe winter weather. Individuals with types O, AB, B negative and A negative blood are especially needed.

Donor Loretta Brandon knows how important it is to have a readily available blood supply. Her late husband required transfusions from generous strangers multiple times for health conditions. She gives blood as often as she can. “Every time I give blood, I am filled with a sense of gratitude for all I have and for the fact that I can share with others,” she said.

Make an appointment to help maintain an adequate blood supply for patients in need this winter by downloading the free Red Cross Blood Donor App, visiting redcrossblood.org or calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767).

Upcoming blood donation opportunities:

Furnas County

Oxford

Feb. 18: 10:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., South Valley High School, 43739 Highway 89

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Hayes County

Hayes Center

Feb. 25: noon to 6 p.m., Hayes Center Elementary School, 300 Daniels St.

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Hitchcock County

Trenton

Feb. 29: 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., Hitchcock County High School, 318 West D St.

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Keith County

Ogallala

Feb. 22: 11:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m., Ogallala High School, 6th and East G St.

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Lincoln County

North Platte

Feb. 15: noon to 6 p.m., Eagles Club, 620 N. Chestnut

Feb. 16: 1 – 7 p.m., Messiah Lutheran Church, 2700 West A St.

Feb. 18: 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., American Red Cross, 1111 S. Cottonwood

Feb. 25: 11 a.m. – 6 p.m., American Red Cross, 1111 S. Cottonwood

Feb. 26: 8 a.m. – 12 p.m., American Red Cross, 1111 S. Cottonwood

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Red Willow County

Mc Cook

Feb. 23: 12:30 – 6:30 p.m., McCook Community Building, 1412 W. 5th

Feb. 24: 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., McCook Community Building, 1412 W. 5th

Feb. 25: 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., Pete and Dolores Graff Event Center, 401 E. M St.

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How to donate blood

Simply download the American Red Cross Blood Donor App, visit redcrossblood.org or call 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767) to make an appointment or for more information. All blood types are needed to ensure a reliable supply for patients. A blood donor card or driver’s license or two other forms of identification are required at check-in. Individuals who are 17 years of age (16 with parental consent in some states), weigh at least 110 pounds and are in generally good health may be eligible to donate blood. High school students and other donors 18 years of age and younger also have to meet certain height and weight requirements.

Blood donors can now save time at their next donation by using RapidPass to complete their pre-donation reading and health history questionnaire online, on the day of their donation, prior to arriving at the blood drive. To get started and learn more, visit redcrossblood.org/RapidPass and follow the instructions on the site.

According to the Nebraska Department of Roads, Interstate 80 will reopen in both directions at the following locations and times: Kimball at 1:30 p.m., Ogallala at 1:45 p.m. and all other locations at 2:00 p.m.

To stay up to the minute, travelers can check on road closures and conditions by calling 511, Nebraska’s Advanced Traveler Information System. The system can be accessed 24 hours a day, seven days a week by dialing 511, or online at www.511.nebraska.gov.

A Nebraska 511 mobile app is also available to download at no cost for smartphone users. Simply search your app provider for Nebraska 511.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Passenger cars without front-end license plate brackets could drive legally with only a rear plate under a bill advanced by Nebraska lawmakers.

Senators gave first-round approval to the measure on Wednesday with a 25-3 vote.

The bill by Sen. Jim Scheer of Norfolk would allow motorists to request a decal instead that would have to be placed on the driver’s side front windshield. The Department of Motor Vehicles would charge a $100 fee when the vehicle is registered.

Nebraska requires vehicles to display front and rear license plates but has carved out numerous exemptions over the years. Vehicles that are allowed to show only one plate include motorcycles, truck-tractors, buses, dealer vehicles and registered “special interest” vehicles.

JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — Heavy rain prompted an apartment evacuation early Wednesday in northwest Georgia one day after storms spawned tornadoes in Mississippi and Alabama and dumped snow on places farther west.

The National Weather Service, citing a report from an emergency manager in Catoosa County, Georgia, says the apartments being evacuated before dawn Wednesday were near the town of Fort Oglethorpe, just south of Chattanooga, Tennessee. No serious injuries were reported in the flooding.

On Tuesday, tornadoes touched down in Mississippi and Alabama as thunderstorms swept through the region, while a powerful snowstorm buried parts of Colorado and Nebraska in more than a foot of snow before crawling into the Upper Midwest.

Mississippi Emergency Management Agency spokesman Greg Flynn says a confirmed tornado was reported just before 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in eastern Newton and Lauderdale counties.