LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Hunters can apply for one of four mountain lion hunting permits available in Nebraska this spring.

The state Game and Parks Commission says applications for the permits to hunt in part of the Pine Ridge area of northwest Nebraska will be accepted during the first five days of March.

Anyone interested in the chance to hunt a mountain lion between March 15 and March 31 can apply if they already hold a mountain lion permit for the area.

No more than four mountain lions will be killed during this auxiliary hunting season.

More information on Nebraska’s mountain lion hunting rules is available online .

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have charged a University of Nebraska at Kearney student with felony sexual assault.

Buffalo County Court records say 20-year-old Miguel Guzman is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on March 19. His attorney didn’t immediately return a call Friday from The Associated Press.

The alleged attack occurred last Sunday off the Kearney campus. Court records with details have been sealed from public view.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill to help Nebraska policymakers identify the number of missing-person cases involving Native American women has won final approval in the Legislature.

Lawmakers passed the measure Friday on a 45-0 vote.

The measure would require the Nebraska State Patrol to conduct a study on missing Native American women cases and identify what can be done to address the problem. The patrol would also work with tribal and local law enforcement, Native American tribes and American Indian organizations as well as the U.S. Department of Justice.

The bill by Sen. Tom Brewer, of Gordon, is intended to help officials identify the scope of the problem and any barriers to fixing it. The patrol would submit a report to lawmakers by June 1, 2020.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have passed a bill to strip cities of their power to ban short-term rentals such as Airbnb.

The measure won final approval Friday with a 46-0 vote. It now goes to the governor.

The bill by state Sen. Adam Morfeld, of Lincoln, still allows cities to tax short-term rentals and regulate them for health and public safety purposes.

It also gives online short-term rental companies to enter into an agreement with the state to collect and pay sales taxes that are owed.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Roman Catholic parishes, schools and other institutions in Nebraska will have 11 more days to produce records subpoenaed by the state Attorney General’s Office in its investigation into possible child sex abuse.

The state’s top prosecutor and representatives for the Catholic dioceses in Omaha and Lincoln met in court Friday — the deadline for church officials to produce the records — and agreed that the dioceses would have until March 12 to produce the records.

The agreement came three days after Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson subpoenaed more than 400 Roman Catholic churches and institutions in the state seeking any records related to child sexual assault or abuse.

In a news release following the hearing, the attorney general’s office said it was apparent that records the dioceses voluntarily provided last fall “were not complete.”

The dioceses also are seeking to quash the subpoenas as they’re written, saying they’re too vague. A hearing on that motion will be held March 12.

CHICAGO (AP) — A winter storm is making its way across much of the U.S., bringing rain, snow and bitter cold to some areas.

The storm was spreading from the Sierra Nevada Mountains and into the Rocky Mountains on Saturday, with rain to lower elevations and heavy snow at higher elevations. The fast-moving storm is expected to move across the Great Plains and Midwest overnight, where temperatures in the storm’s path are expected to plummet. Some areas of Kansas may get as many as 8 inches (20 centimeters) of snow.

According to the National Weather Service, wind chills in northern Illinois could drop to minus-28 (minus-33 Celsius) by Monday morning. The National Weather Service said the usual low temperature for this time of year in Chicago is 24 degrees. Michigan also is in store for a bitter-cold start to March, with temperatures 20 degrees (-6.7 Celsius) to 30 degrees (-1 Celsius) below normal forecast Sunday through Wednesday. Temperatures in the northern part of the state could be as low as minus-13 (-25 Celsius) on Sunday night into Monday morning.

Meanwhile, winter storm watches are in effect for the upper East Coast beginning on Sunday night, with heavier snow possible in some areas.

Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol have arrested two people and seized two pounds of cocaine following a traffic stop near Hershey on Interstate 80.

At approximately 9:00 a.m. Thursday, February 28, an eastbound Cadillac Escalade failed to move over while a trooper was finishing another traffic stop on I-80. The trooper performed a traffic stop on the Escalade near mile marker 163.

During the traffic stop, troopers conducted a search of the vehicle and found two pounds of cocaine hidden inside the backrest of the driver’s seat.

The driver, Andrea Freeman, 36, and passenger, Victor Phillips, 30, both of Chicago, were arrested for possession of cocaine, possession with intent to deliver, and no drug tax stamp. Both were lodged in Lincoln County Jail.

Eagle Communications announced today the promotion of Mark Trotman to Vice President of Radio, effective immediately.

Trotman has served as Eagle’s market manager in Hutchinson since 2010. He will now focus on coordinating the company’s revenue development, sales training and additional processes for Eagle’s 28 radio stations.

“Mark’s experience and success in Hutchinson is valuable in each of our markets and we look forward to his leadership in these important areas.” said Eagle Communications Chairman and CEO Gary Shorman Eagle

With Trotman’s promotion, sales manager Terry Drouhard will now serve as market manager in Hutchinson. Drouhard was appointed to operations manager in Hutchinson in 1989 and promoted to Sales Manager in 1996.

“Terry has outstanding teambuilding skills and a commitment to growing each of our customers,” said Shorman. “As an employee owned company, we build for the long term. Terry’s strong leadership and knowledge of the market make him the right choice for this new role.”

YORK, Neb. (AP) — A prison inmate has been convicted of assaulting a woman who’d cooperated with authorities in the prosecution of the inmate and her brother in their Omaha murder cases.

The York News-Times reports that jurors found 29-year-old Erica Jenkins guilty Wednesday of assault by a confined person but acquitted her of a weapons charge. Prosecutors say Jenkins punched and used a padlock in a sock to beat Christine Bordeaux in the York women’s prison cell they shared briefly in September 2016.

Erica Jenkins was convicted of murder in January 2015, accused by authorities of helping her brother, Nikko, kill a man in Omaha in 2013. Nikko Jenkins pleaded no contest to murder in that case and three others. Bordeaux was sentenced to 20 years for robbery in connection with Nikko Jenkins’ crimes.

Bordeaux is a cousin to the Jenkinses.