KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — The Kearney Public Schools board is set to decide what will become of the former Kearney High School building.

The board is expected on Monday to select one of three proposals for the building, including one from a local church that appears to have board support.

That bid from First Baptist Church would offer $260,000 to take the building as is and consider donating the south slope of the property to the city for use as a park.

The two other proposals include one from a construction company that would require the school district to pay for the cost of asbestos removal, and another from a group of investors that would pay various amounts for different portions of the school.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska political campaigns are trying to lock in as many early votes as possible in the weeks before next month’s election as county officials prepare to launch early in-person voting on Monday.

Voters have started returning absentee ballots in the mail, and leaders of some of the state’s major campaigns are intensifying their push with a flurry of phone calls and mailings.

Lancaster County Elections Commission Dave Shively said his office has already received requests from campaigns and political parties for lists of voters who have requested but not yet returned an absentee ballot. His office started mailing ballots on Oct. 3 and is started to see some returned.

Nearly 208,000 Nebraska voters cast an early ballot in 2012. That accounted for more than one-quarter of the roughly 804,000 votes.

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — The average price of gasoline in the U.S. has risen four cents over the past two weeks to $2.29 a gallon for regular grade.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that retailers and refiners have upped their prices in response to a rise in the cost of crude oil.

Gas prices are up 13 cents over nine weeks.

The Lundberg Survey found the average price of midgrade gasoline was $2.56 a gallon while premium was $2.78.

The highest average price for regular gas in the contiguous U.S. was $2.80 in San Francisco. The lowest was $1.97 in Tucson, Arizona.

The average price for diesel in Friday’s survey was $2.42, up three cents.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Uncertainty about Cabela’s future has already slowed the housing market in the outdoor retailer’s hometown of Sidney, and that is likely to intensify now that the company agreed to be bought by rival Bass Pro.

The sharp drop in housing demand in the western Nebraska town of about 7,000 is a sharp contrast to what residents were used to before Cabela’s started reviewing its strategic options last year.

Last week’s $4.5 billion deal to sell Cabela’s raises questions about the roughly 2,000 people the company employs in Sidney even though Springfield, Missouri-based Bass Pro pledged to maintain significant operations there.

Kevin Ross with Asmus Brothers Realty in Scottsbluff says the departure of a large number of people will depress Sidney’s real estate prices.