LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Thousands of Nebraska students attend parochial schools each year, yet a lawmaker says public schools have no contingency plan if one nearby were to suddenly close.

Sen. Paul Schumacher of Columbus argued Tuesday that schools should prepare financially and understand the costs that would come with a glut of new students. Schumacher proposed a bill to the Education Committee that would require districts to either increase their facilities, staff and cash reserve, or pay parochial schools a kind of insurance policy to stay open.

Schumacher says he knows the bill won’t pass, but he wants districts to discuss the issue.

The Nebraska Department of Education says nearly 38,000 students are attending private schools this year, compared to nearly 316,000 enrolled in a public school.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers are trying to strike a compromise on a bill that threatens to overturn gun restrictions in Omaha and Lincoln by imposing uniform regulations statewide.

Senators debated the proposal Tuesday but adjourned for the morning without reaching a vote. City officials from Omaha and Lincoln oppose the bill by Sen. Laura Ebke of Crete.

Omaha’s police union says it would undermine the city’s handgun registration ordinance, which lets police deny guns to the mentally ill and known gang associates. Union President John Wells says the bill comes across “not so much as pro-gun, but pro-gang.”

Supporters say the measure would protect gun owners who inadvertently violate the ordinance by traveling through Omaha with a handgun.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — A volunteer program in Nebraska is working to help bring positive role models to elementary school children by matching them with older friends.

The Friends Program is a supervised program established in the mid-1970s that operates in Kearney, Ravenna and Elm Creek. Students are referred to the program by teachers and school counselors who think they could benefit from having an older role model.

The program is supported by the United Way of the Kearney Area and donations.

Program director April Roggasch said that it currently has 125 students, and there are 22 children in immediate need of a match. Roggasch says that there are 50 more children on a waiting list.

The program director said that male volunteers are always needed.

A traffic stop for a license plate violation on eastbound Interstate 80 in Lincoln County led to the seizure of 47 lbs. of marijuana and one arrest.

Just before 2:00 p.m., Monday, January 25, a trooper stopped a 1998 Chevy Silverado crew cab pickup for a license plate violation just north of the Hershey exit (mm164) on eastbound I-80. The Trooper made contact with the driver and smelled a strong odor of marijuana coming from the vehicle. A probable cause search led to the seizure of 47.1 lbs. of marijuana contained in three plastic totes in the cab of the pickup.

The driver and lone occupant of the pickup, Christopher D. Jensen, 30, of Temecula, Calif., was lodged in the Lincoln County Detention Center on a charge of Possession of Marijuana with Intent to Deliver and No Operator’s License.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new report says Nebraska’s unemployment rate remained unchanged at 2.9 percent in December.

The Nebraska Labor Department said in the report released Tuesday that the preliminary December rate is two-tenths of a point under the December 2014 rate of 3.1 percent.

The new Nebraska figure remained well below the preliminary national unemployment rate of 5 percent in December. U.S. Labor Department figures say the 2.9 percent rate reported for Nebraska and South Dakota is just above North Dakota’s 2.7 percent, the lowest rate in the nation.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — A Stapleton woman convicted for a crash that killed her daughter and injured her granddaughter has been sentenced to house arrest and probation.

Online court records say 60-year-old Vicky Allen was sentenced Monday to 60 days of house arrest and five years of probation. In December she pleaded no contest and was convicted of manslaughter and driving under the influence. Prosecutors had lowered the charges in exchange for Allen’s pleas.

The crash occurred Nov. 26, 2014, when Allen was driving to North Platte. Authorities say her van crossed the center line on U.S. Highway 83 and rammed into a semitrailer. Her daughter Michelle Heisz was pronounced dead at the scene. Her 3-year-old granddaughter, Anjellycka Heisz, suffered severe injuries and spent more than a month in a hospital.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Bicycling advocates say Nebraska needs to change its reputation as a state unfriendly to riders by repealing an outdated law.

Cyclist groups on Monday urged the Legislature’s Transportation and Telecommunications Committee to advance a bill that would abolish the 1968 statute, which requires cyclists to use a bike path if one exists next to the roadway.

The measure by Sen. Rick Kolowski of Omaha would also clarify that when a designated bike trail crosses a street, cyclists and pedestrians who follow traffic signals have the right-of-way.

Advocates say too many cyclists have been hit by drivers who fail consider the bike trail traffic.

No one at the hearing spoke against the bill.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Gambling opponents are fighting a bill that would allow fantasy sports websites to operate in Nebraska, even though the industry estimates that 300,000 people in the state are already playing.

Both sides argued their case Monday to the Legislature’s General Affairs Committee. The committee is considering a measure to pave the way for sites such as DraftKings and FanDuel.

The bill by Sen. Tyson Larson of O’Neill would declare that the games are predominantly based on skill and not illegal games of chance.

Paul Charchian, president of the Fantasy Sports Trade Association, says the state shouldn’t “criminalize” the people in Nebraska who currently play.

Pat Loontjer, director of Gambling with the Good Life, says her group views the game as an expanded form of gambling.