The state has discontinued a health alert for toxic blue-green algae at Sutherland Reservoir in Lincoln County.

An alert was originally issued at the lake on July 2 after samples were above the state’s health alert threshold of 20 parts per billion of microcystin (a toxin released by certain strains of blue-green algae.) However, samples taken the two following weeks were below the threshold, so the alert has been discontinued.

There are currently no health alerts for toxic algae in Nebraska.

Lakes will continue to be monitored weekly throughout the 2015 recreational season. Sampling results for toxic algae and bacteria will be updated every Friday and posted on NDEQ’s web site, https://deq.ne.gov.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska National Guard is arming more of its personnel after last week’s shooting in Tennessee that killed five service members.

Gov. Pete Ricketts said Monday that he has authorized the Nebraska National Guard to arm more personnel where necessary at its installations, including recruitment offices.

Authorities say 24-year-old Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez fatally shot five service members at a pair of military sites in in Chattanooga before he was killed by police. The first shooting took place at a military recruiting office at a strip mall. Counterterrorism investigators have not released a motive.

Ricketts says his authorization provides additional protections for service members.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Department of Correctional Services is planning to interview 300 employees as part of a “culture study” to make changes within the problem-plagued agency.

The department announced Monday that it will interview randomly selected staff members at all of the department’s facilities, across all shifts.

The study will look at the department’s training, career advancement opportunities, performance evaluations and management.

The department has faced repeated problems in recent years, from miscalculated prison sentences to a riot at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution that left two inmates dead. Scott Frakes, the department’s new director, has said he sensed a “fear-based culture” among employees and promised to slow the worker turnover rate.

The governor’s chief human resources officer, Sharon Pettid, will lead the study.

A North Platte man is in jail following a burglary on Sunday morning.

At around 9:01 a.m., on July 19, officers with the North Platte Police Department responded to the report of two men fighting in the 1800 block of West C Street.

According to Officer Rodney Brown, by the time officers arrived, a neighbor had separated the two men.

Officers began to investigate and learned that one man was a resident of the house, and the other was a would-be burglar.

Brown said the resident of the home had taken his child for a short walk.  When he returned home, he told officers he discovered the suspect, 27-year-old Zachary Perez, inside.

The victim said Perez was wearing gloves and a mask and was holding a crowbar.

The victim said, at this point, Perez hit him with the crowbar and a fight ensued.

The fight moved from inside the house to the driveway, where a neighbor heard the victim calling for help and contacted police.

Following further investigation, Perez was placed under arrest and transported to the Lincoln County Detention Center.

He’s been charged with felony burglary, felony possession of burglary tools, felony 2nd-degree assault, and use of a weapon to commit a felony.

As of Monday morning, Perez was being held without bond.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers are once again looking to lower property taxes, but this time they’re turning to the single largest expense on landowners’ tax bills: school funding.

Senators will review the state’s school-aid formula next month to consider new funding options, including a possible boost in state aid or new revenue sources that would allow school districts to lower their levies.

Sen. Kate Sullivan of Cedar Rapids says she’s hopeful the review will lead to legislation next year that can help lower property taxes while preserving school funding.

Sullivan, the chairwoman of the Education Committee, says lawmakers will use a facilitator with mediation experience to try to reach an agreement between urban and rural senators, who are often at odds over school funding.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has announced a public meeting to discuss the removal of invasive trees and shrubs from the Bassway Strip Wildlife Management Area near Kearney.

The meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. on July 29 at Yanney Heritage Park’s Environmental Resource Center Building in Kearney.

Discussion will focus on removal of invasive eastern red cedar trees and grey dogwood, an invasive shrub. Meeting organizers say the removal would benefit bobwhite quail, deer, turkey and other wildlife species.

BUSHNELL, Neb. (AP) — A Rockford, Illinois, man has died in a fiery crash on Interstate 80 near Bushnell in western Nebraska.

43-year-old Joseph Geeting died early Thursday morning when the eastbound semitrailer he was driving veered off of I-80. The Nebraska State Patrol says the truck hit a rock embankment and burst into flames.

Geeting died at the scene. A 64-year-old passenger, also from Illinois, was injured and flown to a Scottsbluff hospital, where he was in fair condition.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — A half-dozen head of cattle are being treated at a veterinary clinic for burns after a semitrailer transporting them caught fire.

The fire broke out under the trailer around its tires Friday afternoon.

North Platte Fire Capt. Adam Parsons says fire crews were able to quickly put out the flames, but not before about six head of cattle in the trailer suffered burns.

The cause of the fire isn’t known, although officials believe it was a mechanical issue.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The new CEO of Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services is promising to improve the state’s troubled public benefits service, while a leading critic is calling for more oversight.

Department CEO Courtney Phillips told a legislative oversight committee Friday that she remains committed to getting the system working as intended.

Her comments came at a hearing over ACCESS Nebraska, a telephone and online service that residents use to apply for and renew public benefits. The system has faced criticism because of long call-wait times, errors and lost paperwork.

A staff attorney for Nebraska Appleseed, an advocacy group that is suing over the delays, says she’s hopeful the department can improve standards and staff training, but urged lawmakers to continue their oversight.