VALENTINE, Neb. (AP) — A wildlife refuge in northern Nebraska is in need of volunteers to fix the state’s only turtle fences, which have begun to fail.

Chain-link fences keeping turtles from crossing the road outside of the Valentine National Wildlife Refuge have been damaged by cars or erosion. The gaps in the fences put the refuge’s turtles in danger as road kill.

Mark Lindvall was the refuge’s manager when the fences were installed and now serves as president of the Sandhills Prairie Refuge Association. Lindvall and the association are organizing a fence-fixing project on June 16 in Valentine.

The state Department of Transportation and the refuge are providing materials. Organizers are calling on volunteers to bring pliers and shovels to help fix the fencing damage.

RUSHVILLE, Neb. (AP) — A prosecutor says one of two men who escaped from a Nebraska Panhandle jail has been captured on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota.

Hijinio Garnette, of Gordon, was captured last week at a home in Kyle, South Dakota. He and Esdon Haukass, of Mission, South Dakota, escaped from the Sheridan County Jail in Rushville on March 26.

Sheridan County Attorney Jamian Simmons says Garnette is back in Nebraska and is due in a Rushville courtroom next Thursday to face charges of escape and theft.

Court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could speak for Garnette. Simmons says she had no information on the whereabouts of Haukass.

The two escaped out a window after overpowering a jailer.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Demand for a Nebraska tax credit program has dwindled since the initiative was implemented three years ago.

The Legislature allocates $15 million for the Nebraska Historic Tax Credits program, but only $9 million was used last year.

State officials are hoping to pique interest by holding promotional tours to showcase restoration projects that have been funded with the program, the Grand Island Independent reported .

The Nebraska State Historical Society and the State Historic Preservation Office took a tour Thursday of a Grand Island courtroom, where the ornate ceiling was restored through the program.

The program provides a 20 percent state tax credit for eligible projects, which municipalities can sell to receive cash. A building has to be on a national or local historic registry to qualify. It’s an attempt to encourage redevelopment and preservation of historic buildings.

“The credits are used to offset the tax liability of the applicant or owner of the building,” said Ryan Reed, a tax credit coordinator with the State Historic Preservation Office.

Jill Dolberg, the historical society’s deputy state historic preservation officer, said some of the most common projects are restoring courthouses.

“We are having a lot of counties do work on their county courthouses so they can sell the credit and then use the cash that they get up front to leverage the whole project,” she said.

Dolberg believes the declining demand for the tax credits is a result of either residents not knowing about the program or “paperwork fatigue” with the three-part application process.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration is establishing a new field division based in Omaha that will include Nebraska, Iowa, Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota.

In a news conference Thursday in Omaha, DEA Acting Administrator Robert Patterson said the new division will open in July. It is the agency’s 23rd division office in the United States.

Patterson says the move was prompted in part by the nation’s growing opioid crisis. In April, authorities seized a record 118 pounds of the powerful synthetic opioid fentanyl during a traffic stop.

The Omaha division will be led by Matthew Barden, who previously served as the Associate Special Agent in Charge of the St. Louis Division.

Barden says the new division will “produce more effective investigations on methamphetamine, heroin, fentanyl and prescription opioid trafficking.”

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Federal officials have approved Nebraska’s plan to reduce by 50 percent over the next decade the number of students who are not proficient in core subject areas.

A U.S. Education Department news release said Tuesday that the Nebraska plan “establishes ambitious but attainable long-term goals in alignment with its strategic vision and direction.”

The federal Every Student Succeeds Act requires states to devise systems that identify schools needing help and outline plans for intervention.

The act replaced the No Child Left Behind law, giving states more flexibility in creating their accountability systems.

Schools deemed “In Need of Comprehensive Support and Improvement” will qualify for federally funded improvement activities under the Every Student Succeeds Act. That includes money for professional development, teacher evaluations and strategies to hire, train and retain teachers.

ALLIANCE, Neb. (AP) — Federal officials have awarded an $18.3 million grant for work on the Heartland Expressway project in the Nebraska Panhandle.

The office of U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., announced the grant in a news release Tuesday.

The Nebraska Department of Transportation will use the money to convert to four lanes a nearly 15-mile (24-kilometer) segment of U.S. Highway 385. That stretch runs north to Alliance from the state 62A junction.

The Heartland Expressway project includes four-lane highways spanning nearly 500 (805 kilometers). The expressway would connect Denver and Rapid City, South Dakota, running through Nebraska, and also connect to Interstate 25 in Wyoming.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska has won a $92 million grant from the U.S. military.

Officials said Wednesday that five-year grant is the biggest research grant in the university system’s history and is an affirmation of the work already done by the university system’s National Strategic Research Institute.

System spokeswoman Melissa Lee says the award is more of a contract extension than a typical research grant. It extends the $84 million grant the system was awarded by the military in 2012.

The National Strategic Research Institute has worked several projects, including improving a vaccine for the poison ricin; developing vaccines for anthrax and other diseases; improving metals on military vehicles; the psychology of terrorist groups; and using laser technology to find explosives.

A 42-year-old North Platte man was arrested on Tuesday afternoon after he allegedly assaulted a female and held a knife to her throat.

At around 12:39 p.m., officers responded to the 1400 block of Rodeo Road on the report of a disturbance.

Officers made contact with Matthew Knight and a female.

The female alleged that Knight had thrown her to the ground, then struck her.

She told police he then grabbed a knife held it to her throat and made threats about killing her and himself.  Knight allegedly held the knife to the victim’s throat before releasing her.

Knight was placed under arrest and jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center on charges of domestic assault, terroristic threats and use of a weapon to commit a felony.

Knight is still in jail, pending an appearance in County Court.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A University of Nebraska-Lincoln engineering team is testing an improved highway safety device to ensure it meets new safety standards the university experts helped write.

The engineers are deliberately crashing cars, pickups and tractor-trailers into guardrails and barriers found along highways nationwide at the facility’s outdoor proving grounds at Lincoln Airport. The team conducted its seventh test Tuesday of an improved bullnose guardrail.

Bob Bielenberg is a researcher at the university’s Midwest Roadside Safety Facility. He says the guardrail is designed to buckle under a vehicle’s force, bringing it to a relatively safe stop.

Bielenberg says the university will be able to communicate test results to transportation departments across the region so state officials can make more informed decisions about road safety.

A 34-year-old man is in custody after he allegedly stole a vehicle in North Platte on Monday evening.

At around 6:58 p.m., officers responded to the report of a vehicle theft in the 200 block of Rodeo Road.

It was reported that the vehicle had been stolen and the incident had been captured on surveillance video.

At around 8:30 p.m., the owners located their vehicle in the 500 block of East Philip.

Officers located the driver, Joshua Krayhagan, in a nearby business and detained him for questioning.

During the interview, police say Krayhagan gave false information and reported that his name was Jason Krayhagan.  They say he also gave a false date of birth.

According to police, the keys to the vehicle were found in Krayhagan’s possession and investigators confirmed his identity on the surveillance video.

Officers discovered a firearm in the vehicle during a search and say Krayhagan has prior felony convictions which prohibit him from possessing a firearm.

Krayhagan was placed under arrest and jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center on charges of felony theft by unlawful taking, felony criminal impersonation and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Police did not report any damage to the vehicle.