LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A property tax plan championed by Gov. Pete Ricketts is slogging through the Nebraska Legislature despite repeated attempts to derail it.

Lawmakers gave second-round approval Wednesday to one of two bills that make up the full package. The second measure was slated for debate later in the day.

Three votes are required before each bill passes and goes to Ricketts for his signature. Both have faced filibusters from opponents and opened a rift between urban and rural senators.

The measure by Sen. Kate Sullivan of Cedar Rapids would effectively remove an excuse school boards use not to lower their levy rates. It also would tighten budget restrictions on bonding for projects such as mold abatement and environmental hazards.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Gov. Pete Ricketts has approved new whistleblower protections for nurses in Nebraska.

The governor signed a bill Wednesday that would ban retaliation against nurses who file complaints with the state. It also would guarantee confidentiality for nurses even if their allegations later become a public record.

The issue surfaced last year after two Nebraska nurses complained that the Department of Health and Human Services disclosed their names to supervisors after they had lodged complaints alleging unethical behavior.

The bill by Sen. Brett Lindstrom of Omaha was backed by the Nebraska Nurses Association and the Nebraska Medical Association.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — The third of the four teens who escaped from a Kearney treatment center has been found and returned to the facility.

Grand Island police say the boy was captured Tuesday afternoon near Pier Park.

Four teens escaped Sunday night from the state’s Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center. Police captured one near the facility, and a second was captured late Monday night during a traffic stop on the north side of Beatrice.

The status of the fourth teen is not clear. The state Department of Health and Human Services operates the facility, and spokesmen didn’t immediately return messages Wednesday from The Associated Press.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a man riding a lawn mower has died after it was hit by a truck on U.S. Highway 30.

The Buffalo County Attorney’s Office says in a news release that the eastbound truck struck the riding mower about 2:45 p.m. Tuesday on the west side of Kearney. The man was pronounced dead after he was taken to a Kearney hospital.

He was identified as 56-year-old Larry Timmons, of rural Kearney.

An autopsy has been scheduled.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s longest-serving lawmaker is promising to tie up the rest of this year’s legislative session with filibusters to punish his colleagues for decisions he opposed.

Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha chastised senators on Wednesday for rejecting a bill to legalize medical cannabis the night before, saying their vote will hurt suffering children. He’s also upset that lawmakers advanced a Republican-backed bill to reinstate the winner-take-all system in presidential elections.

Chambers spent much of the day Tuesday reading news articles aloud on the legislative floor, talking about Medicaid expansion and describing what it was like to get a colonoscopy.

The 78-year-old says he’s not going to relent on Wednesday or for the rest of the session. Lawmakers have less than five working days left before the session ends.