Two men were arrested and multiple stolen firearms recovered following an incident Monday evening in Scottsbluff.

The WING (Western Nebraska Intelligence and Narcotics Group) Task Force, with assistance from the Scottsbluff Police Department and the Nebraska State Patrol (NSP), was following-up on an investigation of stolen property. Jeremy Edward Masoner, 30, was attempting to sell stolen firearms when one of the firearms discharged into the ceiling of a residence at 1308½ East Overland in Scottsbluff.

Shortly thereafter, Masoner and Taylor Dunham, 24, were arrested on multiple charges. During the investigation, officers found methamphetamine and three firearms that had previously been reported stolen in Morrill and Scotts Bluff Counties.

Both men were arrested for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a defaced firearm, and possession of a firearm during a drug violation. Dunham was also charged with carrying a concealed weapon.

Both men were lodged in Scotts Bluff County Jail.

HERSHEY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities locked down a western Nebraska school after a student produced what looked like a deadly firearm from his backpack.

The Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office said in a release that the boy pulled out the weapon outside a school in Hershey on Wednesday after most of the students had left for the day. The school was placed on lockdown to protect the remaining students and the school staff.

The gun turned out to be an airsoft pellet gun that the sheriff’s office described as “a realistic replica of a pistol.”

Deputies soon found and apprehended the boy and several students with him. Authorities have not released their names and ages. It is not yet clear if any will face charges.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — State officials who investigate allegations of attorney misconduct have declined to pursue a grievance filed by Sen. Ernie Chambers against a former Nebraska Supreme Court justice.

Chambers had asked the Supreme Court’s Counsel for Discipline to disbar former Justice Max Kelch, who resigned Feb. 15 after a judicial ethics complaint was filed against him. Chambers on Wednesday sent a letter to Nebraska Supreme Court Chief Justice Michael Heavican, arguing that the matter should be investigated.

Judicial ethics complaints remain confidential unless a commission uncovers probable cause for discipline. Kelch stepped down before that could happen. He had been on the court for less than two years.

Counsel of Discipline Mark Weber says in a letter to Chambers he doesn’t have jurisdiction to investigate the grievance.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska State Patrol says troopers have seized more than 115 pounds of cocaine and a substance believed to be a powerful synthetic opioid during a traffic stop.

The patrol says trooper found the cocaine and suspected fentanyl in a false compartment inside a semitrailer stopped Thursday morning on Interstate 80 near Kearney.

The patrol says the compartment held 73 pounds of foil-wrapped cocaine and 44 pounds of a powder suspected to be fentanyl. The street value of the drugs is estimated between $5 million and $10 million.

The 46-year-old truck driver and his 52-year-old passenger, both of New Jersey, were arrested on suspicion of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver and having no drug tax stamp.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Democratic candidate for Nebraska lieutenant governor criticized Gov. Pete Ricketts on Tuesday for his veto of a bill she introduced as a state senator this year to expand mental health services in schools.

Sen. Lynne Walz, of Fremont, made the comments while touring the state with her new running mate, Democratic governor hopeful Bob Krist. The tour seeks to introduce Walz to voters after Krist named her as his running mate this week.

Walz said she was shocked the governor vetoed the bill because it “because it would have helped so many kids.”

“Whatever the reason, the fact remains that children that need mental health services will now be ignored or remain in the shadows because the governor said ‘no,'” Walz said. “That is not Nebraska at its best.”

Ricketts, a Republican, has said he shares concerns about mental health services in schools but argued that Walz’s bill was unnecessary. The bill would have placed social workers in the state’s educational service units to help identify children who need mental and behavioral health services. The $3.6 million program would have relied on private donations for three years.

In his veto letter, Ricketts said the bill would have required the state to run a privately funded grant program. He also argued that people can already made donations to the service units.

The proposal “unnecessarily inserts the state between private funders and the political subdivision receiving those donations,” he said in the letter.

Krist still has to win Nebraska’s May 15 Democratic primary to secure the party’s nomination for governor. He is running against Democrats Vanessa Gayle Ward and Tyler Davis, both of Omaha.

On Tuesday, he praised Walz as a strong advocate for education, rural economic development and people with special needs.

“Lynn understands the problems faced by most Nebraskans in their daily lives,” Krist said. “As lieutenant governor, she will be their voices and work with me to make sure their voices are heard.”

Walz was elected to the Legislature in 2016, when she defeated then-Sen. David Schnoor, of Scribner, who was appointed to the seat by Ricketts.

Walz, a married mother of three and grandmother of three, works as a real estate agent after previous stints as a teacher. She also has been active in civic organizations in Fremont and has worked to provide services for people with disabilities.

Authorities say thunderstorms and tornadoes have left behind minor damage in parts of Nebraska and Iowa.

Two tornadoes were reported Tuesday evening in southern Nebraska, including one that caused minor damage but no injuries near Doniphan. The other touched down briefly just north of Odell.

Straight-line wind gusts of 80 mph (129 kph) also were reported.

The National Weather Service says strong winds destroyed or badly damaged outbuildings in Shelby, Iowa. Officials say a pole barn was knocked down, and grain bins also were damaged.

Baseball- and softball-size hail was reported in several spots in both states.

Heavy rain accompanied the storms, causing minor flooding in low-lying spots. The weather service says nearly 3 inches (nearly 8 centimeters) fell in Little Sioux, Iowa, in about an hour.

LODGEPOLE, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say an investigation has determined that a Nebraska Panhandle woman shot to death her husband and then herself.

Deputies found the bodies of 51-year-old Michelle Lee Marlatt-Arledge and 52-year-old Mark Arledge at their Lodgepole home on April 19. The deputies had been sent there to investigate a report of elder abuse. A woman inside the home said, “Just a minute,” when deputies knocked on the front door. They entered after hearing a gunshot and found the bodies in separate rooms.

A news release from Cheyenne County Attorney Paul Schaub said Tuesday that Mark Arledge is believed to have died three days earlier after his wife shot him several times.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new watchdog report says spending on lobbyists at the Nebraska Capitol has reached another record high.

The report released Wednesday by Common Cause Nebraska says more than $17.4 million was spent on lobbyists last year, up from roughly $16.8 million the prior year. The totals have increased consistently each year since at least 2013.

Jack Gould of Common Cause Nebraska says lobbyists can “open nearly any door” with current state laws. He says lobbyists can wine, dine and entertain public officials, donate to their campaign funds, host fundraisers and solicit campaign money from their clients.

The report says the number of paid lobbyists has grown as well, to 377 last year from 364 in 2016.

WASHINGTON (AP) — FPI Management, a property company in California, wants to hire dozens of people. Factories from New Hampshire to Michigan need workers. Hotels in Las Vegas are desperate to fill jobs.

Those employers and many others are quietly taking what once would have been a radical step: They’re dropping marijuana from the drug tests they require of prospective employees. Marijuana testing — a fixture at large American employers for at least 30 years — excludes too many potential workers, experts say, at a time when filling jobs is more challenging.

“It has come out of nowhere,” said Michael Clarkson, head of the drug testing practice at Ogletree Deakins, a law firm. “I have heard from lots of clients things like, ‘I can’t staff the third shift and test for marijuana.'”

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s attorney general sued 16 state lawmakers on Tuesday to prevent the corrections director from having to testify before a committee about his department’s lethal injection protocol.

Attorney General Doug Peterson filed the lawsuit on behalf of Nebraska Department of Correctional Services Director Scott Frakes.

The lawsuit seeks to block a subpoena issued by the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee following a complaint by state Sen. Ernie Chambers, of Omaha, a fervent death penalty opponent.

Attorneys general have filed similar lawsuits in the past in cases that involve separation-of-powers disputes between the state’s executive and legislative branches, but such moves are unusual.

“It has happened, but it’s rare,” said Clerk of the Legislature Patrick O’Donnell.

O’Donnell, who also was named in the lawsuit, said the Legislature will likely hire an outside attorney to defend him and all of the affected lawmakers.

The Nebraska attorney general is generally responsible for representing state officials in legal actions, but state law allows the Legislature to hire its own lawyer in matters such as Tuesday’s lawsuit. Lawmakers didn’t consult the attorney general’s office before they issued the subpoena, said Suzanne Gage, a spokeswoman for Peterson. Peterson, a Republican, supports capital punishment.

“The Attorney General took the action of filing the lawsuit in order to uphold the law, which is his duty,” Gage said in an email.

Frakes is an appointee of Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts, but his department has faced intense scrutiny from lawmakers because of persistent overcrowding and staffing problems and a series of high-profile incidents, including two riots and an escape in the last three years. Chambers and other committee members want to know more details about how the department selected the drugs it hopes to use on at least two death-row inmates.

Chambers contends the department’s new execution protocol is unconstitutional and has questioned whether state officials followed the correct procedures for putting it into place. Frakes was ordered to appear before the committee at a public hearing on May 8.

The complaint came as state officials try to begin the process required to execute two of Nebraska’s 11 death row inmates. The Department of Correctional Services faces several lawsuits from civil liberties groups over the protocol and its refusal to release records that would identify its supplier of lethal injection drugs — information the department released in the past without objections. Legislation that would have given the department the authority to withhold such information stalled in the 2017 session.

Nebraska’s last execution took place in 1997.

The lawsuit in Lancaster County District Court alleges that the subpoena to force Frakes to testify violates Nebraska’s constitutional separation of powers. Peterson asked a judge to quash the subpoena and bar lawmakers from taking similar actions in the future.

It also contends that Frakes was directed to testify before the wrong committee. The Judiciary Committee, which includes Chambers, has been known to grill Frakes in past hearings. The lawsuit argues that the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee should have jurisdiction.

The lawmakers named in the lawsuit are members of the Judiciary Committee and Executive Board, even though some members voted against calling a hearing or issuing the subpoena. The Executive Board’s permission was needed to issue the subpoena, and three of its members voted against doing so.

Sen. Laura Ebke, the chairwoman of the Judiciary Committee and one of the defendants, said she had just received a copy of the lawsuit and couldn’t comment. Ebke said the committee was still planning to hold its hearing.

“We’re reviewing our options,” she said.

Sen. Dan Watermeier, the Executive Board’s chairman, said he had expected the attorney general to challenge the subpoena.

Watermeier said the question of issuing the subpoena was limited to whether it was frivolous and part of the committee’s jurisdiction. He said he didn’t consider it frivolous and believes the Judiciary Committee was the appropriate committee to handle it.

Chambers didn’t immediately respond to a phone message left at his home.