KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Authorities are investigating the death of a 16-year-old girl who was unable to escape a fire at her family’s home just outside Kearney in Buffalo County.

Kearney and Amherst firefighters responded to the blaze shortly after it broke out late Tuesday night. Authorities say three other family members escaped, but not the girl.

Buffalo County Attorney Shawn Eatherton (EH’-thur-tuhn) identified the girl as Kyah (KYE’-uh) Kinkade.

An autopsy has been ordered.

The fire cause is being investigated.

CHADRON, Neb. (AP) — A former Dawes County jailer accused of at least unintentionally aiding an escape attempt has taken a plea deal.

Court records say 31-year-old Sherry Whitinger pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of introducing escape implements. Prosecutors dropped a charge that she’d had sex with an inmate. Her sentencing is set for March 2.

She’s denied intentionally aiding the escape attempt.

Whitinger had provided inmates with a cellphone that was recovered from an inmate who surrendered before he could get out of the county courthouse during his escape attempt in September.

Authorities say he was not the inmate with whom Whitinger had sex. Nebraska law says jailers or other law enforcement officials who have sex with inmates have committed sexual assault.

GERING, Neb. (AP) — A Scottsbluff woman accused of using a bat to beat a man over a drug debt last July has been sent to prison.

Court records say 50-year-old Angel Bering was sentenced on Monday to seven to 12 years in prison. She’d pleaded no contest and was convicted of two felonies: assault and use of a weapon. She was credited with 165 days already served.

Bering also is known as Tracy Bering.

Authorities say she struck the man because he owed her $1,400 for methamphetamine. Two men with Bering were charged with misdemeanor assault. Authorities say they used a knife to cut the back of the drug customer’s head and hit and kicked him.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — It is a record year for Iowa and Nebraska crop farmers.

The final harvest report released Tuesday by the U.S. Department of Agriculture says Iowa farmers brought in 2.5 billion bushels of corn, 4 percent higher than the 2009 record. Iowa has led the nation in corn production for 22 consecutive years. The average per-acre yield of 192 bushels also is a new record.

Soybean farmers did very well too producing a record crop and the nation’s largest soybean bounty, beating out Illinois for the first time since 2012. At 554 million bushels, this year’s Iowa soybean harvest exceeds the 2005 record by 5 percent. The per-acre yield also beat the 2005 record.

Nebraska also produced records with 1.69 billion bushels of corn and a 306 million bushel of soybeans.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A measure to encourage more drivers to sign up to be organ donors is headed to a second round of debate in the Nebraska Legislature.

Lawmakers voted 32-8 Tuesday to advance the bill, which would require applicants for driver’s licenses or identification cards to answer whether or not they would like to donate their organs if they die.

Supporters say the bill by Sen. Dan Watermeier of Syracuse could save lives by providing more organs for transplants. In states where a yes or no answer is mandatory, more people choose to join the donor registry.

But opponents say the bill violates free speech protections because it would force applicants to answer a government question that is not related to their qualifications to drive.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts plans to greet President Barack Obama at Offutt Air Force Base after previously saying that he would send his lieutenant governor.

Ricketts spokesman Taylor Gage said the governor’s staff was able to rearrange his schedule at the last minute. Obama arrives in Omaha on Wednesday after delivering his final State of the Union address.

Ricketts previously said that scheduling conflicts would keep him from accepting the White House invitation, which he says he received on Monday. Obama’s visit to Nebraska was announced last week.

Ricketts, a Republican, says the initial decision to decline the invitation was not politically motivated. The governor is scheduled to deliver his annual State of the State address and budget recommendations to lawmakers on Thursday morning.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s inspector general for child welfare would have better access to court records that she has previously struggled to obtain under a bill in the Legislature.

The bill by Sen. Bill Krist of Omaha would allow Inspector General Julie Rogers to get access to records within five days once her office receives a complaint or when a child in the system dies or suffers a serious injury.

Rogers says she had trouble getting records and information from the probation office within Nebraska’s Judicial Branch, even though state law is supposed to grant her access. Because the inspector general of Nebraska child welfare reports to the Legislature, probation office administrators have raised concerns about separation of powers.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has opened a new space where students can study and collaborate, including an area that is open 24 hours a day.

The $10 million Adele Hall Learning Commons opened Monday in the campus’ Love Library North. The commons is named after 1953 graduate Adele Hall.

The new space has four areas, including a space with long rows of tables meant to be a quiet study area and an area that features a computer hub. The final area that will be the Digital Learning Center is still under construction.

The Digital Learning Center will have about 200 computers for students to use in computer-aided learning. The campus’ Dean of Libraries Nancy Busch said the center will open in the fall.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts will push for a legislative package intended to address the underlying causes of rising property taxes.

The proposals unveiled Tuesday would tighten spending limits on local governments and slow the statewide growth of farm- and ranchland property values.

They also would eliminate loopholes that allow local governments to increase their levies without voter approval, and slow the growth of certain parts of school district budgets.

Sens. Mike Gloor of Grand Island and Kate Sullivan of Cedar Rapids will introduce the measures Thursday on the governor’s behalf. Gloor and Sullivan co-chaired a joint committee last year that looked for ways to reduce Nebraska’s reliance on property taxes to pay for K-12 public schools.