LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — State officials say Nebraska collected more tax revenue than expected in the first month of the new fiscal year.

The Department of Revenue reported Tuesday that July net tax receipts totaled $251 million, which is more than 1 percent higher than the state’s certified forecast of $248 million.

The report says net revenues from individual and corporate income taxes were higher than projected, while net sales-and-use and miscellaneous taxes came in lower.

The comparisons are based on the forecast made by the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board in April 2015. It also accounts for bills passed in this year’s legislative session.

The state’s new fiscal year began on July 1.

North Platte Public Schools will be offering transportation to Middle School students between Adams Middle School and Madison Middle School. Middle School Reconfiguration will be implemented at the beginning of the 2015­2016 school year with all sixth graders attending Madison Middle School and all seventh and eighth graders attending Adam Middle School. Our #1 goal each day is to transport all student bus riders safely between the schools. In order to accomplish this goal, we need the cooperation of students, families, and community members.

Bus registration for all riders must be completed prior to riding the bus. Applications have been sent to all middle school students and are being accepted between Monday, August 10th, to Friday, August 14th. All applications for sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students electing to ride the bus must be turned in at Adams Middle School. Students who will be riding the bus must accompany his/her parent/guardian to Adams when the application is turned in so that a photo ID can be created. Students will be issued a Photo ID Transportation Pass. In the event the Transportation Pass is lost/stolen, there will be a $5.00 replacement fee. Students MUST have their Transportation Pass in order to load the bus.

Transportation by school bus is not mandatory and is optional to families. This service is provided for those who wish to ride under the terms and guidelines established by the Nebraska School Law and District Guidelines. School buses will travel established and approved routes between the Middle Schools, there will not be neighborhood stops between the schools to pick up or drop off students.

An informal open house will be available to 6 th grade students registered for transportation from Adams to Madison on Monday, August 17th at 5:30 pm. Sixth-grade students and parents will be invited to walk through the morning routine for drop­off and pick­up from the Adams site. Parents and their student will meet with administration on the West side of Adams Middle School outside under the awning where the picnic tables are located. A brief description and guided tour will be provided. Questions may be asked at this time, as well.

All pupil transportation vehicle drivers must meet the specific qualifications established by the employing district and requirements set by the Nebraska Department of Education and the DMV (DMV). These statutory requirements must be met to ensure safe and effective operation of pupil transportation vehicles. Student Transportation also abides by rules and regulations found in Nebraska Department of Education Rule 91, Regulations Governing Driver Qualifications, and Operational Procedures for Pupil Transportation Vehicles and Rule 92, Minimum Equipment Standards and Safety Inspection Criteria for Pupil Transportation Vehicles. These Rules have been adopted pursuant to Section 79­318(13) of the Revised Statutes of Nebraska (R.R.S.).

School bus danger zones are the areas anywhere outside of the bus where children are in the most danger of being hit, either by another vehicle or their own bus. The danger zones extend as much as 30 feet from the front bumper, 10 feet from the left and right sides of the bus and 12 feet behind the rear bumper of the school bus. In addition, the area to the left of the bus is always considered dangerous because of passing vehicles.

Please note the following:

* Nebraska State law requires that when a motorist approaches a school bus from either the front or rear, and the stop warning signal lights are flashing, the driver shall reduce their speed to not more than 25 miles per hour.

* If the bus stop signal arm is extended, the driver of a vehicle – coming from the front or rear – shall come to a complete stop until: the stop signal arm is retracted and the school bus resumes motion, or until signaled by the bus driver to proceed.

* When encountering a stopped school bus, motorists should slow down, pay attention and watch for students walking or running across the street.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Some funeral homes in Nebraska are still holding onto unclaimed veterans ashes despite a new law intended to help shield them from lawsuits whenever they release the cremains to volunteer groups.

The Nebraska chapter of the Missing in America Project works to recover the unclaimed ashes and connect them with family if possible, or arrange a military funeral when it isn’t.

The law, which was passed earlier this year, encourages funeral homes and crematoriums to work with such groups on identifying the remains and to turn them over if they qualify for internment in a veterans’ cemetery.

It wasn’t illegal before, but the law helps keep those involved from getting sued if distant family turns up later.

SIDNEY, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska authorities say a 47-year-old California man has been killed in an Interstate 80 accident.

The Nebraska State Patrol says the accident occurred around 9:45 a.m. Sunday, about six miles east of Sidney in the Nebraska Panhandle. The patrol says Kenneth Berry, of Pomona, California, was driving west in a semitrailer when it crossed the median, went through the eastbound lanes, up an embankment and across a county road before coming to rest in a field.

Cheyenne County Attorney Paul Schaub (shahb) says Berry was ejected from the vehicle. He was flown to a Scottsbluff hospital and pronounced dead later.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska school board has reached a settlement with two employees who say they were told to check with parents before reporting suspected child abuse.

The agreement was posted on Monday’s North Platte School Board meeting agenda.

The dispute began when a student arrived at Madison Middle School in March with a scratched, dirty face and unkempt hair. The student appeared thirsty and hungry.

Teacher Christie Copper and guidance counselor Stephen Spiehs contacted a school resource officer and a child welfare agency. They say the principal later told them the child’s father was upset, and advised them to contact parents first unless a child faced immediate danger.

The settlement says the employees complied with district procedures. The North Platte Education Association has agreed to dismiss its complaints against the district.

STRATTON, Neb. (AP) — A southwest Nebraska sheriff says a Kansas man was killed when a storm tossed his recreational vehicle.

Hitchcock County Sheriff Bryan Leggott says 38-year-old Heath Erbert died when his fifth-wheel RV was picked up and slammed back to the ground in Stratton during Friday night’s storm.

Jan Sydow, who lived in a neighboring trailer, says Erbert was from Lucas, Kansas. Sydow says Erbert had been in Stratton for just a few weeks while working for a welding company in Trenton.

Region 15 emergency manager Patrick Gerdes says no other injuries have been reported. The storm temporarily left dozens of people without power.

The National Weather Service says the storm’s straight-line winds hit an estimated 110 mph.

Stratton is about 35 miles west of McCook.

A transient who had been charged with second-degree murder is now a free man after prosecutors lowered the charge against him.

According to prosecutors, Randy Nevsimal, Maybelle Collins, and David Saxton were involved in the beating death of another transient, Lonnie Sanchez.  His body was found near the South Platte River in North Platte, in an area frequented by transients, last September.

An investigation by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office led to the arrest of the trio a short time later.

In April, Collins made a plea deal with prosecutors, and the charge against her was reduced to a misdemeanor charge of false reporting.  She was sentenced to 364 days in jail and given credit for time served.

Then, in July, Saxton pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison.

On Monday, Nevsimal was scheduled to appear in court for a status hearing, when prosecutors told the court they had an amended charge to file against him.

According to Lincoln County Attorney Rebecca Harling, her office was contacted by Saxton, who is in the custody of the Nebraska Department of Corrections.  Harling said Saxton stated that he was the only one that had participated in the actual beating of Sanchez.  He claimed that Nevsimal helped him find a tarp and conceal the body, but didn’t participate in the fatal beating.

As a result, prosecutors lowered the charge to being an accessory to a felony by concealing, a Class IV felony punishable by up to five years in prison and offered Nevsimal a deal.  He pleaded no contest.

When asked by District Court Judge Richard Birch if she had a sentencing recommendation, Harling stated that the State did not have problem with sentencing Nevsimal to time served.

Judge Birch then sentenced Nevsimal to 364 days in jail and gave him credit for 327 days already served.  With good time credit, Nevsimal was released from the Lincoln County Detention Center.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The CEO of a state-run psychiatric hospital resigned last week, effective immediately.

Bill Gibson stepped down as head administrator of the Lincoln Regional Center in Lincoln, as well as other regional facilities in Norfolk and Hastings.

Gibson has led the center since 2001. Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services spokesman Russ Reno did not say why he resigned.

Sheri Dawson, acting director of the department’s behavioral health division, will serve as the center’s interim CEO.

The resignation comes at a time of transition under new Gov. Pete Ricketts. Leadership has changed at all but two department divisions since Ricketts took office in January. He also hired a new CEO for the department, Courtney Phillips, who started in April.