LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska senators who voted to abolish the death penalty say a recent analysis of the program’s costs validates their argument that it’s wasteful and ineffective.

The death penalty opposition group Retain a Just Nebraska released a letter Thursday praising the study, which says capital punishment costs the state an estimated $14.6 million annually. The letter was signed by 27 senators who voted to repeal the death penalty, including Speaker of the Legislature Galen Hadley.

Sen. Colby Coash of Lincoln, a leading Republican opponent of capital punishment, says the 2015 vote to end the death penalty eliminated a wasteful government program that hasn’t worked for decades.

The Nebraska attorney general’s office has disputed parts of the study, but conservative Creighton University economist Ernie Goss says he stands by his work.

CHICAGO (AP) — Four groups led by the American Civil Liberties Union are asking Walgreens for reassurance that the drugstore’s partnership with a Catholic system to run in-store clinics in the St. Louis area won’t limit access to birth control.

SSM Health, a St. Louis-based Catholic system, owns 27 clinics in Walgreens stores in Missouri and Illinois. The clinics open later this month.

The ACLU letter says SSM Health follows restrictions on contraceptives enforced by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. The letter echoes concerns in Oregon and Washington over a similar deal between Providence Health and Walgreens.

Walgreens referred questions to SSM Health, whose spokesman Jason Merrill says the clinics will continue normal services and patients requiring care “beyond the scope of what is appropriate for a retail clinic” will be referred elsewhere.

NEW YORK (AP) — Twitter is making a “quality filter” available to all users, allowing them to hide tweets that contain threats, appear to be automated or spammy.

The feature was previously only available to users with “verified” accounts, which are typically celebrities, public figures or journalists, and who can be identified by a blue checkmark next to the username.

The company said in a blog post Thursday that the filter does not hide content from users that a person is following or has interacted with on Twitter.

Users will also have the ability to only see notifications from accounts they follow on the service. This might help people, for example, who don’t want to see a barrage of abusive tweets directed at them. But it won’t actually delete the tweets themselves.

GERING, Neb. (AP) — A western Nebraska man who killed a 15-year-old newspaper carrier in 2003 has filed an appeal challenging his death sentence.

Attorneys for 37-year-old Jeffrey Hessler argue that his sentence should be thrown out because a panel of judges — not a jury — decided he should be executed.

Hessler was convicted in 2004 of kidnapping, raping and killing Heather Guerrero, of Gering.

The Nebraska Supreme Court has already upheld Hessler’s conviction in a previous appeal.

Hessler’s attorney argues that a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in a Florida case from earlier this year should apply to Hessler’s case.

Under Nebraska’s system, a jury decided aggravating factors were present before a panel of judges sentenced Hessler.

State Attorney General spokeswoman Suzanne Gage says prosecutors expect to defeat Hessler’s appeal.

This week, Great Plains Health Care Foundation announced its “Minutes Matter” fundraising campaign to raise money for an emergency department renovation and expansion at Great Plains Health. Over the past 10 years, patient visits to the emergency department have grown roughly four percent annually, to nearly 19,000 visits in 2015. Factors that have impacted the growth of the emergency department include the addition of new specialty service lines and partnerships with critical access hospitals in the region.

The current emergency department lacks the necessary space, design and technology required to adequately meet the full range of emergency health needs presented by the continuous increase in patient visits. The $15.5 million project will provide much-needed improvements to Great Plains Health’s current emergency area.

The project will be funded through collaboration between Great Plains Health ($5 million), Great Plains Health Care Foundation ($2 million in investment reserves) and philanthropists Bill and Ruth Scott of Omaha. Mr. Scott was treated at Great Plains Health in 2005 and has generously offered a gift of $5 million toward the project as gratitude for the quality care he received. This gift, however, comes as a challenge to our community and region to invest in our own local health care by raising an additional $3.5 million.

Great Plains Health Care Foundation began fundraising in February among members of the governing and Foundation boards, employees, employed physicians and community leaders.

“To date, over $2.28 million has been raised toward our $3.5 million goal,” said Libby Lashley, Great Plains Health Care Foundation director.

If the necessary funding is raised in the community, the renovation and expansion will be completed in phases and is expected to take roughly 18 months. The community is invited to participate and support this unique opportunity.

“This is the largest project the Foundation has ever undertaken,” said Lashley. “Our region has been offered an exceptional gift by Bill and Ruth Scott. Their generosity is inspirational. I hope that everyone who has been treated at Great Plains Health and who believes in investing in local health care makes a gift in support of this project. It would be an honor to accept a $5 million gift on behalf of our community.”

The new facility will provide:

• Enhanced capacity through an increase in exam spaces from 12 to 29 private rooms
• Six fast-track, noncritical treatment areas
• Three trauma rooms
• Isolation room for treatment of infectious disease
• Separate locked area to treat behavioral health patients
• Private exam area and bathroom for victims of domestic and sexual assault
• Full privacy for patients and families through the addition of new reception areas and consultation rooms
• Increased security to ensure the safety of all patients and guests
• Improved intake-to-care flow to reduce registration and wait time, as well as to expedite the delivery of care
• Greater innovation in patient care through the availability of state-of-the-art health technology

To learn more about the Minutes Matter project or to make a gift or a pledge, please contact Libby Lashley at 308.696.7411 or log on to gphealth.org/emergency.

Keep America Beautiful, the nation’s leading nonprofit which envisions a country where every community is a clean, green and beautiful place to live, has selected Riley Dehr of North Platte, Nebraska as one of 10 high school students from across the country to serve on its fifth national Youth Advisory Council (YAC), which is sponsored through the generous support of the Wrigley Company Foundation. Selections were based on a rigorous application and interview process.

Riley, a senior who was born and raised in North Platte, Nebraska, is known by his family and classmates as the ultimate “treehugger.” He is proud to have started his school’s first environmental club (The North Platte High School Environmental Club). The Club developed and runs the school’s entire classroom recycling program, keeping hundreds of pounds of paper and plastic out of landfills. Similarly, it has participated in multiple litter cleanups throughout the community, and has collaborated with the local recycling facility on its annual electronics recycling event. Riley has also worked closely with Keep North Platte-Lincoln County Beautiful, the local Keep America Beautiful affiliate, on projects from litter cleanups to community gardening. He plans to continue his environmental activism throughout his life as a conservationist and to hopefully give back to the planet that has given him so much.

The YAC creates a national framework for youth engagement, building on the model of youth service with Keep America Beautiful community-based affiliates. The newly-selected YAC members will provide an original point of view in assessing Keep America Beautiful programs, implement local service projects, and will act as ambassadors and leaders for youth service in their respective communities and states. Goals for 2016-2017 include raising awareness and increasing participation in youth-oriented Keep America Beautiful Schools initiatives to end littering. Over the past two years, the Keep America Schools initiative has produced an average 34 percent decrease in littering on participating school campuses, helping to significantly change littering behavior among elementary, middle and high school students.

“What an amazing honor it is to have one of our own residents selected. Riley is the first Nebraskan to be chosen to serve on this council. North Platte should be proud to have such a dedicated individual representing our community and our state,” stated Mona Anderson, Executive Director of Keep North Platte and Lincoln County Beautiful.

Through the generous support of the Wrigley Company Foundation, Youth Advisory Council members will meet with their counterparts from across the country via monthly conference calls and at Keep America Beautiful’s National Conference in Washington, D.C., which takes place January 24-26, 2017. YAC members also will be provided with grants to produce a community service project in their own community.

The Nebraska State Fair will, in 2016, begin screening concertgoers with hand security wands to increase the safety of fair guests.

According to Joseph McDermott, executive director of the Nebraska State Fair, “This is the next step in making our fairgoers feel secure. We’ve all heard recent accounts of celebrities being accosted or worse in the news.  We want to take every precaution to keep risk for the artists as well as concertgoers as low as possible.”

Sharon Dreher, head of Double Locked Security says, “Even the performers have an ever growing list of what folks can and cannot bring into the concert.  The best advice I give concertgoers is, “if you don’t need it, leave it at home.” Final rules and regs are always at the artist’s discretion, and even when not, we have a list of our own rules to keep everyone safe at our State Fair concerts.”

Typical concert rules prohibit such items as: Weapons, glass, selfie sticks, laser pens/pointers and of course, no audio or video recording at any concert event.

Bag Checks will also be conducted in addition to hand held wands.  Concertgoers are urged to come to the concert early to alleviate the congestion that may occur as each attendee enters the concert grounds.

“We are very aware that this will slow our lines a bit, but we believe that it’s security measures like these that will insure not only a great time, but a safe time to be had by everybody at the concert,” McDermott said, “ The rules and regulations will be clearly posted along the lines into the concert.  We ask our concertgoers to read them over to cut down on the time they spend in line and add to their time having fun.”

The Nebraska State Fair runs from August 26 to September 5 in Grand Island.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new report says Nebraska could gain a competitive edge over nearby states by reducing its personal and corporate income tax rates while expanding its sales tax and eliminating some business tax credits.

The report released Wednesday at a tax policy summit in Lincoln sets the stage for a debate in next year’s legislative session. Gov. Pete Ricketts has said he will present a tax reform package to lawmakers when they convene in January.

The report was produced by the Washington-based Tax Foundation at the request of the Platte Institute, a Nebraska think tank that advocates for free markets and limited government. Its author argues that expanding the sales tax and reducing business tax credits would cover the cost of income tax cuts without creating a financial crisis.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts and Speaker of the Legislature Galen Hadley are urging an embattled state senator to resign before a key election deadline so that voters have a chance to pick a replacement.

Ricketts and Hadley sent a letter Wednesday to Sen. Bill Kintner of Papillion, renewing their call for him to step down immediately. Kintner has admitted to having cybersex on a state computer with a woman he met online, but vowed to remain in office.

The letter says Kintner should resign before Sept. 8, which would allow Ricketts to appoint a replacement but give the voters a chance to pick their senator in November. If Kintner resigns after Sept. 8, Ricketts would still appoint a senator, but that person would not stand for election this year.