GERING, Neb. (AP) — A 24-year-old western Nebraska man has been sentenced to three years in prison for causing a crash last year that killed a passenger in his pickup truck.

Joshua Bolzer, of Mitchell, was sentenced Friday in in Scotts Bluff County District Court. He had pleaded no contest in late August to felony vehicular homicide after prosecutors dropped two related counts.

Authorities say Bolzer had been drinking and was driving 120 mph in his pickup truck on Aug. 20, 2016, when it went out of control on U.S. Highway 26 on the west edge of Mitchell and hit a utility pole, a tractor and a liquor store.

A passenger in the truck, 19-year-old Dereon Betancur, was pronounced dead at the scene. Two other 19-year-old passengers were hospitalized.

MITCHELL, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have identified a man killed in the crash of a grain truck and a train just west of Mitchell and say his 8-year-old granddaughter was also injured in the crash.

Officials say 64-year-old Michael Weimer, of Morrill, died in the crash that occurred Friday morning at a county road crossing just south of Highway 26.

The Scotts Bluff County Sheriff’s Office says Weimer was driving the truck that was hit by an eastbound BNSF train shortly after 7 a.m.

Weimer was killed. His granddaughter, who was also in the truck, was taken to a hospital with injuries.

The crossing is marked, but does not have an alarm signal or gates.

OGALLALA, Neb. (AP) — A 22-year-old Kansas man has pleaded not guilty to vehicular homicide charges for the crash deaths of four Iowa residents in western Nebraska.

Jeser Cisneros-Hernandez, of Liberal, Kansas, entered the pleas Friday in Keith County District Court.

Cisneros-Hernandez is charged with four counts of motor-vehicle homicide, reckless driving and driving left of the center of the road. Prosecutors say hit two motorcycles carrying two people each on July 1 near Ogallala.

Authorities say 54-year-old Sheila Matheny and 61-year-old James Matheny, from Bedford, Iowa, were on one motorcycle. The other riders were 58-year-old Michal Weese and 59-year-old Jerolyn Weese, who lived in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Cisneros-Hernandez’s next court appearance is scheduled for Dec. 8.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — President Donald Trump’s proposed tax plan could have major implications for Nebraska’s tax collections and budget, but state officials say they’re not ready to predict what it might do.

The OpenSky Policy Institute says the changes could result in large increases or decreases in state revenue or cuts to government services. OpenSky Executive Director Renee Fry says there are still a lot of unknowns.

Gov. Pete Ricketts says he’s confident the state can adjust to tax policy changes. He is calling for Congress to do more to reduce taxes.

Sen. Paul Schumacher of Columbus says he’s concerned state lawmakers won’t be able to compensate for a sudden revenue loss because many would be concerned about appearing to raise taxes.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Labor Department says the state’s preliminary unemployment rate remained unchanged in September at 2.8 percent.

The department said in a report released Friday that the figure matched that of August, which was also unchanged from July.

The report says the September rate was half a percentage point under the year-ago rate of 3.3 percent. The September rate also remained well below the U.S. rate, which dipped to 4.2 percent for the month.

The report says Nebraska nonfarm employment in September was up 14,285 over the year and up more than 3,750 over the month.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse is seeking answers from the Department of Veterans of Affairs following reports that VA employees kept a secret waiting list of patients from Nebraska and Iowa that obscured the actual wait times for veterans who sought appointments.

Sasse sent a letter to the department Tuesday after the Omaha World-Herald reported that an audit included whistleblower complaints about unauthorized lists for appointments at the VA’s mental health psychotherapy clinic in Omaha.

VA officials acknowledged the audit’s conclusions but wouldn’t say how many Nebraska or western Iowa veterans were affected. They also declined to say who kept the unauthorized list and why, or say how many employees were involved.

Sasse says the agency’s refusal to answer questions is “unacceptable and must be remedied immediately.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture has killed a rule designed to protect the legal rights of farmers who raise chickens and hogs for the nation’s largest meat processors.

The rule would have made it easier for farmers to sue companies they contract with over unfair or deceptive practices.

It was rolled out in the final days of Barack Obama’s administration. But the USDA delayed it after President Donald Trump took office. On Tuesday, the agency withdrew it for good.

Farmers who have waited years for the rule are expressing disappointment. Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, an Iowa farmer, accuses the Trump administration of “pandering to big corporations.”

Poultry and pork industry trade groups say the rule would have reduced competition and driven meat prices higher.