LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Gov. Pete Ricketts is joining forces with Nebraska’s craft brewers to fight proposals that would raise taxes on craft beer in an effort to reduce property taxes.

Ricketts announced simultaneous events dubbed “Raise Glasses, Not Taxes” on March 1 in Omaha, Lincoln and Grand Island.

The events are designed to draw the public’s attention to LB314 and LB497, both of which would raise taxes on craft beer, spirits, wine and other goods.

Ricketts argues that the bills amount to a tax shift that would do little to address the long-term trend of rising property taxes. Supporters say the burden has increasingly shifted to farmers.

Ricketts has unveiled his own competing plan to slow the increases and says he’s open to other ideas as long as they don’t raise taxes.

OSHKOSH, Neb. (AP) – A Colorado woman has been charged with manslaughter for the death of her passenger when her pickup truck crashed in the Nebraska Panhandle.

Garden County Court records say 39-year-old Molly Raymer, of Milliken, Colorado, also is charged with drunken driving and willful reckless driving. The records don’t list the name of an attorney who could comment for her. Raymer is scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.

The crash occurred around 1:10 a.m. Saturday, about 2 miles (3 kilometers) south of Lewellen. The Nebraska State Patrol says the pickup was headed west on a county road when it ran off the roadway into a ditch and rolled, ejecting the passenger.

He’s been identified as 48-year-old David Schwartz, who lived in Lewellen. The patrol says Raymer was taken to a Scottsbluff hospital for treatment.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Republican senator who’s among President Donald Trump’s most vocal critics within the party blamed technology for the country’s divisions during a discussion with University of Nebraska-Lincoln students this week.

Sen. Ben Sasse of Nebraska spoke to more than 600 students Monday at an event called “Why Don’t We Get Along? How Huskers Can Change the Future.”

The first-term senator said technology has undermined traditional community structures, and people try to replace them with ideology or “political tribes.” Political parties aren’t adequate replacements for communities, according to Sasse, who has said he regularly considers leaving the GOP and becoming an independent.

“Republicans and Democrats are crappy tribes,” Sasse said during the panel discussion. “These aren’t people who love you and are going to comfort you in your old age. They’re just political parties.”

Sasse recommended that students engage in meaningful ways away from their screens, such as having more face-to-face interactions.

But many student panelists said the solution is more complex than unplugging from technology.

Junior student Grace Chambers said technology and social media shouldn’t be avoided, but rather used as a tool to educate and engage students.

Hunter Traynor, a senior, criticized Sasse’s argument as ignoring their reality of growing up immersed in social media.

“It’s hard to think aspirationally when all the solutions are pitched in nostalgia,” Traynor said.

Traynor acknowledged that technology use has exacerbated rifts in American society, but he said it’s also created opportunities for conversations that can heal them.

Traynor recommended that his peers “seek out information you disagree with on purpose.”

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Union Pacific railroad is eliminating 250 jobs and furloughing another 450 employees as it continues working to reduce its expenses.

The Omaha World-Herald reports the Omaha, Nebraska-based railroad outlined the latest cuts in a memo to employees on Tuesday.

Union Pacific officials say the cuts are part of its effort to make the railroad more efficiency. The furloughs in Union Pacific’s mechanical department are possible because the railroad has stored 1,200 locomotives.

Union Pacific said last month that its fourth-quarter profit increased 29 percent to $1.55 billion because demand remained strong and the railroad had already begun streamlining operations.

Union Pacific operates 32,400 miles of track in 23 western states.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Two months after President Donald Trump signed a law to legalize hemp, Nebraska lawmakers and state agency officials are working together to help farmers get a piece of the market.

Lawmakers heard public input Tuesday on a bill that would allow farmers to grow and harvest hemp in Nebraska. Many have eyed it as a way to diversify their crops in a climate that’s well-suited for it, but state officials haven’t decided exactly how to regulate it.

That could change with the December passage of the 2018 Farm Bill, which legalized the crop but requires states to set rules on how it’s grown. Those that don’t will automatically defer to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which will require growers to participate in a federally run program.

“This is a growing market, and we need to allow our Nebraska farmers to have alternative crops,” the bill’s sponsor, Sen. Justin Wayne, of Omaha, said in testimony to the Legislature’s Agriculture Committee. “More importantly, people need to be able to participate in the manufacturing of (hemp) products.”

The Farm Bill requires states to impose a licensing or registration system for hemp, track the supply and conduct annual tests to ensure it contains legal levels of tetrahydrocannabinol, the active compound in marijuana that allows users to get high. Hemp contains a negligible amount of the chemical, but if the levels in a batch rise above what’s allowed under law, states are required to have procedures in place to destroy it.

Wayne said he introduced it because he believes farmers and businesses are missing the opportunity and he sees it as an opportunity to draw processing plants to his north Omaha district, a strategic location near Omaha’s Eppley Airfield. He said he met recently with Gov. Pete Ricketts to decide how to proceed.

Ricketts said on his monthly radio call-in show Monday that his administration was still working with Wayne on a workable proposal. The Republican governor has previously said his hands were tied because hemp was classified as an illegal and dangerous drug before the Farm Bill passed.

Nebraska Department of Agriculture Assistant Director Amelia Breinig said the agency needed more time to review and discuss the legislation but supports hemp as a commercial product. She said the bill is “a step in the right direction” and pledged to continue working with lawmakers.

Wayne said more than 25,000 products have been derived from hemp, from fabrics, food and rope to industrial oils and body-care products. He said 47 nations currently allow the crop, up from 30 when he first introduced the bill two years ago.

Hemp appeals to many farmers because it thrives in a variety of soils and environments, resists droughts and contains high levels of protein and health fats, said Andrew Bish, an executive with Bish Enterprises, a Giltner-based manufacturer of farm machinery that’s used to harvest hemp.

“This is truly a valuable commodity, and these are just a small fraction of its uses,” he said.

Roger Harmon, a western Nebraska farmer, said businesses and venture capitalists have approached him about growing hemp seeds on his land near the Colorado border and expanding the market statewide. With commodity prices down, Harmon said hemp would help farmers who are struggling.

“Soybeans, corn and wheat simply aren’t covering it for farmers anymore,” he said.

Nebraska has a long history of hemp production before it was outlawed in 1937 and the plant still thrives in the state, said University of Nebraska at Kearney economist Allan Jenkins. Jenkins, who has advocated for the crop, said Fremont had a hemp processing plant 120 years ago, and many farmers participated in a “Hemp for Victory” program during World War II to replace fabrics that were no longer coming from Asia.

“The growing conditions in Nebraska are so favorable for hemp that it has prospered without any chemicals or irrigation now for 75 years,” Jenkins said.

LEXINGTON, Neb. (AP) – One of three family members charged with animal cruelty following the deaths of dozens of cattle on a Nebraska farm has been given probation.

Dawson County District Court records say 60-year-old Eugene Wempen Sr. was sentenced Monday to 30 months of probation and barred from owning, possessing or residing with any animals for 15 years. He’d pleaded no contest to a lone count of animal abandonment or cruelty resulting in death.

He also was sentenced to 91 days of jail and credited for one day served. The remaining 90 days can be waived if he follows his probation terms.

His wife, Diane Wempen, and their 34-year-old son, Eugene Wempen Jr., have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting trial in May.

Deputies reported finding at least 65 carcasses on the Wempen property near Overton, about 150 miles (240 kilometers) west of Lincoln. About 75 live cattle, along with llamas, donkeys, miniature ponies, horses, goats and sheep, were relocated.

LEWELLEN, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say a passenger was fatally injured when the pickup truck he was in crashed in the Nebraska Panhandle.

The crash occurred around 1:10 a.m. Saturday, about 2 miles (3 kilometers) south of Lewellen in Garden County. The Nebraska State Patrol says the pickup was headed west on a county road when it ran off the roadway into a ditch and rolled, ejecting the passenger.

He’s been identified as 48-year-old David Schwartz. He lived in Lewellen. The pickup driver has been identified as 40-year-old Molly Raymer, of Milliken, Colorado. It’s unclear whether she was injured. A patrol representative didn’t immediately return a message Tuesday from The Associated Press.

California authorities have filed criminal charges against Nebraska running back Maurice Washington, who is suspected of possessing a video of his underage high school girlfriend being sexually assaulted by two other people and sending it to the girl less than a year ago.

Clarissa Hamilton, supervisor of the sexual assault unit in the Santa Clara County Attorney’s Office in San Jose, California, said Washington faces two charges: 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.

Hamilton said Washington was not present during the 2016 assault. She said the assault case was adjudicated in juvenile court and those records are sealed.

Washington obtained a video of the assault and sent it to the girl on March 2, 2018, Hamilton said, and the girl or her family contacted police shortly thereafter.

The Nebraska athletic department said the Nebraska Attorney General’s office and university police notified athletic officials last fall that California authorities were interested in interviewing Washington.

“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.”

John C. Ball, Washington’s attorney, said his 19-year-old client would cooperate with authorities.

“The narrative put forth today is that Mr. Washington used a video as a weapon to re-victimize his former high school girlfriend. That is not true,” Ball said. “Without a doubt, Mr. Washington had absolutely nothing to do with that sexual assault. The communications between these two young people are yet to be fully determined, and there are additional facts and circumstances that give context and perspective to this situation.”

Hamilton said she decided to file charges Dec. 17 and is now waiting for a judge to sign a warrant for Washington’s arrest. She said it typically takes two or three months for a warrant to be signed after charges of this type are filed. 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 a star at King’s Academy in Sunnyvale, California, before he transferred to another school in nearby San Jose following his sophomore year. He later attended high school in Texas.

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.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska lawmakers have postponed a vote that would let personal loan companies charge a higher maximum interest rate after some senators objected to the proposal.

Senators moved past the bill Monday without advancing it through the second of three required votes. Some senators say it could force consumers to pay higher interest rates on installment loans.

The bill would allow lenders to charge interest of up to 29 percent per annum. Current law lets them charge up to 24 percent per annum on principal amounts up to $1,000 and 21 percent per annum on any remaining unpaid balance. It was requested by OneMain Financial, a loan company with Nebraska branches.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Brett Lindstrom of Omaha, says he will work with to try to find a compromise.