LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A U.S. Department of Justice report says a Nebraska prison records administrator is largely to blame for inmate sentences that were miscalculated.

The report cites poor communication within Nebraska’s prison-records division and inadequate management by its administrator, Kyle Poppert.

The report says many division employees felt that they needed more training, and couldn’t rely on Poppert to answer their questions. It’s based on a dozen interviews with prison employees, including Poppert.

Poppert was suspended without pay for two weeks in August for his role in the sentencing miscalculations, which led to the premature release of hundreds of inmates.

Another employee was also suspended, and two department attorneys retired under threat of being fired. Poppert has not responded to previous interview requests.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new report says more than 3,000 young adults in Nebraska may qualify for Medicaid coverage under a provision of the federal health care law, but only 3 percent of that group is currently enrolled.

The group Nebraska Appleseed released the report Friday in advance of a legislative hearing on coverage for youths who have aged out of foster care.

The Affordable Care Act allows youths who were in foster care to receive Medicaid coverage until age 26. It’s similar to another provision of the law that lets youths stay on their parents’ plans until they turn 26.

Sen. Sue Crawford of Bellevue is conducting a legislative study to see what can be done to inform young people about the option and to make it easier for them to enroll.

LINCOLN – A 1½- year-old female mountain lion was shot south of Chadron in Dawes County on Oct. 23. 

The mountain lion was shot in a ranch yard near the landowner’s house and chicken coop. The subadult mountain lion weighed approximately 63 pounds.

As required by law, the man immediately notified authorities after the animal was shot and the animal was transferred to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Roughly half of Nebraska schools have repeatedly failed to meet proficiency standards under the federal No Child Left Behind Act, but officials say those results are flawed and misleading.

The annual “State of the Schools” report released Friday says 480 Nebraska’s 1,011 public schools were designated as in need of improvement. Schools that were labeled as such failed to meet standards for two consecutive years.

Federal sanctions under the law will require some of those schools to offer free tutoring, school choice or take other steps.

Nebraska Education Commissioner Matthew Blomstedt says the standards are unrealistic, and notes that statewide test scores in math, science and reading all improved. Last year, the law’s standards required 100 percent student proficiency in math and reading.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s Liquor Control Commission will allow smoking at cigar bars, pending a Nebraska Supreme Court ruling.

The cigar bar owners will be able to renew their special licenses, which otherwise would have expired Oct. 31.

Commission executive director Hobert Rupe says he’s been warning the bar owners that they might have only a few days to stop the smoking once the court rules.

The state Supreme Court in August struck down exceptions to the state’s public smoking ban for cigar bars and tobacco shops. The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office subsequently asked the court to rehear the case, arguing in part that the judges failed to properly consider that lawmakers intended to protect cigar bars and tobacco shops from going out of business.

• Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 83. West northwest wind 8 to 11 mph.
• Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 37. West wind around 5 mph becoming calm in the evening.
• Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 82. Calm wind becoming south southwest around 5 mph in the afternoon.
• Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 40. East wind around 6 mph becoming calm after midnight.
• Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 81. Light northwest wind becoming west northwest 6 to 11 mph in the morning.
• Sunday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 44.
• Monday: A 30 percent chance of showers. Partly sunny, with a high near 60.
• Monday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 32.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Two lawyers say a woman who was convicted as an accomplice in her boyfriend’s 1958 killing spree will apply for a pardon.

Caril Clair, formerly Caril Fugate, was 14 when she accompanied Charlie Starkweather, who killed 10 people over eight days in Nebraska. Clair was convicted of first-degree murder for her role in the slayings.

Lawyers John Stevens Berry Sr. and Linda Battisti together wrote “The Twelfth Victim, the Innocence of Caril Fugate in the Starkweather Murder Rampage.” They contend Clair is innocent. They say on the day that the killings began, Clair arrived home from school and was greeted by Starkweather who was holding a gun. They say Clair was forced to go with Starkweather in the slayings.

Berry says his office will file the application for Clair’s pardon.

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — The Scottsbluff airport board has selected a new carrier to provide subsidized flights to Denver International Airport.

The board voted Wednesday to recommend Aerodynamics Inc. to the U.S. Transportation Department, which makes the final decision on providers of Essential Air Service flights. Company officials hope to begin Scottsbluff service as soon as February.

The company has said it intends to provide 50-passenger jets for two Scottsbluff flights to Denver each weekday and one flight on Saturdays and Sundays. Aerodynamics’ proposal beat those from the current service provider, Great Lakes Airlines, and bids from Boutique Air and Via Air.

Aerodynamics’ corporate base is in Beachwood, Ohio.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Supporters of a higher minimum wage have taken their message to Nebraska’s airwaves in the final months before voters decide Nov. 4 whether to approve a gradual increase to $9 an hour.

An analysis released Thursday by the Center for Public Integrity says $79,000 has been spent on television ads in support of the proposal. The ads that were counted started airing the week of Sept. 28 and continued through Oct. 11.

All were produced by Nebraskans for Better Wages, the group that’s campaigning for Initiative 425.

The proposal would gradually increase Nebraska’s minimum wage from the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour to $9 an hour by 2016.

Opponents say they can’t match the statewide message broadcast on television.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Supreme Court has appointed a Lincoln attorney as the director of the new Nebraska Office of Public Guardian.

Michelle Chaffee has served as legal counsel for the Nebraska Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee and has 10 years’ experience in higher education administration.

Chaffee will be responsible for building the new statewide office and assisting in the establishment of guardian and conservator services throughout Nebraska in both urban and rural courts. Although the state will continue to rely on volunteers to assist the elderly and others in need of guardianship, the new office will serve as a means of last resort as guardian or conservator for those where no family member or suitable individual is available.

Chaffee is expected to begin her position in December.