LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Gov. Pete Ricketts has proclaimed May as Beef Month in Nebraska to honor the state’s beef producers.

Ricketts signed the proclamation Friday with state and industry representatives at a news conference at the Capitol. Nebraska was the nation’s top beef exporter in 2016, and has exceeded $1 billion in exports every year since 2014.

Nebraska Department of Agriculture Director Greg Ibach says the beef industry helps other agricultural businesses expand, such as corn and ethanol producers. He says it also helps businesses in Lincoln and Omaha.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill creating longer prison sentences for people who buy or sell sex is moving forward in the Nebraska Legislature.

Senators sent the measure to a third and final reading Friday. It would result in a minimum of 20 years in prison for anyone involved in sex trafficking of a minor and clarifies that minors cannot consent to prostitution.

Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln says she sponsored the bill to send a clear message that Nebraska will not tolerate sex trafficking. Creighton University researchers who analyzed postings on a website used to sell sex believe 900 people are sold each month.

The bill also would allow sexual assault survivors to block their rapists from gaining custody of children conceived in rape.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A draft of Nebraska’s new science standards for public schools focuses on inquiry and thinking skills as much as scientific concepts.

The standards unveiled Thursday would apply to students from kindergarten through high school across Nebraska. They call on students to think and act like scientists by gathering and analyzing data, and communicating their results.

State Department of Education official Sara Cooper says scientific concepts and inquiry skills are currently considered separate standards. Millard Public Schools educator Ellen Kramer says combining them would advance science education.

The new standards address topics like the big-bang theory, climate change, evolution and genetically modified organisms.

Nebraska teachers, administrators and higher-education representatives began writing the new standards in October. The state Board of Education hopes to vote on a final draft by September.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — A former Kearney investor has pleaded guilty to federal wire fraud for scamming a partnership that owned a commercial property in Lincoln.

Jeff Sikes entered the plea in U.S. District Court in Lincoln last week. In exchange, prosecutors will dismiss 18 other counts when he’s sentenced in July.

Court records say that between April 1, 2013, and July 1, 2014, Sikes devised a scheme in which the partnership would provide $750,000 for property improvement that would meet Sikes’ supposed needs for laboratory space.

Prosecutor Steven Russell says that as part of the scheme, a company controlled by Sikes was made general contractor for the work. Russell says Sikes then provided false invoices for which his contacting company was paid by the partnership.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — National officials have dismissed 25 members from the Delta Delta Delta sorority at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln following reports of underage drinking.

The national sorority office began an investigation in February after university officials raised concerns about a student taken to a hospital over an incident with alcohol.

Individual interviews were held with members of the local chapter. It had been on probation during the fall 2016 semester because of allegations that underage members drank alcohol on the day students accepted invitations to join their fraternities or sororities.

University spokesman Steve Smith says the ousters are examples “of the executive and local boards holding their chapter accountable.”