A North Platte man is facing charges after he allegedly passed a counterfeit bill at a local store.

On August 3, at around 11:05 a.m., an officer responded to Shopko, 510 East Philip Avenue, after store employees reported that a counterfeit $100 bill had been passed on August 2.

The officer observed the bill and determined that there were several standard security features that were missing on the bill.

Investigator John Deal says the officer viewed surveillance video of the transaction and was able to identify Dominick Blea as the suspect.

Later in the day, officers made contact with Blea and determined that he was wearing clothing that matched the suspect’s clothing, and was wearing new shoes that had reportedly been purchased with the counterfeit bill.

Deal says officers determined that there was probable cause to arrest Blea and charge him with felony first-degree forgery.

Blea was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A former chief deputy attorney general in Nebraska has been nominated for a seat on the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Nebraska’s U.S. senators, Deb Fischer and Ben Sasse, had recommended Steve Grasz (grahz) to President Donald Trump.

Fischer said in a news release Thursday that Grasz has “sterling credentials and impressive experience.”

After his confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee. If approved, his nomination would go to the Senate floor for a final vote.

The court is based in St. Louis. Recommendations were sought after Chief Judge William Jay Riley announced his plans to retire from active service.

Grasz is senior counsel at Husch Blackwell in Omaha. He served as chief deputy attorney general for the state from 1991 to 2002.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — An ecologist in Nebraska is encouraging people to observe the behaviors of animals during the rare total eclipse.

The moon’s shadow will darken Grand Island for nearly three minutes at about 1 p.m. on Aug. 21 as the Great American Total Solar Eclipse makes its way through town.

Rick Schneider is the program manager and an ecologist for the Nebraska Natural Heritage Program of the Nebraska Game and Parks department. Schneider says he knows of no specific studies done on how a total eclipse impacts the circadian rhythm of an animal.

He says the eclipse is a good opportunity to observe wildlife and pets to see if the loss of sun at midday has any effect on their behavior.

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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska system president has announced new structures and processes aimed at saving the system $30 million in coming years.

President Hank Bounds announced plans Wednesday to achieve nearly $25 million, or about 80 percent, of the targeted cuts by sharing more services across campuses as well as by trimming operational costs and positions of employment, in some cases.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus expects to cut at least 100 jobs, most of them through attrition and some through layoffs.

Bounds says the changes are necessary to help manage a $49 million budget gap created by a combination of state funding cuts and rising costs. He says the Lincoln campus will raise tuition and increase enrollment to address the remaining $19 million.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The latest farm real estate values are out and the U.S. Department of Agriculture says the average acre of farmland in Iowa rose 1.9 percent from a year ago to $8,000 an acre, returning to the same value posted in 2015.

Iowa is the only state in the five-state corn belt region which also includes Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Ohio to see an increase in value. The USDA’s farm real estate value includes all land and buildings on farms. The report was released Thursday.

Midwest farmland values fell or leveled off in many states from 2015 to 2016 but Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Dakota also saw increases this year.

Nebraska saw a 1.7 percent decrease to $2,900 an acre.

The national average is up 2.3 percent to $3,080 an acre.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Gov. Pete Ricketts is set to reveal more details about an investigation that led him to fire the Nebraska State Patrol’s superintendent.

Ricketts and the state’s human resources director will unveil the findings at a news conference Thursday at 2:30 p.m.

Ricketts announced in June that he had fired Col. Brad Rice and sent the investigation’s initial findings to the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office. He declined to discuss in detail what was found.

Ricketts ordered the review after state patrol troopers were accused of changing their story about a high-speed chase that killed a South Dakota driver.

The patrol also faces a lawsuit alleging that that female recruits were forced to submit to invasive, medically unnecessary pelvic exams by a male doctor before the patrol would hire them.

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — People seeking roles in an upcoming movie spent an evening lining up and then auditioning in Scottsbluff.

The casting call for what is being called “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs” took place Tuesday night at the Midwest Theater.

The future Coen brothers production is a collection of Western stories set in the 1800s. Some of the film will be shot in the Scottsbluff area throughout September.

Movie officials said they were looking for ordinary Nebraskans to play settlers on a wagon train.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln woman has been sent to jail for having a forbidden relationship with an inmate while working as a caseworker at the Nebraska State Penitentiary.

Erin Harris was sentenced Tuesday to 300 days. She’d pleaded no contest to unlawful acts by a corrections employee.

Authorities say a Nebraska Correctional Services Department intelligence officer discovered several unauthorized phone calls and emails over a two-month period between Harris and a 30-year-old inmate serving time for burglary.

Judge Jodie Nelson told Harris during the sentencing hearing that if Harris wanted to have a relationship with the inmate, she needed to have resigned first.

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Attorney General Jeff Sessions says the Justice Department will dispatch 12 federal prosecutors to cities ravaged by addiction.

The prosecutors will focus exclusively on investigating health care fraud and opioid scams that are fueling the nation’s drug abuse epidemic.

Sessions unveiled the pilot program during a Wednesday speech in hard-hit Ohio, where eight people a day die of accidental overdoses.

Sessions is calling the group of prosecutors the “opioid fraud and abuse detection unit.”

The attorney general says prosecutors will rely on data in the efforts to root out pill mills and find health care providers who illegally prescribe or distribute narcotics.

More than 52,000 Americans died of overdoses in 2015 — a record — and experts believe the numbers have continued to rise.