LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s corrections department has notified a second death-row inmate of the drugs it intends to use for his execution.

The Department of Correctional Services sent the letter Friday to Carey Dean Moore, who has been on death row since 1980 for fatally shooting two Omaha taxicab drivers.

No execution date has been scheduled, and the department currently faces a lawsuit challenging its efforts to proceed with one.

The department says it plans to execute Moore with diazepam, fentanyl citrate, cisatracurium besylate and potassium chloride.

Nebraska officials provided the same notice on Nov. 9 to death-row inmate Jose Sandoval, who was convicted for his role in a 2002 Norfolk bank robbery and shooting. No execution date has been set in that case.

BENKELMAN, Neb. (AP) — A former Dundy County sheriff’s deputy accused of kidnapping and molesting a woman in his patrol car has been convicted.

The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office says a jury convicted 37-year-old Charles Thibedeau on Thursday of kidnapping, third-degree sexual assault and oppression under color of office.

Prosecutors say Thibedeau sent Facebook messages to the 26-year-old victim last year asking her to meet him in a remote location to discuss a law enforcement matter. Prosecutors say Thibedeau lied to the woman about an imminent search by police of her home, then demanded to touch her breasts. When she refused, Thibedeau threatened her with a fictitious warrant, handcuffed her and placed her in his patrol vehicle. He then touched her bare breasts and later released her.

Thibedeau faces up to 50 years in prison when he’s sentenced March 5.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska State Fair Board has announced the hiring of a new executive director from Montana.

The board announced Friday that it has hired Lori Cox as the new Nebraska State Fair director. Cox comes from the Big Sky Country State Fair in Montana and has a background in 4-H and production agriculture. Cox assumes her new duties immediately.

She is in the process of relocating to Grand Island.

In a news release, Cox says she hopes to build on the Nebraska State Fair’s rich history while “accelerating the steady growth that the Fair has seen.”

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Nebraska has chosen one of its own executives to be its next chief executive.

The insurer says Steven Grandfield will replace Steve Martin as president and CEO in March. Martin is retiring after leading the company for 16 years.

Grandfield currently oversees strategic planning, innovation, sales and marketing at Blue Cross.

The insurer’s board chairman, George Beattie, says Grandfield understands the complex business well.

Blue Cross’s board worked to find Martin’s successor over the past year and considered internal and external candidates.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska is trying to transform its 50-year-old 911 system to better locate calls made on cellphones, according to public safety officials.

Four of every five 911 calls in the state are made on cellphones but the current system can’t receive GPS data to help locate those who call from a cellphone.

“You’d be surprised how often people don’t know where they’re at,” said Tom Casady, director of Lincoln Public Safety.

The 911 center gets a general location from a cellphone tower when a call is taken, Casady said. Authorities can triangulate a cellphone caller’s location within about 300 meters as the call progresses, he said.

“(It’s) not nearly as precise as people are led to believe from movies,” Casady said. “And not nearly as precise as they’re led to believe from the apps that they use every day on their phone.”

Cellphone callers in urban areas can be even more difficult to track down because of imprecise call-locating methods, Casady said.

In contrast, calls from landlines automatically deliver an address to the 911 center, he said.

Officials are considering adopting a new system called Next Generation 911, said Dave Sankey, the state’s 911 director. The system would rely on internet calling, which will allow more information to be transmitted when calls are made, he said.

State Sen. Curt Friesen of Henderson introduced a bill that would create an advisory group to explore the issue for the Public Service Commission. The group would make recommendations regarding the system before the commission puts out an official bid. That could occur as early as next Fall, Sankey said.

Sankey said his staff is already working to create accurate geographic information system maps of city and county boundaries, law enforcement jurisdictions, fire districts, streets and home addresses. These maps will help 911 dispatchers send the right services to the right places, he said.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A winter storm has Nebraska and parts of Iowa and Kansas in its crosshairs.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm warning for most of Nebraska, starting Saturday evening in western Nebraska and continuing through Sunday night across much of the state. The service says up to a foot of snow could fall on Scottsbluff, Chadron and other western cities. The service says up to 8 inches of snow could hit central and northeastern parts of the state, as well as in northwestern Iowa on Sunday into Monday.

Other parts of Iowa and a section of Nebraska from north of Omaha to an area south of Hastings could see a wintry mix and freezing rain.

A winter storm warning has been issued for the northwest corner of Kansas, with an outer band extending to Garden City up through the north-central border included in a winter weather advisory.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A federal appeals court has rejected the appeal of a former Nebraska bank executive convicted of fraud and sentenced to 11 years in federal prison.

The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday affirmed Lundstrom’s conviction, sentence and his part of a $3.1 million restitution award.

The former TierOne Bank CEO and Gothenburg native was sentenced in 2016 after he was found guilty of 12 counts related to the 2010 failure of the Lincoln-based bank.

Prosecutors said Lundstrom and other bank officers hid losses from regulators and shareholders.

Lundstrom testified he never knowingly provided false information to investors or federal regulators.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska state lawmaker has delivered on his promise to introduce new voter identification bills.

Sen. John Murante of Gretna submitted three measures Wednesday he said were needed to address potential voter fraud. Critics have blasted such measures as an effort to disenfranchise Democratic-leaning voters.

One measure would require officials to check voter records for dead people and confirm the citizenship status of all registered voters.

Another would permit the use of electronic books that poll workers could use to identify voters. The third would require voters to show a government-issued identification at the polls.

Murante says 97 percent of registered voters have a form of identification that qualifies, and those who don’t could get one from the secretary of state’s office.

Murante is a Republican candidate for state treasurer.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A federal judge has dismissed portions of a lawsuit that says Nebraska’s overcrowded prisons give inadequate health care, overuse solitary confinement and discriminate against disabled inmates.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska filed the lawsuit in August on behalf of disabled inmates against the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services, the State Board of Parole and leaders in those agencies. The lawsuit alleges that the parole board’s evaluation of prisoners at parole hearings disproportionately screens out inmates with disabilities and that the board lacks a policy for providing disabled inmates services.

The state filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in November, arguing that the 11 inmates named in the suit lacked legal standing and hadn’t incurred injuries.

“Being denied parole due to criteria that improperly discriminate against those with disabilities would be an actual injury,” said U.S. District Judge Robert Rossiter.

Rossiter on Tuesday ruled that while the lawsuit can move forward, the state agencies can’t be sued directly. Claims alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act will move forward, as will civil-rights claims against prisons director Scott Frakes, parole administrator Julie Micek and the prisons director of health services Harbans Deol.

“This is a complete victory for us. All of our claims survive, all of our claims go forward,” said David Fathi, who directs the ACLU’s national effort to ensure civil rights of prison inmates.

However, the state doesn’t view the decision as a loss.

“We appreciate the court’s partial dismissal of this lawsuit and look forward to defending the remainder of this case,” Attorney General Doug Peterson said in an emailed statement.

The ACLU of Nebraska said it hopes to work with officials to improve prison conditions and avoid going to trial.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Some Nebraska lawmakers voiced concerns Wednesday that the state will fail to meet a mandatory deadline to reduce its prison population by July 2020, forcing officials to consider paroling all eligible inmates.

Senators expressed their doubts at a hearing on bills that would force the Department of Correctional Services to act faster or develop a contingency plan.

“We need to get out of the box and think more aggressively about solving the problems we have in front of us regarding corrections,” said Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha.

Nebraska’s corrections department has until July 1, 2020, to lower its inmate population to 140 percent of what all of its facilities were designed to hold. If the department falls short of that target, the prisons will fall into an automatic “overcrowding emergency” that forces state officials to consider paroling all eligible prisoners right away.

Lawmakers imposed the requirement in 2015 as part of a package that was intended to reduce the prison population, but the legislation hasn’t yet produced the desired result. The prisons housed roughly 5,200 inmates earlier this month in facilities that were designed to hold 3,375, placing the population at roughly 154 percent of its designed capacity.

In 2014, when state officials were developing the plan to relieve crowding, Nebraska’s prisons housed 5,130 inmates in facilities that were designed to hold 3,275 — roughly 157 percent of the design capacity.

“At the current rate we’re going, it doesn’t seem we’re going to be under 140 percent” when the deadline hits, said Crete Sen. Laura Ebke, chairwoman of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee.

Krist, who is running for governor, presented the committee with a bill that would move the July 2020 deadline up to July 1 of this year. He acknowledged that the new proposed deadline is “almost insane,” but said it was intended to force a conversation on how to release more prisoners without compromising public safety.

“The point I’m making here is, ‘When does the action start?'” he said.

Members of the Judiciary Committee considered three other measures Wednesday that seek to ease prison crowding. One would allow the release of inmates who are terminally ill or incapacitated, one would allow inmates out of prison temporarily to access drug treatment and rehabilitation programs, and one would require the corrections department to develop a plan in case it fails to meet the July 2020 deadline.

Lawmakers could also consider setting yearly goals to decrease the prison population gradually while keeping the department accountable, said Spike Eickholt, a lobbyist for the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska.

Nebraska Corrections Director Scott Frakes said his agency is working to set up more prisoners for parole, but faces several challenges.

About 60 percent of inmates who are parole eligible are serving time for a violent crime, Frakes said. Roughly half have previously served time behind bars, raising questions about whether they’ll reoffend, and one-third have previously had their parole revoked or rescinded.

“This makes it even more important to stay committed to the original date of 2020,” he said.

Frakes has previously said he was optimistic the department would reduce its inmate population in time, and on Wednesday he said he hasn’t given up hope.

Board of Parole Chairwoman Rosalyn Cotton said many parole-eligible inmates remain behind bars for good reason. Some are still public safety threats, some are denied because victims don’t want them released, and some don’t want to be paroled because they face deportation, she said.

“All (the bill) would do is replace an overcrowding emergency with a public safety emergency,” she said.