LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Whiteclay, Nebraska is known for its beer sales on the border of South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, but a new federal grant could help it become a hub for Native American arts and crafts.

The group GROW Nebraska was recently awarded a $100,000 federal grant to help artisans sell paintings, jewelry and other artwork in new markets. The nonprofit group is working with Lakota Hope, a faith ministry based in Whiteclay, and a University of Nebraska-Lincoln extension office employee based in Crawford.

GROW Nebraska CEO Janell Anderson Ehrke says the U.S. Small Business Administration grant will help artisans sell their work online or at events such as powwows. The groups have also recruited experienced artists from the reservation to provide guidance at training sessions in Whiteclay.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Officials say a task force will study Nebraska’s education practices for teaching deaf students and recommend ways to improve them.

The Nebraska Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing hopes to build on its success in raising school interpreter standards last year. Officials say that once the task force is formed, it will ask the Nebraska Education Department to hire a national consulting firm to analyze Nebraska’s system.

Commission executive director John Wyvill says about 49,000 students receive special education services from the state and of those, about 830 have a primary hearing disability.

LOUP CITY, Neb. (AP) — A former Loup City teacher accused of placing spy cameras in a girls locker room been convicted of a fourth crime.

Online court records say 25-year-old Anthony Rahe was found guilty of felony manufacture of visual depiction of sexually explicit conduct.

He’d made a plea deal and pleaded no contest to three other charges and underwent a brief nonjury trial on the fourth last month. Prosecutors dismissed or amended the original 15 counts against Rahe in return for his pleas. The judge’s decision on the fourth charge was filed Friday in Sherman County District Court.

District officials say a student reported finding the camera at Loup City Public School on Oct. 8. Investigators have said school security camera footage implicated Rahe.

His sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 18.

The North Platte Community Playhouse will kick off their 2016/2017 season with a classic mystery, Agatha Christie’s “The Mousetrap.”

In the show, a group of strangers is stranded in a boarding house during a snowstorm, one of whom is a murderer. The suspects include the newly married couple who run the house, and the suspicions in their minds nearly wreck their perfect marriage. Others are a spinster with a curious background, an architect who seems better equipped to be a chef, a retired Army major, a strange little man who claims his car has overturned in a drift, and a jurist who makes life miserable for everyone. Into their midst comes a policeman, traveling on skis. He no sooner arrives, when the jurist is killed. Two down, and one to go. To get to the rationale of the murderer’s pattern, the policeman probes the background of everyone present and rattles a lot of skeletons. Another famous Agatha Christie switch finish!

Production dates for “The Mousetrap” are September 23, 24, 25 & 30 and October 1 & 2, 2016, with Friday and Saturday performances beginning at 8:00 pm and Sunday Matinees beginning at 2:00 pm.  Tickets are $15 for adults and $8 for students.  Individual and Family season tickets are available.  Tickets sales begin on Monday, September 19.  Tickets are available at the NPCP Box Office (301 East 5^th Street) from Noon-5:00 pm, online at www.northplattecommunityplayhouse.com or at the door prior to each performance.

This production is made possible, in part, by the Nebraska Arts Council and the Nebraska Cultural Endowment of the Arts, as well as our Corporate Sponsors, Adams and Swanson Funeral Home and Carpenter Memorial Chapel.

“The Mousetrap” is directed by Carolyn Clark with Assistant Director Robert Allen.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers face a looming budget shortfall when they convene in January, but members of a key budget-writing committee say they still hope to boost funding for the state’s problem-plagued prison system.

Senators on the Appropriations Committee said it’s too early to know exactly how they’ll balance the budget while addressing major staffing shortages in the Department of Correctional Services. The options could include cuts to other programs, delaying action on other spending requests and tapping the state’s cash reserve.

The department unveiled a package Thursday that includes a $15.6 million budget increase to reduce staffing shortages and turnover in Nebraska’s prisons.

In addition, the department is asking lawmakers for $75.2 million over four years to build a reception and treatment center for elderly and mentally ill inmates.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The exhaustive reaccreditation process is winding to a close as University of Nebraska-Lincoln officials put the finishing touches on a report to the accrediting body.

The 100-page report will detail the university’s progress in five criteria areas, including instructional quality. The report will be submitted before a nine-member team from the Higher Learning Commission visits the campus Oct. 24-25. The commission oversees the accreditation of colleges and universities in 19 states, including Nebraska and Iowa.

University spokesman Steve Smith says accreditation’s goal is to ensure the education provided by institutions of higher education meets certain levels of quality. Without accreditation, for example, the federal government wouldn’t provide financial aid to a school’s students.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s overall crime rate fell for the third straight year in 2015, but the state saw a slight increase in violent crimes, according to new crime data.

State law enforcement reported a 9 percent decrease in overall crime compared to 2014. The Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice says a 5 percent dip in robberies and a 19 percent drop in burglaries contributed to the overall decrease.

Commission Executive Director Darrell Fisher says the declines align with FBI reports of crime decreasing nationally.

However, violent crime increased almost 1 percent last year. The number of reported rapes and aggravated assaults was higher than the previous year.

• Tyler Jon Wyatt, 29, North Platte and Angelena Patricia Wyatt, 30, North Platte

• Brian Wesley Sorrells, 31, North Platte and Crystal Dawn Sorrells, 32, North Platte

• Gregory George Mattke, 52, North Platte and Crystal Gail Sanchez. 37, North Platte

• Zachary Michael Fox, 25, North Platte and Hanna Leigh Godbey, 19, North Platte

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Lancaster County’s public defender says Nebraska ought to decriminalize marijuana and regulate its distribution.

Joe Nigro said at a Thursday forum in Omaha that he’s not advocating the use of marijuana. But he says prohibition has failed and that the state’s criminal justice system shouldn’t be treating a health issue.

The forum was hosted by the National Association of Social Workers’ Nebraska chapter.

Nigro also criticized state Attorney General Doug Peterson for continuing to pursue legal action with Oklahoma against Colorado over its marijuana policies. Peterson had left the forum before Nigro’s remarks, but Peterson later defended the lawsuit, saying in an email that the effort is backed by all nine former administrators of the federal Drug Enforcement Administration.