(AP) — University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension educators are encouraging farmers and ranchers to consider pasture, rangeland and forage insurance for next year if they’ve lost forage production because of drought.

The deadline to apply for the coverage is Nov. 15.

Extension educator Monte Vandeveer says producers can insure their land for either grazing or for haying.

For more information, a UNL Extension NebGuide, “Pasture, Rangeland, and Forage Insurance: A Risk Management Tool for Hay and Livestock Producers,” is available at the UNL Extension Publication website, https://bit.ly/17k4v9E.

(AP) — State officials say a blizzard that swept through northwest Nebraska last weekend could hurt the region’s economy for more than a year.

Ranchers throughout the northern Panhandle spent the week counting their livestock losses after an unusual October blizzard dumped several feet of snow on the region.

State Sen. Al Davis of Hyannis says the losses were far greater than people from outside the region realize, and the losses could hurt ranching operations.

Lt. Gov. Lavon Heidemann says the area could see an economic impact that lasts a year or more. In addition, a federal program that could help ranchers is closed because of the government shutdown.

Heidemann says the losses reminded him of a blizzard in the 1980s that wiped out one-fourth of his herd.

(AP) — A federal judge in Nebraska is fed up with Congress and its inability to fund government including the courts and says in his Internet blog it’s time to tell congress to “go to hell.”

Judge Richard George Kopf is commenting on the likelihood that the U.S. District Court in Nebraska may run out of money as early as Monday forcing judicial officials to decide which employees are essential.

Kopf writes in his blog dated last Monday that district judges and the chief judge should issue orders declaring all remaining employees essential. That would set up a fight between the judicial branch and Congress.

Kopf, an appointee of President George H.W. Bush in 1992 and now a senior judge, says that would be a fight worth having.

(AP) — The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality says the Platte River, which carried contaminated floodwaters from Colorado into Nebraska, is no longer a public health risk.

The Nebraska DEQ made the determination Friday.

The agency ramped up water testing after Colorado floodwaters were diverted into reservoirs and canals on the Platte River system in Nebraska. The public was warned to avoid the rivers until the floodwaters had passed through the state.

Initially, high levels of illness-causing bacteria were reported in central Nebraska, but have since returned to normal.

(AP) — The Nebraska Public Power District — the state’s largest power utility — has rejected a proposal to buy up to 200 additional megawatts of wind energy by the end of the year, drawing fierce criticism from wind energy proponents.

The utility’s board voted 6-3 Friday against the additional buy.

NPPD CEO and President Pat Pope said the utility’s plants already produce more energy than customers require, and that buying more energy now doesn’t make sense.

But environmental groups criticized the vote. The Nebraska Farmers Union says the utility missed an opportunity, because it could have locked in historically low wind energy prices for the next 20 years.

The Nebraska Sierra Club says the board shirked “its legal obligation to provide electricity at the lowest reasonable cost.”

(AP) — Lincoln County authorities have the Fairbury Police Department’s newest police vehicle and say they won’t be giving it back soon.

They say it’s evidence in the case against 40-year-old Stanly Colby, a Fairbury police officer who is accused of stealing the 2013 Ford Explorer. Colby was stopped on Sept. 14 on U.S. Highway 83 in Lincoln County, about 200 miles west of Fairbury. He was still wearing his uniform.

Deputies drove him to Lincoln this week for a psychiatric evaluation to see whether he is competent to stand trial. His attorney didn’t immediately return a call Friday from The Associated Press.

Chief Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Roland Kramer says Fairbury can’t have the vehicle back until the case is closed, despite requests from Fairbury’s chief.

(AP) — A jury has found a Scottsbluff man guilty of second-degree assault in connection with a bat attack.

The Scotts Bluff County District Court jury returned the verdict Thursday for 28-year-old Roy Little Eagle. They deliberated for several hours.

Little Eagle was accused of repeatedly hitting a person with a baseball bat and was arrested in June. He was on parole at the time for a burglary and theft case.

Little Eagle was arrested after he was identified in photo lineup by both the victim and a witness. He will be sentenced on Nov. 22.

(AP) — Nebraska State Treasurer Don Stenberg says recent automated calls to state residents in an effort to return unclaimed property to the rightful owners was an “extraordinary success.”

Stenberg says more than 28,000 Nebraskans were reached and claims totaling more than $1.4 million were initiated over the last three weeks.

The calls began in mid-September and ended Oct. 2. The prerecorded message included information about how to file claims with the state treasurer’s office.

Stenberg says more than $8.2 million of unclaimed property has been returned to Nebraskans so far in 2013. That’s more than the $6.6 million that was returned in all of 2012.

Nebraskans can search for unclaimed property anytime at www.treasurer.org or call the Unclaimed Property Division at 877-572-9688.

(AP) — The Broadband Connecting Nebraska Conference is scheduled for next week at the Younes Conference Center in Kearney.

The Nebraska Broadband Initiative’s annual conference is aimed at showing professionals how businesses are taking advantage of broadband technology.

The keynote speaker will be Jack Uldrich, a global futurist and author of the book “Jump the Curve: Staying Ahead of Emerging Technologies.”

Registration opens Wednesday at 7:30 a.m. The day’s topics will include data and information security, marketing through broadband and entrepreneurship through broadband and people attraction through broadband.

Thursday’s events also begin at 7:30 a.m. and will feature a panel of broadband providers and community members.

Go online at broadband.nebraska.gov for registration information and a complete agenda.

(AP) — Take the money or not?

That’s the question many members of Congress are struggling with during the government shutdown.

For many lawmakers who support their families on their government salary, withholding pay or donating it to charity can be difficult.

But any lawmaker faces charges of being out of touch if he or she takes a paycheck while workers are furloughed and government services are curtailed.

Dozens of lawmakers have made arrangements to have their salaries withheld or donated to charity.

The Constitution bars lawmakers from withholding their own salary — they can only vote on the pay of future Congresses. But members can ask that their paychecks get delayed until the government reopens.

GOP Rep. Lee Terry of Nebraska apologized after he dismissed fellow lawmakers who were forgoing pay.