The following is a news release issued by the West Central District Health Department:

The West Central District Health Department reports testing on suspected cases is negative.

WCDHD’s current investigation shows only one confirmed Measles case at this time. There is still ongoing testing being conducted and WCDHD will provide an update on results as soon as that information is available.

“The best way to protect yourself and your community is to make sure everyone has been vaccinated,” Shannon Vanderheiden, WCDHD Executive Director said.

Measles is a serious disease that can lead to hospitalization and even death.

Symptoms include a high fever, cough, runny nose and watery eyes followed by a rash that typically spreads from head to the rest of the body. It is highly contagious and spreads easily by coughing, sneezing or even being in the same room with someone who has measles.

Most people in Nebraska are immune to measles either from having been vaccinated or from having had the disease. However, immunization rates have declined in some communities and groups – often due to fears related to misinformation about vaccine risks. This decline in immunization rates increases the risk – not only for those who are unvaccinated by choice, but also for those who cannot be vaccinated due to health status or age.

For more information on measles and for updates as the investigation continues, please visit the WCDHD website at http://wcdhd.org/measles2017.html or follow our Facebook page.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Labor Department says the state’s preliminary unemployment rate dropped a tenth of a point in March, hitting 3.1 percent compared with 3.2 percent in February.

The January rate was 3.3 percent.

The department said in a report released Friday that the March rate was a tenth of a point under the year-ago rate of 3.2 percent in March 2016. The new rate also remained well below the U.S. rate of 4.5 percent in March.

The report says Nebraska nonfarm employment remained above 1 million last month. The private industry segments with the most growth over the past month were mining and construction, leisure and hospitality and trade, transportation and utilities.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have kicked off a debate on an income and property tax package backed by Gov. Pete Ricketts and business groups but opposed by leading farm organizations.

Sen. Jim Smith of Papillion presented the package Friday as a way to end the status quo tax climate and make Nebraska more competitive with its neighboring states, most of which have lower top income tax rates.

The measure would reduce the state’s top individual and corporate income tax rates in years when revenue grows faster than a predetermined amount. It also would expand the earned income tax credit, combine the two lowest tax brackets and eliminate exemptions.

Farm groups say the bill doesn’t do enough to address property taxes. The measure would change how agricultural land is valued for tax purposes.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts is turning to the public to try to build support for his income and property tax plan in the face of opposition from some lawmakers and the state’s leading farm groups.

Ricketts made his case for the package Thursday outside the Capitol’s legislative chambers, flanked by business leaders and 19 state senators. The governor has held 35 events around the state to present it directly to voters. Lawmakers are scheduled to debate the measure Friday.

The plan would lower the state’s top personal and corporate income tax brackets, adjust the way agricultural land is valued for tax purposes and expand the earned income tax credit for low-income residents.

Ricketts says senators should ignore “big government spenders” who oppose the plan. Opponents say it favors the wealthy.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska prosecutor has filed an appeal of a probation sentence handed down in a child sex assault case.

Twenty-two-year-old Taylor Welty-Hackett was given four years of probation at his sentencing Feb. 24 in Buffalo County District Court. He’d pleaded no contest to attempted sexual assault after prosecutors lowered the initial charge of sexual assault of a child and dropped two related charges.

Investigators say Welty-Hackett and the girl randomly met on social media and met Aug. 1, 2015. Investigators say Welty-Hackett and the girl drove around and eventually had sex inside a vehicle in a parking lot.

Judge Bill Wright said during the sentencing hearing that the 12-year-old girl involved was the aggressor and said, “She made the advances.”

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — A man charged with robbing a teenage girl in Kearney has pleaded no contest to several crimes.

Online court records say 34-year-old Johnny Tavares is scheduled to be sentenced May 26 on charges of felony fleeing and misdemeanor assault and false reporting. Prosecutors amended the charges and dropped others in exchange for Tavares’ pleas Tuesday.

A court document says Tavares’ van collided with the girl’s vehicle Feb. 13 in Kearney and that he browbeat her into withdrawing $100 from an ATM, telling her the money would keep him from involving the police.

Officers soon spotted the van, stopped it and then chased it after it took off. Police say Tavares abandoned the van and fled on foot after it struck a garage during the chase. He was arrested later.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Auditions to perform the national anthem at College World Series games will be held Saturday at TD Ameritrade Park in downtown Omaha.

Thirty individuals or groups will compete for 17 spots.

A panel of judges chose the 30 vocalists, musicians and musical groups based on applications. The panel reviewed more than 75 applicants from 15 states. Finalists were selected based on a recorded a cappella rendition of the national anthem accompanying their applications.

The College World Series begins June 17.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s Legislature has dismissed a challenge asserting a longtime senator does not live in his district.

The leader of the committee that investigated whether Sen. Ernie Chambers lived outside his north Omaha district told lawmakers Thursday that Chambers’ challenger failed to prove his case.

Sen. Dan Watermeier of Syracuse says Chambers has been registered to vote in the district since 1960. Chambers also shared utility bills, receipts for home improvements and his daily print newspaper subscription.

Chambers was seated conditionally at the beginning of the session pending an investigation. Senators voted 42-0 to dismiss the challenge and seat him permanently.

TECUMSEH, Neb. (AP) — Officials say an inmate punched two guards and bit a caseworker at a Nebraska prison with a history of deadly riots.

The Nebraska Correctional Services Department says the melee broke out Wednesday at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution as staffers removed apparently inebriated inmates from a housing unit.

The department said in a statement Thursday that one of the inmates started throwing punches when he learned he would be handcuffed. Staffers responded with pepper spray. The inmate then bit the caseworker’s thigh.

The guards were treated at a hospital. The caseworker didn’t seek medical care.

The department hasn’t released the inmate’s name.

Two inmates were killed and more were injured during a riot at the facility March 2. Two inmates also were killed there during a May 2015 riot.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska legislative committee has advanced a proposed constitutional amendment requiring voters to show a photo ID.

The Government, Military and Veteran Affairs Committee voted 5-2 along party lines Thursday to endorse the amendment sponsored by Sen. John Murante of Gretna. It now heads to the full Legislature for debate.

Murante says voters overwhelmingly support voter ID bills, but opponents often say voter ID legislation would violate the state constitution. He says a constitutional amendment explicitly giving lawmakers the authority to pass voter ID laws will help. Murante is considering a run for secretary of state.

Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue says she cannot support any measures that would disenfranchise voters, and voter ID requirements would hurt turnout among the elderly, people of color and people with disabilities.