LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Police say three people have been arrested in connection with the death of a Lincoln man killed earlier this month.

Police say in a news release that 27-year-old James Richard Howard, of Lincoln, was arrested in Leon County, Texas, on Friday. He’s charged in a Nebraska warrant with being an accessory to a felony in the death of 42-year-old Stacy Talbot.

Police say 32-year-old Jesse James Wilson and 34-year-old Sherry Lynn Thomas, both of Lincoln, were arrested Saturday in Clovis, New Mexico. Wilson is charged with theft, and Thomas is charged with attempt of a felony in an unrelated case.

Police didn’t detail what roles those arrested are suspected of having in Talbot’s death.

Talbot was found Oct. 18 in a Lincoln street with a gunshot wound to the chest. He was pronounced dead at a Lincoln hospital.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Administrators say the University of Nebraska at Kearney is launching a digital repository to preserve scholarly and creative work.

A university news release says the repository will store content from faculty, researchers, students and staff, as well as select items from the university archives.

The repository will be administered by the university’s Calvin T. Ryan Library and will be accessed online. It will let the Nebraska university’s researchers share data and findings with scholars across the globe. A video feature can be used to document musical and theatrical performances or classroom presentations.

The repository will be part of the worldwide Digital Commons Network.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Opponents of a ballot measure to expand Medicaid in Nebraska have launched a new radio ad urging voters to reject it.

The 30-second spot unveiled on Friday argues that the proposal would cost too much and allow more patients into an already crowded Medicaid system. The ad was sponsored by Americans for Prosperity-Nebraska, a Libertarian-leaning advocacy group funded by the billionaire Koch brothers.

Jessica Shelburn, the group’s state director, says allowing more people into Medicaid could stress the system that was designed for society’s most vulnerable populations.

Supporters of the measure say it would provide coverage to low-income people working jobs in construction, restaurants and other low-wage industries. The measure would extend coverage to an estimated 90,000 uninsured people.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers may have to fill a projected $232.6 million budget shortfall when they craft a new two-year state budget next year, based on new estimates approved Friday.

The Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board predicted that the state will collect $4.89 billion in tax revenue in the upcoming fiscal year and $5 billion the year after that, for a total of $9.89 billion.

Those estimates fall short of the projected spending during the two-year budget cycle, and even though tax revenues are growing, the increases are less than what the state has historically collected. The board also predicted the state will collect an additional $69 million in the current fiscal year that ends on June 30, but state law requires that money to go directly to Nebraska’s cash reserve.

Forecasting board members said the national economy appears to be slowing after years of strong growth, and in Nebraska, businesses are struggling to fill jobs because of a skilled worker shortage.

“I think the economy has probably peaked,” said Tonn Ostergard of Lincoln. “We’re seeing some continued decline, but (the economy) is still historically strong. It’s inevitable that we’ll have an economic downturn.”

For lawmakers, the predictions suggest another tight budget year that will prevent any large new spending bills from passing. Adding to the concern is a sluggish farm economy and tariffs that are slated to go into effect as a result of President Donald Trump’s trade war with China.

Another unknown is the upcoming ballot measure to expand Medicaid under the federal health care law, which would bring an influx of federal money into Nebraska but also increase costs for state government if voters approve it.

“There are a whole lot of challenges out there that this economy has got to work through,” said state Sen. John Stinner, who chairs the budget-writing Appropriations Committee.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts said the $69 million increase this fiscal year shows that the economy is still growing, but he warned that Medicaid expansion would create new budget challenges. Ricketts, a Republican, opposes the expansion measure.

“Medicaid expansion for able-bodied adults would make property tax relief nearly impossible,” he said.

Stinner said he will push lawmakers to rebuild the state’s cash reserve as much as they can and give priority to K-12 school funding. Lawmakers have relied on the state’s cash reserve to balance budget shortfall over the last several years.

The estimates are likely to change before the new session begins on Jan. 9, but the current forecast suggests that lawmakers will begin the year “with not a lot of money,” said Legislative Fiscal Analyst Tom Bergquist.

One tax-policy think tank argued that the lower-than-expected revenues are a result of previous state tax cuts.

“This highlights the importance of bolstering the cash reserve and examining our revenue system to make sure we can sustain investments in education, health care and other services essential to a strong economy,” said Renee Fry, executive director of the OpenSky Policy Institute.

POTTER, Neb. (AP) — A western Nebraska school superintendent has resigned just weeks after one of his school cooks mixed kangaroo meat into chili made for students.

Potter-Dix Schools board of education minutes say board members Wednesday night accepted the resignation of Mike Williams and then voted to send him a notice about the possible immediate cancellation of his contract.

It’s unclear whether the chili incident played any role in Williams’ exit. He’s declined to comment. And school board member Lori Biesecker (BEE’-seh-kur) said Friday that neither she nor any other school board member would comment.

Williams said in a letter to parents earlier this month that the cook told him he’d augmented the chili’s beef one day with kangaroo meat because it is lean and nutritious. Williams says the meat came from a food distributor that must meet federal requirements.

Investigators with the Nebraska State Patrol have arrested a man in connection with the death of an infant in Wilcox earlier this month.

Investigators initially responded to a report of the death of six-week-old Zackary Preston on October 1, 2018 when the infant was found unresponsive in a bed at his home in Wilcox.

Following an investigation, the child’s father, Christopher Preston, 23, of Wilcox, was arrested on charges of felony child abuse resulting in death. The arrest was made Wednesday, October 24, at his place of work in Holdrege.

Christopher Preston was lodged in Kearney County Jail.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A state senator wants to lower the Nebraska voting age to 16.

Sen. Anna Wishart, of Lincoln, says she intends to propose a state constitutional amendment next year that would do so. She says today’s 16-year-olds are informed and “fully capable” of helping other voters choose people to represent them in state and local offices.

She said at a legislative forum Wednesday that the idea for a lower voting age came after a conversation with a German woman who had been voting since she was 16 and, as a result, was “so much more engaged and informed than I was about local politics” at a similar age.

Sixteen-year-olds are allowed to vote in German’s municipal elections; the voting age is 18 for other elections.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on pipe bombs sent to prominent Democrats and CNN (all times local):

7:10 a.m.

A New York City police bomb squad has removed a suspicious package from a Manhattan building associated with Robert De Niro.

A law enforcement source tell The Associated Press that the device found Thursday appeared to be linked to the others sent to Democratic figures and CNN’s New York City hub. The package looked similar to the others and had a similar device inside, the source said.

The NYPD says the device was taken from 375 Greenwich Street in the Tribeca neighborhood around 6:30 a.m. Thursday.

A spokesman said police were called for a report of a suspicious package at the location around 5 a.m.

By Michael R. Sisak in New York

___

6:40 a.m.

New York police say they’re responding to reports of a suspicious package.

It’s unclear if the report is related to pipe bombs sent to prominent Democrats including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton.

The New York Police Department says Thursday’s report involves the Tribeca neighborhood in Manhattan. A bomb squad unit on Thursday morning drove in a caravan through the city after leaving the neighborhood.

Authorities said on Wednesday the pipe bombs were packed with shards of glass and were intercepted. None of the seven bombs detonated, and nobody was hurt as authorities in New York, Washington, D.C., Florida and California seized the suspicious packages.

One of the explosives was sent to CNN, which prompted the evacuation of the Time Warner Center in Manhattan, where CNN has offices.

___

1 a.m.

A series of pipe bombs sent to prominent Democrats including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton has deepened political tensions and fears two weeks before national midterm elections.

The pipe bombs were packed with shards of glass and were intercepted. None of the seven bombs detonated, and nobody was hurt as authorities in New York, Washington, D.C., Florida and California seized the suspicious packages.

One of the explosives was sent to CNN, which prompted the evacuation of the Time Warner Center in Manhattan, where CNN has offices.

The targets of the bombs were some of the figures most frequently criticized by President Donald Trump, who still assails Clinton at rallies while supporters chant “lock her up.” Trump also often singles out CNN as he rails against the “fake news” media.

Trump took a softer tone at a rally in Wisconsin on Wednesday, saying, “Let’s get along.”

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska at Kearney has removed dozens of signs that carried white nationalist messages.

University officials say many of the signs said, “Prevent white minority by 2044.”

University spokesman Todd Gottula says the signs “promoting a racist agenda” went up over the past weekend. He says they were taken down because they’d been posted on doors into buildings and on poles around campus instead of at university-approved locations, such as bulletin boards.

Gottula says the posters “weren’t removed because of content, they were removed because they weren’t approved per our policy.”

WASHINGTON (AP) — Disrupting a rash of targeted attacks, the U.S. Secret Service intercepted a bomb that was addressed to Hillary Clinton and a possible explosive that was sent to former President Barack Obama.

Also Wednesday, a police bomb squad was sent to CNN’s offices in New York City and the newsroom was evacuated because of a suspicious package.

A U.S. official told The Associated Press that investigators believe the explosive that was discovered near the Clintons’ home in Chappaqua, New York, is linked to one found Monday at the compound of liberal billionaire George Soros.

The official wasn’t authorized to publicly discuss an ongoing investigation and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The official said one of the packages had the return address of Rep. Deborah Wasserman Schultz, an ironic reference to the former chairwoman of the Democratic National Committee.

The package addressed to Obama was intercepted Wednesday by Secret Service agents in Washington.

Neither Clinton nor Obama received the packages, and neither was at risk of receiving them because of screening procedures, the Secret Service said in a statement.

The White House condemned “the attempted violent attacks recently made against President Obama, President Clinton, Secretary Clinton, and other public figures.”

“These terrorizing acts are despicable, and anyone responsible will be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law,” press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that that referred to the senders as “these cowards.”

Hillary Clinton was attending campaign events for Democrats in Florida on Tuesday and Wednesday and was not at the family’s New York residence at the time. She is headlining a fundraising reception on Wednesday for former Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, who is running for Congress in South Florida.

Bill Clinton was at the family’s Chappaqua home at the time the package was intercepted at a Westchester County facility, said a person familiar with his schedule. The person said the device was screened at the facility — not in proximity to their residence — and never reached the Clintons’ home.

A law enforcement official told The Associated Press that the package discovered at Soros’ home appeared to be a pipe bomb and was in a package placed in a mailbox outside the gates of the compound. A Soros employee opened it just inside the gates, not near Soros’ quarters, the official said.