LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The deadline is approaching for Nebraska meat processors to apply for participation in this year’s Hunters Helping the Hungry program.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission says processors have until July 1 to apply. The program allows hunters to donate the deer they kill to Nebraska residents in need. The processors accept the meat and turn it into ground venison before it’s donated.

The application form and program guidelines are available at https://outdoornebraska.gov/hhh. The commission will contact eligible applicants by July 31.

GIBBON, Neb. (AP) — Officials from central to eastern Nebraska are warning the public to use caution around rain-swollen rivers.

The Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office is urging caution on the Platte River following two separate incidents on the river in recent days. Capt. Bob Anderson says two teenage girls were found clinging to a log in the middle of the river after trying to float down it Thursday. The girls were uninjured but had to be brought to shore.

On May 27, officials responded to reports of a person on an inner tube trapped in a man-made diversion on the river. No one was injured.

In eastern Nebraska, Elkhorn River access sites remained closed Saturday because of high water flows.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A medical services provider is ending its contract with a Nebraska prison, citing staff safety concerns.

Corrections officials announced Friday they will take over management of medical services at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution starting July 24. The change comes after Correct Care Solutions sent a 60-day notice that it was terminating its contract.

Dr. Harbans Deol, the department’s deputy director for health services, says the department is prepared to manage medical services in-house and has already begun to recruit staff.

Corrections officials say the contractor cited general safety concerns, but noted that none of the company’s employees have been harmed at the prison.

Correct Care Solutions has provided medical services for the prison since September 2005. The department already manages medical services at its other nine facilities.

• Jesse Ray Allen, 26, North Platte and Jessica Alice Montgomery, 29, North Platte

 

• Michael Robinson, 54, North Platte and Glenda Rene Nesslein, 47, North Platte

 

• Troy Isaac Bainter, 24, North Platte and Haley Nicole Placke, 22, North Platte

 

• Michael Jon Neiman, 22, North Platte and Katherine Elizabeth Williams, 22, North Platte

 

• Juan Francisco Orellana, 37, North Platte and Tawnia J Alloway, 36, North Platte

 

• Joshua Eugene Margritz, 20, Hershey and Chelsey Ann Nickolite, 26, Hershey

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The only potential choice for individual health insurance in Nebraska still hasn’t decided whether to offer plans next year that meet the Affordable Care Act’s standards.

The discussion about Medica Health’s plans for 2018 was triggered by an announcement Thursday that Blue Cross Blue Shield of Nebraska will drop its last two individual health plans that meet ACA standards, which include accepting all applicants and providing a wide range of health benefits.

Nebraska residents seeking insurance not connected to an employer or government-sponsored plan might not have options for ACA-compliant insurance if Medica pulls out of the individual health insurance market.

Geoff Bartsch of Medica says while the company is on track to continue next year, there’s always a possibility for Congress to “change the landscape.”