A student discipline bill is signed into law in Nebraska. Governor Jim Pillen signed Legislative Bill 653 into law yesterday. The measure will give school districts more flexibility to suspend pre-kindergarten through second-grade students for violent behavior and to protect students' rights to be heard by administrators.
Financial relief is coming to people impacted by the Tyson plant closure in Lexington. The Sherwood Foundation has pledged one-point-one-million-dollars to support employees through Lutheran Family Services. Tyson employees who are still searching for a new job can register with Lutheran Family Services for a 500-dollar relief check starting March 9th.
A Nebraska bank is warning the public about a scam. Pinnacle Bank placed a warning on social media yesterday saying that it is aware of a phone call scam. The bank says scammers are impersonating bank employees and claiming that there is suspicious Automated Clearing House or wire activity on customers' accounts before saying that the victims need to verify the transactions. Pinnacle Bank says it will never call customers to ask them for online banking login information.
Gasoline prices in Nebraska are rising. The average price for a gallon of unleaded was two-dollars-and-97-cents yesterday. That marks a 10-cent increase since Tuesday and a 25-cent increase since Monday. Gas prices nationwide have sharply increased since the U.S. and Israel began military operations in Iran this past weekend.
Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers says the state is targeting the online gaming platform Roblox. Hilgers said the lawsuit is an effort to protect children online, as it "feeds them inappropriate content, it does not have an age verification system and it allows users to be anonymous." The suit alleges the gaming platform knowingly failed to implement safety measures to protect children from online predators. Roblox CSO Matt Kaufman says "In our ongoing efforts to help keep our community safe, we prohibit user-to-user image and video sharing, utilize rigorous filters to block personal information from being shared and enforce global age-based settings that limit younger users to chatting with peers by default."
An inmate in Douglas County arrested for murder is dead. Lonnie Patman began his sentence in 1987 after he was charged with first-degree murder. Officials say Patman was being treated for a medical condition at the state's Department of Correctional Services' Reception and Treatment Center when he died on Tuesday. The cause of death has not yet been determined. A grand jury is conducting an investigation.