SIDNEY, Neb. (AP) — Cabela’s has laid off several dozen people as part of the outdoor gear seller’s efforts to reduce its expenses.

Cabela’s spokesman Nathan Borowski said Tuesday the exact number of layoffs will be determined after affected workers decide whether to apply for other jobs within the company.

Cabela’s plans to close its call center in Sidney, Nebraska, and consolidate operations at its North Platte call center within 30 days.

The other layoffs were at Cabela’s corporate headquarters in Sidney.

Borowski says the layoffs aren’t related to Bass Pro’s pending $4.5 billion deal to buy Cabela’s. Bass Pro is privately held and based in Springfield, Missouri.

Federal regulators are still reviewing the merger, and banking regulators have questioned Capital One’s proposed purchase of Cabela’s credit card operation.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas legislators are advancing a new budget-balancing proposal to allow the state to pay its bills through June without cutting public school spending.

The Senate Ways and Means Committee unanimously endorsed a bill Tuesday that would temporarily short state contributions to public employee pensions and use internal government borrowing to get through June. The full Senate expects to debate the plan Thursday.

The state is facing a projected shortfall of $281 million in its budget for the current fiscal year ending June 30. It faces total budget gaps of more than $1 billion through June 2019.

The plan approved by the committee Tuesday assumes that lawmakers will increase taxes to raise $763 million over two years, starting in July. But new revenue would not flow before July.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska motorcyclists will have to keep wearing helmets for at least another year.

Supporters of the effort to repeal the state’s helmet law failed to overcome a filibuster Tuesday. The bill would have removed a helmet requirement for riders older than 21 and prohibited children age 6 or younger from being passengers on motorcycles.

Sen. Robert Hilkemann, a retired Omaha podiatrist who led the filibuster, says repealing the helmet law would result in more deaths and serious brain injuries. He says Nebraska taxpayers also would end up paying for health care for injured motorcyclists.

Supporters and sponsor Sen. John Lowe of Kearney argued wearing a helmet is a matter of personal freedom and adults should be able to make that choice.

FLORISSANT, Mo. (AP) — After weeks of testimony from both sides, the Florissant City Council lifted a ban on pit bulls but increased regulations on dangerous dogs.

The council voted Monday to end a ban on pit bulls. However, a new ordinance contains stronger language requiring residents to register their pets and for enforcing rules on spaying and neutering.

Supporters of the pit bull ban said they were concerned about public safety, while opponents said safety depends on people being responsible dog owners. Florissant first banned pit bulls in 2005.

The city seized 201 pit bulls between 2011 and last August. Of those, 164 were killed and seven were returned to their owners. The rest were adopted or given to dog rescue groups.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The University of Missouri will pay $80,000 to a search firm helping the university find a new men’s basketball coach.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports the university released details of its contract with the Parker Executive Search firm on Monday.

The fee doesn’t include direct expenses, which are capped at $9,600. The contract also doesn’t include costs for such things as committee travel and background investigations, which will be billed separately.

Athletic Director Jim Sterk has said the school is using the search firm primarily to provide confidentiality to candidates.

Missouri used search firms to fill several vacancies in the athletic department, including for football coach Barry Odom and former athletic director Mack Rhoades.

The coach will replace Kim Anderson, who was fired after three seasons.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha man who robbed a Dunkin’ Donuts has been sentenced to prison by federal authorities who are helping local police deal with a jump in commercial robberies.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that 27-year-old Robert Brannon was sentenced Monday to six years in federal prison for interference with commerce by means of robbery and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

On January 2016, Brannon entered the Dunkin’ Donuts apparently armed, and stole about $150 from the cash registers. He was arrested two days later.

U.S. Attorney’s Office general crimes unit Chief Jan Sharp says the robbery can be prosecuted federally because the chain business operates in more than one state. Sharp says federal officials are aiding local authorities in handling a spike in commercial robberies.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 49-year-old Texas woman is scheduled to be sentenced next month for cashing her father-in-law’s Nebraska retirement checks after he died.

Court records say a jury convicted Sarah Kelley of theft by deception on Friday. Kelley, who lives in Moody, Texas, is set to be sentenced April 19.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports that prosecutors say that between July 2012 and May 2014, Kelley cashed and deposited into her account 23 checks issued to Thomas P. White from his Nebraska Public Employees Retirement System annuity. He had died May 21, 2012, however.

The jury determined that Kelley gained nearly $40,000 from her scheme.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A man who admitted killing a Kansas police detective has been sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Curtis Ayers was sentenced Tuesday in the May 9 shooting death of Detective Brad Lancaster during a confrontation near the Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas.

Prosecutors agreed not to seek the death penalty when the 29-year-old Ayers pleaded guilty in January to capital murder.

Ayers didn’t comment before he was sentenced.

He also was sentenced for nine other felonies, including burglary, robbery, battery, kidnapping, assault and weapons counts, all committed after Lancaster was shot.

He was arrested in Kansas City, Missouri, after he was shot by a police officer while allegedly trying to steal a woman’s car.

Ayers still faces charges in Jackson and Leavenworth counties.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens is giving paid parental leave to state executive branch workers.

The Republican announced an executive order Monday to grant up to six weeks paid leave for primary caregivers and three weeks for secondary caregivers to spend time with newborn or adopted children.

The change doesn’t apply to employees who work for the Legislature, judiciary or other statewide elected officials.

State policy allows for up to 12 weeks unpaid leave. That could be split if both parents work for the state.

Greitens’ announcement came weeks after Democratic state Auditor Nicole Galloway criticized his administration for stalling a rule change to allow state employees to use paid sick leave to bond with children. It also would give 12 weeks unpaid leave to both parents, rather than splitting it.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback has signed a final disaster declaration covering 20 counties following last week’s wildfires that burned more than 1,000 square miles of the state.

Brownback signed the declaration Monday. He made an initial disaster declaration verbally on March 5, and the final document covers fires that started March 4.

One death and 11 injuries were attributed to the fires. The state said Monday that more than 40 homes and an unknown number of outbuildings were destroyed.

The state also said three bridges in Clark County and one in Meade County were destroyed. An unknown number of livestock died.

The counties listed in the declaration are Barber, Cheyenne, Clark, Comanche, Ellis, Ellsworth, Ford, Harvey, Hodgeman, Lane, Lincoln, McPherson, Meade, Ness, Pratt, Reno, Rice, Rooks, Russell, and Seward.