LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers are looking for ways to increase mental health services in areas that lack psychologists, psychiatrists and counselors, but that could prove difficult amid a tight state budget.

Sen. John Stinner of Gering says he plans to convene different groups at hearing on Sept. 8 to see how the state might pay for such an incentive.

Stinner says the solution may lie in a state-funded internship program to attract more behavioral and mental health students who are working toward advanced degrees.

Lawmakers this year delay spending on some state expenses and cut funding available for services aimed at people with developmental disabilities. Stinner says new funding may have to wait until state tax collections recover.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The former top U.S. agricultural trade negotiator is taking on a new role at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Ambassador Darci Vetter will become UNL’s diplomat in residence and will help create the Clayton Yeutter Institute of International Trade and Finance.

The new institute will focus on teaching students about international markets and trade.

Vetter will work with UNL experts in business, law and agriculture on the project. She was chief agricultural negotiator from 2014 to 2017.

Yeutter, who died earlier this year at 86, served in several cabinet-level roles for President George H.W. Bush and President Ronald Reagan. Yeutter donated $2.5 million to the university to establish the institute.

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — The average price of a gallon of regular-grade gasoline fell about a penny nationally over the past two weeks, to $2.31.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg of the Lundberg Survey said Sunday that the drop comes amid plentiful supplies of both crude oil and gasoline.

She says gas prices have declined more than 15 cents since April.

Gas in San Francisco was the highest in the contiguous United States at an average of $3.00 a gallon. The lowest was in Jackson, Mississippi, at $1.92 a gallon.

The U.S. average diesel price is $2.51, down 2 cents from two weeks ago.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s secretary of state says he’ll comply with a federal commission’s request for publicly available voter information, but only if he gets assurances about how the data will be used and secured.

Secretary of State John Gale said in a statement Thursday that he has concerns about how data will be kept private in a national database.

He says President Donald Trump’s election commission hasn’t yet specified its reasons for requesting the data, so he doesn’t know whether releasing the information complies with state law.

Trump’s commission was formed to investigate allegations of voter fraud in the 2016 elections, but critics say it’s looking for ways to suppress the vote and that the requests are an invasion of privacy.

Gale, like Trump, is a Republican.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts has ordered a review of all state regulations and told state agencies to stop making new rules unless they’re deemed critical to residents’ health, safety and welfare.

Ricketts signed an executive order Thursday to launch the review by a working group that includes elected officials and civil servants.

The Republican governor says he wants to see whether certain regulations can be eliminated or changed, as long as doing so doesn’t compromise public safety.

His announcement coincided with the release of a report by the Mercatus Center, a free market think tank at George Mason University with ties to Republican billionaire donor Charles Koch.

James Broughel, a research fellow at the center, says periodic reviews of regulations are necessary because industries lobby for rules to stifle competition.

The maker of painkiller Opana ER is pulling the drug off the market at the request of federal regulators because of abuse.

Endo International PLC said Thursday it will voluntarily stop selling the pills, approved for use in patients with severe, constant pain, after consulting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The company says the extended-release opioid is safe and effective when used as intended.

Last month, the FDA said it had concluded the drug is too risky. The agency said it had seen a “significant shift” from people crushing and snorting the pill to get high to injecting it instead.

It’s the first drug that the FDA has sought to remove from the market due to abuse.

SUTHERLAND, Neb. (AP) — Two village board members in a central Nebraska community could face a recall vote if their opponents gather enough signatures.

Two Sutherland residents submitted court documents to the Lincoln County clerk on Wednesday to initiate the recall of Sutherland Village Board of Trustees Chairman John Lutz and Trustee Ray Ravenscroft.

The residents say Lutz has abused his position to financially benefit himself and shows disregard for open meetings laws, village ordinances and board resolutions. They say Ravenscroft has created a hostile work environment, resulting in the resignation of employees and trustees.

The newspaper says messages left seeking comment from Lutz and Ravenscroft hadn’t been returned by Thursday afternoon.

Supporters will need nearly 200 signatures to initiate a recall.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Two state agencies that regulate Nebraska’s water are joining forces in an effort to provide more efficient, streamlined services to the public.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services and Department of Environmental Quality announced the new partnership on Thursday.

Under the agreement, the Department of Health and Human Services will move 24 of its staff into shared office space with the Department of Environmental Quality’s wastewater staff. The change goes into effect Aug. 1. Seven field staff members will also work with the environmental quality department.

Department of Environmental Quality Director Jim Macy says the partnership is expected to save the state money over time. Public health division director Dr. Tom Williams says the two programs are similar. The partnership will focus on wastewater treatment and drinking water.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s corrections department recently joined forces with the state auditor to try to improve its accounting practices.

The Department of Correctional Services said in a statement Thursday that it asked the auditor’s office for help to address a type of accounting where the department lacked expertise.

Corrections officials say the auditors’ staff made several suggestions for improvements but didn’t identify any mishandling of state money.

Corrections Director Scott Frakes says he’s grateful for the state auditor’s help.

POLSON, Mont. (AP) — An autopsy confirmed the body of a 23-year-old Nebraska man has been recovered from a northwestern Montana river.

Lake County Undersheriff Ben Woods said Wednesday that Richard Mitchell of Minatare, Nebraska, drowned after falling into the Flathead River on May 31. Officials say Mitchell and others had continued past warning signs at a scenic overlook just below the SQK Dam on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

A fisherman spotted the body June 27, about 17 river miles (27 kilometers) from the dam.

Woods says Mitchell’s identity was confirmed due to his tattoo art.