LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s preliminary January unemployment rate matched the revised December rate of 2.9 percent, the state Labor Department said in a report released Monday.

The December rate was raised two-tenths of a point in a routine revision from the preliminary rate of 2.7 percent, the department said. The January 2017 rate was 3.1 percent.

The January rate also was well below the U.S. rate, which was unchanged at 4.1 percent.

“While industries experienced normal seasonal declines in January, the state’s total labor force and number of employed workers in the labor force were both up over the month and over the year,” Labor Commissioner John Albin said.

Iowa and Vermont joined Nebraska at the January rate of 2.9 percent. New Hampshire and North Dakota recorded rates of 2.6 percent, and Hawaii’s 2.1 percent was the nation’s lowest rate in January.

The preliminary Omaha-area rate rose to 3.2 percent in January from 2.8 percent in December. Lincoln’s preliminary rate rose three-tenths of a point to hit 2.7 percent, compared with 2.4 percent in December. Grand Island’s preliminary rate jumped in January to 4.8 percent from 3.1 percent in December.

The unemployment rates for Grand Island, Lincoln and Omaha have not been seasonally adjusted, so they cannot be directly compared with the state unemployment rate.

Here are preliminary area labor market unemployment rates for January, followed by the December rates:

— Beatrice: 2.9, 3.3

— Columbus: 2.7, 2.7

— Fremont: 3.1, 2.9

— Hastings: 3.4, 3.2

— Kearney: 2.3 2.3

— Lexington: 3.0, 2.8

— Norfolk: 2.9, 2.6

— North Platte: 3.3, 3.0

— Red Willow: 2.4, 2.6

— Scottsbluff: 3.3, 3.3

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska says state prison officials may have misled authorities by indicating that four execution drugs obtained by the state were intended for medical purposes.

The organization sent a letter Monday to the Federal Drug Enforcement Agency, saying the state Department of Corrections and the State Penitentiary appear to have violated federal controlled substances laws by using its DEA registration to obtain the drugs, including fentanyl and potassium chloride.

The ACLU said the registration allows nurses to use controlled substances to help patients but doesn’t authorize the drugs for lethal injections. The organization, which also alleges the state may have illegally purchased fentanyl overseas, asked the DEA to investigate.

“Prisoners who are to be executed by lethal injection are not being diagnosed or treated, nor are they being provided any other form of medical care,” said Amy Miller, legal director of ACLU of Nebraska.

Dawn-Renee Smith, spokeswoman for the Department of Corrections, said the department legally purchased all of the drugs in the U.S.

“The ACLU is fabricating charges in a desperate attempt to foil the will of the people of Nebraska,” Gov. Pete Ricketts added.

The letter is the ACLU’s latest effort to halt Nebraska’s attempts to revive the death penalty. More than 60 percent of voters overturned the Legislature’s 2015 repeal of the death penalty, and the ACLU’s lawsuit over the voter referendum that reinstated capital punishment was recently dismissed.

Authorities acquired the drugs last year for the planned executions of death row inmates Jose Sandoval and Carey Dean Moore, though no dates have been set for the executions. The state’s last execution was in 1997.

Miller said that if the DEA agrees to investigate and finds violations, the Department of Correction’s drug licenses should be revoked and the lethal substances confiscated.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — The sandhill cranes have begun arriving in central Nebraska as part of their annual migration.

March is the prime time to see the roughly 500,000 sandhill cranes that stop along the Platte River as part of their annual migration.

Every year, about 80 percent of the world’s sandhill crane population visits Nebraska to forage for food before continuing north to their breeding grounds.

Endangered whooping cranes and other rare birds also sometimes make an appearance.

To learn more about the sandhill crane migration and the best way to view them, visit https://outdoornebraska.gov/cranes.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — As politicians across the country debate how to respond to gun-related violence following a Florida school shooting, Nebraska legislators acknowledge that despite nearly 20 bills they could consider dealing with firearms, they’re unlikely to take action on most of the proposals this session.

There are 19 bills eligible for debate this session, ranging from a ban on so-called bump stocks that increase a weapon’s firing speed to increased fees on handgun applications and restrictions on local gun ordinances. However, few of the bills were given a priority designation, meaning most will die at the end of the session.

“If you walk into the chamber as a senator, the advocacy has to go. It has to leave your mind,” Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha said. “The Democrat, Republican, conservative or liberal has to leave your mind. You have to say ‘I am a statesman or a stateswoman. How do I balance things to do what’s best for the state?’ But too many times across the nation, I think it’s too hard for people to leave that at the door.”

Although most gun bills have stalled in Nebraska, other states are considering firearms legislation, including setting stricter requirements for background checks and boosting age limits.

In Florida, Gov. Rick Scott last week signed a bill raising the minimum age to buy rifles, extending waiting periods to long gun purchases and enabling some school employees to carry guns. Legislators in Oregon approved a bill prohibiting people convicted of domestic abuse or with restraining orders against them from owning firearms, and the measure was signed by Gov. Kate Brown.

Other states are considering proposals to reduce limits on carrying guns in locations such as schools and churches.

One gun-related bill that has been approved in Nebraska and signed into law by Gov. Pete Ricketts increases the evidence needed before a mental health board can restore a person’s ability to purchase firearms or apply for conceal and carry permits.

But Wayne said lawmakers have largely avoided gun legislation, in part because the topic is so emotionally charged.

“If you live in an urban city, you know somebody who has been affected by gun violence and that’s emotional,” he said. “And if you don’t live in an urban environment and you’re a hunter and that’s something you grew up on, that’s emotional.”

Wayne introduced legislation that would restrict violent juvenile offenders from purchasing firearms until they are 25. A judiciary committee advanced the bill last week, and Wayne said he expects the floor debate on the bill will be “the first time in a long time we are going to have a debate about gun violence and how to propose common-sense solutions to the issue.”

Motivated by the Parkland, Florida, deaths and previous mass shootings, high school and college students in Nebraska have increased efforts to expand gun restrictions.

Isabel Boussin, a junior at Lincoln East High School, is organizing a march April 20, to commemorate the shooting that happened on that date in 1999 at Columbine High School in Colorado. The local march will be one of many around the nation on that day, she said.

After several threats to Nebraska schools in the wake of the Florida shooting, Boussin said some students no longer feel safe.

“It’s honestly really terrifying to walk into schools some days,” she said.

Two members of the Lincoln City Council have proposed an ordinance that would ban the sale or ownership of bump stocks within city limits. A public hearing and vote are expected later in March.

Proposed legislation from Sen. Mike Hilgers, of Lincoln, would eliminate the ability for cities to create their own firearms regulations, a move that would outlaw that action being considered in Lincoln. However, the bill is not expected to be debated this session.

A 2016 report from the Legislative Research Office estimated that firearms were present in 39 percent of Nebraska homes, and there were more than 43,000 conceal and carry permits issued to residents.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The developer of the Keystone XL pipeline doesn’t have to reimburse attorneys who defended Nebraska landowners against the company’s efforts to gain access to their land, the state Supreme Court ruled Friday.

The high court’s ruling resolves a dispute that was triggered when TransCanada Inc. filed eminent domain lawsuits against 71 Nebraska landowners in 2015, only to drop them later amid uncertainty over whether the process it used was constitutional.

“We conclude that none of the landowners established that they were entitled to attorney fees,” Chief Justice Michael Heavican wrote in the opinion.

Omaha attorney Dave Domina argued that TransCanada owes his clients about $350,000 to cover their attorney fees. Domina said the landowners clearly asked for representation in the eminent domain cases, and TransCanada should pay their attorney fees because the company effectively lost those cases.

A TransCanada attorney, James Powers, argued that the landowners failed to prove that they actually paid or were legally indebted to Domina or his law partner, Brian Jorde.

“We’re pleased the Nebraska Supreme Court agreed with our legal position,” Powers said Friday.

Domina said he respected the decision but was disappointed for his clients.

“They have battled this pipeline so honorably and deserve so much credit,” he said. “When the history of Nebraska is written, these landowners will be one of its brightest spots. And the decision to risk the environment will be one of the most regrettable of our time.”

The proposed $8 billion, Canada-to-Texas pipeline has faced intense opposition from environmental groups, some property owners along the route and Native American tribes, who consider it a threat to their groundwater and property rights.

But the pipeline has won support from congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump, who approved a federal permit for the project. Business groups and some unions endorsed the project as a way to create jobs and reduce the risk of shipping oil by trains that can derail.

If completed, the pipeline would carry oil from Canada through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska, where it would connect to an existing pump station in Steele City, Nebraska. From there it would continue through Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas until it reaches Gulf Coast refineries.

TransCanada dropped its eminent domain claims in Nebraska after pipeline opponents raised significant questions about whether the law the company invoked could survive a court challenge. The law passed in 2012 allowed then-Gov. Dave Heineman to approve the pipeline route through Nebraska, bypassing an independent state commission that was legally entitled to review such projects. Heineman, a Republican, supported the pipeline.

TransCanada chose the more traditional route when it submitted a new application to the Nebraska Public Service Commission. The commission in November approved a slightly different route than the company would have preferred, prompting another appeal from landowners that’s expected to end up before the Nebraska Supreme Court. The court is expected to hear oral arguments in the case this fall.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — It’s time to spring forward again, as the country makes the switch to daylight-saving time.

Like those in almost all other states, residents in Nebraska and Iowa will trade an hour of sleep starting Sunday morning for an extra hour of sunlight in the evening.

The government expanded daylight-saving time in 2007 in an effort to save energy. It now begins on the second Sunday in March and continues until the first Sunday in November.

The official change occurs at 2 a.m. Sunday, local time, although people often change their clocks before going to bed Saturday night.

Daylight-saving time ends Nov. 4.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Tourism Commission has announced the 2018 stops for its popular “Nebraska Passport” program.

The passport unveiled Friday will feature 70 attractions including restaurants, museums, coffee shops and state parks. It was created to draw Nebraskans and out-of-state tourists to different parts of the state, where they can collect stamps to earn prizes.

Travelers have from May 1 through Sept. 30 to get stamps at the attractions. Passports will be available at participating stops or can be pre-ordered at NebraskaPassport.com.

Participants are also encouraged to download the Nebraska Passport app to collect digital stamps. Those who used the app last year will need to download an update on or after May 1.

The program is now in its ninth year.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers are slated to begin debate on a new $8.8 billion, two-year state budget.

The package is scheduled for legislative floor debate on Tuesday. The spending plan covers the rest of the current fiscal year and the following fiscal year, which ends on June 30, 2019.

It’s likely to spark a number of disagreements among senators. The budget imposes cuts on higher education, including the University of Nebraska. It also contains provisions designed to ensure that abortion providers don’t get federal family-planning money, although opponents say the wording could prevent low-income people from getting access to other health services as well.

The proposed budget would leave lawmakers with an ending balance of about $583,000 this year, potentially restricting their ability to spend on new programs or tax cuts.

CURTIS, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have charged a southwest Nebraska man who they say shoved his wife out of a pickup truck during an argument and ran over her.

Court records say 40-year-old Matthew Farr, of Curtis, is charged with felony assault and use of a deadly weapon — the pickup. A phone listed for Farr in Curtis wasn’t in service Friday. Court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for him.

Farr’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for April 6.

A court document says Farr and his wife were arguing when he reached over to open her truck door and pushed her out. The report says the pickup went forward, stopped atop her and then rolled off. She was flown to an Omaha hospital.

RUSHVILLE, Neb. (AP) — A former Nebraska state trooper has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor vehicular homicide and other charges for his part in a pursuit that led to a deadly crash.

Sheridan County Court records say 42-year-old Tim Flick entered the pleas Thursday. His trial is scheduled to begin June 4 in Rushville.

The charges stem from Flick’s role in the 2016 chase of an intoxicated motorist in Sheridan County.

Dashcam video features Flick saying he used a tactical vehicle intervention, a move that’s meant to bump a fleeing vehicle in order to get it to safely spin out. The vehicle crashed into a ditch and rolled, killing the driver, 32-year-old Antoine LaDeaux.

Court records say State Patrol officials later changed the story and said Flick’s car was struck by the fleeing vehicle.