LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill designed to curb prescription painkiller abuse won first-round approval Monday from Nebraska lawmakers, who said it would help prevent addiction and overdose deaths.

The measure would bar doctors from prescribing more than a seven-day supply of opioids to patients under the age of 19. Photo identification would be required to pick up the prescriptions and doctors would need to warn patients about the risk of addiction and overdoses.

Sen. Sara Howard, of Omaha, said she introduced the bill to honor her sister, Carrie, who died from an opioid overdose in 2009.

After a car crash and several back surgeries, Howard said her sister was prescribed more than 4,500 narcotic pills during the last five months of her life. Howard has the rows of pill bottles displayed in her office.

She said the measure would prevent other families from experiencing heartbreak caused by addiction.

“My mom and I were planning a funeral instead of planning a wedding,” she said. “We were cleaning out her house instead of helping her build a home, and that is not fair.”

Sen. John Kuehn, of Heartwell, said painkiller addictions often begin in the doctor’s office. Addressing concerns about prescription practices will keep Nebraska from joining the nationwide opioid epidemic, he said.

A report from the Pew Charitable Trust shows that Nebraska is one of 14 states that have seen a decline in opioid addiction and death rates. The National Institute on Drug Abuse reports that between 8 and 12 percent of patients prescribed opioids develop an addiction and about 115 Americans die from an overdose daily.

Sen. Tyson Larson, of O’Neill, took issue with the photo identification requirement, comparing it to debates about voter identification. He argued that photo identification could create barriers for patients to access medications.

Other opponents said requiring doctors to note in a patient’s medical history that they discussed the dangers of prescription opioids could be troublesome because it could leave doctors open to potential lawsuits if they fail to make formal note of the conversation.

Howard said she plans to add amendments before the bill is debated again. Her proposed changes are intended to address concerns from the Nebraska Medical Association and would clarify the identification requirement to allow for prescriptions to be picked up by caregivers, or exemptions when the pharmacist knows the patient.

The measure advanced 47-0 to the second of three required votes.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — State officials must pay more than $197,000 to the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska after the group successfully challenged a ban on same-sex couples serving as foster parents.

The payment request presented to a legislative committee on Monday would reimburse the ACLU of Nebraska for attorney fees and costs generated during the case.

The ACLU of Nebraska filed the lawsuit in 2013 on behalf of three same-sex couples. The Nebraska Supreme Court ordered the payment and slammed the 1995 policy, which included an online posting that “heterosexuals only” need apply to be foster parents.

State attorneys argued that the Department of Health and Human Services had quietly stopped enforcing the ban in 2012, making the matter moot.

Lawmakers have to formally approve the payment because it exceeds $50,000.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have advanced new sexual abuse reporting requirements designed to protect state wards, detained juveniles and other at-risk youths.

Lawmakers gave the measure first-round approval Monday with a 37-0 vote.

The proposal by Sen. Sue Crawford of Bellevue would require reporting of all allegations of sexual abuse of state wards, juveniles on probation, detained juveniles and juveniles in a residential child-caring agency. Reports would go the Office of Inspector General of Nebraska Child Welfare, which reports to the Legislature.

State agencies are already required to report cases of death or serious injury to the inspector general.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A former Lancaster County attorney has been sworn in as U.S. attorney for Nebraska.

The U.S. Senate confirmed Joe Kelly for the post on Feb. 15, and he took office Friday.

The 61-year-old Kelly was in his second term as Lancaster attorney when nominated for the federal post by President Donald Trump. Kelly had previously worked as chief deputy attorney and deputy attorney in Lancaster County. He received his bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Kelly replaces Deborah Gilg (gihlg), who became Nebraska’s first female U.S. attorney after being nominated by President Barack Obama.

SEWARD, Neb. (AP) — Concordia University in Seward has been given $10 million for a new center for science, math, and business.

The Lutheran-affiliated university said in a news release Monday that the money comes from Rupert Dunklau Foundation. Rupert Dunklau served as executive vice president of Valmont Industries before his retirement in 1973. Rupert, who died in 2016, and his first wife, Ruth, who died in 1998, established the foundation.

The gift will be combined with other donations to fund the entire $24 million project. What will be called the Dunklau Center for Science, Math, and Business is expected to be ready for occupancy in late fall next year.

• Robert Paul Schoenfelder, 64, Albuquerque NM, and Deonna Kay Hernandez, 52, Albuquerque NM

 

• Brock Benson Swedberg, 37, North Platte and Amber Lea Cummings, 37, North Platte

 

• Simon Luna Martinez Jr, 36, North Platte and Chelsea Alexis Turnbull, 32, North Platte

 

• Joshua Edward Guynan, 29, North Platte and Jessica Ann Cahill, 26, North Platte

 

• Chad Ora Williams, 33, North Platte and Relissa Grace Williams, 30, North Platte

 

• Tristan Dean Houlden, 22, North Platte and Breonna Rae Graves, 20, North Platte

 

• Tre Zane Fisher, 20, North Platte and Kasey Jo Wellmann. 19, Gothenburg

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Sex trafficking victims with a prostitution conviction could clear their criminal record under a bill Nebraska lawmakers will consider this year, the latest step in a larger effort to protect people who were coerced into prostitution.

The bill would allow human trafficking survivors to ask a judge to set aside their conviction and seal their criminal record for offenses they committed while under a trafficker’s influence.

The measure is part of a push to focus less on punishing trafficking survivors and more on targeting traffickers and sex purchasers, said Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, who sponsored the legislation.

Lawmakers have taken a more aggressive approach to human trafficking in the last five years, passing laws to increase penalties for traffickers and buyers, allow former victims to sue their traffickers and provide legal immunity to trafficking victims who are caught working as prostitutes.

Pansing Brooks said traffickers exert tremendous control over their victims, often taking their money and identification.

The victims, usually women and girls, are frequently kept in prostitution through threats, violence and drug addiction. They’re often forced to commit other crimes as well, such as burglary or selling drugs, Pansing Brooks said.

“It’s two people with power — the trafficker and the purchaser — exerting influence over some very vulnerable people,” she said. Victims “are under total control of someone who forces them to commit these bad acts.”

Under the bill, survivors would have to prove they were trafficked using phone records, online ads, sworn testimony or other evidence to prevent people from abusing the system.

Trafficking survivors with a criminal conviction tend to struggle to find housing and a job that gives them economic security, said Meghan Malik, who works on human trafficking issues through the nonprofit Women’s Fund of Omaha. Without that support, she said, trafficking victims frequently fall back into prostitution.

“Often times, they feel the deck is stacked against them,” she said. “It becomes a cyclical pattern. These kinds of convictions can prevent a trafficking victim from creating a new life.”

Malik said 34 other states already have laws to clear a trafficking victim’s record.

Traffickers generally operate along Interstate 80 and in larger cities, although Malik said their reach extends statewide. In a report last year, the Women’s Fund identified major hotspots in Omaha, Lincoln, Grand Island, North Platte, Scottsbluff, and surrounding communities.

Much of the activity in Grand Island takes place around its numerous truck stops, said Sen. Dan Quick, whose district includes the city. Quick designated the record-clearing legislation as his “priority bill” for the year, increasing the odds that lawmakers debate it before their session ends.

“We need to help them as much as we can, help them turn their lives around,” he said. “I don’t want that to happen to anyone’s children.”

Douglas County Sheriff Tim Dunning said the Legislature’s recent focus on trafficking victims could encourage some to work with law enforcement and seek treatment by easing their fears of prosecution. The vast majority suffer from drug and alcohol problems, he said.

Dunning said his agency and others have been working with motels to spot signs of human trafficking, and conduct regular sting operations to catch buyers.

Karen Bowling, executive director of the Nebraska Family Alliance, said her group started advocating for such laws after she met a woman 10 years ago who had been cited on prostitution and drug charges. Bowling said the woman had been under the influence of a trafficker and was addicted to drugs, and resorted to prostitution later in life to survive.

“There’s absolutely the potential that this could have helped,” Bowling said. “You’re talking about a woman who got pulled into it out of desperation. Once she got ticketed, it really did follow her.”

ASHLAND, Neb. (AP) — People will be able to sample the state’s wines, craft beers and spirits at the fifth annual Sip Nebraska festival.

The event is scheduled for May 11-12 at Eugene T. Mahoney State Park near Ashland.

There will be live music, food, and artisan and craft vendors as well as yoga classes, trolley tours of the park and salsa, hip-hop and line dancing lessons.

Ticket prices include park entry permits. A limited number of cabins, lodge rooms and campsites are being held for guests. Make reservations at 402-882-2448.

Go online at Sipnebraska.com for more information and to buy tickets.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has ruled that Nebraska’s largest public power utility must open its books and disclose the expense of generating electricity from its individual power plants.

The decision Friday came in the case of an open records lawsuit against Nebraska Public Power District brought by Lincoln-based energy firm Aksamit Resource Management. Aksamit is a private company that seeks to compete with NPPD.

NPPD had refused Aksamit’s repeated requests for the information, arguing that doing so amounted to revealing trade secrets. A district court agreed with the larger utility, and Aksamit appealed.

But the Nebraska Supreme Court overruled the lower court’s finding, saying a public entity must show that there is no public purpose served by releasing records it wants to keep from public view. The high court says NPPD failed to show that.

WindSync, an internationally recognized wind quintet, will perform at the Fox Theater in the Neville Center for the Performing Arts, at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, March 5, 2018, in the fourth concert of the North Platte Concert Association’s 2017-2018 series.

Corporate sponsors of WindSync are Great Western Bank and KNOP-TV.

A young and energetic ensemble, WindSync will present familiar classical music and some lighter tunes.

A winner of the 2012 Concert Artists Guild International Competition, this dynamic ensemble features five young virtuoso musicians who perform exclusively from memory.  Their concerts are enhanced by their excellent communication skills and creative stage presentation, and they appeal to people of all ages. According to Houston Public Radio, WindSync is “innovative, unconventional and exciting.”

Members of this Houston-based quartet are Garrett Hudson, flute, a native of Winnipeg, Manitoba; Emily Tsai, oboe, from the DC area, Julian Hernandez, clarinet, originally from Puerto Rico; Kara LaMoure, bassoon, originally from Dallas, TX, and Anni Hochhalter, horn, a native of the West Coast.  Now in its ninth season, the group has toured extensively.

Admission to the concert is with season membership in the North Platte Concert Association. Individual adult tickets are $50, family memberships are $100, and student tickets are $15. Memberships will be sold at the Neville Center before the concert on March 5.