OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Nursing is offering a new program to help boost the number of registered nurses in the state.

The nursing school says it will provide early, guaranteed admission in the RN to BSN program for qualified students enrolled in associate degree nursing programs at the six community colleges in the state.

The six community colleges are: Central Community College in Kearney and Grand Island; Metro Community College in Omaha; Mid-Plains Community College in North Platte; Northeast Community College in Norfolk; Southeast Community College in Lincoln; and West Nebraska Community College in Scottsbluff.

Juliann Sebastian, dean of the UNMC College of Nursing, hopes the agreement helps Nebraska reach its goal of attaining 80 percent of registered nurses with BSN degrees.

GIBBON, Neb. (AP)–Another mountain lion sighting has been reported in south-central Nebraska.

The Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office says a resident called around 10 a.m. Tuesday to report a mountain lion moving north along the Wood River on the north side of Gibbon. Officers didn’t find the big cat.

A Kearney police officer reported seeing a mountain lion about 4 a.m. Saturday near Horizon Middle School in Kearney.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Republican-controlled Senate education panel is beginning its revision of the landmark No Child Left Behind education law.

It’s focusing first on the thorny issue of federally mandated testing of America’s schoolchildren.

The law mandated that states annually test in reading and math for grades three to eight and once again in high school. Critics say that mandate has led to a high-stakes testing culture and teaching to the test. But supporters say the testing is an important way to track student learning.

Republican Lamar Alexander of Tennessee leads the Senate’s education committee. He says he’s open to listening to all sides of the testing debate.

• Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 37. North northwest wind 6 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.
• Tonight: Partly cloudy, with a low around 10. Northwest wind 3 to 8 mph.
• Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 43. West northwest wind 5 to 11 mph becoming southwest in the afternoon.
• Thursday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 17. South southwest wind 6 to 8 mph.
• Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 50. Breezy, with a northwest wind 8 to 13 mph increasing to 15 to 20 mph in the afternoon. Winds could gust as high as 28 mph.
• Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 24.
• SaturdayMostly sunny, with a high near 52.

 

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Party buses could lose the image as a safe haven for binge drinking under a measure proposed in the Nebraska Legislature.

Sen. Jeremy Nordquist of Omaha introduced a bill Tuesday that would create liquor licenses for limousines, charter buses and pedal-pub vehicles.

The bill would treat these vehicles the same as airlines or train cars, which are subject to liquor regulations and have legal responsibilities for their passengers.

Nordquist says party buses operate in an unregulated environment and encourage underage drinking. In October, a Lincoln college student was struck and killed while walking along Interstate 80 after riding a party bus.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Farm Bureau has endorsed four measures designed to lower property taxes for farmers and ranchers.

President Steve Nelson said Tuesday that the bills would ease the financial burden on producers.

The bills were introduced by Sens. Lydia Brasch of Bancroft and Dan Watermeier of Syracuse. Two measures would lower the taxable value of agricultural land, although one would only apply to schools. Those schools would likely see an increase in state aid.

A third measure would send 20 percent of state income taxes collected in a local school district back to that district. Under current law, the state only returns 12 percent.

The fourth proposal would boost the state’s property tax credit fund by $60 million annually.

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — A woman wanted by Idaho authorities has been arrested in the Nebraska Panhandle.

Rhiannon Evans was found in Scottsbluff on Monday. The warrant alleges sexual assault of a minor. It’s unclear whether Evans has an attorney.

The Scotts Bluff County Sheriff’s Office says it was notified that Evans could be found at the Lamplighter Inn. Deputies didn’t find her there, but they did find her outside a nearby restaurant.

Jail records say that the 22-year-old Evans was still in Scotts Bluff County custody on Tuesday.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A former Nebraska state senator and an Omaha community college faculty member have been chosen as new board members for a tax policy think tank.

Sen. John Harms of Scottsbluff and Tulani Grundy Meadows of Omaha will serve on the board of the OpenSky Policy Institute. The group provides research on state tax and education-funding policies.

Harms finished an eight-year term in the Legislature earlier this month. As a senator he served on legislative committees that focused on state tax incentives, tax modernization and the state budget.

Tulani is a faculty member at Metropolitan Community College in Omaha, teaching political science and human relations skills. She holds a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a bachelor’s degree from Spelman College.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Washington state prisons administrator with 32 years of experience has been chosen to lead Nebraska’s Department of Corrections.

Gov. Pete Ricketts announced Tuesday that he has named Scott Frakes to the position. Frakes was chosen from three finalists after a national search.

Frakes, of Olympia, worked in six different positions in Washington’s corrections department, starting as a correctional officer. He has served as the department’s deputy director since April 2012. In his current role he oversees six prisons, a staff of 2,800 and about 8,000 offenders.

Ricketts says Frakes will help chart a new course for the department, which has faced criticism for miscalculating prison sentences and other scandals.

A Ricketts spokesman says Frakes’ salary information will become available once he takes office on Feb. 2.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska cycling advocates are asking lawmakers to increase bicycle safety on public roads.

More than a dozen cyclists testified before the Legislature’s Transportation and Telecommunications Committee Tuesday in favor of a bill by Sen. Rick Kolowski of Omaha.

The bill would require vehicles to follow the same principles passing a bicycle as when passing another vehicle. In order to pass a cyclist, motor vehicles would merge left on a four-lane road and completely cross the center line on a two-way road.

The bill would also eliminate a 1968 law that requires cyclists to use a bike path if one exists next to the roadway.

Advocates say the bill is easier to for law enforcement to monitor and simpler for motorists to remember.