LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Four Nebraska beer stores could learn soon whether they can stay in business near a South Dakota Indian reservation plagued by alcoholism while they appeal a state regulator’s ruling that could force them to close.

A judge may decide as soon as Thursday whether to suspend the ruling against the stores in Whiteclay while they appeal their case. The stores sell millions of cans of beer annually next to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. An attorney for the stores argued Wednesday that his clients can’t stay in business if their licenses expire as scheduled on Sunday.

Attorney Andrew Snyder is asking the judge to let the stores automatically renew their licenses, as they have in previous years.

Critics blame the stores for problems on the reservation including high rates of fetal alcohol syndrome.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s teachers union is in a spat with Gov. Pete Ricketts after the governor refused to sign a proclamation honoring the group’s 150th anniversary.

The Nebraska State Education Association issued a statement Wednesday calling the action “mean-spirited and indefensible” and disrespectful to its 28,000 members.

The association says it followed all procedures outlined by the governor’s office to request a proclamation and followed up with phone calls and an in-person visit. It says Ricketts recently issued proclamations honoring groups that represent engineers, architects and farmers.

Ricketts spokesman Taylor Gage says the administration has re-evaluated how it issues proclamations related to education groups, placing a focus on teacher innovation and student achievement. Gage says Ricketts questions how the union can oppose policies he believes will improve outcomes for students.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska officials are hosting tree-planting events at state buildings to celebrate Arbor Day.

One ceremony will take place at 9:30 a.m. Friday on the Capitol’s southwest lawn. The Office of the Capitol Commission is hosting the event with Lt. Gov. Mike Foley and dignitaries from the Nebraska Forest Service and the Arbor Day Foundation.

A second tree-planting event is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. Thursday at the Lincoln Regional Center, the state psychiatric hospital. Gov. Pete Ricketts will present a service award to Dave Nicklas, the facility’s retiring arborist. Officials will also plant trees in honor of four now-deceased hospital staff members.

Arbor Day originated in Nebraska and is recognized as an official state holiday.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers who worked to erase a nearly $900 million projected revenue shortfall will have to come up with another $50 million to balance the state budget.

The Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board set new revenue estimates on Wednesday, predicting the state will collect $4.3 billion in the current fiscal year and $9.2 billion in the upcoming two-year budget cycle.

The new projections will wipe out the $3.5 million that lawmakers had available for priorities this year.

Forecasting board members offered differing views on the state economy. Members from Nebraska’s larger cities offered a positive outlook, while rural members warned of a struggling farm economy.

Sen. John Stinner of Gering, the Appropriations Committee chairman, says the estimates are another hurdle but not disastrous when it comes to balancing the budget.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new law in Nebraska will require doctors to tell women if their mammograms reveal dense breast tissue.

Gov. Pete Ricketts signed the law Wednesday surrounded by family members of a woman who died from breast cancer after years of normal mammograms.

Sen. Joni Craighead of Omaha says she sponsored the bill because dense breast tissue shows up on mammograms and signifies a high risk of eventually getting breast cancer.

Ricketts also signed a law requiring doctors to give information about perinatal hospice care to parents who learn their unborn child has an anomaly that will result in death. Perinatal hospice services let families experience firsts such as holding, bathing, and diapering a stillborn baby.

NEW YORK (AP) — McDonald’s new uniforms are prompting some teasing online, with comments saying the gray-toned shirts and aprons make employees look like they’re part of totalitarian regimes.

Among the comparisons being made on social media to an image of the new uniforms : characters from Star Wars and The Hunger Games, and even the North Korean government. The jokes came after McDonald’s Corp. had said earlier that the uniforms would start appearing in April. The Oak Brook, Illinois-based company had said they were developed based on feedback from employees and customers, and that more than 70 percent of employees said they would be proud to wear the new uniforms.

The uniforms may be worn by about 850,000 employees in the chain’s more than 14,000 U.S. locations.

MINDEN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 35-year-old woman found unresponsive in Minden has died at a hospital.

Minden police say Ruth Ehrke died Monday night at Good Samaritan hospital in Kearney. She’d been taken there after officers found her and another woman badly beaten Sunday at the Minden residence.

Police are looking for a 39-year-old suspect, Chad Carlson, who’s been charged in an arrest warrant with assault and criminal trespass. Online court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for him.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have kicked off a contentious debate over a proposed $8.9 billion, two-year budget package in the midst of a projected revenue shortfall.

The measure debated Tuesday would balance the budget using a combination of tactics. The list includes drawing money from state cash funds, cutting money to agencies including the University of Nebraska, and relying on an increase in federal Medicaid dollars.

The package would increase funding for K-12 public schools and ongoing efforts to reduce prison crowding.

The budget could see more cuts depending on the outcome of a new state revenue forecast slated for Wednesday.

Sen. John Stinner of Gering is the chairman of the Appropriations Committee. He says the budget-crafting effort was one of the most difficult ones that longtime legislative staff members have seen.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts has signed a series of bills intended to benefit the state’s veterans.

Ricketts on Tuesday approved legislation to merge the Nebraska Department of Veterans’ Affairs and the state Division of Veterans’ Homes in an effort to streamline services. It’s not expected to generate savings, but is intended to provide veterans with a one-stop-shopping experience.

Another bill signed will eliminate a regulatory hurdle for military spouses with occupational licenses. A third measure would allow a hiring preference in government for spouses of active duty service members. The preference would also apply to those who are returning to employment with a government body.

Nebraska already provides a hiring preference for qualified veterans to work in state government.

LEXINGTON, Neb. (AP) — Trial for a Nebraska woman charged with felony accessory to murder has been moved to August.

34-year-old Melissa Callahan, of Elm Creek, appeared Monday in Dawson County District Court, where a judge granted her attorney’s motion for more time to gather information and seek depositions.

Her trial is now set for Aug. 8.

Authorities say Callahan was present when Jose Regalado-Mendez shot to death 37-year-old Jose Hernandez in October, and then helped move the body and conceal the slaying. Hernandez’s remains were found Dec. 12 near a farmhouse north of Lexington.

Regalado-Mendez has been charged with first-degree murder and a weapons count