LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Secretary of State John Gale says he expects to know next week whether or not a proposal to expand Medicaid has qualified for the November general election ballot.Gale said in a statement Friday he believes the certification process will be complete by that time.

County election officials are currently processing more than 135,000 signatures that were submitted from a petition drive. At least 84,269 must be declared valid for the measure to qualify for the ballot. Additionally, organizers were required to gather signatures from at least 5 percent of the registered voters in 38 of Nebraska’s 93 counties.

Gale says that, as of Friday, 56,288 signatures have been deemed valid. Of the 79 counties that have reported their totals, 42 have cleared the 5 percent signature threshold.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office and the Catholic Diocese of Lincoln are urging residents to report any allegations of abuse by clergy or others in authority.

Lincoln Bishop James Conley and the attorney general’s office said anyone who has experienced even an uncomfortable incident with a priest should report it to law enforcement or the diocese.

The move follows a Pennsylvania grand jury report released Tuesday accusing 300 priests of molesting more than 1,000 children. The grand jury also accused senior church officials of systematically covering up the complaints, according to the report.

The Lincoln Diocese recently announced it had investigated abuse allegations involving five priests, all of whom no longer work for the diocese. Two accused priests resigned, one was dismissed from his position, one retired and the fifth has been deceased for a decade.

Conley said the diocese is continuing to gather information on the allegations.

Conley published a column in the Lincoln Diocese’s Southern Nebraska Register newspaper Friday asking for forgiveness for not pursuing allegations more aggressively and transparently.

“I will not and we must not dismiss or rationalize any account of any person who comes forward with a concern, and we must fully investigate every report, even more strenuously than we have in the past,” Conley wrote.

The attorney general’s office suggests reporting allegations to its agency, the Nebraska Child Abuse Hotline or the Nebraska Crime Stoppers Tip Line.

“It is important that you speak up so perpetrators are brought to justice and other possible victims are protected from future harm,” the office said.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska has started a new fiscal year with $20 million more in state tax revenue than expected.

The Department of Revenue reported Wednesday that the state collected $280 million in net revenue in July, which is nearly 8 percent above the state’s certified forecast of $260 million.

The state projections were set by the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board in February. A tax revenue shortfall earlier this year forced lawmakers to cut the state budget.

The report says net revenue from sales-and-use taxes and individual income taxes were higher than projected. Net revenue from corporate income and miscellaneous came in below projections.

MCCOOK, Neb. (AP) — A county attorney in southern Nebraska wants to hire another part-time deputy attorney and is asking commissioners to allow his daughter to fill the role.

Red Willow County Attorney Paul Wood made the request when submitting his proposed 2018-19 budget, which includes a budget increase of $19,020 that would be designated for the salary of a new deputy attorney. Wood told county commissioners that his daughter, Emily Wood, would be able to start Oct. 1 if she passes the bar exam, the McCook Daily Gazette reported.

Paul Wood said a second deputy attorney could help take over litigating unpaid patient bills for the county-owned nursing home, which is currently outsourced. The position could also help manage the workload for the county’s juvenile diversion program amid increases in felonies, particularly methamphetamine violations, he said.

County employee policy doesn’t allow a department head to supervise immediate family, but Paul Wood said state statute allows it with commissioners’ approval and proper disclosure.

Commissioner Steve Downer said it would be beneficial to have the county attorney’s office handle all of the county’s litigation, instead of contracting out some of the work.

“We’ll get comments about hiring a family member,” he said.

Commissioner Jacque Riener suggested that the county’s policy regarding hiring immediate family may need to be rewritten. She said the policy should include a caveat for a professional position since there’s a scarcity of willing and qualified applicants.

Commissioners will decide on the budget and new role next week.

The $19,020 proposed salary for the part-time position accounts for nine months, with a start date this fall. The position’s salary for a full year would be $24,000.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — More farm loan applications are being rejected in rural parts of 10 Plains and Western states in reaction to weak farm commodity prices and income.

The latest Rural Mainstreet survey says nearly one-third of bank CEOs reported rejecting a higher percentage of farm loans, while nearly 55 percent indicated their banks had raised collateral requirements in the face of weak farm prices and income.

The region’s economic index rose to 54.8 in August from 53.8 in July. That score still suggests growth because it is above 50, while any score below 50 indicates a shrinking economy.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says the recent trade disputes have weakened “already anemic grain prices.”

Bankers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Groups that want to legalize casinos at Nebraska horse racing tracks are teaming up for another effort.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that the Nebraska Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association and Ho-Chunk Inc. announced Wednesday that they would seek to place the issue on the 2020 ballot. The effort would involve gathering tens of thousands of signatures beginning next year.

If the effort succeeds and voters approve it, casino gambling would be allowed at racetracks in Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, Columbus, South Sioux City and possibly Hastings.

A similar attempt to place the question on the November 2016 ballot ended with a shortage of signatures and a lawsuit against the company circulating petitions.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A federal judge has ordered the U.S. State Department to conduct a more thorough review of the Keystone XL oil pipeline’s proposed pathway after Nebraska state regulators changed the route, raising the possibility of further delays to a project first proposed in 2008.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris of Montana said in a ruling Wednesday that the State Department must supplement its 2014 environmental impact study of the project to consider the new route. Morris declined to strike down the federal permit for the project, approved by President Donald Trump in March 2017.

The Nebraska Public Service Commission rejected pipeline developer TransCanada’s preferred route in November 2017, but approved a different pathway that stretches farther to the east. The “mainline alternative” route is five miles longer than the company’s preferred route, cuts through six different Nebraska counties and runs parallel to an existing TransCanada-owned pipeline for 89 miles.

State Department officials “have yet to analyze the mainline alternative route,” Morris wrote in his ruling. The State Department has “the obligation to analyze new information relevant to the environmental impacts of its decision.”

Last month, the State Department declared the pipeline would not have a major impact on Nebraska’s water, land or wildlife. The report said the company could mitigate any damage caused.

It’s not clear whether the additional review will delay the 1,184-mile project. TransCanada spokesman Matthew John said company officials are reviewing the judge’s decision, and noted that the project has already faced numerous federal reviews. He said company officials are still working with local, state and federal stakeholders.

“We do not anticipate that the ruling will impact the current construction preparation activities we are currently undertaking,” John said in an email.

Environmentalists, Native American tribes and a coalition of landowners have prevented the company from moving ahead with construction. In addition to the federal lawsuit in Montana that seeks to halt the project, opponents also have a lawsuit pending before the Nebraska Supreme Court. Oral arguments in the Nebraska case aren’t expected until October.

Critics of the project have raised concerns about spills that could contaminate groundwater and the property rights of affected landowners.

Pipeline opponents cheered the decision and said they were confident that the courts would find other violations of federal law raised in the lawsuit.

“We are pleased that Judge Morris has rejected all of the excuses raised by the Trump administration and TransCanada in attempting to justify the federal government’s failure to address TransCanada’s new route through Nebraska,” said Stephan Volker, an attorney for the environmental and Native American groups that filed the Montana lawsuit.

A State Department spokesman said the agency was still reviewing the judge’s order but declined to offer additional comments.

The pipeline would carry up to 830,000 barrels of crude oil per day from Canada through Montana and South Dakota to Steele City, Nebraska, where it would connect with the original Keystone pipeline that runs down to Texas Gulf Coast refineries.

The State Department’s new report noted two major spills in South Dakota involving the original Keystone pipeline, which went into operation in 2010, but added that TransCanada has a lower overall spill rate than average in the oil pipeline industry.

___

Associated Press reporter Matthew Lee contributed from Washington.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The economy is expected to continue growing slowly in rural parts of 10 Plains and Western states, but the ongoing trade disputes remain a concern.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says grain prices have fallen even lower since the trade disputes erupted.

The overall economic index for the region increased slightly to 54.8 in August from July’s 53.8.

That score still suggests growth because it is above 50, while any score below 50 indicates a shrinking economy.

Bankers from Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming were surveyed.

The bankers remain concerned about the economy. The confidence index remained in negative territory but climbed to 46.5 in August from July’s 42.7.

A 71-year-old North Platte man is facing charges after he allegedly sexually assaulted a child.

According to North Platte Police, an officer responded to the 1100 block of South Tabor Avenue on July 7 after receiving a report of a sexual assault.

The officer met with a minor victim and their family.

It was determined that Miguel Sifuentes had made sexual contact with the minor over their clothing.

On August 10, after further investigation, investigators determined that there was probable cause to arrest Sifuentes and charge him with third-degree sexual assault of a child.

He was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska carried out its first execution in more than two decades on Tuesday with the lethal injection of four drugs in a combination never tried bfore, including the powerful opioid fentanyl.

Carey Dean Moore, 60, was pronounced dead at 10:47 a.m. Moore, who had been sentenced to death for killing two cab drivers in Omaha in 1979, also was the first inmate to be lethally injected in Nebraska, which last carried out an execution in 1997, using the electric chair.

Witnesses said that there appeared to be no complications in the execution process, which also was the first time a state used a four-drug combination.

At one point while on the gurney, Moore turned his head and mouthed several words to his family, including “I love you.”

Moore’s execution comes a little more than three years after Nebraska lawmakers abolished the death penalty, only to have it reinstated the following year through a citizen ballot drive partially financed by Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts. The governor, a wealthy former businessman, has said he was fulfilling the wishes of voters in the conservative state.

The Nebraska drug protocol called for an initial IV dose of diazepam, commonly known as Valium, to render the inmate unconscious; the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl; cisatracurium besylate to induce paralysis and stop the inmate from breathing; and potassium chloride to stop the heart. After each injection, prison officials sent saline through the IV to flush out any residue and ensure all the drugs had entered the inmate’s system.

Diazepam, fentanyl and cisatracurium had never been used in executions before. A fentanyl overdose killed music superstar Prince in 2016.

According to prosecutors, Moore was 21 when he fatally shot Reuel Van Ness during a robbery with his younger brother, and used the money to buy drugs and pornography. Moore fatally shot Maynard Helgeland by himself five days later, saying he wanted to prove he could take a man’s life by himself. Moore was arrested a week later. He was charged and convicted of first-degree murder, while his 14-year-old brother was convicted of second-degree murder.

Before his execution, Moore submitted a written statement that apologized to his brother, who was with him during the 1979 robbery and murder of Van Ness.

“I should (have) led him in the right way instead of bringing him down, way down,” Moore said of his brother.

Moore had faced execution dates set by the Nebraska Supreme Court seven times since he was convicted, but each was delayed because of legal challenges and questions over whether previous lethal injection drugs were purchased legally. For some relatives of Moore’s victims, that was far too long — and they hope his name and crimes will finally vanish from headlines.

“We’re sick of hearing about Carey Dean Moore,” Steve Helgeland, one of Maynard Helgeland’s three children, said ahead of the execution.

Helgeland said the numerous delays in executing Moore had left him ambivalent about whether his father’s killer dies by lethal injection or spends the rest of his life in prison. Helgeland said he plans to be present at the prison for the execution to honor his father’s memory, but that he won’t witness it.

“There was a point in my life when I probably would have pulled the switch myself, but 39 years has a way of dissipating your anger,” he said.

A Germany-based drugmaker tried to halt the execution last week, filing a lawsuit that alleged the state had illegally procured at least one of the company’s drugs. The company, Fresenius Kabi, argued that allowing the execution to go forward would harm its reputation and business relationships.

But a federal judge sided with state attorneys , who argued that the public’s interest in carrying out a lawful execution outweighed the company’s concerns. The judge also noted that Moore had stopped fighting the state’s efforts to execute him.

A federal appeals court upheld that ruling Monday, and Fresenius Kabi decided not to take the issue to the U.S. Supreme Court.