CHADRON, Neb. (AP) — A county treasurer in northwest Nebraska has pleaded not guilty to misdemeanor forgery and six counts of official misconduct.

Dawes County Treasurer Barb Sebesta’s pleas were made Tuesday. Chadron radio station KCSR reports (http://bit.ly/2pBzPAq) that Sebesta’s attorney told a judge that plea negotiations were underway.

A state audit alleges Sebesta altered a check written by a taxpayer, changing it from $85.20 to $851.20, but not altering a total balance on a deposit. Sebesta says she was trying to clarify the proper amount for the bank.

She’s also accused of twice failing to collect sales tax and of failing to maintain trust balances in a timely fashion. Auditors also say Sebesta deposited bond forfeitures into the county’s general fund rather than distributing them to the schools as required by law.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts is raising concerns that the state could collect less revenue than expected in the final months of the current fiscal year.

Ricketts said Thursday the state would have to collect $835 million over the next two months to meet estimated revenue in the fiscal year than ends June 30. During that same period last year, Nebraska state government received $793 million.

Ricketts says it’s possible the state could collect enough to match the estimates, but revenue would have to grow by more than 5 percent. He says that’s unlikely, given the struggling agricultural economy.

Ricketts says the state needs to constrain spending, but declined to say what he’ll do with the budget recently approved by lawmakers.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers are debating whether schools should hold back third-grade students who aren’t reading at grade level.

Senators adjourned for the day Thursday without voting on the bill, but the measure’s sponsor says she’s close to having enough support to force a vote next week.

Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Omaha says teachers and parents need to intervene early to make sure children can read before they move to fourth grade. She says schools should expect every child to read.

Opponents of the bill agree that childhood reading is crucial but say holding students back harms them. They say the state should focus on programs including pre-school, full-day kindergarten and professional development for teachers.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha woman infected with the Zika virus while pregnant has delivered a healthy baby girl.

Evelyn Suastegui gave birth to the girl on Tuesday. Suastegui was the first pregnant woman in Nebraska to have a confirmed case of the mosquito-borne virus.

Suastegui had said she began feeling ill while vacationing last year in Mexico. Her Zika infection — and pregnancy — were diagnosed after she returned to Nebraska.

Doctors spent the rest of her pregnancy checking for fetal abnormalities.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has reported that 1 in 10 pregnant women in the continental United States with a confirmed Zika infection delivered a baby with serious defects.

GERING, Neb. (AP) — Seven new theft counts have been filed against a western Nebraska woman already accused of scamming her 84-year-old grandfather out of more than $250,000.

Court records say 33-year-old Stacia Keener is accused of promoting a Disney World youth trip for children taking classes at her music studio in Scottsbluff. Investigators say she took parents’ money to pay for the trip but never bought tickets or scheduled it. Her preliminary hearing is set for Monday.

Keener already has pleaded not guilty to theft and forgery charges in the case involving her grandfather. Court records say the man reported that Keener had lied to him about needing money to pay back taxes and attorney and had forged checks on his account.

Her trial in that case is set to begin July 31

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The issue of health care still remains up in the air in Nebraska with just over a month to go before health insurers have to declare their intentions for selling policies in 2018.

The U.S. House passed the American Health Care Act last week, which has some differences from the Affordable Care Act that some insurers haven’t found favorable. The law could also dramatically change the way marketplace exchanges work.

No company has yet submitted forms or rates to the Nebraska Department Insurance despite the June 15 due date.

Medica, one of two companies currently selling individual health insurance that complies with the Affordable Care Act, says it intends to remain in the market next year.

The AHCA still needs approval from the Senate.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A measure criticized as harmful to Nebraska’s craft breweries has been defeated in the Legislature.

Lawmakers voted 30-4 on Wednesday to strip the proposal out of a larger alcohol bill.

The proposal would have clarified that beer produced by microbreweries must first go to a distributor’s warehouse before it gets shipped to liquor stores, grocery stores, and other outlets.

Craft brewers say it would have stifled an industry that has flourished throughout Nebraska. Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue says the requirement would force small, rural microbreweries to send their products to warehouses in bigger cities, adding potentially hundreds of miles to each shipment and increasing costs.

Sen. Tyson Larson of O’Neill says his proposal would preserve the three-tiered distribution system intended to prevent tax fraud.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Officials have identified the cause of the death for two inmates killed during a Nebraska prison uprising.

The Department of Correctional Services said Wednesday that Michael Galindo died of smoke inhalation and was also stabbed and beaten. A second inmate, Damon Fitzgerald, was stabbed, beaten, burned and strangled.

Both inmates were found dead after a March 2 uprising at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution in southeast Nebraska. Authorities say they’re still investigating the deaths.

Galindo was serving a sentence for robbery and other offenses. Fitzgerald was in prison for crimes including sexual assault.

The uprising came after a larger riot at the prison in May 2015 in which two other inmates were killed.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s revenue department says state revenue fell below expectations in April, but a tax policy group says the report doesn’t use the newest available numbers.

The Nebraska Department of Revenue reported Wednesday that net tax receipts totaled $478 million in April, which is more than 10 percent below a state forecast that was certified in February.

The OpenSky Policy Institute says that report doesn’t consider a newer state forecast that was approved last month but hasn’t yet been certified. When the April estimates are factored in, OpenSky says revenue was actually 2 percent higher than expected.

Nebraska State Budget Administrator Gerry Oligmueller says the state is still $16 million short of its expected revenue for the fiscal year, based on the latest forecast that still has to be certified.

A 30-year-old North Platte man is facing charges after he allegedly burglarized a home where one of his relatives lives.

On May 7, 2017, North Platte police responded to the report of a burglary at a residence in the 2400 block of West 5th Street.

The homeowner told the responding officer that they had been away from the home for several days. They advised that, upon their return, they discovered a broken window and that several items were missing.

Among the missing items were clothing, electronics, jewelry and a handgun.

As officers investigated further they identified Austin Desiderio, a relative of one of the residents, as a possible suspect.

Investigator John Deal says some documents were taken from the home during the alleged burglary that would be worthless to anyone except Desiderio.

On May 9, officers made contact with Desiderio at a residence in the 200 block of South Chestnut and placed him under arrest on an active warrant. Deal says Desiderio spoke with officers and, a short time later, the stolen handgun along with some of the other property was located.

Desiderio was transported to the Lincoln County Detention Center and charged with felony burglary. The warrant was for failure to pay on a prior DUI and false reporting.