(AP) — The only Nebraska county that imposes a sales tax will stop doing so next year.

Dakota County is planning to end its half-cent sales tax in 2014, now that a voter-approved referendum has helped pay for a new jail and law enforcement center.

Joan Spencer, an assistant to the board of commissioners, says the county started collecting revenue for the project in 2005. The sales tax generated $7.8 million in revenue to pay off 10-year bonds.

The Nebraska Department of Revenue says Dakota County is the only county statewide to levy a sales tax. The practice is more common among Nebraska cities.

The department says the city of Seward will officially raise its sales tax to 1.5 percent next year.

• Today: Sunny, with a high near 47. Wind chill values as low as -1 early. South wind 7 to 10 mph becoming west southwest in the afternoon.
• Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 17. West wind 7 to 9 mph becoming north after midnight.
• Thanksgiving Day: Mostly sunny, with a high near 42. North wind 5 to 8 mph becoming calm in the afternoon.
• Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 18. East southeast wind 5 to 8 mph becoming south after midnight.
• Friday: Mostly sunny, with a high near 44. South wind 5 to 14 mph, with gusts as high as 20 mph.
• Friday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 25.

(AP) — The director of Nebraska’s Department of Environmental Quality is stepping down.

Gov. Dave Heineman announced Tuesday that Mike Linder is leaving for a private sector legal job. The 56-year-old joined the agency in 1986 as an attorney. He was appointed director in 1999 by then-Gov. Mike Johanns. His last day as director will be Dec. 20.

In a statement, Heineman praised Linder for his years of service within the department.

The department works with businesses, local governments and individuals to protect the environment. Its duties include permitting, compliance, remediation, monitoring and assistance programs.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The foreclosure rates in Nebraska and Iowa are continuing to improve.

Real estate data provider CoreLogic said Tuesday that in September, Nebraska’s foreclosure rate improved to 0.66 percent from last year’s 0.86 percent and Iowa’s was 1.61 percent, down from 2.11 percent.

The national rate was 2.29 percent in September, down from 3.25 percent a year earlier.

In the Omaha-Council Bluffs metropolitan area that straddles the Nebraska-Iowa border the foreclosure rate was 0.87 percent in September, down from 1.21 percent in 2012.

In Des Moines, Iowa, the foreclosure rate improved to 1.82 percent over last September’s 2.47 percent.

The foreclosure rate reflects the percentage of home loans involved in some stage of the foreclosure process. CoreLogic says its data covers about 85 percent of the foreclosure data nationwide.

(AP) — A 32-year-old Kearney man arrested after a nearly three-hour standoff has been charged with three felonies.

Trenton Nielsen is charged with two felony weapons counts, two counts of false imprisonment and two of terroristic threats. Police say Nielsen held two relatives against their will in their home on Sunday night and threatened them with various sharp weapons. Police were sent to the house around 6 p.m. Sunday. Nielsen was taken into custody without incident around 8:50 p.m.

Buffalo County Jail records say Nielsen remained in custody on Tuesday, pending $500,000 bail. Online court records don’t list the name of his attorney in the case.

Court records say his preliminary hearing is scheduled for Dec. 11.

(AP) — President Barack Obama has declared a disaster in Nebraska following severe weather at the beginning of October.

The declaration Tuesday means federal emergency aid is available to supplement recovery efforts being conducted by state and local officials. The funding will also be available to certain private nonprofit organizations on a cost-sharing basis.

The money can be used for emergency work, repairs and facility replacements.

Severe weather including winter storms, tornadoes and flooding were reported Oct. 2-6 around most of the state. The money will help Adams, Dawes, Dixon, Howard, Sheridan, Sherman, Sioux, Thurston, and Wayne counties.

(AP) — A January sentencing has been scheduled for a 56-year-old Sidney woman convicted of negligent child abuse.

A jury in Cheyenne County District Court convicted Nancy Gipfert of the lesser charge last week. She’d been charged with child abuse causing serious injury.

The charge stemmed from an incident in September 2011, when a 2-month-old child she’d been caring for at her in-home day care was taken to a hospital. The infant suffered from bleeding around his brain, brain damage and hemorrhages in his eyes.

Gipfert’s sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 8.

• Today: Sunny, with a high near 33. North northwest wind 9 to 15 mph, with gusts as high as 22 mph.
• Tonight: Mostly clear, with a low around 10. North wind around 6 mph becoming calm in the evening.
• Wednesday: Sunny, with a high near 43. Wind chill values as low as zero. South southeast wind 5 to 10 mph becoming west southwest in the afternoon.
• Wednesday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 22. West wind around 6 mph becoming light and variable.

(AP) — An audit says two state programs designed to help vulnerable Nebraskans are plagued by mismanagement and poor oversight.

State Auditor Mike Foley said Monday that some of the issues are criminal in nature.

Foley says auditors looked at two programs, the State Disability Program and Assistance to the Aged, Blind and Disabled. The programs provide cash payments to low-income residents for food, clothing, shelter and medical expenses.

Foley says some recipients got payments even though they were living in state facilities and had no living expenses.

He says one woman, Judith Widener of Scottsbluff, served as a legal guardian to more than 600 people and appears to have used state payments for personal expenses.

Widener was charged Friday with theft by taking. An attorney wasn’t listed in online court records.