(AP) — Federal agencies in Nebraska are bracing for a government shutdown that could force the closure of Farm Service Agencies and national parks, including the Homestead National Monument of America.

Monument superintendent Mark Engler said Monday that officials have notified several school groups that the park near Beatrice might have close on scheduled visiting days. The park was expected to host more than 500 fourth-graders this week from nine public schools and three parochial schools.

Engler says the park will continue to have utilities and security staff on site if the government shuts down, but all other employees will have to stay home.

The shutdown could also mean service delays within Nebraska’s Farm Service Agency offices. The agency has 73 offices in Nebraska in addition to its state office.

Q: What do you think about the potential shutdown of our Federal Government?  Partisan politics or looking out for the people?  Read the story and let us know. (Post your thoughts in the “comment” section)

(AP) — Authorities say more tests are needed to determine how long water from the swollen Platte River will pose a health risk.

The Platte has been filled with Colorado floodwater that contained debris, chemicals and raw sewage. The flow down the South Platte hit record levels in western Nebraska, but the flooding threat ebbed when the South Platte joined the North Platte and became the Platte. Department of Environmental Quality spokesman Brian McManus said tests show bacteria levels in the Platte River near the central Nebraska towns of Brady, Cozad and Overton were 10-15 times the amount that poses a higher risk of causing an illness.

McManus says more tests must be completed before state officials can determine how long the health risk will continue.

(AP) — A 73-year-old western Nebraska woman has been accused of stealing from the Social Security Administration since 1998.

Federal prosecutors say Lois Powell, of Kimball, is charged with theft of government funds. She’s suspected of taking nearly $178,000 by accepting payments to which she knew she wasn’t entitled.

She faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

A public phone listing for Powell couldn’t be found. Online records don’t list the name of her attorney.

(AP) — Nonprofit groups in rural Nebraska say they’re ready to start enrolling residents in the new health-insurance marketplace, despite the vast areas they have to cover.

The groups have turned to churches, libraries and food banks to address one of their biggest challenges: Spreading word that the marketplaces will open Tuesday for a six-month enrollment period as part of the Affordable Care Act.

The largest nonprofit, Community Action of Nebraska, plans to have 62 insurance “navigators” hired and trained to help with enrollment at its local offices throughout the state.

Meredith Collins, of Community Action Partnership of Mid-Nebraska, says her organization has held public meetings in McCook and North Platte. The group has hired a full-time insurance navigator to enroll consumers, and trained staff in five of its 27 counties.

(AP) — A new system to capture one of the main gases linked to global warming will be tested at a Nebraska coal plant over nearly four years.

The U.S. Department of Energy chose the Nebraska Public Power District’s Gerald Gentleman plant near Sutherland for the $19 million project that starts Oct. 1.

The project will test a carbon dioxide capturing system designed by Ion Engineering of Boulder, Colo.

NPPD Vice President Tom Kent says the utility wanted to participate to get a good real-world test of the concept. If it’s successful, a system like this could help reduce pollution at NPPD’s coal plants.

A $15 million federal grant will cover most of the cost. Ion and its partners will pay most of the rest. NPPD is contributing in-kind services worth about $750,000.

Western Nebraska residents are cleaning up after record flooding on the South Platte River now that the water is receding.

The river overflowed earlier this month after the rainwater that inundated parts of Colorado flowed into Nebraska.

Hershey residents built sandbag walls all along the river to protect the town from flooding. Volunteers came out Saturday to help remove the sandbags now that the threat is gone.

Village Clerk LeAnn Ellis says it’s going to take a while to get everything back to normal, but Saturday’s cleanup will help.

The volunteers were joined by inmates from the Lincoln County Detention Center who have been helping throughout the flood fight over the past two weeks.

City of North Platte employees will begin picking up sandbags around the city on Monday.  Officials are asking residents to help by placing the sandbags upright on the curbs.

• Jeffrey LeRoy Houchin 37, North Platte NE and Dayna Sue Larson, 36, North Platte NE

• Danny James Wright, 32, North Platte NE and Sara Yolanda Sandoval, 24, North Platte NE

• Shawn Michael Simpson, 22, North Platte NE and Meraenda Jo Kekahbah, 20, North Platte NE

 

• Danny Lee Scott Hallmark, 32, North Platte NE and Martha Ann Houser, 50, North Platte NE

• Jeffrey LeRoy Houchin 37, North Platte NE and Dayna Sue Larson, 36, North Platte NE

• Danny James Wright, 32, North Platte NE and Sara Yolanda Sandoval, 24, North Platte NE

• Shawn Michael Simpson, 22, North Platte NE and Meraenda Jo Kekahbah, 20, North Platte NE

• Danny Lee Scott Hallmark, 32, North Platte NE and Martha Ann Houser, 50, North Platte NE

(AP) — Nebraska students are showing progress on statewide reading, math and science tests.

New results released Friday show that more than 77 percent of students were at or above proficiency levels in reading this year, compared with 74 percent in 2012 and 72 percent in 2011.

The report shows 69 percent were proficient or better in math, compared with 67 percent in 2012 and 63 percent in 2011. Seventy percent were proficient or better in science, compared with 67 percent in 2012, the first year students were tested in that category.

The report also shows 68 percent of students were proficient in writing this year, the first year of testing in the category for elementary and secondary students.

(AP) — A computer systems problem could delay some Nebraskans in obtaining health coverage under the Medicaid program.

Vivianne Chaumont is director of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services Division of Medicaid. She says the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services informed the state that the federal government can’t yet provide account transfer service between Nebraska Medicaid and the Federal Facilitated Marketplace.

The delay affects people who apply for health insurance through the new online Marketplace and are determined to be potentially eligible for Nebraska Medicaid. People can enroll in private health insurance coverage through the Marketplace starting Tuesday.

A one-month delay is expected.