KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Officials are still trying to identify the remains of a man found along the Platte River earlier this month, but law enforcement authorities have theorized that he was traveling laborer or transient.

The body found June 10 was clothed a camouflage jacket and pants and hiking boots. He also had several tattoos, including a black and red scorpion on the inside of a forearm and a dark-colored shark surrounded by light blue water on another forearm.

Authorities have not ruled out foul play. An autopsy and DNA analysis were ordered.

Canoeists paddling on the Platte River discovered the body in a channel in some brush.

United States Attorney Deborah R. Gilg announced that Jesse Lucio, 39, formerly of Chadron, Nebraska, was sentenced today in Lincoln, Nebraska, to 19 years in prison by United States Senior District Judge Richard G. Kopf, for the production of child pornography.  Following his release from prison, Lucio will serve 10 years on supervised release and be required to register as a sex offender.

In September of 2015 the Chadron Police Department was informed of a possible sexual assault involving Lucio and a minor female victim.   The reporting party indicated to law enforcement that there was a video of Lucio and the minor female victim engaging in sexually explicit conduct on a tablet computer located at Lucio’s home.  The reporting party stated that she knew the age of the minor female victim and that she also saw Lucio in the video.  The tablet was later examined by law enforcement officials, including a forensic examination conducted by the FBI, and 2 videos were recovered on the tablet computer, both videos having been produced on September 12, 2015, in Chadron Nebraska, and depicting Lucio and the minor victim engaged in sexually explicit conduct as defined by federal law.

Lucio was interviewed by the Chadron Police Department and admitted to having sexual contact with the minor female victim and recording the sexually explicit conduct on the tablet computer.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by United States Attorneys’ Offices and the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section (CEOS), Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visitwww.projectsafechildhood.gov.

This case was investigated by the Chadron Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A judge has struck down a lawsuit alleging that a ballot question to reinstate capital punishment in Nebraska is unfairly slanted in favor of death penalty supporters.

Lancaster County District Court Judge Lori Maret rejected arguments by death penalty opponents in a ruling issued Tuesday.

The ballot language submitted by Attorney General Doug Peterson informs voters that retaining the repeal law would eliminate capital punishment and change the “maximum” penalty for first-degree murder to life in prison.

Death penalty opponents contend the word “maximum” is misleading because it incorrectly implies that first-degree murder convicts could face a lesser sentence than life in prison.

Maret noted in the ruling that the ballot wording is consistent with the language lawmakers used in the legislation that abolished capital punishment.

A spokesman for Union Pacific Railroad says the company’s rail fastening system has an outstanding safety history.

Spokesman Justin Jacobs’ statement was in response to the Federal Railroad Administration’s preliminary report on a June 3 fiery oil train derailment in the town of Mosier, Oregon. The report blamed Union Pacific for not properly maintaining its tracks and missing problems with bolts that fasten the rail ties to the rails.

Jacobs says the company will replace all the lag bolts with rail spikes, which will make problems easier to detect on inspections.

He also says an upgraded braking system called for by the Federal Railroad Administration wouldn’t have made a difference in the severity of the derailment.

LINCOLN – A 21-year-old Virginia woman is hospitalized in stable condition following a June 22 boating accident at Bridgeport State Recreation Area (SRA).

Hailie Knight, of Virginia Beach, Virginia, was one of two occupants on a tube being pulled on the SRA’s center lake by a personal watercraft. The tube struck a tree, resulting in the victim’s severe injuries. The second occupant was treated for minor cuts and bruises. Alcohol does not appear to be a factor in this incident.

Knight was transported to Morrill County Community Hospital in Bridgeport. She was stabilized before being airlifted to Regional West Medical Center in Scottsbluff, where she underwent surgery.

The victim’s husband, Joshua Knight, 21, was the operator of the personal watercraft, which was the only vessel on the lake at the time of the accident.

The accident was called into Bridgeport Communications at 1:10 p.m. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, Nebraska State Patrol and Morrill County Sheriff’s Office are investigating.

This boating accident is the fifth reported to Nebraska Game and Parks this year. Typically, at least 10 accidents are reported by mid-June.

Herb Angell, Nebraska’s boating law administrator, said: “We want boaters to be safe and have fun. The top five contributing factors to boating accidents are; excessive speed, lack of experience by the operator, not paying attention, not maintaining a proper lookout and machinery failure.”

Angell said people new to boating should consider taking a boating safety course. Nebraska law requires all motorboat operators born after Dec. 31, 1985, to take a boating safety course. Available classes are listed at BoatSafeNebraska.org.

He added that boaters also should be vigilant about maintaining their vessel by making sure that items such as life jackets, noise-making devices (horns and whistles), fire extinguishers and other carriage requirements are kept up to date.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A state senator from Norfolk has announced his candidacy to become the Nebraska Legislature’s next speaker.

Sen. Jim Scheer is looking to replace Speaker Galen Hadley of Kearney, who won’t return to office next year because of term limits. Scheer said in a statement Thursday he’s proud of what lawmakers accomplished during his four years in the Legislature, and he sees opportunity to build on successes and learn from mistakes.

Scheer, a Republican, says he won’t let lobbyists or lawmakers from either party bully or pressure him. He says he would ensure that all bills receive fair treatment and that the legislative process is transparent.

If elected, Scheer would be the second speaker from Norfolk in recent history. Former Sen. Mike Flood served as speaker from 2007 to 2013.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Census Bureau says Asians remain the fastest-growing racial group in the United States. And the nation’s white population is showing the slowest growth.

The Asian population in the U.S. grew at 3.4 percent between July 2014 and 2015, with international migration responsible for the majority of the growth. There are now 21 million Asians in the United States, with Hawaii as the nation’s only majority-Asian state.

The white population in the U.S., including those who chose white along with another race when asked by the census, grew only one-half of 1 percent between 2014 and 2015.

Those who say they are white alone grew at an even smaller rate. They only showed an increase of one-tenth of 1 percent.

BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) — The Obama administration is announcing $48 million in grants to help farmers and ranchers in the West conserve water and energy amid drought and climate change.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack is scheduled to discuss the plan Thursday in Colorado. The Agriculture Department says the effort will include 76 projects in at least 11 states.

The department says the program will include improving irrigation systems.

The grants will come from both the Agriculture and Interior departments.

BRIDGEPORT, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 21-year-old woman has been hospitalized after a tubing accident in the Nebraska Panhandle.

The accident occurred around 1:10 p.m. Wednesday at Bridgeport State Recreation Area in Morrill County. The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission says the woman was tubing on one of the lakes when her tube struck a shoreline.

She was taken to a hospital in Morrill and then flown to a Scottsbluff hospital.

Her name hasn’t been released.