OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Turnover is increasing among Nebraska prison guards despite the state’s efforts to improve pay.

Turnover increased to 34 percent among prison guards last year from the previous year’s 31 percent, even though the state is giving 7 percent pay increases to guards.

Nebraska’s prison system is being scrutinized closely by lawmakers and other officials because of several incidents, including two deadly riots at Tecumseh State Prison since 2015 and ongoing overcrowding throughout the system.

State prison guards are often forced to work overtime to help fill shifts left vacant because of the staff shortages. And guards with some experience can find better pay and hours by taking a job at a county jail in Lincoln or Omaha.

Recently, the Corrections Department started using a state van to drive 10 guards from Omaha to and from the Tecumseh State Prison while being paid for the time to help ease shortages. Corrections Director Scott Frakes said the van program will be expanded to 40 guards.

Frakes said increasing pay is only part of the solution. Past incidents at the prisons and assaults on staff also affect retention.

State Sen. John Stinner of Gering, who leads the Appropriations Committee, said he’s frustrated with the continuing problems at the prisons. Stinner said he thinks corrections’ long-running problems with staff turnover might not be fixable given the current budget constraints.

Stinner said he thinks the state may have to rethink its approach to the problem. A new contract with the state employees union will be negotiated later this year.

Currently, the starting wage for most prison guards is $16.74 an hour, although many new workers are being hired at the rank of corporal, which pays $18.16 an hour.

That lags behind the $20.38 an hour Sarpy County Jail guards receive and the $18.30 per hour the Lancaster County Jail pays new guards. In Lancaster County, the pay jumps to $21.22 an hour after a year.

OFFUTT AIR FORCE BASE, Neb. (AP) — The Air Force says a tornado that tore through a Nebraska base last June caused nearly $20 million in damage.

The damage included $9.4 million to Offutt Air Force Base’s buildings and trees and slightly more than $10 million to at least 10 military planes — including two of the Pentagon’s four “doomsday” planes. Those two E-4B Nightwatch aircraft serve as aerial command centers for top military officials in case of a catastrophic national emergency.

The roofs of 32 buildings on the base were damaged. Col. Dave Norton, 55th Wing Mission Support Group commander, says only 12 of the buildings received permanent roof repairs before winter set in. He says more than $5 million in repair work hasn’t been completed.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The ACLU of Nebraska wants public officials not to block critics from expressing their views on government-affiliated social media accounts.

The Nebraska ACLU sent letters to officials on Thursday encouraging them to correct problems before the organization resorts to legal action. The organization has received complaints regarding U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert, the state’s congressional delegation and the York County Sheriff’s Office.

Elected officials who block people from official accounts are violating the First Amendment, said Amy Miller, the Nebraska ACLU’s legal director.

“We would not tolerate a government agency kicking a concerned constituent out of a public hearing just because they disagree with an elected official,” Miller said. “The same principles apply in the digital age.”

Officials should stop blocking access to official accounts, stop deleting critical comments and give access back to those who’d been blocked, the Nebraska ACLU said. Lawmakers can also maintain private accounts if they don’t use them to conduct official government business or can delete their official accounts entirely since there is no requirement to have a presence on social media, the organization said.

A spokeswoman for Fischer said staff members are reviewing settings on the senator’s social media pages.

Stothert said she doesn’t block people for criticizing her on Facebook, but she does hide comments and ban posters who violate her Facebook page’s terms of use. Omaha’s law department helped draft the terms, which say Stothert can remove inappropriate or offensive comments and that those who promote racism or violate the rules may be banned from posting. Some posts to her page included vulgar language and name-calling.

“I don’t want to leave these things on there,” Stothert said, noting that her page is viewed by young people.

U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith and U.S. Sen. Ben Sasse don’t block critics from their social media pages, according to spokespeople for both lawmakers.

The ACLU has filed lawsuits in Kentucky, Maine and Maryland over officials blocking constituents.

TECUMSEH, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska prison system officials say a staffer at the state prison in Tecumseh has suffered a concussion after being kicked in the face by an inmate.

A news release Friday from the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services says the incident happened Thursday night when the inmate fought with staffers.

Officials say staff members found the inmate on the floor of his cell and took him to the prison’s nursing facility. While being escorted, the inmate went limp, and then began fighting with the three staff members escorting him.

Officials say the inmate kicked one of the staffers in the face, causing the concussion.

Officials did not release the names of the inmate or the injured staffer.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The son of a former University of Nebraska athletic director has been charged with producing child pornography.

18-year-old Jack Eichorst appeared Friday in Lancaster County Court on Friday, where a judge allowed Eichorst to be released on a personal recognizance bond.

Eichorst had been arrested last year on suspicion of the sexual assault of two minors, but prosecutors opted not to bring that charge. Eichorst’s attorney, Sean Brennan, says Eichorst is autistic and that his level of sophistication and maturity is well below that of an 18-year-old.

Eichorst is the son of former University of Nebraska Athletic Director Shawn Eichorst, who was fired Sept. 21 after a five-year stint on the job.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The state treasurer’s office is seeking to return $170 million in unclaimed property to more than 350,000 Nebraskans and former Nebraskans.

The names of nearly 31,000 people owed money or property will be published in state newspapers this month and in April. A list of those owed unclaimed property may be found on the office’s website at www.treasurer.org.

Under state law, the state treasurer is responsible for handling unclaimed property. Examples include health claim payments, dividends, utility deposits, life insurance proceeds, wages, stocks, outstanding checks, safety deposit boxes and unused gift certificates.

The list of names of those owed money or property will appear in the Omaha World-Herald and Scottsbluff Star-Herald on Sunday. It will be published in 14 more Nebraska newspapers in the coming weeks.

The Director of the North Platte Housing authority is facing numerous felony charges following an investigation by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office.

On March 1, 2018, Investigators of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office made contact with 42-year old Hershey resident, Jennifer Smith. Smith was arrested and placed in the Lincoln County Detention Center.

Smith was charged with Theft by Deception, Value $5000.00 or more a Class IIA Felony, Aiding Consummation of a Felony a Class IV Felony, Unauthorized use of a Financial Transaction Device, Value $5000.00 or more a Class IIA Felony, and Two Counts of Pattern of Racketeering Activity or Collection of an Unlawful Debt a Class III Felony.

This Investigation into this case continues and additional charges are pending.

Mid-Plains Community College students will pay $3 more per credit hour beginning the fall 2018 term. The MPCC Board of Governors voted to raise resident tuition from $89 per credit hour to $92, an increase of 2.88 percent, at their meeting Wednesdaynight.

The $15 per credit hour service fee will not change. The total resident tuition and fees will be $107 per credit hour. A student taking 15 hours of credit classes will pay an additional $45 per semester. The resident senior citizen rate will be $32 per credit hour.

MPCC offers in-state tuition to students residing in Nebraska, Colorado, Kansas, South Dakota and Wyoming.

Non-resident tuition will increase $4 per credit hour or 3.05 percent. That equates to a change in tuition and fees from $131 to $135 beginning in the fall of 2018. It should be noted that non-resident tuition represents 130 percent more than resident tuition. The non-resident senior citizen rate will be $42 per credit hour.

The Board also approved new room and board rates for 2018-19. The cost of housing in both McCook and North Platte will increase by $50 per semester across the board.

“Based on projections from some of the other community colleges in Nebraska, MPCC’s increase in tuition is the second lowest in the state,” said MPCC President Ryan Purdy. “It’s difficult to compare housing because of the numerous options available, but it would appear that on average MPCC has the lowest room and board costs within the rest of the state’s community colleges.”

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska is expected to gain an additional $55 million in tax revenue in its current two-year budget, according to new estimates approved Wednesday, but lawmakers still won’t have much money at their disposal.

Senators will now have a little less than $627,000 available for new spending in this year’s session, based on the tentative budget crafted by the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee. Committee members updated their proposed spending plan in response to Wednesday’s projections by the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board.

Lawmakers faced a projected $173 million revenue shortfall at the beginning of this year’s session, and the current budget-balancing proposal draws heavily from Nebraska’s emergency cash reserve fund to make up the difference.

Sen. John Stinner of Gering, the Appropriations Committee chairman, said replenishing some of the money lawmakers withdrew was his top concern because state revenues could continue to struggle.

“I think we have to be careful and prudent about how we treat this,” Stinner said.

In a statement, Gov. Pete Ricketts sounded a similar note of caution and said the agencies he controls will continue to restrain their spending.

“These new numbers seem to indicate a growing economy, but we must remain cautious through the end of the fiscal year,” he said. The money that flows automatically to the cash reserve “should not be used for spending.”

The forecasting board predicted that Nebraska state government will collect $4.53 billion in the current fiscal year, a $25 million increase over its previous projections. By law, that money will automatically go into the cash reserve.

The state is also expected to receive $4.705 billion in the next fiscal year, which is $30 million higher than earlier estimates.

Complicating the issue is the prospect that federal tax changes approved by President Donald Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress could leave the state with an additional $335 million in state tax revenue.

Because Nebraska’s tax system is closely tied with the federal system, the federal law is set to trigger a series of automatic tax increases in Nebraska by eliminating the personal exemption and increasing the standard deduction. A Nebraska family of four would pay at least $536 more in state taxes each year.

Ricketts has proposed a bill that would neutralize most of those changes, although the state is still expected to see an $8 million boost in corporate income tax revenue.

Even so, the federal tax changes have created a great deal of uncertainty for Nebraska’s budget, said Renee Fry, executive director of the OpenSky Policy Institute.

“Today’s revenue forecast is welcome news considering our recent revenue struggles, but it must be taken with a grain of salt,” Fry said.

Members of the forecasting board said Nebraska’s economy appears to be faring well, and some suggested that agriculture might be recovering after several years of low commodity prices.

“There are some people who are still struggling in the ag sector, but I think overall it has stabilized,” said board member David Ochsner of Nelson.

Board member Richard McGinnis of Kearney warned that proposed cuts to the University of Nebraska could harm his local economy in central Nebraska.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Officials say The Archway over Interstate 80 in Kearney operated in the black last year — a fiscal first for the tourist attraction.

Executive director Eric Hellreigel reported Tuesday that 2017’s operational revenue of nearly $800,000 topped expenses by nearly 3 percent.

The Archway also receives annual subsidies of $150,000 from the Kearney Area Visitors Bureau and $75,000 from the city of Kearney. The subsidies are covering deferred maintenance.

The Archway features exhibits commemorating the Oregon, Mormon and California pioneer trails and the nation’s highway systems and railroads. It struggled after its opening in 2001 and was forced into bankruptcy in 2013 following years of disappointing attendance. Attendance has exceeded expectations in recent years.