LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Hunters may enter a lottery through the end of September to gain deer hunting access to Platte River Recreation Access lands in the central Platte River Valley.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission says 56 hunters will be chosen from a random drawing in early October and allowed to hunt deer on the designated lands Nov. 16-20.

Applications are limited to one per person and will be accepted by mail or in person at the Game and Parks service center in Kearney. Hunters may apply to hunt three areas but, if chosen, will receive permission for just one area. Lottery winners will be notified by Oct. 21.

More information and a map showing the available areas can be obtained at platteaccess.org, by calling 308-865-5338 or emailing ngpc.platteaccess@nebraska.gov.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A former University of Nebraska at Kearney professor has been sentenced to five years of probation for possessing child pornography.

U.S. Attorney Deborah Gilg says 56-year-old Joseph Benz was sentenced last week. Investigators found more than 20,000 images of child pornography on his computer in 2013.

Benz was also ordered to pay $9,999 restitution to victims that law enforcement identified in the images.

The case was part of a nationwide effort to reduce child sexual exploitation.

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — The average price of gasoline in the U.S. is up four cents over the past three weeks to $2.21 a gallon for regular grade.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that higher crude oil costs caused refiners and retailers to bump up their prices.

The average price is 23 cents lower than a year ago.

The Lundberg Survey found the average price of midgrade unleaded is $2.49 a gallon, and the average price of premium is $2.71 a gallon.

The highest average price for regular gas in the contiguous U.S. is $2.71 a gallon in San Francisco. The lowest is $1.91 in Jackson, Mississippi.

The U.S. average diesel price is $2.39 per gallon, up about four cents from three weeks ago.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Family of woman who died this summer in Whiteclay hope an investigation will yield answers about the circumstances of her death. Authorities have said Sherry Wounded Foot of Porcupine, South Dakota, died from head trauma.

Relatives say another family member died in 2012 in the Nebraska town that sells millions of cans of beer annually near South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

Family members say they never learned what happened to Sanford Wounded Foot after his death in 2012.

Sherry Wounded Foot’s oldest son, Logan Lafferty, says he fears no one will ever be charged in his mother’s death either.

Sheridan County Attorney Jamian Simmons says the investigation into Wounded Foot’s death is active and ongoing.

VALENTINE, Neb. (AP) — Officials have delayed a boat ramp construction project at Merritt Reservoir State Recreation Area.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission says the water level did not drop low enough for construction to begin. Construction will be attempted again next year.

Plans call for a concrete boat ramp at the main landing area. The facility will provide better access for boat operators and for anglers for a longer duration during future summer reservoir drawdowns. The current boat ramp is often out of service by early July.

Merritt Reservoir sits 26 miles southwest of Valentine in Cherry County.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska state senator is asking the Department of Health and Human Services to conduct more long-term care meetings in his overwhelmingly rural district.

Sen. Al Davis of Hyannis sent a letter to the department asking for more meetings in District 43, an area that includes all of 12 western and northern Nebraska counties and part of Box Butte County.

Department CEO Courtney Phillips recently announced a statewide tour of meetings to discuss its long-term care plan with constituents.

Davis says his district is home to a large share of the state’s elderly population, and also has high levels of poverty and a large number of uninsured residents.