An Arizona couple are facing felony charges after Troopers busted them transporting 128 pounds of weed with their children in the vehicle.

At around 8:45 p.m. on Sunday, a Trooper with the Nebraska State Patrol initiated a traffic stop on a speeding 2002 Chevy Silverado on Interstate 80 about seven miles west of North Platte.

The Patrol says the Trooper became suspicious and was granted permission to search the pickup.

With assistance from a K-9, Troopers discovered several pot bundles in luggage in the bed of the pickup.  According to Troopers, the bundles weighed about 25 pounds each, and totaled around 128 pounds.

Following the discovery, 34-year old Jose Armenta and 31-year-old Ana Olivarria, both of Tucson, were arrested and charged with possession of marijuana with the intent to deliver.

Additionally, the Patrol says four children, ages 11, 6, 5 and 9 months, were also traveling in the vehicle, which led to a charge of cruelty toward a child for the duo.

The children were placed in protective custody, pending placement with relatives, and Armenta and Olivarria were both transported to the Lincoln County Detention Center where they are being held without bond.

GERING, Neb. (AP) — Residents in western Nebraska are looking for ways to turn the region into a hotspot for bicycling.

Supporters will discuss their options Tuesday night at the Legacy of the Plains Museum in Gering.

The meeting was organized by the Scotts Bluff County Tourism Office and Gering resident Mel Griggs. Organizers say the meeting is open to anyone with ideas, interests or expertise that could help nurture a bicycling culture.

Early ideas include the development of an off-road riding trail and upgrades to existing roads to encourage bicycle riding. Griggs says the group will also discuss possible races or charity rides.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha tax attorney has joined the 2014 race for Nebraska governor.

Bryan Slone announced his bid Saturday in Gering, where he graduated from high school. Slone is the sixth Republican candidate to enter the primary race. Gov. Dave Heineman is ineligible to seek re-election because of term limits.

Slone is a former Regan administration tax lawyer, and he recently retired from a prominent Omaha accounting office.

Slone earned his bachelor’s and law degrees from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He says he was born in Wayne and grew up in small towns throughout the state, including Laurel, Neligh, Crete, Gordon and Gering.

The 56-year-old says he would focus on lowering taxes and promoting economic growth if elected.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — Central Nebraska’s Buffalo County Judge Graten Beavers has announced he will retire at the end of January.

Beavers was appointed to the bench in May 1991, and was retained in his position by area voters four times, most recently in 2012.

Beavers served on the Nebraska Supreme Court’s Judicial Ethics Advisory Committee from 1999 to 2003, as well as several committees for the Nebraska County Judges Association. He is the current chairman of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Alumni Association Advisory Council and also serves on the College of Law Alumni Council.

The Judicial Resources Commission will study judicial workload statistics to determine whether Beavers’ retirement creates a judicial vacancy on the 9th Judicial District’s County Court, which covers Buffalo and Hall counties.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — A third victim has accused a former Kearney church youth pastor of sexually assaulting him as a teenager.

37-year-old Thomas Jones was arrested Friday on a Buffalo County warrant charging him with two counts of felony third-degree sexual assault of a child.

The latest charges accuse Jones of having sexual contact with a boy under 14 on two occasions between Sept. 1, 1999, and Nov. 25, 1999.

Jones now faces a total of six felony counts accusing him of sexually assaulting boys between 1999 and 2006.

Court records show the other counts involve accusations from two males, now ages 23 and 15, that Jones had touched them inappropriately and exposed himself to them in 2001.

A public phone listing for Jones couldn’t be found.  Jones was a volunteer youth leader at Lighthouse Foursquare Church.

GERING, Neb. (AP) — A Bayard man has been sentenced to up to six years in prison for sending illicit text messages to a 13-year-old girl.

33-year-old Gabriel Yoder was sentenced Friday in Scotts Bluff County District Court to 48 to 72 months in prison for attempted child enticement using an electronic device.

Prosecutors say the girl’s parents had found the text messages by Yoder to their 13-year-old daughter saying he wanted to have sex with her.

Yoder will also be required to register as sex offender when he is released.

BAYARD, Neb. (AP) — A 70-year-old Bayard woman accused of embezzling thousands of dollars from state wards is set to be arraigned in Scotts Bluff County District Court later this month on a charge of theft.

Judith Widener, the president of the Safe Haven, Inc., was arrested last month. She is free after posting $50,000 cash bond.

Widener was bound over to district court following a preliminary hearing Friday in county court.

Widener is accused of collecting payments that were intended for court-appointed wards, even though some were dead or no longer in her care. The State Patrol and local law enforcement began investigating Widener after state auditors discovered questionable payments.

Widener is set to be arraigned Friday. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison.

(AP) — A central Nebraska attraction that celebrates the state’s pioneer roots will be able to keep property tax exemptions for its adjacent motel and campground facilities.

The Nebraska Supreme Court on Friday reversed a decision in 2011 by the Nebraska Tax Equalization and Review Commission, also known as TERC, that found Pioneer Village Museum’s motel and campgrounds in Minden should not get the same property tax exemptions as the museum because they are not used solely for educational purposes, like the museum.

But the state’s high court found that because the museum’s collection of 50,000 exhibits is so extensive and would take more than a day to see, the motel and campgrounds are necessary to accomplish the educational purposes of the museum and should be tax exempt.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Legislature’s Tax Modernization Committee has concluded that no major changes are needed in Nebraska’s tax system.

The committee report released Friday says the system is comparable to other states. Most committee members agreed that the current tax code generally meets the study’s goals, which included fairness, stability and competitiveness.

The report says taxes are higher than average in some areas. Property taxes are greater than both the national average and that of most of Nebraska’s bordering states. Lawmakers also concluded that income tax brackets have not kept pace with inflation.

The six-month study also found that Nebraska’s sales-and-use tax base has been narrowed and expanded over the years, but it’s still similar to Nebraska’s border states.

Ten lawmakers signed the report. Four did not.