LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln police have accused a University of Nebraska-Lincoln assistant professor of defacing U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry campaign signs last fall.Patricia Wonch-Hill has been cited for three counts of misdemeanor vandalism. Her university phone rang busy during several calls Wednesday from The Associated Press, and she didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking a response to the police allegations. Court records don’t list an attorney for her.

Police say fingerprints from Wonch-Hill were found on stickers used to vandalize Fortenberry campaign signs in Lincoln last October. The vandalism included giving his picture big, googly eyes. One of the signs was also defaced with a strip of tape that turned the Republican’s name into a flatulence reference.

He won his eighth term the following month to represent the state’s 1st Congressional District.

Police Sgt. Angela Sands said the damage to property — estimated at $100 — went beyond free speech.

Editor’s Note: Wonch-Hill is a graduate of North Platte High School.

NORTH PLATTE – The North Platte Area Chamber & Development Corporation has secured the tax certificate for the Pawnee Hotel. The tax certificate, representing several years’ worth of delinquent real estate taxes, was recently assigned by the former certificate holder, Street Corner, Inc., to the Chamber Development organization.

According to board chairman Dr. Ben Lashley, the board of directors officially voted a week ago to pursue the action and was able to successfully negotiate the assignment with Street Corner Inc. of Lincoln.

“Our board did not take this issue of financial commitment lightly and had discussed the Pawnee situation for several years leading up to the decision. In the end, we felt it was the right thing to do for North Platte. Our sole purpose is to gain some control over positioning the property so that we eventually get it into the hands of an experienced developer, which will redevelop the grand old structure into a useful life once again, sooner rather than later,” Dr. Lashley said.

The Chamber Development organization has had conversations with different private entities expressing interest in the historic hotel, but those groups or developers were unwilling to wade through the complicated legal entanglement surrounding the Pawnee. According to Chamber Development board member, Bill Troshynski, “The Pawnee’s tax certificate is the key to clearing the legal cloud that looms over the property as a result of the dissolution of the Pawnee Assisted Living Corporation, the current property owner.”

With the recent assignment of the Pawnee’s tax certificate to the Chamber Development organization, the Chamber Development board will now monitor and implement the necessary legal steps required to ensure the future of the Pawnee is placed in the hands of those who recognize its significance and importance to the City of North Platte and its residents.

Chamber Development CEO Gary Person said this initial step was critical in the continued effort for downtown revitalization. “There is still a long complicated journey ahead. We looked at this situation from every angle and it just didn’t appear to have any positive path moving forward. At least this gets one of the critical issues off dead center,” Person said.

Chamber Development Board members include Dr. Lashley, Dr. Rich Raska, Troshynski, Brent Burklund, Brandon Jones, Nancy Faulhaber, Mel McNea, Jarid Childears, Clarine Eickhoff, Josh Harm, Dee Klein, Matt Hasenauer, Tony Orr, Glenn Peterson, and Joe Hewgley.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Lawyers representing 11 Nebraska inmates who sued the state over prison conditions are seeking class-action status for the lawsuit.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska filed a motion Tuesday seeking the status in federal court.

The lawsuit filed in August 2017 criticizes the state prison system for what the lawsuit calls the excessive use of solitary confinement and gross negligence of inmates’ medical and mental health issues. It also points to persistent overcrowding as well as “dangerous” understaffing.

The organization enlisted at least six experts with experience in treatment of prisoners with mental health, medical and dental needs and their disability rights to back up the filing. The experts detailed in hundreds of pages problems they said extended far beyond just the 11 inmates who filed the lawsuit.

Attorney General Doug Peterson said is reviewing the filings.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Gov. Pete Ricketts is once again promoting Nebraska to Mexican business and government leaders.

Ricketts visited the country last week for the second time in two years on an international trade mission. He’s the first U.S. governor to visit with the administration of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who took office in December.

Ricketts says he met with the president’s chief of staff, Alfonso Romo, as well as Mexican business executives who have opened facilities in Nebraska. He says he’s planning at least two more trade missions this year, one of which will likely go to Asia.

Mexico is a major trading partner with Nebraska and buys hundreds of millions of dollars in corn, soybeans, beef and other products from the state each year.

ORD, Neb. (AP) — A May trial has been scheduled for a Roman Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting a woman in central Nebraska.

Valley County District Court records say the Rev. John Kakkuzhiyil (kah-kuh-ree-AL’) entered a written plea of not guilty Monday to a charge of forcible sexual assault. His trial is set to begin May 6.

The woman who accused him has obtained a protection order against the cleric. She says he assaulted her in November when she went to his Ord home on business. She says she blacked out after having a couple of drinks with him.

The Grand Island Diocese says Bishop Joseph Hanefeldt placed Kakkuzhiyil on leave Dec. 15 upon learning that the Nebraska State Patrol was investigating the allegations.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — About 300 jobs will be eliminated in the Omaha area when a distribution warehouse that served Shopko stores closes.

The Omaha World-Herald reported the closure of the distribution center on Monday.

The distribution center, run by Spectrum America Supply Chain Solutions, closed as a result of Shopko’s bankruptcy.

Spectrum America says the exact timing of the closure hasn’t been determined yet. The company will also close a distribution center in Boise, Idaho.

Andrew Rainbolt with Sarpy County’s Economic Development Corporation says he’s hopeful the people who lose their jobs will be able to find new positions quickly.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Working in grain bins can be deadly, so insurers want to remind farmers of the dangers.

Nationwide insurance is helping sponsor a campaign to educate farmers about safety procedures they can use when working in grain bins.

Farmers should wear proper safety gear when they enter grain bins and test the atmosphere for toxic gases.

Brad Liggett with Nationwide says the insurer is also working with other groups to train first responders and provide grain bin rescue tubes to fire departments.

Since 2014, 77 fire departments in 24 states have received the rescue tubes that help protect someone stuck in the grain while responders work to rescue them.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Grand Island’s mayor says two state agencies will work with the city on what to do with the former Grand Island Veterans Home buildings and land.

Mayor Roger Steele said Thursday during his State of the City Address that public input will be sought for the plan. He also said the state’s Department of Administrative Services has agreed the plan should include something for veterans, such as housing or social services.

About 640 acres (259 hectares) were transferred to the city in 2015 after the decision was made to build the new Central Nebraska Veterans Home in Kearney. The buildings and the remaining 40 acres (16.2 hectares) of land became surplus state property when veterans began moving into their new Kearney home on Jan. 16.

There was discussion before the move that Grand Island would take ownership of the empty buildings, with state dollars provided for redevelopment. But Steele said that when he asked whether there would be any money, the state answer was no.

“Quite frankly, the city can’t afford to own and maintain 280,000 square feet of buildings, especially when you consider most of these buildings are very old,” Steele said. It costs about $1 million a year to keep the buildings operational.

“That would have been a crushing financial burden for the city,” he said.

But Grand Island had some negotiating influence based on an agreement between the state and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs that provided money for the Kearney facility: The state’s Administrative Services Department and the city were to team up and devise a management or redevelopment plan for the property within 18 months of the state-VA agreement signing in July 2015.

That had not been done, and that gave the city leverage to insist the state come up with a development plan, Steele said. Administrative Services and the state Economic Development Department subsequently agreed to work with the city on a plan.

HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — It’s big — and it’s back. The third annual Bigfoot Conference has drawn an estimated 700 people to the city of Hastings, Nebraska.

The conference kicked off Friday and runs through Sunday.

Some believe the creature is mythical; others, merely elusive. Whatever their beliefs, speakers from all over and outside the country convene at the conference to share their thoughts about and experiences with the creature.

Adams County Visitors Bureau Executive Director Anjanette Bonham says skeptics and believers alike attend to see what they can learn.

Bonham says attendees come from all over the United States and Canada.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A voter-approved law to expand Medicaid in Nebraska is quietly taking shape as the state prepares to extend health coverage to an estimated 90,000 recipients, but key challenges still must be resolved and officials haven’t set a firm date to start enrolling people.

Nebraska state officials say they face a huge undertaking with a lot of moving parts. Even though they must submit their plan to the federal government by April 1, administrators say that review could take time and require additional changes.

Administrators want to err on the side of doing it properly rather than rushing the process, said Nebraska Medicaid and Long-Term Care Director Matthew Van Patton.

Van Patton declined to give a specific date for when residents could start getting coverage, saying the agency is still working to upgrade its computers, hire additional workers and negotiate new contracts with groups that will provide services to the new Medicaid recipients.

“We want to ensure that when we do flip the switch, we’re going to have a good product in the marketplace,” he said in an interview.

But advocates for low-income Nebraskans say they’re concerned uninsured people will continue to go without health care while the state tinkers with its plan. Molly McCleery, a staff attorney for Nebraska Appleseed, a leading proponent of the measure, said her group would like to see enrollment start by fall 2019 so people can get covered by Jan. 1, 2020.

“We definitely understand the concerns of wanting to do it right,” McCleery said. “You want a system that’s effective and user-friendly. But when you look at the enrollment timelines of other states, we think further into 2020 is too late.”

The ballot measure approved in November requires the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services to submit a state Medicaid plan amendment to the federal government to cover newly eligible, low-income Nebraskans.

Once it’s in place, coverage will become available to adults ages 19 to 64 who earn up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level — about $16,753 per year. The federal government is required to pay 93 percent of the program’s overall costs in 2019 and then 90 percent beginning in 2020.

As they shape their plan, Nebraska state officials have been talking with their counterparts in Arkansas, Indiana and Virginia — all states that expanded Medicaid but imposed work requirements on recipients.

Nebraska officials don’t plan to pursue work requirements but are looking to add “wellness and life success” incentives to its Medicaid program, said Thomas “Rocky” Thompson, the deputy director of Medicaid and Long-Term Care. Critics say work requirements often don’t work as advertised because it’s difficult for people with major illnesses to keep a full-time job.

Van Patton said his agency is also working with the private “managed care organizations” that will provide health care services on the state’s behalf. Nebraska already uses their services for current Medicaid users, but state officials now have to amend all of their contracts to cover the newly eligible.

Managed care organizations receive a set amount of money from the state each month to care for Medicaid enrollees — giving them a financial incentive to keep costs low.

Based on the state’s research, Van Patton said he expects many new Medicaid recipients to be older, with health problems that haven’t been addressed because they previously lacked coverage. They’re also more likely to suffer from more than one problem, which could require them to see different specialists, he said.

“We’ve really paid a significant amount of attention to collecting information” to determine how Nebraska’s program should look, Van Patton said.

Some lawmakers also want to keep watch on the state’s progress. A bill set for a legislative hearing Friday would create a special task force of lawmakers, health care providers and others who will be directly affected by the expansion.

The task force would hold at least one public hearing in each of the state’s three congressional districts to get public feedback on the expansion and report its findings to the Legislature by July 1.

“The whole point is to look at ways we can be innovative and ensure that it’s implemented efficiently,” said state Sen. Adam Morfeld, of Lincoln, who sponsored the bill and co-chaired the ballot campaign to expand Medicaid. “Medicaid is a growing part of our budget, and we need to have a focus on it and educate (other members of the Legislature) on the issue.”