SARGENT, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a passenger has died after the car she was in swerved to avoid a deer on Thanksgiving Day.

The accident occurred a little after 4 p.m. Thursday on U.S. Highway 183, about three miles south of Sargent.

The Nebraska State Patrol says that after driver Virgil Ramsdell swerved, the car ran into a ditch and rolled.

The patrol says Ramsdell and his passenger, 56-year-old Becky Millard, of Sargent, were taken to a Broken Bow hospital. She was declared dead there.

RIVERTON, Neb. (AP) — A former village clerk in south-central Nebraska has taken a plea deal in her theft case.

Online court records say 31-year-old Kelly Jackson pleaded no contest Monday to misdemeanor theft. Prosecutors had lowered the charge from a felony in exchange for her plea. Jackson’s sentencing is set for Feb. 13.

Court documents say an audit by the Nebraska state auditor’s office alleges that Jackson paid herself $15,830 more than her monthly approved income of $400.

Several former and current board members told investigators that a village official signed blank checks so Jackson could pay city bills. Officials say that Jackson instead wrote checks to herself.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska officials say they will try to change the state’s death penalty protocol in an effort to get around the logistical problems that have prevented them from obtaining the necessary lethal injection drugs.

The proposal announced Monday would allow the state corrections director to choose which drugs are used in an execution. Condemned inmates would have to be told which drugs were chosen at least 60 days before the Nebraska attorney general’s office requests an execution warrant from the Nebraska Supreme Court.

Nebraska hasn’t executed an inmate since 1997, when it used the electric chair. The state has never used its current three-drug protocol consisting of sodium thiopental, pancuronium bromide and potassium chloride.

Nebraska voters reinstated the death penalty earlier this month, overturning the Legislature’s decision to abolish the punishment.

A North Platte woman was seriously injured Friday evening when she was struck by a vehicle and drug.

According to Investigator John Deal, officers responded to the report of a pedestrian being struck by a vehicle near Philip Avenue and Tabor Street at around 7:26 p.m.

Officers arrived and found 39-year-old Emma Heinemann, of North Platte, laying in the eastbound lane of Philip Avenue.  A rescue unit from the North Platte Fire Department soon arrived and transported Heinemann to Great Plains Health with head and leg injuries.  Deal said she was later transported to Kearney’s CHI Good Samaritan, where she remains in unknown condition.

Witnesses told officers that Heinemann had been crossing the street when she was struck by a blue Ford Explorer.  It was determined that the Explorer had been driven by 48-year-old Virgil Apodaca, who was still on the scene.  Initially, Apodaca indicated to officers that he was a witness, but his account was soon disproven by numerous witnesses.

It was reported that Heinemann was crossing the street in a diagonal fashion from the northwest corner of Philip and Tabor to the southeast corner of the intersection.  Deal says it appears that Heinemann was in the middle of the intersection when Apodaca turned left onto Philip from Tabor and stuck her.

According to Deal, Apodaca drug Heinemann for about 75 feet before he realized that he had hit her. He claimed he did not see Heinemann in the roadway and stopped once he realized he had hit something.

Further investigation revealed that Apodaca had a 15-year license suspension in effect.  As a result, he was placed under arrest and charged with felony driving under suspension.

Deal said Apodaca did not appear to be under the influence of drugs and alcohol at the time of the accident, but he was taken to GPH for a blood draw.  Police are still awaiting the results of the blood test.

Apodaca was jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.  The accident remains under investigation.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — This year’s Nebraska Cattlemen Convention and Trade Show will be held in Kearney at the Younes Convention Center.

The group has announced the speaker and session lineup for the convention, being held Dec. 6-9.

The event will be kicked off with its popular Cattlemen’s College. The program offers a wide range of speakers who will discuss genomics, weather, farm succession and a market outlook. The education program is designed to address relevant issues and deliver information that will improve production and profitability.

The entire schedule can be viewed at http://nebraskacattlemen.org/convention.aspx.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers will face substantial budget challenges in next year’s legislative session, but some are wary of draining too much from their rainy-day fund to cover state expenses.

Members of the Appropriations Committee say they’re likely to draw some money from the cash reserve to balance the budget, but they also want to keep emergency cash available in case state revenue remains sluggish.

Nebraska is projected to have roughly $630 million in its cash reserve by June 2019, but faces a projected shortfall of $911 million.

Sen. Kate Bolz of Lincoln says lawmakers need to be cautious to ensure state spending remains sustainable.

Sen. John Stinner of Gering says that if the downturn worsens, state officials may need to tap the cash reserve again in the future.

VERO BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The suicide of a firefighter who had a reputation for being a brave and positive force in his Florida community has shined a light on post-traumatic stress disorder in his profession.

One Saturday last month, Vero Beach Battalion Chief David Dangerfield posted a message about PTSD on Facebook before going out into the woods and fatally shooting himself.

The Firefighter Behavioral Health Alliance estimates about 30 percent of the nation’s 1.3 million career and volunteer firefighters suffer from PTSD, with 132 suicides by active and former U.S. firefighters and paramedics reported last year.

There have been recent national efforts to train firefighters to recognize PTSD and to remove the stigma of seeking help.

RAVENNA, Neb. (AP) — A historical marker commemorating a former U.S. Army outpost in Buffalo County will be repaired as part of a statewide effort to spiff up more than 100 such markers.

The Nebraska Marker Project was established earlier this year to help the Nebraska State Historical Society. The project goal is to raise $80,000 to repair and preserve the markers in anticipation of the state’s 150th-anniversary celebration next year.

The marker sits a mile southeast of Ravenna (ruh-VEH’-nuh) along Nebraska Highway 2. It notes the nearby former site of Post South Loup Fork, an outpost of Fort Kearney. The outpost was established in May 1865 by Company E of the 7th Iowa Cavalry and abandoned three months later.

Local legends say the outpost also was called Fort Desolation and Fort Banishment.