NEW YORK (AP) — This year’s flu season is off to a quick start and so far it seems to be dominated by a nasty bug.

Health officials say the flu vaccine seems well matched to the viruses making people sick, but it’s too early to tell how bad this season will be. The main flu bug this season tends to cause more deaths and hospitalizations and vaccines tend not to work as well against this type.

Flu began picking up last month. By the end of last week, seven states reported widespread flu activity: Arkansas, Georgia, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Virginia.

Most flu seasons don’t really get going until around Christmas. That’s how last year’s flu season played out.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the latest data Friday.

NORFOLK, Neb. (AP) — The TransCanada pipeline company plans to hold meetings in three Nebraska cities to discuss its Keystone XL project.

Company spokeswoman Robynn Tysver says TransCanada knows that many landowners have questions about the pipeline and the alternative route approved by the Nebraska Public Service Commission last month.

The company is arranging what it’s calling Landowner Engagement Centers in Columbus, Norfolk and Seward starting Monday and running through Thursday. They will open at noon and close at 8 p.m. each day. Landowners are invited to visit with company representatives at the informal gatherings.

The Divots Conference Center will be the Norfolk site. In Columbus TransCanada officials will be at the Ramada Columbus Hotel and Convention Center. The Cobblestone Hotel will be the Seward location.

PAPILLION, Neb. (AP) — An Air Force master sergeant accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl has been given six months in Sarpy County Jail.

Court records say 41-year-old Jason Gibson, of La Vista, was sentenced Wednesday. He also must serve five years of probation. The records say he’d pleaded no contest to attempted sexual assault of a child.

Prosecutors say Gibson and a co-defendant, former Omaha youth pastor Klint Bitter, had contacted a third man, 19-year-old DeArch Stubblefield, to set up a meeting with the girl.

The records say Bitter has pleaded not guilty to child sexual assault and is scheduled to go on trial April 16. Stubblefield, a former Bellevue West football player, has pleaded guilty to attempted sex trafficking and other crimes and is scheduled to be sentenced Monday.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Department of Banking and Finance is warning residents against doing business with a payday lender that is not licensed to do business in the state.

The department announced the warning Tuesday and says it has issued a cease-and-desist order to an entity calling itself Steve’s Payday Loans.

The department says Steve’s claims to be located at an address in Lincoln, but an investigation found there is no such company at the address it lists on its website.

The state says online loan forms on the business’ website are not secure or encrypted, which could put the information entered there at risk of theft.

Calls to a number on the website were immediately disconnected by an automated system.

ALLIANCE, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say an icy road led to the crash death of an Alliance woman in the Nebraska Panhandle.

The accident occurred around 11:30 a.m. Monday on U.S. Highway 385, about 11 miles (18 kilometers) north of Alliance.

The Nebraska State Patrol says 35-year-old Lisa Penaluna lost control of her northbound car and collided with a southbound semitrailer driven by Gary Chestnut, who lives in Kansas.

The patrol says Penaluna died of her injuries and says Chestnut suffered minor injuries.

Three people have been arrested on drug charges following a traffic stop near North Platte on Interstate 80.

Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) Carrier Enforcement Division and Troop D – North Platte, initiated a traffic stop at approximately 4:45 p.m. Monday, December 4, after observing a 2017 black Nissan Altima traveling eastbound at 103 miles per hour near mile marker 202 on I-80.

Upon making contact with the vehicle, Troopers detected the odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. Troopers then conducted a search of the car, which resulted in the discovery of 38 pounds of edible marijuana products, three pounds of hash oil butter, and 31 grams of marijuana.

Rodney M. Edwards, 24, Destiny M. Eason, 22, and Justice M. Santiago, 21, were arrested for Possession with Intent to Distribute and No Drug Tax Stamp.

All three are from Connecticut and have been lodged in Lincoln County Jail.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A former Nebraska State Penitentiary staffer has been accused of illegally sending a letter to an inmate.

Court records say 27-year-old Aleasha Gutierrez, of Lincoln, is charged with unlawful acts by a corrections employee. A public phone listing couldn’t be found for her Tuesday. The records don’t list an attorney for her.

A court document says Gutierrez admitted to a corrections department investigator that she’d sent the letter to the prisoner in October. She told the investigator that the inmate had seen her crying and asked her about her life. She confided her problems to him, and he gave her his mother’s name and phone number. He told her his mother could listen to her talk about her problems.

A spokeswoman says the department fired Gutierrez Oct. 23.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — A North Platte man accused of child abuse in 2009 has pleaded no contest to child abuse in a new case.

Court records say 32-year-old James Coleman Jr. entered pleas Monday to one felony count of child abuse causing serious injury and one misdemeanor count of child abuse. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 22.

The new case began June 4, when hospital doctors told police about fractured ribs and a skull fracture they found on Coleman’s 2-month-old baby. Police later learned that another of Coleman’s children had been taken to an emergency room or a family doctor numerous times as an infant, which had then concerned the physicians.

Court records say Coleman was charged with intentional child abuse causing injury in 2009. He later served a year of probation.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A farmer from southeast Nebraska has been named director of the Nebraska Agriculture Department.

The office of Gov. Pete Ricketts said Monday that 56-year-old Steve Wellman owns and operates a family farm near Syracuse. Wellman will be replacing Greg Ibach (EYE’-bah), who left the state post to become undersecretary of marketing and regulatory programs in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Wellman has been involved with the Nebraska Soybean Association and has held leadership positions with the American Soybean Association. He has also served on agricultural advisory committees for Ricketts and President Donald Trump.

KIMBALL, Neb. (AP) — A Wyoming homicide suspect has been arrested without incident in western Nebraska.

Authorities say 21-year-old Armando Ramirez-Serna, of Cheyenne, Wyoming, was taken into custody around 5 p.m. Saturday at a motel in Kimball, near Interstate 80. A woman with him also was arrested on drug allegations.

Ramirez-Serna is charged in a Laramie County warrant with first-degree murder. He’s accused of shooting to death 19-year-old Justin Robinson in November. Robinson’s body was found at a Cheyenne reservoir on Nov. 26.

It’s unclear whether Ramirez-Serna has an attorney.