SIDNEY, Neb. (AP) — About 300 employees at Cabela’s former headquarters in western Nebraska are taking buyouts this week, and afterward, the remaining operation in Sidney will be a fraction of the size it was before rival Bass Pro Shops bought the company.

Another 390 former Cabela’s employees also applied for buyouts, but no immediate action will be taken on those. Bass Pro spokesman Jack Wlezian says that after the cuts about 500 employees will remain in Sidney.

Cabela’s once employed more than 2,000 people at its sprawling Sidney headquarters. Bass Pro plans to offer the 550,000-square-feet of office space for $1 a year to other companies that want to move to the town of roughly 7,000 people.

Springfield, Missouri-based Bass Pro bought Cabela’s in a $5 billion deal last year.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill designed to prevent the new U.S. tax law from triggering an automatic tax increase in Nebraska has won initial approval from lawmakers.

Senators gave the measure first-round approval on Thursday with a 38-0 vote.

The bill seeks to neutralize most of the effects of the law approved by Congressional Republicans and President Donald Trump.

Nebraska’s tax system is changing because lawmakers have connected many parts of it to the federal tax code, leading to automatic shifts when federal tax laws change. The Nebraska Department of Revenue has said the federal law would generate an additional $220 million for the state unless lawmakers intervene.

Some lawmakers warn the bill could create future budget challenges if the department’s estimates are off.

Two more votes are required to pass it.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in Kearney for man accused of the drunken driving deaths of two people in south-central Nebraska.

Court records say 24-year-old Kalen Pfeiffer, of rural Amherst, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of manslaughter and one of drunken driving.

The crash occurred just before 3 a.m. on Feb. 4 last on a gravel road northwest of Amherst in Buffalo County. Investigators say a large pickup driven by Pfeiffer and carrying five other adults left the road, entered a roadside ditch and rolled.

Two of the passengers were pronounced dead at the scene: 21-year-old Amber Frerichs, of Bassett, and 29-year-old Neal Maloley, of Kearney.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Firefighters have been battling dozens of wildfires in Kansas and Nebraska that erupted since the weekend, but calmer winds on Wednesday helped crews extinguish nearly all of them.

In Nebraska, a burned man was found crawling in a McCook farm field Tuesday afternoon as 50 mph wind gusts whipped flames down a ravine toward the Red Willow County community of 7,500 people. The man, who had camped out in the area, has been transferred to a burn center.

Kansas authorities said 50 fires have burned about 40 square miles (103.6 square kilometers). Improving weather conditions Wednesday left crews in 13 Kansas counties fighting blazes that were contained or almost out. But by late afternoon, Kansas had just two fires burning in Wabaunsee and Greeley counties.

“Things are looking pretty good,” said Katie Horner, spokeswoman for the Kansas Adjutant General’s Office.

A blaze that broke out earlier Wednesday near Hamilton in Greenwood County prompted the Kansas Army National Guard to send Black Hawk helicopters to assist with the firefighting operations, helping to bring extinguish that blaze. By late Wednesday afternoon, two Black Hawks were still deployed to Wabaunsee County to help with tamp down that blaze.

This year’s wildfire outbreak in Kansas pales in comparison to March 2017 when some 2,000 firefighters battled a series of blazes that consumed more than 1,000 square miles, killed a truck driver, forced thousands to evacuate, and damaged or destroyed dozens of structures. Thousands of cattle also died.

Kansas Gov. Jeff Colyer said the state has learned a lot in the last couple years.

“This is something that can get out of control very easily, so we’re quite concerned still,” Colyer said. “But we’re dealing with it.”

The governor attributed the successful efforts this year to improvements in coordination between state and local emergency responders.

“They’ve experienced a lot together after the last couple of years,” Colyer said. “They know each other by name now. They’re closer.”

In southwest Nebraska, crews were dispatched to eliminate dangerous hot spots left by a wildfire that destroyed a house and blackened hundreds of acres as it threatened McCook.

As officials called for evacuations, students and staff at McCook Elementary School were taken to McCook Senior High School several blocks away.

People at the state prisons’ Work Ethic Camp spotted the fire and reported it to local officials around 1:20 p.m. Tuesday, but camp spokeswoman Cristy Schwartz said the 189 inmates and nearly 50 staffers didn’t have to leave the grounds.

Chief Bill Elliott of the Red Willow Western Rural Fire Department said wind gusts knocked a power line into a shed about 2 miles (3 kilometers) from town, and sparks from the resulting short ignited dry brush below.

The blaze never entered the city proper, but the flames did destroy a house on the edge of town while the residents weren’t home, Elliott said.

“The house right beside it — only 30 feet away — was not damaged,” he said.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Advocates who want to expand Medicaid in Nebraska under the federal health care law are launching a petition drive to place the issue on the November general election ballot.

A new campaign dubbed “Insure the Good Life” will formally announce the petition drive Friday at the Capitol.

If it passes, Nebraska would join 32 other states that have expanded coverage as part of the Affordable Care Act. Nebraska lawmakers have rejected five previous attempts to do so through legislation, and a proposed constitutional amendment introduced this year is stuck in committee.

Expanding Medicaid would provide coverage to an estimated 90,000 low-income adults between the ages of 19 and 64 who have no dependents. Gov. Pete Ricketts opposes expansion efforts, saying it would draw resources away from other vulnerable groups.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill that would create a formal procedure for minors to legally separate from their parents or guardians has advanced with overwhelming support in the Nebraska Legislature.

Sen. Sara Howard, of Omaha, said Wednesday she brought the bill on behalf of a constituent who found difficulty escaping an abusive family even after moving away from home. The bill would allow minors 16 or older who are married or living away from their parents to file for emancipation.

There are 21 states that offer pathways for minors to seek legal emancipation. Nebraska lawmakers considered similar bills in 2007 and 2016.

No one spoke in opposition to the bill during the January committee hearing or during the legislative debate. The bill advanced 35-0 to the second of three required votes.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A pitch to create a sovereign city in western Nebraska won’t come to fruition anytime soon.

The idea from a Nebraska lawmaker failed to muster enough support Wednesday to advance in the Legislature, although several senators praised it as clever.

The proposal would have allowed senators to designate a 36-square-mile stretch of land as sovereign, not subject to Nebraska laws or regulations. Voters would first have to approve the idea.

The measure was introduced by Sen. Paul Schumacher, of Columbus, who is known for his out-of-the-box ideas.

Schumacher says he envisions a modern city or business development in western Nebraska, at the intersection of Interstates 80 and 76. The area is extremely rural, but Schumacher says it’s well-positioned between Cheyenne, Denver and Omaha.

The proposal stalled on a 19-19 vote.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The Plains farm aid nonprofit Farm Rescue is accepting applications for spring crop-planting assistance.

Farm Rescue provides free physical labor for farmers and ranchers dealing with an injury, illness or a natural disaster. It relies on volunteers from around the country, donations and corporate sponsors.

It was launched in North Dakota in 2006 and has since expanded to South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Montana and Nebraska. Its services include crop planting and harvesting, haying, and hay and grain hauling.

It has helped more than 525 farm families through the years.

LEXINGTON, Neb. (AP) — Court records say a 38-year-old man charged with murder in south-central Nebraska’s Dawson County plans to rely on an insanity defense.

The records also say attorneys for Jose Regalado-Mendez have asked a judge to delay legal proceedings so Regalado-Mendez can have another sanity evaluation. Last month he was found competent for trial in the fatal shooting of Jose Hernandez.

Prosecutors say Regalado-Mendez shot Hernandez in October 2016 and hid the body near a farmhouse north of Lexington. The remains were found Dec. 12, 2016.

Regalado-Mendez has pleaded not guilty to charges of first-degree murder and to use of a firearm to commit a felony.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A University of Nebraska-Lincoln student has been accused of having a concealed handgun on campus.

Court records say 21-year-old Joseph Dembowski is charged with a felony: unlawful possession of a firearm on school grounds. His attorney, Megan Theesen, declined to comment Wednesday.

University police say a staff member in the Military and Naval Sciences Building noticed Dembowski had a handgun magazine on March 1 and asked whether Dembowski had a gun. Police say Dembowski replied that he had a handgun in his backpack.

Police say Dembowski cooperated with officers called to the scene, turning over the weapon.

Students and university employees can store their guns in free lockers on campus.

Dembowski’s next court hearing is set for April 5.