LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Installation of a message board is scheduled to begin this week on U.S. Highway 385 in Nebraska’s Box Butte County.

The Nebraska Roads Department says the shoulder will be closed on a northbound section about 4½ miles east of Hemingford. The work by Watts Electric Co. of Waverly is expected to be finished by the middle of the month.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Agriculture education is enjoying some of its strongest growth in decades in Nebraska this year

State Director of Agriculture Education Matt Kreifels tells the Grand Island Independent (https://bit.ly/1XyAcIY ) that 13 schools added new programs this fall in the biggest jump since the 1950s.

And Kreifels says three other schools couldn’t start a new program because they couldn’t find a teacher.

He says the recent successes of farming in the state along with the variety of careers related to agriculture have helped boost interest in the field.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Legislature’s vote to abolish the death penalty was hailed as a sign that red-state conservatives are turning away from the punishment, but opponents now face the much greater challenge of persuading voters.

National death penalty experts say the campaign could test the notion that conservative sentiment has shifted. Even some opponents of capital punishment acknowledge they face an uphill battle.

Ohio State University law professor Doug Berman, a death penalty expert, says the vote drew national attention because it played into the notion that capital punishment was losing support in a deeply conservative state.

Nebraskans for the Death Penalty announced last month it had gathered nearly 167,000 signatures, nearly three times the minimum number needed to place the issue on the November 2016 ballot.

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — A Scottsbluff woman has been arrested after security officials say they found her hiding in a box inside a local store after tripping its security alarm.

39-year-old Misty Yekel, of Gering, was arrested Friday morning.

Scottsbluff Police Capt. Brian Wasson says officers were called to the Goodwill store in Scottsbluff after a security alarm went off. Responding officers were unable to locate any suspects, but Wasson says security personnel with a private firm noticed movement in a box during a search of the building and found Yekel hiding inside.

Yekel was arrested on suspicion of trespassing. Wasson says additional charges may be filed later.

A public phone listing for Yekel could not be found Saturday.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Officials say a second teen who escaped from Kearney’s Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center Monday is back in custody.

The 16-year-old teen was apprehended without incident and was back in custody at the Lancaster County Youth Detention Center on Friday.

Officials say the teen was one of two who escaped from the Kearney facility on Monday night. About the same time as the escape, a Kearney couple reported their pickup stolen. A car was reported stolen from Lincoln earlier Wednesday and was reportedly spotted following the stolen truck.

The first teen was captured Wednesday night in Sarpy County and is back in the Kearney facility.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Board of Education has adopted new math standards for state public schools after they won the endorsement of the state’s colleges and universities.

The Board voted 7-1 Friday to adopt new math standards. Board member Pat McPherson, of Omaha, was the lone vote against the new standards, saying they were essentially a revision of the old standards.

State officials contend the standards are more “focused and coherent” than the 2009 standards they replace.

The new math standards drew letters of support from four higher-education groups: the Association of Independent Colleges and Universities of Nebraska, the Nebraska Community College Association, the Nebraska State College System and the University of Nebraska.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has upheld a workers’ compensation ruling that requires a Kearney hospital to pay a former nurse who says she’s unable to work because of psychological injuries she received from three assaults at the hands of patients while she was on the job.

The woman says she suffers from posttraumatic stress disorder and depression as a result of three 2008 assaults.

Good Samaritan Hospital argued, among other things, that a psychiatric expert was wrong to determine the assaults were the cause of the nurse’s psychological disability and that past experiences, including a prior sexual assault, may have been the source of her trauma.

But the high court Friday noted the woman showed no signs of psychological trauma in her 15 years as a nurse before the attacks.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Officials say a woman has been injured after leaping onto an inflated bag at the Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island.

The fair said in a news release that the woman was hurt around 12:30 p.m. Thursday at the Stunt Jump attraction. The huge bag used is similar to those used in movie stunts.

The fair said the 45-year-old woman didn’t hold her legs as she was instructed, so she bounced from the bag onto the ground, dislocating a hip and shoulder. She was taken to a hospital for treatment.

State Fair Executive Director Joseph McDermott says the incident is being investigated.

Online court records say Molleigh Valdez was sentenced Thursday in Scotts Bluff County District Court. She’d pleaded no contest and was convicted of a lowered charge of sexual assault of a child. Valdez also must register as a sex offender.

The Terrytown girl’s mother had gone to police in November with suspicions about the woman’s relationship with the 14-year-old. The girl later told authorities that she and Valdez had engaged in sexual activity. Under Nebraska law, people 19 and over cannot have sexual contact with people under 16.