The following is a news release issued by the West Central District Health Department:

The West Central District Health Department reports testing on suspected cases is negative.

WCDHD’s current investigation shows only one confirmed Measles case at this time. There is still ongoing testing being conducted and WCDHD will provide an update on results as soon as that information is available.

“The best way to protect yourself and your community is to make sure everyone has been vaccinated,” Shannon Vanderheiden, WCDHD Executive Director said.

Measles is a serious disease that can lead to hospitalization and even death.

Symptoms include a high fever, cough, runny nose and watery eyes followed by a rash that typically spreads from head to the rest of the body. It is highly contagious and spreads easily by coughing, sneezing or even being in the same room with someone who has measles.

Most people in Nebraska are immune to measles either from having been vaccinated or from having had the disease. However, immunization rates have declined in some communities and groups – often due to fears related to misinformation about vaccine risks. This decline in immunization rates increases the risk – not only for those who are unvaccinated by choice, but also for those who cannot be vaccinated due to health status or age.

For more information on measles and for updates as the investigation continues, please visit the WCDHD website at https://wcdhd.org/measles2017.html or follow our Facebook page.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Labor Department says the state’s preliminary unemployment rate dropped a tenth of a point in March, hitting 3.1 percent compared with 3.2 percent in February.

The January rate was 3.3 percent.

The department said in a report released Friday that the March rate was a tenth of a point under the year-ago rate of 3.2 percent in March 2016. The new rate also remained well below the U.S. rate of 4.5 percent in March.

The report says Nebraska nonfarm employment remained above 1 million last month. The private industry segments with the most growth over the past month were mining and construction, leisure and hospitality and trade, transportation and utilities.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have kicked off a debate on an income and property tax package backed by Gov. Pete Ricketts and business groups but opposed by leading farm organizations.

Sen. Jim Smith of Papillion presented the package Friday as a way to end the status quo tax climate and make Nebraska more competitive with its neighboring states, most of which have lower top income tax rates.

The measure would reduce the state’s top individual and corporate income tax rates in years when revenue grows faster than a predetermined amount. It also would expand the earned income tax credit, combine the two lowest tax brackets and eliminate exemptions.

Farm groups say the bill doesn’t do enough to address property taxes. The measure would change how agricultural land is valued for tax purposes.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts is turning to the public to try to build support for his income and property tax plan in the face of opposition from some lawmakers and the state’s leading farm groups.

Ricketts made his case for the package Thursday outside the Capitol’s legislative chambers, flanked by business leaders and 19 state senators. The governor has held 35 events around the state to present it directly to voters. Lawmakers are scheduled to debate the measure Friday.

The plan would lower the state’s top personal and corporate income tax brackets, adjust the way agricultural land is valued for tax purposes and expand the earned income tax credit for low-income residents.

Ricketts says senators should ignore “big government spenders” who oppose the plan. Opponents say it favors the wealthy.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska prosecutor has filed an appeal of a probation sentence handed down in a child sex assault case.

Twenty-two-year-old Taylor Welty-Hackett was given four years of probation at his sentencing Feb. 24 in Buffalo County District Court. He’d pleaded no contest to attempted sexual assault after prosecutors lowered the initial charge of sexual assault of a child and dropped two related charges.

Investigators say Welty-Hackett and the girl randomly met on social media and met Aug. 1, 2015. Investigators say Welty-Hackett and the girl drove around and eventually had sex inside a vehicle in a parking lot.

Judge Bill Wright said during the sentencing hearing that the 12-year-old girl involved was the aggressor and said, “She made the advances.”