LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Hunters in Nebraska will be asked this year to offer their observations on game populations and opinions on participation and other points.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission will conduct several hunter surveys in the coming weeks. The first survey is the annual Hunter Success Survey, which is sent to small game hunt permit buyers, who will be asked questions related to their 2018 upland and small game, and waterfowl hunting activity and experiences.

The second is the fall 2018 turkey hunter survey, which asks hunters about their turkey harvest, hunting experiences and efforts. The information will be used to estimate the statewide harvest.

Also, waterfowl hunters may receive a postcard inviting them to participate in a survey regarding their preferences and satisfaction from their 2018/19 waterfowl hunting season.

GERING, Neb. (AP) — A Colorado resident is accused of sexually assaulting an underage girl when she was an art student of his in western Nebraska.

Scotts Bluff County Court records say 45-year-old Steven J. Barraza, of Englewood, Colorado, is charged with sexual assault of a child. Records showed Friday that he remained in Scotts Bluff County Adult Detention Center, pending $150,000 bail. The court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for him. Barraza was arrested Jan. 30 in Colorado.

The court records say the girl reported that they had sex twice in 2014, once at Barraza’s Gering home, where he gave art lessons, and once at a motel.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — State health officials say a fifth confirmed case of a rare, polio-like illness has been confirmed in Nebraska.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services said in a news release Friday that the fifth case of acute flaccid myelitis, or AFM, was confirmed in a child from Douglas County. Officials say the child was hospitalized and later released. No other information about the child has been released.

The state’s first case was reported in November.

AFM can cause paralysis in the arms and legs and affects mainly children.

An increase in cases nationwide started in 2014. The department says that since August 2014, there have been 537 confirmed cases of AFM in the U.S.

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A federal judge in Montana has largely kept in place an injunction that blocks a Canadian company from performing preliminary work on the stalled Keystone XL oil pipeline.

U.S. District Judge Brian Morris on Friday denied a request by Calgary-based TransCanada to begin constructing worker camps for the 1,184-mile pipeline that would ship crude from Alberta to the Gulf Coast.

However, Morris said TransCanada could perform some limited activities outside the pipeline’s right-of-way. Those include the construction and use of pipe storage and container yards.

TransCanada attorneys had argued the injunction issued by Morris in November could cause it to miss the 2019 construction season and further delay the project.

An appeal of November’s ruling is pending before the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) have arrested two men after discovering multiple drugs during a traffic stop on I-80 near North Platte Thursday.

At approximately 6:30 p.m. Thursday, February 14, a trooper observed an eastbound 2008 BMW sedan speeding near mile marker 173. During the traffic stop, the trooper could smell the odor of marijuana coming from inside the vehicle.

Troopers conducted a search of the vehicle and discovered 62 grams of methamphetamine, 12 grams of marijuana, drug paraphernalia, and a knife.

The driver, Chad Wallgren, 44, of Lake Elmo, Minnesota, and passenger, David Batterson, 56, of Oakdale, Minnesota, were both arrested for possession of methamphetamine, possession with intent to deliver, possession of marijuana – less than an ounce, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony, and possession of a deadly weapon by a prohibited person.

Both men were lodged in Lincoln County Jail.

SIDNEY, Neb. (AP) — Officials say four more of the 21 nursing homes and assisted-living centers under state control are expected to close.

The state placed the 21 in receivership last March , to be managed by Klaasmeyer & Associates. The state took the action after the homes’ owner, Cottonwood Healthcare, also known as Skyline, notified the state about its financial crisis.

The residents at Norfolk Care and Rehabilitation Center were told Wednesday that Klaasmeyer & Associates would be seeking court permission to close the center. The same is expected for homes in Broken Bow, Grand Island and Schuyler.

A spokeswoman with the Nebraska Health and Human Services Department says the agency has offered its services to provide residents a smooth transition to other facilities if the homes and centers are closed.

Klaasmeyer didn’t immediately return a call Thursday from The Associated Press.

Residents and staff at Sidney Care and Rehabilitation Center were told last month that it would close.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A California judge has signed an arrest warrant for Maurice Washington, clearing the way for the Nebraska running back to return to his home state to face charges related to his possession and distribution of a video of his former girlfriend being sexually assaulted by two other people in 2016.

“We expected this, and were prepared for it,” Washington attorney John Ball wrote in an email Thursday. “I have also specifically confirmed that we will continue to move forward with a self-surrender, meaning that Mr. Washington will not be arrested or extradited, and that he will voluntarily appear in court in California.”

Ball also said he is in discussions with the prosecutor about possible resolutions.

Washington is accused of obtaining a video of the assault from one of the perpetrators, storing it on his cellphone and sending it to the girl last March. He has been charged with a felony count of possessing a video or photograph of a person under 18 who is engaging in or simulating sexual conduct and a misdemeanor count of distributing that video without consent, leading to the person suffering emotional distress.

Washington was a star at King’s Academy in Sunnyvale, California, where he met the girl and the two dated. He later attended high school in Texas.

The girl told investigators she re-connected with Washington on Instagram early last year and initiated contact to congratulate him for earning a football scholarship. Washington, in Texas at the time, then made sexual advances on the social media platform, the girl said, and he became angry when she replied she was not interested in a romantic relationship.

On March 2, she said, she received a text with the video and a message that said, “Remember this hoe (sic)?” The girl said she knew it came from Washington because the phone number was the same as the one Washington had when the two were cordial.

“This is about two young people who were once boyfriend and girlfriend in the eighth grade, and their communications years later,” Ball wrote. “Without all the facts, any judgment of anything in this case is premature, and would be based only on speculation and conjecture. Mr. Washington is presumed to be innocent. He will address this case in a court of law, relying on rules of evidence and due process.”

Santa Clara County prosecutor Clarissa Hamilton said from San Jose, California, that one or both of the participants in the alleged assault were prosecuted in juvenile court. The charge or charges were unknown because juvenile records are sealed.

Eagle Radio will again be providing coverage of the Nebraska State Wrestling Championships.

Join Sports Director Kyle LaBoria with State Wrestling Championship Coverage on FM98.1 and 1410AM. Updates Thursday and Friday, twice every hour with interviews from Coaches and Wrestlers. For all the results, interviews and more go to North Platte Post.com and click on State Wrestling at the top of the page.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Google plans to invest more than $13 billion this year on new and expanded data centers and offices across the U.S.

CEO Sundar Pichai announced the news in a blog post Wednesday , emphasizing the company’s growth outside its Mountain View, California, home and across the Midwest and South.

“2019 marks the second year in a row we’ll be growing faster outside of the (San Francisco) Bay Area than in it,” he wrote.

Google will build new data centers in Nevada, Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia. Pichai estimated the construction of the new centers will employ 10,000 workers.

It makes good political sense for Google to highlight its expansions outside coastal cities, said CFRA Research analyst Scott Kessler. U.S. legislators have paid increasing attention to Google and other big tech companies in the past year, and are considering passing privacy laws to regulate the companies’ reach. Investing more widely across the U.S. could help it curry favor with federal politicians and officials, he said.

Google is focused on expanding its cloud-computing business, a market where it faces stiff competition from larger rivals Amazon and Microsoft.

The company will have a physical presence in 24 states by the end of the year. It currently has locations in 21 states, and is expanding into Nevada, Ohio and Nebraska.

Its expansion is likely also a way to attract new employees, Kessler said. Google will add an office in Georgia, and expand its offices in several cities including in Seattle and Chicago.

Google said it spent more than $9 billion on similar expansions across the country last year.

Google did not give an exact number of employees it expects to hire as a result of the 2019 expansions, but said it would be “tens of thousands” of full-time workers.

An attorney for Nebraska running back Maurice Washington said Wednesday he never told anyone at the university about the nature of potential charges against the player in a pornography case that cropped up just as last season was getting started.

Washington was charged in California in December with possessing and distributing a video of a former girlfriend being sexually assaulted by two other people in 2016, when she was 15.

Washington is suspected of storing the video on his cellphone and sending it to the victim last March. He is charged with a felony count of possessing a video or photograph of a person under 18 who is engaging in or simulating sexual conduct and a misdemeanor count of posting a video or photograph of a person engaging in or simulating sexual conduct without consent, leading to the person suffering emotional distress. Washington was a star at King’s Academy in Sunnyvale, California, where he met the girl. He later attended high school in Texas.

The investigation in California stretched from last March into the summer. California authorities then asked Ed Sexton, who works in the Nebraska attorney general’s office, to help track down Washington for an interview.

According to court documents obtained by The Associated Press, Sexton said he contacted Nebraska and was called back first by an athletics compliance official, Jamie Vaughn, and then, on Sept. 14, by Jon Bruning, a former Nebraska attorney general who has a private practice in Lincoln who “indicated he had been contacted by members of the athletic department.”

“The nature of the case was disclosed and it was my understanding that Bruning would talk to Washington and his coaches, then let me know if, or when, I would be able to interview Washington,” Sexton wrote. “I do not anticipate being allowed to interview Washington.”

Five days later, court documents say, Sexton called Bruning, who told him Washington had told him he had no idea about the video allegation.

By the second week of September, Washington had started his freshman season and was on his way to becoming the team’s third-leading rusher.

The court documents suggest the case languished throughout the season and there is no indication Washington was ever interviewed. On Dec. 14, Bruning received copies of search warrants from the sheriff’s office in Santa Clara County, California, according to the documents.

Bruning said he represented only Washington. In an email to AP, Bruning wrote, “First, I’ve never represented the University of Nebraska as legal counsel, and I’ve never held myself out as doing so. Second, I did not share the search warrant with anyone at the university. My sense is that it was protected by attorney-client privilege.”

Bruning added that when he heard last Friday that charges were pending, he referred Washington to a local criminal defense attorney John C. Ball.

Sexton did not return a message left at his office.

Bruning was drawn into the case after Sexton spoke to Vaughn. Sexton wrote that Vaughn told him the football staff “wanted to know what was going on and wanted to talk to Washington.” Football coaches also were concerned about Washington needing a lawyer.

Court papers described futile attempts by a California detective and Sexton to arrange an interview with Washington through Vaughn and Bruning. They made repeated calls and sent texts to Washington that went unanswered.

In a statement Monday, the athletic department acknowledged it knew last fall Washington was wanted for an interview.

“Details were not shared and there was no additional follow up with the Nebraska Athletic Department,” the statement said. “Recently, we were made aware that charges may be filed against Maurice in California. We have not had a chance to review the charges, and will continue to monitor this ongoing legal process.”

California authorities are waiting for a judge to sign a warrant for Washington’s arrest. Once a warrant is signed, Washington would face extradition from Nebraska or he could return to California on his own and surrender to authorities.

Washington was considered a top player in Nebraska’s 2018 recruiting class, and he earned immediate playing time. He appeared in 11 games and started against Ohio State and Iowa. He finished with 455 yards rushing and 221 yards receiving. He also was Nebraska’s top kick return man.