LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A lawsuit says the 11 men on Nebraska’s death row can’t be executed because their death sentences were converted to life in prison when the death penalty was repealed in 2015.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska filed the complaint early Monday, naming Gov. Pete Ricketts and several other officials. The lawsuit seeks a court order barring the state from carrying out any executions.

After lawmakers abolished the death penalty, they overrode Ricketts’ veto. Death penalty supporters responded with a ballot petition drive partially financed by Ricketts. Voters overturned the Legislature’s decision and restored the punishment in November 2016.

The ACLU says Ricketts overstepped the Nebraska Constitution’s separation of powers clause because he funded and controlled the petition drive.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A vandal or vandals left messages in large chalk letters on a sidewalk outside U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer’s office in Lincoln’s Haymarket District.

Sgt. Randy Clark says a Fischer staffer reported the vandalism a little before 8 a.m. Monday.

The messages included: “Never trust a land thief with your well-being,” and, “‘Tax Reform?’ Class War.”

Clark says Fischer’s name on the building directory was scratched out and replaced with a “nasty name” that Clark would not provide. Also, red spray paint was used to cover the U.S. Senate seal on the building’s exterior.

No arrests have been reported.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers are gearing up for a short but busy session next month that’s likely to be marked by a state budget shortfall and a renewed push to cut taxes.

The $173 million shortfall forecast for the current two-year budget cycle will loom especially large for lawmakers who had to reduce funding for state services in this year’s session. When senators reconvene for a 60-day session on Jan. 3, they likely will face pressure to cut more.

Speaker of the Legislature Jim Scheer says lawmakers have reached the point that every budget cut will effect residents. Scheer says he wants senators to demonstrate how they’ll pay for any legislation that increases spending or reduces revenue.

Scheer says he expects lawmakers will look for ways to reduce property taxes.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Newly released test scores indicate the majority of last year’s Nebraska 11th-graders would struggle to get good grades their first year in college.

Based on ACT exam scores released Friday.

The report says fewer than a third of the 22,300 students who took the exam during state testing in the spring met ACT benchmarks designed to predict success in typical college freshman math, science and English courses.

The score release marks the first time state officials, parents and policymakers have a nationally recognized gauge of how well-prepared all Nebraska 11th-graders are for college success.

Last year was the first that every high school junior in Nebraska public schools was required to take the ACT.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — It looks like Santa Claus is taking a break from the North Pole to attend an event in North Platte.

North Platte Community College has announced the big guy will be featured at its Santa’s Workshop next week.

The NPCC Student Life Department will host its annual Santa’s Workshop from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Dec. 6 in the McDonald-Belton Building on South Campus.

The event is family-friendly and will include cookie decorating, photos with Santa, game booths with prizes and a puppet show. There will also be two raffles for children’s toys.

Admission is a canned food item, which will be donated the Rape/Domestic Abuse Program in North Platte.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Four winners have been named in the Nebraska college savings plan’s Big Dreams $20,000 Giveaway.

The giveaway randomly selected four participants to each receive a $5,000 contribution to a NEST 529 College Savings Plan account for a beneficiary 10 years old or younger.

The Nebraska State Treasurer’s office, which administers the plan, says the latest winners come from Minatare, Enders, Omaha, and Sidney.

More than 2,400 eligible entries were received, including 158 from outside Nebraska, between Sept. 12 and Oct. 31. It is the second Big Dreams Giveaway in 2017. The first, held last spring, also awarded four winners with $5,000 contributions.

Since 2015, $90,000 has been given through the Big Dreams Giveaway. Funding for the scholarships is provided by First National Bank of Omaha.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has rejected the post-conviction appeal of a California man serving life in prison for the 2012 fatal shooting of a western Nebraska man.

Jason Custer, formerly of Chico, California, was convicted in 2014 of first-degree murder and other counts for killing 35-year-old Adam McCormick, of Sidney. Prosecutors said Custer shot McCormick at a Sidney house after the two men argued over $160 in drug money.

After losing direct appeal, Custer filed for post-conviction relief, arguing his defense attorney was so ineffective that it violated his right to a fair trial. Custer cited several examples, including his claim that his attorney “failed to object at critical junctures throughout the entirety of the trial.”

This state’s high court said Friday that there was no merit to Custer’s claims.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Gov. Pete Ricketts has appointed two men to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

Ricketts, a Republican, announced Friday that Doug Zingula, of Sidney, and Scott Cassels, of Omaha, were appointed as new commissioners. Zingula will represent the state’s Panhandle district. Cassels’ seat is at-large.

Their four-year terms are effective Jan. 16.

Zingula is retired from outdoor retailer Cabela’s, where he was vice president of corporate merchandising. He serves on the board of the Nebraska Big Game Society and is a member of the Wild Sheep Foundation and the Safari Club.

Cassels is the executive vice president of Kiewit Corporation, where he has more than 35 years of experience in construction. He serves in several business and community leadership roles, including on the Ak-Sar-Ben Foundation Board of Governors.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union is suing Nebraska’s prison system, saying it has violated state public records laws by refusing to identify its suppliers of lethal injection drugs.

The Nebraska Department of Correctional Services denied a Nov. 10 public records request by The Associated Press. The Omaha World-Herald reported Tuesday that its request also was denied.

The department argues that the records are protected by attorney-client privilege and that the supplier is part of its “execution team,” whose identities are confidential.

The lawsuit disputes both arguments. The ACLU seeks the information’s release and attorney fees.

The department notified inmate Jose Sandoval on Nov. 9 that it intends to execute him using four drugs.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska says some counties in the state are profiting from exorbitant fees for phone calls made by inmates in jails.

The report found that inmates in state prisons can make a 15-minute call for $1.50, while inmates in the state’s county jails may pay $7 to $19 for a similar call.

The ACLU of Nebraska says the high fees limit inmates’ access to the basic need of communicating with their families and lawyers.

For-profit telephone companies contract with jails to handle collect and paid calls by inmates. Those contractors then give a portion of the profits to local counties.

Brad Johnson is the director of the Lancaster County Department of Corrections. He says the fees aren’t unreasonable and help cover incarceration costs.