(AP) — Police have arrested a Scottsbluff man on suspicion of sexual assault of a child.

32-year-old Maxiliamo Cano Samayoa was arrested Wednesday. He remained in jail Saturday on $750,000 bond, charged with three counts of first-degree sexual assault of a child and third-degree sexual assault of a child.

Court records say Scottsbluff police were called to the home of a teenage girl and her mother earlier in the week, and the girl reported she had been sexually assaulted by Cano starting when she was 11.

Court records say the girl’s mother called police after learning the girl had confided in her sister that she had been assaulted.

A school on beginning beekeeping will be offered by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension later this month in North Platte.

Classes will include bee anatomy, the function of bees in a colony, a hands-on demonstration of beekeeping equipment, starting and maintaining bee colonies, bee diseases and pests, honey and beeswax harvesting and processing.

The school is scheduled to run from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Feb. 15 at the West Central Research and Extension Center, 402 W. State Farm Road, North Platte.

Registration by Thursday is required. People may register online at https://bit.ly/1ncKABn or by calling Extension educator Vaughn Hammond 402-873-3166. The $70 registration fee covers presenter fees, lunch and refreshments.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension is hosting a series of broadband technology fairs throughout the state in March and early April.

The series will focus on how businesses can use online applications successfully in their applications. The events are part of an effort to help the state harness the power of broadband technology.

UNL Extension educator Connie Hancock says the technology fairs offer a hands-on approach to learning about online tools and ways to protect business and customer information.

The events will take place in Atkinson, North Platte, McCook, Norfolk, Seward, Grand Island, Sidney and Alliance.

Event Dates:

– March 11, Atkinson

– March 12, North Platte

– March 13, McCook

– March 25, Norfolk

– March 26, Seward

– March 27, Grand Island

– April 2, Sidney

– April 3, Alliance

Details on times and locations will be posted at broadband.nebraska.gov.

(AP) — The second annual Nebraska Science Festival will hold a Teachers’ Night in Lincoln for any elementary, high school or college teacher interested in science.

The free event will be from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. April 24 at Nebraska Wesleyan University’s Smith-Curtis Administration Building. A variety of exhibitors will share programming or promote their events and exhibits. Attendees will have the opportunity to see short demonstrations from Jeffrey Vinokur, “The Dancing Scientist,” who combines science education with hip-hop music and dancing.

The first 100 educators to register at www.NeSciFest.com will receive a free gift. The event includes a reception with hors d’oeuvres.

Exhibitors may register through Feb. 14.

(AP) — The theme of this year’s Women in Agriculture Conference is “Women: Making the Critical Difference.”

The conference is scheduled for Feb. 20-21 at the Kearney Holiday Inn.

The conference will feature a variety of workshops, “funshops” and speakers. Topics include crop and livestock marketing, financial planning, farm bill updates, crop and forage insurance, agronomy, beef nutrition and business readiness.

People can register online at go.unl.edu/womeninagregistration or by calling 402-472-1772 or 800-328-2851.

The early registration fee is $100 for those registering by Friday. The fee is $120 thereafter.

(AP) — Lawmakers have passed a bill that would require child-proof safety features on novelty lighters sold in Nebraska.

The measure won final approval on Friday with a 34-6 vote.

The final legislation was a compromise between supporters who view the lighters as dangerous and opponents who cast the proposal as an example of government overreach.

Firefighting groups say the lighters pose a safety threat for young children. Some of the lighters resemble animals, tractors and other items that could be mistaken as toys.

Sen. Les Seiler of Hastings says he introduced the bill in response to fires started by children with lighters in Nebraska.

Maine became the first state to ban novelty lighters in 2008.

(AP) — The state of Nebraska has agreed to pay $575,000 to settle a wrongful death claim filed by the family of a man killed in a 2012 car crash.

The settlement involving the estate of Ruben Maravilla-Cortez was approved Thursday and signed by Dawson County Court Judge Jeff Wightman. The settlement does not include an admission of liability from the state.

The 68-year-old Maravilla-Cortez was killed in October 2012 in Lexington when his pickup truck was struck by a vehicle that was being pursued by a Nebraska State Patrol car. The driver of the pursued vehicle, 23-year-old Destry Swartz, was convicted of vehicular manslaughter in the case. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

(AP) — School groups and counties are expressing concern about a proposal to reduce the taxable value of farm- and ranchland.

The Revenue Committee heard testimony on two bills Friday relating to agricultural property valuation.

Sen. Beau McCoy of Omaha has introduced a bill that would reduce those land valuations over a three-year period from 75 percent to 65 percent. Sen. Tom Hansen of North Platte has introduced a bill that would provide the same reductions over two years.

McCoy says it’s difficult for producers to keep up with rapidly rising valuations.

Renee Fry, executive director of OpenSky Policy Institute, says schools would see a $68.2 million shortfall, and counties would lose $21.9 million if the bill was passed.

• Jose Luis Hernandez, 40, Ogallala NE and Rufina Michelle Garcia, 37, Ogallala NE

 

• Jason Lee Sellers, 34, North Platte and Nicole Renae Luebe, 28, North Platte

 

• Chad Lee Hendricks, 38, Wallace NE and Nicole Cherie Hanson, 30, Wallace NE

 

• Ryan Arthur Vonderohe, 32, North Platte and Christina Claire McWain, 23, North Platte

 

• Charles Bryan Creel Jr., 35, North Platte and Andrea Cristel Henry, 38, North Platte