LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers are looking for ways to bolster the state’s rural emergency medical services, which rely heavily on volunteers despite difficult and time-consuming training requirements.

Medical providers told a legislative committee Friday that the state relies on a patchwork of local ambulance services, and there’s nothing that prevents a rural service from closing its doors.

Sen. Dan Watermeier of Syracuse says it’s becoming more difficult to recruit and retain volunteers who are willing to serve.

Some of the solutions proposed to lawmakers include regionalization of services, financial incentives for volunteers and providing more rural representation on the state’s emergency medical services board. Some senators questioned whether increased training requirements and costs are a barrier, but doctors urged them not to lower the current standards.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska Capitol tour guide who shared the state’s history with nearly 500,000 students is retiring.

Gloria Witherspoon will step down from the Office of the Capitol Commission on Tuesday after more than 25 years on the job.

Witherspoon is a native of Clarksdale, Mississippi who made Nebraska her home. As a tour guide, she learned the state’s history better than some life-long residents.

Her tours for fourth graders included lessons about the building’s artwork and symbolism, its role in housing all three branches of government, and the state’s Native American and pioneer history.

Witherspoon became so well-known that teachers frequently requested her for their annual class field trips to Lincoln. Witherspoon says she will miss the young visitors, and stresses to them the importance of a good education.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Board of Education has approved seeking state funds for a schools health program that includes sex education to replace a private grant from a foundation that has been criticized for supporting Planned Parenthood.

The board voted 7-1 on Friday for the move. The vote gives Education Commission Matt Blomstedt authority to ask state lawmakers for nearly $112,000 over the next two years for training school districts on establishing programs and policies covering a wide range of health topics, including healthy eating and physical exercise, tobacco and drug use and sex education.

The state money would replace a $75,000 grant from the Grove Foundation. The grant came under fire by critics who had concerns about the foundation donating to Planned Parenthood, which provides abortions and other women’s health services.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — The federal Bureau of Prisons has selected a halfway house under construction in Kearney to house federal prisoners.

The selection was announced Friday. The news has cleared the way for the halfway house being built by Dismas Charities. Those plans had been put in jeopardy when a similar facility in Hastings objected.

Dismas vice president Steven Vice says the center will open Nov. 1 and will house about 25 people. The $594,750 contract will run for one year instead of the five-year, $6.7 million contract awarded a year ago. That award was vacated when the Bristol Station, the Hastings center run by Western Alternative Corrections, objected.

The goal of the center is to ease the transition between prison and real-world responsibilities.

A North Platte man is in jail after he allegedly assaulted his ex-girlfriend and seriously injured her.

At around 3:05 a.m., on September 26, officers with the North Platte Police Department responded to the emergency room at Great Plains Health, where a female was receiving treatment for injuries she allegedly obtained in an assault.

Officers met with the female who stated that her ex-boyfriend, Jason Diaz, had contacted her and requested that she come to a residence in the 1800 block of West 16th Street.

The victim said she arrived at the residence and became engaged in a verbal argument with Diaz.

She told officers that, at one point, Diaz placed her in a bear hug and choked her.

She said Diaz then punched her in the eye and ribs, before grabbing a tile cutter, holding her down and cutting her hand with the blade.

Police say the victim was able to get away from Diaz and go to the hospital, where she received treatment for a severe cut to her hand, as well as multiple cuts, scrapes, and bruises.

According to police, Diaz also went to the hospital and began causing a disturbance.

Officers made contact with Diaz and determined that he was a danger to himself and others.  As a result, he was placed into protective custody at the hospital.

On October 1, Diaz was released from the hospital and taken into custody.

He was booked into the Lincoln County Detention Center and charged with felony first-degree domestic assault, use of a weapon to commit a felony and felony strangulation.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has denied the legal requests of two men ordered back to prison last year after being wrongly released because state officials had miscalculated their sentences.

The state’s high court on Friday dismissed the appeal of Kena Jackson, who argued that a lower court was wrong to order his arrest and return to prison. But the high court said it was a temporary enforcement order that cannot be appealed. Only final court orders may be appealed.

Also Friday, the state’s high court upheld a lower court’s denial of a habeas corpus challenge by Bruce Caton, who alleged he was illegally subjected to arrest and parole after initially being released without oversight last year. Authorities later determined he was released five years too early.

BAYARD, Neb. (AP) — The Bayard City Council has voted to terminate the management contract for its nursing home.

The council held a special meeting Wednesday and voted 4-3 to end the contract two months before it was due to expire and take over administration of Chimney Rock Villa on Friday. The city owns the 49-bed skilled nursing facility but had contracted with Rural Health Development to run it.

Bayard residents have raised concerns about patient care and facility staffing, which has fallen to a critical level.

Mayor Michelle Coolidge says more staffers will be sought and says a council committee has options for the facility’s future administration.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s new economic development director is out after a little more than eight months on the job.

Gov. Pete Ricketts announced Thursday that Brenda Hicks-Sorensen no longer holds the position. Taylor Gage, a spokesman for Ricketts, says the decision to change leadership was made by the governor.

Ricketts says in a statement that it became clear to him that Nebraska needs to do more to market the state nationally and globally. An interim director will be named shortly, and a new search will be start right away.

Ricketts appointed Hicks-Sorensen in January after a privately funded national search. She previously served as a vice president of Economic and Community Development for the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation.

Randy Houser and Cassadee Pope have been announced as support acts for the 2016 US Cellular Summer Jam Concert Series.

Pope will open for Sam Hunt on Friday, June 24th, while Houser will join Dierks Bentley on June 25th .

Pope gained fame on the popular TV show The Voice, where she competed during season 3 with coach Blake Shelton. She won that season’s competition, and signed a record deal in January 2013 with Republic Nashville. Her first single on that label “Wasting All These Tears” rose to #5 on the US Country charts, and was certified Platinum with over 1 million sales. She spent much of 2014 touring with Tim McGraw and Bentley.

She is currently finishing up her second album and is planning to tour in 2015 in support of the yet untitled release.

Houser is an already accomplished artist working on climbing the ladder to the next level. Already the owner of 5 top 5 singles including two number 1’s (How Country Feels, Runnin’ Outta Moonlight), Houser is looking to break through with his fourth studio album due out later this year.

He’s been nominated for CMA awards a number of times, including his 2015 Song of the Year nomination for “Like a Cowboy”.

Buyers have one week left to get early bird pricing on 2016 tickets. Combo tickets for both Sam Hunt and Dierks Bentley remain $88 through next Wednesday. Prices increase on Thursday, October 8.