SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — Visitors to a western Nebraska zoo will have the opportunity to cast their votes to name two orphaned grizzly cubs on display.

Visitors to Riverside Discovery Center in Scottsbluff will have through March 15 to cast their votes. The zoo also will choose two voters at random to win a 25-inch stuffed bear as a “thank you” for participating.

The cubs were orphaned last spring when a Wyoming black bear hunter illegally killed their mother. Wildlife officials had hoped the cubs would survive in the wild without their mother, but it became clear after several months they would not. Officials then captured the cubs to find them a new home.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Chicken salad sold at Fareway grocery stores in five Midwest states has been pulled from stores and consumers are advised to throw it away after it made people sick in Iowa.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service on Wednesday issued a public health alert about the Fareway Chicken Salad sold in Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Nebraska and South Dakota.

It was produced between Dec. 15 and Feb. 13 and was sold in plastic deli containers with a Fareway store deli label.

The Iowa Department of Public Health contacted federal officials on Feb. 9 after an illness was reported. A spokeswoman declined to release the number of people sickened.

Salmonella, a bacterial illness, can cause diarrhea, abdominal cramps, and fever. Some people develop severe symptoms that require hospitalization.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska state government saw a surge in tax revenue last month.

The Department of Revenue on Thursday reported net tax collections of $421 million in January, which is 11.1 percent above projections. Nebraska received $42 million above the $379 million the state was expected to collect.

Net tax receipts have been higher than expected so far in the current fiscal year. The state has collected nearly $2.59 billion so far, up from the certified forecast of $2.5 billion.

The recent uptick could help lawmakers who are trying to balance the state budget in this year’s session.

Gov. Pete Ricketts warned in a statement that the higher revenue isn’t necessarily a sign of a long-term turnaround. Ricketts says federal tax changes may continue to have a short-term impact on state revenues.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill designed to keep minors away from indoor tanning beds drew strong support Thursday from Nebraska lawmakers who pitched it as a way to prevent skin cancer, but some senators said it could lead to unintended consequences.

The proposal would make Nebraska one of 15 states that prohibit anyone younger than 18 years old from using the beds.

Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln said the bill will protect youths who do not fully understand the consequences tanning can have on their long-term health. She compared it to laws that restrict minors from purchasing cigarettes or alcohol.

A Nebraska law passed in 2014 allows children under 16 to use beds at a tanning facility with parental consent. Initial versions of the law aimed to restrict access entirely for anyone under 16, but a compromise was reached to help the bill pass.

Tanning rates for Nebraska teens are higher than the nationwide average. The 2015 Nebraska Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that 22 percent of high school seniors in the state report using indoor tanning equipment within the last year, compared to 16 percent nationwide.

Supporters pointed to studies that link indoor tanning to cancer and noted not all parents know enough about UV rays to make informed decisions.

“Those mistakes that parents who don’t have the will, or don’t have enough time to investigate, or don’t have enough time to become educated about the UV rays make it so that it’s dangerous for our children in Nebraska,” said Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln.

Sen. Rick Kolowski of Omaha said his experience as a high school principal led him to support the bill. He said he saw teens tan to conform to peer pressure to fit in and look good, which led to significant health issues later.

Wishart said teens could still get spray tans, which is the only part of the tanning industry that is continuously growing.

Opponents to the bill said it would hurt tanning facility businesses. They said it would be ineffective and force teens to seek alternative ways to use indoor tanning, such as home beds, while restricting parental rights.

Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha said some tanning facilities aren’t enforcing the current state requirements. Changing how the current law is enforced on tanning salons would be more effective and ensure teens have access to safe, clean equipment, he said.

Tanning facilities in Nebraska currently face no licensing requirements or regulations.

Lawmakers adjourned for the day before voting on the measure. Wishart said she will consider compromises on the bill, but expects to see it on the floor again.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nine organizations covering several states have filed lawsuits seeking to reverse a decision by President Donald Trump’s administration to cut short funding for teen pregnancy prevention programs.

The lawsuits were filed Thursday on behalf of three Planned Parenthood affiliates, including those covering Alaska, Idaho, Iowa, Hawaii, Nebraska and Washington state, as well as organizations in North Carolina, South Carolina, Louisiana, Texas and Maryland.

The lawsuits — filed in federal courts in Washington, Maryland, and the District of Columbia — say the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services unlawfully plans to end the five-year Teen Pregnancy Prevention Program grants in June after three years. The funding, which offers about $100 million annually, provides sex education, youth development and abstinence education.

A spokesman for HHS said Thursday that the agency cannot comment on pending litigation.

Kearney police are investigating an armed robbery at a local bar.

At approximately 2:00 a.m., on February 15, 2018, Kearney Police officers were dispatched to Cunningham’s Journal, 15 W. 23rd Street, in downtown Kearney, in response to an armed robbery which had just occurred.

A man wearing a ski mask entered the business after closing and confronted a female employee at gunpoint and demanded money. The suspect departed on foot with cash and possibly a bottle of alcohol.

A description of the suspect was broadcast to officers, and at approximately 2:14 a.m., a sergeant with the Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office observed the suspect matching the description, walking in the area of 31st Street and 2nd Avenue. Police say 21-year-old Benjamin Luethke, of Kearney, was arrested without incident for Robbery, Burglary, Use of a firearm to commit a felony, possession of burglar tools, and carrying a concealed weapon.

There were no injuries reported during this incident.

CHADRON, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a woman was arrested after an estimated $500,000 worth of marijuana was found in her car at a northwest Nebraska convenience store.

Chadron Police Chief Tim Lordino says two officers were sent to the Chadron store Wednesday to check a driver asleep in a car next to one of the gas pumps. Lordino says one of the officers spotted what he believed was a methamphetamine pipe and soon gained the woman’s permission to search. He discovered what he suspected was meth.

The chief says the officers stopped looking for drugs until a warrant could be obtained. He says their search turned up nearly 70 pounds (32 kilograms) of pot and nearly $6,800 after the warrant was granted.

Online records don’t yet show that the woman’s been formally charged.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a winter storm and slick road conditions likely contributed to a two-vehicle crash in central Nebraska last week that killed one man and injured a teenager.

The Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office says 30-year-old Ignacio Machado Rosario died at the scene when his westbound car went out of control on U.S. Highway 30 near Gibbon on Friday, crossed the center line and hit an eastbound pickup.

The crashed happened Friday afternoon as snow and high winds swept the area.

The pickup driver, a 17-year-old from Hastings, was taken to a Kearney hospital, treated and released.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — A Gibbon man originally placed on probation for sexually assaulting a 12-year-old girl has now been sentenced to prison for the offense.

Taylor Welty-Hackett was sentenced Monday to one to five years in prison.

The sentence comes after the Nebraska Court of Appeals in December overturned a decision by Buffalo County District Judge Bill Wright to sentence Welty-Hackett to four years of intensive supervised probation. Welty-Hackett had been convicted of sexually assaulting the girl in 2015.

At the sentencing hearing, Wright had called the victim the “aggressor” and said “she made the advances.” Buffalo County Attorney Shawn Eatherton appealed the sentence.

With credit for time already served, Welty-Hackett will be eligible for parole in three months.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska school bus drivers will no longer have to pay a $5 annual permit fee to the state under a bill signed by Gov. Pete Ricketts.

Ricketts announced Wednesday he has signed the measure into law as part of a larger occupational licensing package. The Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles says it issued approximately 4,900 school bus permits in 2016.

The bill By Sen. Suzanne Geist of Lincoln doesn’t change any requirements imposed by the Nebraska Department of Education. Drivers will still have to undergo drug and alcohol testing, behind the wheel training and criminal background checks.