SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — A western Nebraska zoo that took in two orphaned grizzly cubs last year has announced the names of the bears.

The Riverside Discovery Center in Scottsbluff says zoo visitors selected “Smokey” and “Bandit.”

Those names garnered the most votes in a monthlong contest that allowed zoo visitors to cast votes on the names.

The cubs were orphaned last spring when a Wyoming black bear hunter illegally killed their mother. Wildlife officials had hoped the cubs would survive in the wild without their mother, but it became clear after several months they would not. Officials then captured the cubs to find them a new home.

As National Ag Week comes to a close, the Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) is reminding drivers to watch for agriculture producers working near and traveling on Nebraska’s roads.

“Agriculture is Nebraska’s number one industry for a reason: the hard-working men and women around our state who have dedicated their lives to farming and ranching,” said Colonel John Bolduc, Superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol. “We salute Nebraska’s Ag producers and encourage other drivers to be aware that there will more equipment on the roads for the next several months.”

As planting season gets into full swing in many parts of the state, drivers should be aware that it is legal for farm machinery to travel on public roads to move from field to field. Drivers should use caution around this equipment because it is often slow-moving and its size may limit the operator’s visibility.

Drivers should always be alert, but use extra caution on roads they may share with agriculture implements. With the potential combination of a fast-moving vehicle and slow-moving farm equipment, it is critical that drivers avoid distractions.

Ag producers are also encouraged to voluntarily comply with traffic safety laws, display warning signs on machinery, use flashing yellow caution lights when traveling, and be aware of vehicles that may be attempting to pass.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s state finances remained in limbo Friday after lawmakers failed for a second time to advance a wide-ranging budget bill because of a dispute over health clinics that refer women to abortion providers.

Lawmakers fell two votes short of the 33 that were needed to end debate on the measure and allow an up-or-down vote. The vote marked the second time this week that the budget bill has stalled, an unprecedented situation that drew an angry rebuke from Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer.

“We need to grow up, we need to do our jobs, quit isolating ourselves and start working together,” Scheer said.

At issue is a provision requested by Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts that would deny federal family-planning money to health clinics if they perform abortions or refer patients to clinics that do. Federal law already forbids abortion providers from getting so-called Title X money, but opponents argue that the bill could jeopardize funding for health centers that provide referrals.

Ricketts proposed the requirement in January, saying the budget should reflect Nebraska’s status as a “pro-life state.” The provision amounts to roughly $1.9 million in federal money administered by the state.

If the $8.8 billion, two-year budget doesn’t pass before the session ends on April 18, funding could be delayed for state programs such as child welfare services. Some senators have predicted that the Legislature would have to return to the Capitol for an emergency special session.

“By filibustering the mainline budget, some state senators are putting vital state services for our children at risk,” Ricketts said after the vote.

Supporters say the proposal is important because of a 2016 state audit that accused Planned Parenthood of the Heartland of misusing at least $3,500 in public money for physician fees, staff salaries and pathology work related to abortion. Planned Parenthood denied the allegations, saying the money in question was privately raised but that the expenses were miscoded by staff members filling out reports. The group also said the audit was politically motivated.

Opponents of the provision said Ricketts shouldn’t have inserted a divisive social policy into the state budget. Several senators said the governor hasn’t responded to their requests to negotiate a compromise.

“It’s a pernicious and determined attempt to discriminate against women’s health care,” said Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks, of Lincoln. “This is about women’s health care, women’s lives.”

Pansing Brooks said the abortion debate has distracted from other budget issues such as state funding for schools, child welfare services and water conservation.

Sen. Bob Krist, of Omaha, a Democratic candidate for governor, said Ricketts should have introduced the issue as a stand-alone bill rather than inserting it into a budget that includes important funding for a variety of state services.

Krist said the proposal was the governor’s attempt to inject “Washington-style politics” into the Legislature. The Nebraska Republican Party has accused Krist of “holding our state budget hostage to protect abortion providers” because of his opposition to the bill.

The budget bill stalled for the first time on Wednesday, when supporters tried unsuccessfully to overcome a legislative filibuster.

Scheer said the issue was important, but argued that lawmakers have spent far too much time regurgitating old arguments without reaching an agreement that would let them pass the budget.

He said he returned the bill to the Legislature’s agenda on Friday because he believed there was enough support to break the filibuster, but a few senators broke their promise to vote in favor of ending the debate and allowing a vote on the budget.

“When we give our word, that is our bond,” he said. “If I can’t trust people when they a ‘yes’ is a ‘yes,’ this institution is in a world of trouble.”

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska State Patrol says its bomb squad has disposed of a live grenade and several old railroad explosives.

The patrol says the grenade was found Wednesday in McCook. The bomb squad determined it was live and had been modified. It was taken to the McCook Police Department shooting range, where it was safely destroyed.

On Thursday, nine old railroad torpedoes were found in Crete. The torpedoes attach to the rail and create a loud sound to warn railroad engineers of a hazard ahead. Officials say the explosive material becomes unstable and more dangerous as the torpedoes age.

The bomb squad safely destroyed the torpedoes with counter charges.

By MARGERY A. BECK , Associated Press

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Federal officials are saying little about how they chose a Nebraska startup to build an $11 million section of border wall in California, including whether they knew of the company’s connections to a construction firm flagged in a government audit for “many potential fraud indicators.”

The top Democrat on the House Committee on National Security is seeking answers from the Department of Homeland Security on what vetting was used last year to select SWF Constructors of Omaha for the job. The company, founded last year with only one employee, is an offshoot of Edgewood, New York-based Coastal Environmental Group, which has been repeatedly sued for underpaying or failing to pay subcontractors.

“It seems DHS has awarded a contract to a brand new company with questionable connections and without the proper prior performance,” Mississippi Rep. Bennie Thompson said in a letter to Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen. “In the rush to build President (Donald) Trump’s wall, a portion of it may be built by a company with a history of mismanaging and wasting taxpayer funds.”

Thompson’s office said it had not received a reply to its request by Friday.

A wall along the Mexico-U.S. border was a central promise of Trump’s campaign. The contract with SWF is for just a fraction of the larger project, about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) of post-style barriers at the border at Calexico, California.

A 2016 Interior Department internal audit report obtained by The Associated Press through a Freedom of Information Act request found that Coastal had cash flow problems and violated federal requirements to promptly pay workers. Those problems were cited even before it was hired in 2013 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to clean up two wildlife refuges following Superstorm Sandy.

If government officials had identified some of those issues, the report said, “it likely would not have contracted with (Coastal), thereby avoiding the numerous problems that occurred on these contracts.”

The report also noted that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers had flagged Coastal Environmental as a problem company on an earlier Superstorm Sandy cleanup contract, including underpaying or failing to pay some of 400 workers. A Corps contracting officer interviewed for the report told auditors “his advice was to never contract with (Coastal).”

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Fort Worth, which bid the border wall project and hired SWF, said in written responses to questions from the AP that “performance and relevant experience were considered in making the selection.” But it declined to answer questions about how performance and relevant experience were applied to a company created only nine months before it was selected, saying that information is “procurement sensitive information and not releasable.”

The Corps used the same language in refusing to answer questions about how many other firms bid for the project and whether any offered a lower-cost bid than SWF. It said it has revisited its documentation on the contract “which confirms the awardee’s status as a responsible offeror.”

Coastal has been sued in federal court a dozen times, and at least three times by the federal government for failing to pay subcontractors on government jobs. The Interior Department’s audit found $2 million in questionable spending by Coastal in the Sandy cleanup. The company later agreed to repay $200,000 to the government.

Coastal has an office in Omaha — a repurposed house in an industrial district south of downtown, the same address listed on federal documents for SWF Constructors. While a Coastal sign appears on the building, there is no sign indicating it is home to SWF Constructors.

The president of Coastal and main contact for SWF, Richard Silva, has not returned repeated phone and email messages seeking comment.