LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s attorney general says the state’s corrections department has been too busy dealing with other problems to focus on resolving drug shortages that have halted executions in the state, which hasn’t carried out the death penalty in 17 years.

Attorney General Jon Bruning told The Associated Press he’s confident Nebraska will resume executions but it could be years before officials can work out a new approach using different drugs or a new supplier.

He notes the corrections department has been busy with other issues, including questions over the early release of some inmates.

Nebraska lost its only approved method to carry out executions when its supply of one drug used in the process expired in December.

Bruning says the state can manufacture the missing drug or change its execution protocol.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A new U.S. Department of Agriculture report says the number of cattle in large Nebraska feedlots is up 4 percent compared to August of last year.

The report says feedlots with capacities of more than 1,000 head contained 2.16 million cattle as of Aug. 1.

Cattle placements for the month of July totaled 465,000 head, up 3 percent from last year. About 465,000 fed cattle were marketed for the month of July, a 3 percent increase from last year.

The report was compiled by the USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service.

BROKEN BOW, Neb. (AP) — A woman charged in the death of a Broken Bow toddler has pleaded not guilty.

24-year-old Brittany Pryce pleaded not guilty Thursday in Custer County District Court. A trial date was set for Feb. 9.

Authorities say 20-month-old Noah Pryce sustained a suspicious head injury in November while in the car of Pryce and her mother, Diane Hill. The infant later died in an Omaha hospital.

Hill and Brittany Pryce were initially charged with second-degree murder, but the case against Hill was dismissed in July. The murder charge against Price was also dropped, and she’s now only charged with second-degree child abuse.

Authorities say Brittany Pryce and her husband, Richard Pryce, were Noah’s guardians.

GIBBON, Neb. (AP) — Grape growers in Nebraska have had a tough year because of severe weather in the last few months.

Growers have lost their crops to late freezes in May and high winds and hailstorms in July.

Jennifer Montgomery, executive director of the Nebraska Winery and Grape Growers Association, says growers typically face at least one serve weather event each year. This year, growers reported at least four distinct weather events that damaged crops throughout the state.

One grower in Gibbon says he’ll only be able to harvest 10 percent of his grape crop this year.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Space is still available for a retreat that teaches women skills they can use in the outdoors.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission says the annual Becoming and Outdoors-Woman program runs from Oct. 3-5 at the national forest near Halsey. The BOW program is intended to help women become active in hunting, camping, boating, hiking and fishing.

Anyone who is at least 18 years old can register to learn skills in a friendly, non-intimidating environment.

Additional information and registration forms are available online at NebraskaBOW.com.

• Raymond William Webster, 29, North Platte and Michele Lee Weatherly, 22, North Platte

 

• Tyler Joseph O’Dea, 25, Sutherland NE and Cassandra Cree Schultz, 23, North Platte

 

• Jonathan Alan Klein, 32, North Platte and Elsa Eugenia Sophia Reddick, 30, North Platte

 

• Joshua Lynn Empfield, 35, North Platte and Jennifer Jean Keith, 27, North Platte

 

• Vern Dale Boone, 52, North Platte and Christine Marie Eyten, 54, North Platte

 

• Nicholas Joseph Collins, 24, North Platte and Kyleigh Aleen Graham, 26, North Platte

 

• Nicholas Richard Reynolds, 34, North Platte and Brandi Rose Hendon, 28, North Platte

 

• Jason Ryan Melvin, 35, North Platte and Denise Marie Miller, 36, North Platte

 

• Austin Thomas Piper, 18, North Platte and Katelynn Renae Perez, 21, North Platte

 

• Luis Miguel Rodriguez-Rivas, 29, Lexington NE and Tania Carrillo-Jimenez, 26, Lexington NE

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Labor Department says it’s recovered nearly $5.8 million so far this year from people who were given too much unemployment pay, either because of errors or because they lied on their applications.

The department said in a news release Friday that the total includes more than $2.7 million recovered through the federal Treasury Offset Program. The program can tap federal tax refunds of unemployment insurance claimants who commit fraud or reporting errors.

Nebraska has an unemployment insurance fraud rate of about 1 percent, compared with the national average of around 2.7 percent as of last year.

The Treasury Offset Program was instituted in Nebraska in February 2013. In addition to the $2.7 million recovered so far this year, the program recovered more than $2 million last year.

COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — A January trial has been scheduled for a 19-year-old man accused of fatally stabbing his grandmother at the home she shared with him in Columbus.

Chase Micklevitz stood silently at an arraignment hearing Wednesday in Platte Country District Court, so a plea of not guilty was entered. His trial on charges of second-degree murder and use of a deadly weapon is set to begin Jan. 5.

Police say he stabbed 58-year-old Deanna Micklevitz four times on July 30 with a kitchen knife at her home. She was taken to Columbus Community Hospital and then flown to a Lincoln hospital, where she was pronounced dead upon her arrival.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Some Nebraska prisoners serving time for driving under the influence were kept behind bars longer than they should have been because of sentencing miscalculations.

State officials discovered the snafu while correcting the sentences of inmates who had been scheduled for release too early.

A prisons spokeswoman wouldn’t answer specifics about the erroneous calculations, which were noted by the Nebraska Attorney General’s office.

Emails obtained through the newspaper’s public records request suggest that dozens of people convicted of DUI offenses may have served more time than needed before they were paroled.

The incorrect DUI sentences were based on an interpretation by the Department of Correctional Services’ legal staff. The attorney general’s office notified department officials in June that the interpretation was wrong.

A North Platte woman has been charged after she went on a reckless ride Thursday evening.

At around 6:00 p.m., a witness contacted police and advised that a vehicle had sideswiped a parked car in the 1400 block of West Philip, then fled the scene.

Investigator John Deal said the witness was able to give a description of the vehicle, including the license plate number.  The witness said the vehicle then went the wrong way on the one-way, and struck a utility pole.

An officer was able to locate the vehicle parked in the Wendy’s parking lot, 1202 South Jeffers Street.

A female identified Victoria Winder was observed standing outside the vehicle, looking it over.

According to Deal, Winder admitted that she had been driving the vehicle, and indicated that she thought she may have hit something.

Officers learned that Winder had taken several prescription medications, and appeared to be under the influence.  Deal said Winder was given a series of field sobriety maneuvers, which she failed.

A Nebraska State Patrol drug recognition expert was called to the scene, and determined that Winder was under the influence of drugs, likely her own prescription medication.

Winder was placed under arrest and charged with driving under the influence of drugs and leaving the scene of an accident.

Deal the vehicle Winder hit sustained about $500 worth of damage, and her vehicle suffered approximately $1,000 in damage.