Clear today with a high of 75 and west winds around 10 mph. Partly cloudy tonight with a low of 48. Partly cloudy tomorrow and tomorrow night with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms with a high of 82 and a low of 62. Partly cloudy Thursday and Thursday night with a 20-30 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms with a high of 78 and a low of 62. Partly cloudy Friday and Friday night with a 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms with a high of 82 and a low of 55. Clear Saturday through Monday, clear with highs of 82 and lows of 55. Yesterday's high was 75 and the 24-hour low was 48.

Fall enrollment at the University of Nebraska at Kearney is 6,753, the highest since 1999 and a 1.5 percent increase over last year's totals. This marks the seventh consecutive year of growth in fall enrollment on the UNK campus. In addition to the increase in total enrollment, the number of first-time freshmen increased by 15.2 percent. Along with the increase in the number of first-time freshmen, the number of freshmen in the UNK Honor program increased by 13 percent. Not only are there more students enrolled at UNK this fall, but the students are taking larger class loads. For undergraduate students, the credit hour production is the highest since 2007; for graduate students, the student credit hour production is the highest it has been since 1999. According to Dusty Newton, Director of Admissions, preliminary analysis of domestic first-time freshmen indicates that UNK not only drew higher numbers of students from across Nebraska, more freshmen are also enrolled from adjacent states, including a 55 percent increase in freshmen from Colorado and an 111 percent increase in freshmen from Kansas.

Sales tax receipts for Kearney continued to buck state and national trends with June numbers this year well above last year's for June. In the monthly City Manager's report, receipts for June of 2010 were just under $880,000, that's $35,000 above last year's total. Year-to-date, the city has taken in over $4.8 million in sales tax in 2010, up around $286,000 through the same period in 2009. Keno monies paid out to the city in July were just over $45,000 bringing this year's total to just under $237,000. August enplanements at the Kearney Regional Airport were 792, an increase of 6.7 percent from August of 2009. Year-to-date enplanements are 6,176, a drop of 3.9 percent from last year through the same period. The Kearney Police Department notes reported criminal activity for August of 2010 is down 18.1 percent from 2009 for the same month. Year-to-date criminal activity in the city is down 11.1 percent compared to 2009.

Federal disaster assistance is being made available to eight additional Nebraska counties that suffered damages during the severe storms, flooding and tornadoes June 1 through August 29, the Federal Emergency Management Agency announced Friday. Public Assistance- which is aid to state and local governments, schools and certain private nonprofits - is now available in Adams, Buffalo, Dawes, Dawson, Hooker, Jefferson, Sheridan and Thurston counties. They join the 53 Nebraska counties that are receiving assistance as a result of a presidential disaster declaration signed July 15. The eight counties were added to the disaster declaration following new damage assessments requested by the state. Damage assessments are conducted by local officials and representatives of the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency and FEMA. FEMA's PA program provides federal funds to reimburse a minimum of 75 percent of the costs for removing debris, conducting emergency measures and repairing levees, roads, bridges, public utilities, water control facilities, public buildings and parks. The State of Nebraska and the applying agency cover the remaining costs.

Lincoln County authorities have released the name of a 15-year-old boy who drowned in a lake west of North Platte. The boy was identified as Cody Murphy, of North Platte. The Lincoln County Sheriff's Office received a call about 4:30 p.m. Saturday reporting that a boy was underwater at a lake near Interstate 80. The boy had been pulled from the lake by the time deputies arrived. Chief Deputy Dean Sparks told the North Platte Telegraph that Cody was trying to swim across the lake. Sparks says it was unclear why the boy went under. Officials say Cody was pronounced dead later at a North Platte hospital. According to his obituary, Cody died just two days short of his 16th birthday. He was a sophomore at North Platte High School.

A poll of rural Nebraskans suggests that agriculture is still key to their economic well-being. The 2010 Nebraska Rural Poll was conducted in March and April by the Center for Applied Rural Innovation at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Of those who responded to the survey, 54 percent said their economic health was strongly linked to agriculture; 24 percent said their financial situation was at least somewhat dependent on agriculture. More than half said they are one generation or less removed from farming or ranching. The poll response rate was about 43 percent from 6,500 mailed surveys. The margin of error is plus or minus 3 percent.