OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — It’s time to spring forward this weekend, as the country makes the switch to daylight-saving time.

Like those in almost all other states, Nebraskans and Iowans will trade an hour of sleep starting Sunday morning for an extra hour of sunlight in the evening.

The government expanded daylight-saving time in 2007 in an effort to save energy. It now begins on the second Sunday in March and continues until the first Sunday in November.

The official change occurs at 2 a.m. Sunday, local time, although people often change their clocks before going to bed Saturday night.

Daylight-saving time ends Nov. 1.

• Gerald Lee Rosenberg, 37, North Platte and Bobbie Jo Fuller, 35, North Platte

 

• Chase Allen Miles, 22, North Platte and Danielle Lynsey Boyda, 23, North Platte

 

• Bryan Joseph White, 32, Sutherland and Shauna Rae Swedberg, 28, Sutherland

 

• Eliseo Machado Jr., 37, Gothenburg and Nikki Rene Vieyra, 41, Gothenburg

 

• Mark Andrew Kennedy, 50, Woodruff SC and Melissa Ann Salisbury, 35, North Platte

 

• Jacob Levi Wilcox, 30, North Platte and Haley Rose Sisson, 27, North Platte

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A lawmaker known as a tax-cutting fiscal conservative is urging his colleagues to pass a fuel-tax increase to help repair Nebraska’s aging roads and bridges.

Sen. Jim Smith of Papillion argued Friday that the phased-in, 6-cent-per-gallon increase would help maintain roads for farmers, truckers and businesses.

The proposal would raise Nebraska’s gas tax to 31.6 cents per gallon. The full tax would generate an additional $25 million annually for the state and $51 million for cities and counties. Nebraska’s gas tax fell behind Iowa’s for the first time in decades on Sunday when Iowa’s gas tax rose.

Some opponents argue that Nebraska should find construction money by running the Department of Roads more efficiently. Smith says that won’t be enough to bridge the gap.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Former Gov. Dave Heineman has agreed to pay $250 to the state for using public resources to announce that he was applying for University of Nebraska presidency.

Heineman will make the payment as part of a settlement approved Friday by the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission.

The commission ruled that Heineman violated state law after the Nebraska Democratic Party filed a complaint. Heineman was accused of using the governor’s official letterhead and state employee time to announce that he would apply for the university’s presidency.

Heineman left the governor’s office in January. He wasn’t selected as a finalist for the presidency, and the job ultimately went to Hank Bounds, the commissioner of higher education for Mississippi Public Universities.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill to increase the cost of marriage license fees in Nebraska has passed in the Legislature after a prolonged debate.

Lawmakers voted 42-4 Friday to pass the measure, which would raise the county fee for marriage licenses from $15 to $25. Certified copies would rise in cost from $5 to $9.

Lawmakers debated a full eight hours on the original bill, which would have increased the fee to $50, before compromising at $25. Opponents say the fee is really a tax, and the increase is too steep.

The Nebraska Association of County Officials says the current $15 fee does not cover the costs of filing a marriage license and verifying the information.

Gov. Pete Ricketts has five days to approve or veto the bill.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Experienced nurse practitioners will no longer need to get a written agreement to consult with a doctor before they can practice in Nebraska.

Gov. Pete Ricketts signed a bill Thursday to remove the requirement on nurse practitioners to sign integrated practice agreements with physicians. The agreements are designed to ensure a physician is available if the patient does not respond to treatment.

Advocates say such agreements have made it harder to provide health care, especially in rural areas with a provider shortage.

Lawmakers passed the bill 46-0. Last year, the bill was vetoed by then-Gov. Dave Heineman.

The American Association of Nurse Practitioners says Nebraska is 20th state to authorize nurse practitioners to have full-practice authority.

BROKEN BOW, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 72-year-old man has died after an accident along Nebraska Highway 70 in Custer County.

The accident occurred Thursday about nine miles east of Broken Bow. The Sheriff’s Office says an eastbound pickup ran across the highway into a roadside ditch, hit a culvert and then rolled onto its top.

The driver was identified as Richard Keefe, of Sargent.

LEXINGTON, Neb. (AP) — A man who was convicted of shooting at an unoccupied Custer County Sheriff’s Office cruiser has been given a new, shorter sentence and his likely release from prison.

Trent Esch was found guilty in 2013. Last year the Nebraska Appeals Court cited faulty jury instructions in tossing out Esch’s criminal mischief sentence and his weapons conviction.

In February the Nebraska Supreme Court agreed that Esch should not have been found guilty of the weapons count in his second trial, because prosecutors didn’t present any evidence. He’d been given five to seven years on the weapons count, 20 to 36 months for criminal mischief.

Esch was resentenced to 20 to 36 months and given credit for 710 days served, which satisfied his sentence.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska zoos and aquariums could get a sales-tax break under a bill slated for debate in the Legislature.

The Revenue Committee voted unanimously Thursday to advance the measure that will exempt Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo from having to pay or charge sales taxes. It also would apply to any zoo or aquarium accredited by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

Nebraska has three other accredited facilities: Lee G. Simmons Conservation Park & Wildlife Safari in Ashland, the Children’s Zoo in Lincoln and the Riverside Discovery Center in Scottsbluff.

The bill’s sponsor, Sen. Heath Mello of Omaha, has said he would designate the bill as his priority, increasing the odds that lawmakers debate it this year.

• Today: Sunny, with a high near 62. West northwest wind 7 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 21 mph.
• Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 21. West northwest wind 7 to 10 mph.
• Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 60. West northwest wind 7 to 9 mph.
• Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 27. Southwest wind 5 to 7 mph becoming north northwest after midnight.
• Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 55. North wind 8 to 13 mph.
• Sunday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 25.
• Monday: Sunny, with a high near 62.
• Monday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 27.