RUSHVILLE, Neb. (AP) — A 19-year-old man who Sheridan County authorities say escaped twice from custody has pleaded not guilty to several charges.

Michael Brown made the pleas on Monday. The judge set another hearing for April 7.

Authorities say Brown escaped from the back of a police car on Jan. 21 and was captured the next day. They say he escaped from the Sheridan County Jail on Feb. 10 and was recaptured on Feb. 17 in Gordon. Besides facing charges in the escapes, Brown is accused of several break-ins and weapons violations.

• Today: Sunny, with a high near 75. Light southeast wind becoming south 10 to 15 mph in the morning. Winds could gust as high as 22 mph.
• Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 30. South wind 6 to 11 mph.
• Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 75. South wind 5 to 14 mph.
• Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 37. South wind 6 to 9 mph becoming north after midnight.
• Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 65. Breezy, with a north wind 11 to 21 mph, with gusts as high as 29 mph.
• Friday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 28.
• Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 66.

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
304 AM CDT WED MAR 11 2015

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE
80 FOR WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...

.SOUTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE TODAY AHEAD OF A STRENGTHENING SURFACE
TROUGH ON THE HIGH PLAINS OF EASTERN COLORADO AND WYOMING. THIS
WILL ALLOW FOR SOUTHWEST WINDS OVER MUCH OF THE SANDHILLS REGION
OF NEBRASKA WHICH WILL DRAW VERY WARM AND DRY AIR TO THE REGION.
HIGH TEMPERATURES ARE FORECAST WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON TO RISE WELL
ABOVE AVERAGE.

NEZ204-206-208-209-112215-
/O.CON.KLBF.FW.W.0002.150311T1700Z-150312T0100Z/
EASTERN PANHANDLE/CRESCENT LAKE NWR-
SANDHILLS/VALENTINE NWR/NEBRASKA NATIONAL FOREST/
SAMUEL R MCKELVIE NATIONAL FOREST-
NIOBRARA VALLEY/FORT NIOBRARA NWR-LOUP RIVERS BASIN-
304 AM CDT WED MAR 11 2015 /204 AM MDT WED MAR 11 2015/

...RED FLAG WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON CDT /11 AM MDT/
TODAY TO 8 PM CDT /7 PM MDT/ THIS EVENING FOR WIND AND LOW
RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR FIRE ZONES ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE
80...

* AFFECTED AREA...IN NEBRASKA...FIRE WEATHER ZONE 204 EASTERN
  PANHANDLE/CRESCENT LAKE NWR...FIRE WEATHER ZONE 206
  SANDHILLS/VALENTINE NWR/NEBRASKA NATIONAL FOREST/ SAMUEL R
  MCKELVIE NATIONAL FOREST...FIRE WEATHER ZONE 208 NIOBRARA
  VALLEY/FORT NIOBRARA NWR AND FIRE WEATHER ZONE 209 LOUP RIVERS
  BASIN.

* WINDS...SOUTH 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 30 MPH.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AS LOW AS 12 PERCENT.

* IMPACTS...ANY RANGE FIRE START WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BURN
  OUT OF CONTROL AND EXHIBIT EXTREME BURNING BEHAVIOR.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS
ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF
STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND WARM TEMPERATURES WILL
CONTRIBUTE TO EXTREME FIRE BEHAVIOR.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new report says Nebraska’s net tax collections last month were nearly 10 percent higher than expected.

The Department of Revenue announced Tuesday that the state received about $284 million in February. The certified forecast for the month was roughly $260 million.

Net individual income tax receipts were nearly 12 percent higher than expected. Net corporate income tax receipts were 23 percent higher and net miscellaneous tax receipts nearly 71 percent higher.

Net tax receipts for the current fiscal year are so far more than 2 percent higher than the certified forecast of nearly $2.6 billion.

The comparisons are based on the report made by the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s corrections director is reviewing a plan that would concentrate more mental health services at a state prison in Lincoln.

Director Scott Frakes told lawmakers Tuesday that having mental health services scattered throughout the state isn’t an effective use of resources.

The plan would increase the number of residential mental health beds at the Lincoln Correctional Center, while reducing beds at the state prison in Tecumseh.

Frakes says the Department of Correctional Services needs to house offenders based on their treatment needs so it’s easier for them to access services. The state has struggled to fill mental-health specialist jobs outside of Lincoln and Omaha.

Frakes says it’s too early to know whether he needs money that was set aside for behavioral health services, an assertion that some lawmakers challenged.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new effort to expand Medicaid coverage in Nebraska is headed to a full debate in the Legislature.

The Health and Human Services Committee voted 5-2 on Tuesday to advance the Medicaid Redesign Act to the floor.

The lead sponsor, Sen. Kathy Campbell of Lincoln, has said this year’s version would help the state uncover more efficient ways to provide health care coverage.

The bill would require the state to apply for a federal waiver to develop its own Medicaid plan, as other states reluctant about the expansion have done.

Two previous efforts to expand Medicaid have failed due to opposition from conservative lawmakers. The bill is still likely to face resistance from those lawmakers as well as Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts.

A 40-year-old North Platte woman is facing a domestic violence charge after she allegedly punched her husband in front of a child.

At around 11:21 p.m., on Monday, officers with the North Platte Police Department responded to a residence in the 900 block of West 5th Street.

Upon arrival, officers met with Christy Amos, and her husband.

It was alleged that an argument took place when Christy, who was intoxicated, decided to leave the home in a vehicle to get more alcohol.

The husband told officers that when he tried to stop her from driving drunk, she punched him in the face.  Officers say the husband had bruising consistent with being punched in the face.

According to police, at least one child was in the room when the assault took place, but three children were present in the home.

As a result, Amos was placed under arrest and charged with domestic assault and child abuse.

She was transported to the Lincoln County Detention Center and jailed.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill that would have imposed a sales tax on Nebraska farmland to pay for property tax relief has stalled in a legislative committee.

The Revenue Committee voted 5-1 against the measure on Monday, with two senators abstaining. Committee members are sorting through various proposals designed to lower property taxes.

The legislation by Sen. Paul Schumacher of Columbus would have generated nearly $82 million in the next fiscal year. Virtually all of that money would go into a property tax credit fund for owners of agricultural land.

The tax would only have applied when land is sold. Schumacher says it would have generated substantial property tax relief for farmers and ranchers, but several senators opposed the new sales tax.

A North Platte man is in jail on a felony charge following an alleged assault on his girlfriend.

At around 12:44 p.m., on March 4, officers with the North Platte Police Department responded to the report of an assault at a residence in the 3100 block of Rodeo Road.

According to police, a female at the residence reported that she had become involved in a verbal argument with her live-in boyfriend, Paul Cooper, when the argument turned physical.

The female alleged that Cooper held her down, put a pillow over her face and stomped on her feet and legs.

Officers say the victim had injuries consistent with an assault, however, she did not require medical attention.

Additionally, the female told police that she was unable to leave the residence and feared that Cooper would assault her again.

She was eventually able to escape and make contact with police.

On March 9, officers made contact with Cooper, who was at the Lincoln County Courthouse on an unrelated case, and placed him under arrest.

He was charged with 3rd degree domestic assault and felony false imprisonment.

Cooper was then jailed at the Lincoln County Detention Center.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new report says no animal mistreatment was found during a recent inspection of a federal livestock facility in Nebraska, but regulators have halted new research at the facility.

U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack shut down research at the Meat Animal Research Center near Clay Center until improved animal welfare oversight procedures are enacted.

An animal welfare panel for the U.S. Department of Agriculture released the report Monday, saying no mistreatment was found during a three-day visit last month at the facility. The 50-year-old center conducts scientific studies to help the livestock industry increase the quantity and quality of meat production.

The panel plans to issue a second report later based on its review of three to five other federal research facilities.

NORTH PLATTE, Neb. (AP) — Summer weather could make North Platte one of the best places to view the total solar eclipse in 2017.

The moon will pass between Earth and the sun on Aug. 21, 2017, casting the moon’s shadow on a path of several thousand miles across the United States. Experts say the eclipse’s path in Nebraska will run from north of Scottsbluff southeast to a point south-southwest of Falls City. The eclipse will last around two minutes in the North Platte area and closer to three minutes in Stapleton and Callaway.

Eclipse chaser Derryl Barr said people will be coming from all over the world to see the total eclipse in Nebraska, and they’ll want to take home souvenirs with them.