CHADRON, Neb. (AP) — An April sentencing has been scheduled for a Tennessee man who’s taken a plea deal on an allegation that he sexually assaulted a Chadron State College student.

Twenty-one-year-old Timothy Jungquist, of Nashville, pleaded no contest Friday and was convicted of attempted sexual assault. The charge was lowered and another charge dropped in exchange for his plea. His sentencing is set for April 12 in Dawes County District Court in northwest Nebraska.

Authorities say a student contacted Chadron police on Oct. 7, 2014, saying she’d been sexually assaulted two days earlier in Andrews Hall on the campus. Jungquist soon was arrested. He was a Chadron State student at the time.

Today, Governor Pete Ricketts, in accordance with a proclamation from President Barack Obama, announced that all U.S. and Nebraska flags are to be flown at half-staff in honor of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who passed away over the weekend.

Flags will be flown at half-staff until sunset on the day of Scalia’s internment.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill designed to protect new homes from radon gas is gaining traction among Nebraska lawmakers, but no major changes are likely until at least next year.

Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha has introduced a bill to create a state radon task force, which would look for the best construction techniques to keep the cancer-causing gas out of homes. The task force would report back to lawmakers in 2017.

Nebraska has the nation’s third-highest prevalence of radon, the odorless, colorless gas that seeps into buildings from the surrounding soil. Iowa and North Dakota are the only states where the gas is more widespread.

The bill is set for first-round debate this week.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Several of the University of Nebraska’s biggest projects at its Lincoln and Omaha campuses are being built through private partnerships that don’t use public bidding.

Bids weren’t used to award much of the work being done on the $323 million cancer center in Omaha, the $188 million research park in Lincoln or the $88 million arena in Omaha.

Private donations of millions of dollars helped build all those projects.

The university set up private corporations to build the projects that shielded the contracts from public scrutiny.

University officials say the public-private arrangements are legal and help make it easier to solicit donations. They also say the elected Board of Regents provides oversight when it approves the projects.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Later this week, Chelsea Clinton will appear at a campaign event for her mother in Omaha ahead of Nebraska’s March 5 Democratic presidential caucuses.

Chelsea Clinton will speak at 4 p.m. Wednesday at a public campaign event in west Omaha at the Four Sisters Boutique.

Clinton is expected to talk about the election and how to support her mother during the caucus.

Campaign officials encouraged people who want to attend to RSVP at HillaryClinton.com.

NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. (AP) — A regional conference next month will focus on ways to encourage schools to get their food from local farmers and the benefits of that.

More than 200 people are expected to attend the March 2 event in Nebraska City. The conference will attract a mix of farmers, ranchers, school food service officials and others concerned about the issue.

Throughout the day, speakers will offer advice on ways to increase the amount of local food served in schools and ways to teach students more about healthy food.

The event is sponsored by the Center for Rural Affairs, Iowa Department of Agriculture and University of Missouri Extension.

More information is available online at http://www.cfra.org/midwest-farm-school .

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A judge has sentenced a Chicago man to over 17 years in prison for robbing a Kearney credit union.

U.S. District Court Judge Richard Kopf sentenced 29-year-old Patrick Wigley on Friday to 17 years and six months in prison for the October robbery of the Kearney Eaton Employees Union.

A co-defendant, 27-year-old Thomas Dunlap, was sentenced last month to a little over 11 years for his involvement.

The men were ordered to pay restitution of $122,891.

A third defendant, 28-year-old Clifton Hudson, is awaiting trial.

U.S. Attorney Deborah Gilg says Dunlap and Wrigley entered the credit union on Oct. 17 and Dunlap pulled out a handgun. The men gathered employees into an office and bound their hands with zip ties. They took over $120,000 from a teller’s drawer and vault.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The nation’s only ban on meatpackers owning hogs has ended due to a new Nebraska law that allows processers to control the animals from birth to slaughter.

Gov. Pete Ricketts signed the measure Thursday.

Business and farming groups say the measure will help Nebraska’s hog industry, which has grown slower than in other states.

Opponents have said the bill would give meatpackers too much leverage over farmers and make it harder for farmers who don’t contract with big meatpackers to sell their hogs.

They also criticized Smithfield Foods, a Chinese-owned pork processor that has quietly advocated for the bill and contributed to at least 20 state lawmakers, Ricketts and Attorney General Doug Peterson.

Representatives from 18 four-year colleges and universities will be on the North Platte Community College South Campus on Tuesday.

They will be part of the Spring 2016 College Transfer Fair, the purpose of which is to provide NPCC students with information about the school they are interested in transferring to. That includes details about courses and admissions requirements.

“One of the key factors in transferability is working with an advisor – at both the two-year and four-year institutions,” said Heather Pucket, area advising coordinator at NPCC. “It’s never too early to get started with the four-year plan. If advisors are able to see a student’s four-year plan, it makes it easier to work on the two-year plan, so that coursework transfers seamlessly. We have tools and resources available to help students do that.”

The fair is scheduled for 9 a.m. to noon in the fireplace area of the McDonald-Belton Building on NPCC’s South Campus.

The following schools are planning to attend:

Bellevue University

Black Hills State University

Bryan College of Health Sciences

Chadron State College

Clarkson College

Fort Hays State University

Friends University

Hastings College

Midland University

Nebraska Wesleyan University

Peru State College

Regional West Medical Center School of Radiologic Tech

South Dakota School of Mines

University of Nebraska-Kearney

University of Nebraska-Kearney – Criminal Justice

University of Nebraska-Lincoln

University of Nebraska-Omaha

Wayne State College