LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s corrections director is facing criticism for spending more than $54,000 on foreign-made lethal injection drugs in May that the state still hasn’t received.

Members of a legislative oversight committee grilled Scott Frakes on Thursday, saying he approved the pre-payment without following typical procedures or taking steps to ensure the state could recover the money.

State officials bought the supply from Chris Harris, a distributor in India who sold execution drugs to the state in 2010. The drugs’ manufacturer later accused Harris of misrepresenting how he intended to use them.

Frakes acknowledged under questioning that he allowed Harris to dictate the price of sodium thiopental and pancuronium bromide, both of which are required in Nebraska’s three-drug protocol. He disputed that the state’s efforts to import the drugs violate federal law.

IMPERIAL, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 65-year-old man in southwest Nebraska has died after his rifle discharged accidentally.

Chase County Sheriff Kevin Mueller says Dave Ridlen Sr., of Enders, died Wednesday in a shooting about 20 miles southwest of Imperial.

Mueller says Ridlen shot himself shortly after he shot a coyote while checking on cattle for his employer. Mueller says he believes Ridlen did not place his weapon into a safe setting after he fired it. As he was putting the weapon away in his vehicle, something caused it to discharge.

A single bullet struck Ridlen in his chest and he died instantly. His body was found by his vehicle.

NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials say nearly half of U.S. moms gain too much weight during pregnancy.

Experts say putting on too many extra pounds during pregnancy can harm the mom, and may cause a range of problems for the child.

The study found only about a third of women gain the recommended amount of weight, and about a fifth gained too little. Overweight and obese women most commonly exceeded the guidelines.

Gaining too little weight increases the risk that the baby will be born very small. Too much weight can lead to obesity and other health problems for the mom and baby, and to dangerous complications during labor and delivery.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released the study Thursday.

The Nebraska State Patrol is mourning the passing of its Director of Training at the Nebraska Law Enforcement Training Center/Nebraska State Patrol Training Academy (NLETC/NSPTA) in Grand Island.

Captain Mark Williams, 52, Aurora, passed away Thursday, November 5, after a lengthy illness.

“We have lost a deeply devoted member of our State Patrol family,” said Colonel Bradley Rice, Superintendent of the Nebraska State Patrol. “Mark’s vocation was to find and train the best of the best to be state troopers. Our hearts are heavy as we mourn his passing. He was known and loved by many and he will be greatly missed.”

“Captain Williams, a 27-year veteran of the agency served as a trooper in the Field Services Division before joining the training academy staff in 1999.  During his time at the NSPTA he rose through the ranks and served as Assistant Director of the NSPTA, prior to his appointment as Director in January 1, 2014. He was a graduate of the 226^th session of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

Colonel Rice said, “We are holding Mark’s family in our thoughts and prayers as we honor his memory.”

Funeral arrangements for Captain Williams are pending.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services says it will begin listing the names of both same-sex spouses on their children’s birth certificates.

The change was revealed in court documents filed Tuesday by state attorneys as part of a lawsuit challenging Nebraska’s ban on gay marriage. That ban was deemed unconstitutional after the U.S. Supreme Court effectively legalized gay marriage across the country in June, and now plaintiffs are seeking a judicial order to strike it down.

HHS spokeswoman Leah Bucco-White says the department has begun the process to make the changes, but that the current birth certificate form will be used until that process is completed. She declined to answer questions about when the change will be made or how the new birth certificate forms will be worded.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Faculty Senate is opposing a state senator’s proposal to eliminate gun-free zones on college campuses.

The Faculty Senate said Tuesday that state Sen. Tommy Garrett’s proposal would undermine the ability of institutions to determine their own policies for campus safety.

Garrett has said a Nebraska law prohibiting guns in schools, churches, hospitals, banks, sporting events and on college campuses places more people in danger.

Faculty Senate President John Bender said he plans to testify against the proposal during the state Legislature’s session that begins in January with a resolution from faculty stating the presence of firearms, except those in the possession of law enforcement, interferes with the ability of faculty to teach and students to learn.

The Faculty Senate will vote on the resolution in December.

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VALENTINE, Neb. (AP) — A South Dakota resident has been charged in the death of a northern Nebraska man.

Jail records say 29-year-old Tylor Krogman, of White River, South Dakota, remained in custody Thursday. He’s charged with manslaughter, assault and strangulation in the July 11 death of Ed Mathiesen, of rural Valentine.

Krogman’s attorney, P. Stephen Potter, says Krogman is presumed innocent until a court says otherwise. Potter would not say Thursday what plea Krogman will be entering to the charges.

An autopsy showed Mathiesen died of blunt force trauma and neck injuries. Krogman told investigators that he’d gone to Valentine for a bachelor party, got into an altercation with Mathiesen but couldn’t remember the details.

A court hearing for Krogman is scheduled for Monday.

CAMBRIDGE, Neb. (AP) — Frenchman Cambridge Irrigation District water users have filed a second lawsuit seeking damages for lost irrigation water.

A news release from the district says the lawsuit seeking “just compensation” for damages during the 2014 irrigation season was filed Friday in the Furnas County District Court.

On Sept. 29, District Judge James E. Doyle IV rejected the state’s motion to dismiss a similar class-action lawsuit on behalf of Frenchman Cambridge users who did not receive their full water allocation in 2013.

Doyle dismissed the 2013 lawsuit’s claim that the state failed to regulate groundwater use that has depleted stream flows and surface water supplies.

But he decided the compensation issue should return to the Furnas County District Court for a decision.

A North Platte man is facing numerous felony drug charges after an investigation that began when two North Platte High School students arrived at school “impaired.”

On October 29, two students arrived and North Platte High School and were, according to police, showing signs of impairment.

Police say one of the students was transported to Great Plains Health by ambulance after school officials became concerned that the student had ingested prescription pills.

School administrators contacted the School Resource Officer and a criminal investigation was initiated.

During the investigation, police learned that the two students may have obtained the drugs from 20-year-old Logan Reed.

On November 2, NPPD investigators obtained and executed a search warrant on Reed’s home in the 200 block of North Walnut Street.

The search yielded numerous narcotics, including marijuana, hydrocodone, hash oil and drug paraphernalia that field-tested positive for methamphetamine.

As a result, Reed was placed under arrest and charged with felony distribution of a schedule IV controlled substance, felony possession of marijuana with intent to deliver, felony possession of a schedule II controlled substance with intent to deliver, felony possession of hash oil, felony possession of methamphetamine and two felony child abuse charges.

Police say the distribution offenses are enhanced because Reed sold the narcotics to someone under the age and within 1000 feet of a school.

Reed is being held at the Lincoln County Detention Center.