GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Officials haven’t decided what will happen to the buildings on the Grand Island Veterans Home campus after residents are transferred to their new home in Kearney in January.

Gov. Pete Ricketts announced in 2015 the state would return the current 640-acre (259-hectare) site to the city of Grand Island in two phases. The first phase in 2016 included turning over most of the land that held recreation areas and crop fields. The second phase includes the rest of the property. On it sits the veterans home buildings and a cemetery.

The city hasn’t completed its plans for the property yet.

“We haven’t signed the dotted line saying we will take these buildings,” Grand Island City Administrator Marlan Ferguson told The Grand Island Independent. “It’s expensive for the upkeep, and we are figuring out what we want to do with them. There are some options we have there, and various veterans groups have been involved.”

The Nebraska Department of Veterans Affairs will maintain control of the campus until all equipment is removed from the buildings. The state Department of Administrative Services then will assume control and deal with the city, Ferguson said.

The buildings have about 280,000 square feet of usable space, officials have said. It hasn’t been determined what buildings will be kept or demolished and what the costs would be. Officials also have said $4 million in demolition money would come from the state.

“Once the buildings are vacant we can see what’s there and see what we can use and not use,” Ferguson said.

Grand Island, Kearney, Hastings, and North Platte all competed for the project to replace the outdated, 225-bed Grand Island facility. Plans are for the 95 or so residents to eat breakfast at their old home on Jan. 16 and lunch at their new home 34 miles away in Kearney.

Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol have arrested four men and seized several pounds each of cocaine, heroin, and marijuana following multiple traffic stops on Sunday.

At approximately 7:45 a.m. CT, a trooper observed a Ford Mustang traveling at 105 miles per hour on Interstate 80 near Paxton at mile marker 143. When the trooper attempted to stop the vehicle, the driver fled at a high rate of speed, driving recklessly and passing vehicles on the shoulder.

The trooper initiated a pursuit. After approximately two miles the Mustang exited at the Paxton interchange, drove down the ramp embankment and back up toward I-80. The vehicle then went airborne at the top of the embankment and spun out in the traffic lanes before colliding with a metal guardrail. The two men inside the vehicle then fled on foot.

The men were taken into custody a short time later. A search of the vehicle revealed multiple packages of high-grade marijuana and THC products. The total weight was approximately 6 pounds. The driver, Isaiah Bassett, 32, and Anthony Robinson 23, both of Peoria, Illinois, were arrested for possession of marijuana – more than one pound, possession with intent to deliver, no drug tax stamp, and obstructing a peace officer. Bassett also faces numerous traffic citations, including felony flight to avoid arrest, willful reckless driving, no operator’s license, and more. Both men were lodged in Keith County Jail.

At approximately 3:43 p.m. MT, a trooper observed an eastbound Nissan Sentra speeding near mile marker 2 on Interstate 76. During the traffic stop, the trooper detected criminal activity and conducted a search of the vehicle. The search revealed 13 pounds of cocaine and 3 pounds of heroin hidden under a manufactured floor beneath the front seats.

The driver, Maurice Fuller, 30, of Chicago, and passenger, Rudolph Brown, 47, of Philadelphia, were arrested for possession of cocaine, possession of heroin, possession with intent to deliver, and no drug tax stamp. Both men were lodged in Deuel County Jail.

The federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour has remained the same since 2009. Since then, 29 states and the District of Columbia have set minimum wages above the federal level. Twenty states have minimum wage increases taking effect around the start of the new year.

Here’s a look at states exceeding the federal minimum wage, with their current wage and, where applicable, the new one:

Alaska: current $9.84, new $9.89.

Arizona: current $10.50, new $11.

Arkansas: current $8.50, new $9.25.

California, more than 25 employees: current $11, new $12.

California, 25 or fewer employees: current $10.50, new $11.

Colorado: current $10.20, new $11.10.

Connecticut: current $10.10.

Delaware: current $8.25, new $8.75.

District of Columbia: current $13.25.

Florida: current $8.25, new $8.46.

Hawaii: current $10.10.

Illinois: current $8.25.

Maine: current $10, new $11.

Maryland: current: $10.10.

Massachusetts: current $11, new $12.

Michigan: current $9.25, new $9.45.

Minnesota: current $9.65, new $9.86.

Missouri, current: $7.85, new $8.60.

Montana: current $8.30, new $8.50.

Nebraska: current $9.

Nevada: current $8.25.

New Jersey: current $8.60, new $8.85.

New Mexico: current $7.50.

New York: current: $10.40, new $11.10.

Ohio, current $8.30, new $8.55.

Oregon: current $10.75.

Rhode Island: current $10.10, new $10.50.

South Dakota: current $8.85, new $9.10.

Vermont, current $10.50, new $10.78.

Washington, current $11.50, new $12.

West Virginia, current $8.75.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A Nebraska entomologist has named three of his eight newest beetle discoveries after the dragons from the HBO series “Game of Thrones” and George R.R. Martin book series “A Song of Ice and Fire.”

University of Nebraska-Lincoln professor Brett Ratcliffe named the new scarab beetle species drogoni, rhaegali and viserioni. The names are Latinized versions of three dragons featured in the popular fictional work.

Ratcliffe says he’s named hundreds of species over his 50-year career and creating new names becomes difficult. He says he’s a fan of the series, but ultimately chose the names to draw attention to biodiversity and the amount of undiscovered species.

Drogoni and viserioni can be found in Colombia and Ecuador, while rhaegali is in the French Guiana.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An American who was providing medical assistance in Congo may have been exposed to the deadly Ebola virus and is being monitored at a Nebraska medical center.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha confirmed Saturday that it was housing the person in a secure area that is not accessible to other patients or the public. Spokesman Taylor Wilson says the person arrived Saturday afternoon.

The medical center is not providing any details to honor the person’s request for privacy. The facility also is not identifying the person as a patient or when the person was in Africa.

Officials say the person is not ill and has no Ebola symptoms but will be monitored for up to two weeks.

The medical center has a dedicated biocontainment unit and treated three Ebola patients in 2014.

Auburn, Neb. – Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD) declared an unusual event at its Cooper Nuclear Station at 9:04 this morning. The utility declared the emergency classification when site personnel discovered a hazardous gas environment in the basement of the plant. While investigating the gas, safety and plant personnel detected a fire within a pipe chase.

The station’s fire brigade extinguished the active fire at 9:51 a.m. but additional responders have been brought in to monitor the piping, assess any equipment damage, provide engineering support, and maintain a fire watch in the area until there is no long any potential for a fire to restart.

At no time did plant conditions threaten public safety, and the plant remained stable and operating during the event.

A NOUE is defined as unusual events, minor in nature, which have occurred or are in progress which indicate a potential degradation in the level of station safety at the station. If placed on a scale of 1 to 4, with 1 being the least serious level of an emergency and 4 being the most serious level of an emergency, a NOUE would equal a 1.

In situations like this, plant personnel follow an emergency response plan and notify appropriate local, county, state, and federal agencies as part of their processes.

Cooper Nuclear Station is located three miles southeast of Brownville near the Missouri River. It is owned and operated by the Nebraska Public Power District, with headquarters in Columbus. More information will be provided as it becomes available.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The end of 2018 seemed to signal good things to come for America’s farmers. Fresh off the passage of the farm bill, which reauthorized agriculture, conservation and safety net programs, the Agriculture Department last week announced a second round of direct payments to growers hardest hit by President Donald Trump’s trade war with China.

Then parts of the government shut down.

The USDA in a statement issued last week assured farmers that checks would continue to go out during the first week of the shutdown. But direct payments for farmers who haven’t certified production, as well as farm loans and disaster assistance programs, will be put on hold beginning next week, and won’t start up again until the government reopens.

There is little chance of the government shutdown ending soon. Trump and Congress are no closer to reaching a deal over his demand for border wall money, and both sides say the impasse could drag well into January.

Although certain vital USDA programs will remain operational in the short term, that could change if the shutdown lasts for more than a few weeks.

The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or food stamps, helps feed roughly 40 million Americans. According to the USDA, eligible recipients are guaranteed benefits through January. Other feeding programs, including WIC, which provides food aid and nutrition counseling for pregnant women, new mothers and children, and food distribution programs on Indian reservations, will continue on a local level, but additional federal funding won’t be provided. School lunch programs will continue through February.

USDA has earmarked about $9.5 billion in direct payments for growers of soybeans, corn, wheat, sorghum and other commodities most affected by tariffs. The first round of payments went out in September. The deadline to sign up for the second round of payments is January 15.

The impact of the shutdown, which began shortly before most federal workers were scheduled for a holiday break, started coming into focus by midweek.

About 420,000 employees are working without pay, while 380,000 are being forced to stay home. In the past, federal employees have been paid retroactively. But government contractors won’t get paid for hours they’ll lose staying home, causing problems for those who rely on hourly wages.

In anticipation of the financial bind many federal workers and contractors may soon find themselves in, the Office of Personnel Management offered some advice: haggle with landlords, creditors and mortgage companies for lower payments until the shutdown is over.

The shutdown also is affecting national parks, although unevenly: Some remain accessible with bare-bones staffing levels, some are operating with money from states or charitable groups, while others are locked off.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska officials are taking steps to improve the state’s education testing scores, starting by adopting new, more rigorous standards.

About 68 percent of Nebraska public school students tested as proficient in science last spring, down 2 percentage points from 2016-17 and 4 percentage points from 2015-16, the Omaha World-Herald reported . The scores were taken from fifth, eighth and 11th grades.

The state is moving to a new science test to reflect changing standards that come with the Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System. The current test is measuring students’ proficiency against old standards set in 2010, not the new standards the state Board of Education approved last year.

High school students are also taking the ACT exam for the 11th-grade assessment, which may also be more rigorous.

The temporary disparity between the standards and the test could be a factor in the drop, said Nebraska Education Commissioner Matt Blomstedt.

Districts have likely been adjusting curriculum for when the new testing standards are adopted in 2021, Blomstedt said. The new standards raise expectations around science, and will challenge students to think and act like scientists, he said.

“It’s not just about content mastery but the engagement with science content,” Blomstedt said.

The state has also changed standards for English language arts and math proficiency, so schools may be focusing their attention on those subjects, he said.

Changing the testing standards can be difficult, but Blomstedt said state officials believe the increasingly challenging proficiency targets will help measure students’ academic growth.

“The proficiency levels that we’ve set, I would say, are probably among the highest in the nation,” he said.

John Witzel, president of the Nebraska State Board of Education, said schools are working to promote science, but districts are having a difficult time finding science teachers. The western part of the state in particular is seeing a high demand for science teachers.

“I think that might be part of it,” Witzel said.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s school police programs disproportionately affect students of color and students with disabilities, according to the American Civil Liberties Union.

The ACLU of Nebraska released a report Thursday that says such programs fuel a “school to prison” pipeline. The report cites several cases where police were called over, including one involving brothers in elementary school yelling and cursing at each other. Another case involved a school employee who sought police help after a student stole a candy bar from her desk.

As a result of having a permanent police presence in schools, children are far more likely to face school-based arrests for disciplinary matters than they were a generation ago, said Rose Godinez, the ACLU’s legal and policy counsel for Nebraska.

“A school-based arrest is the quickest route from the classroom to the courthouse,” Godinez, who co-authored the report, told the Omaha World-Herald.

The report found that more than 1,500 students in public schools with school police were referred to law enforcement during the 2015-16 school year. About 200 of those were for wellness checks, traffic offenses, truancy and offenses that occurred off school grounds. About 56 percent of Nebraska school districts with school police don’t require that parents be notified when their child is questioned about an incident at school.

The report notes that some schools have police but no counselor, social worker or nurse. And in some districts, students of color and students with disabilities accounted for twice as large a share of students referred to police than their share of the student population.

In Lincoln Public Schools, students of color made up 33 percent of the student population but accounted for 70 percent of students referred to police. In Omaha Public Schools, students with disabilities accounted for 18 percent of the student population but 44 percent of students referred to police.

Lincoln Public Schools official Russ Uhing said the district is working to address the disparities, including through student diversion programs and training for school administrators about when police referrals are appropriate.

Omaha Police Capt. Russ Horine noted that referral decisions are made by school officials but said more data would be helpful in understanding the apparent disparities.

“We don’t want to bring students into the system if we can help that,” Horine said.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A settlement between Wells Fargo and attorneys general from all 50 states will mean more than $5 million for Nebraska.

Wells Fargo and the attorneys generals announced the settlement Friday following an investigation into fake accounts opened without the knowledge of customers and other questionable practices.

Besides paying $575 million to the states and the District of Columbia, Wells Fargo agreed to respond to customer complaints about its banking and sales practices.

Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson says the state’s share of the settlement will be $5.2 million.