OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Federal authorities say Union Pacific should pay $612,215 for retaliating against three employees who raised safety concerns, but the railroad disagrees with the finding.  The Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Thursday it determined the Omaha-based railroad violated the rights of two conductors based in Kansas City, Mo., and an engineer based in Tucson, Ariz. Two of the employees were fired and one was suspended five days. UP will appeal because spokesman Mark Davis says OSHA ignored some facts and details of the railroad’s employment contracts. OSHA says these latest violations seem to be part of a pattern at Union Pacific because two other instances of retaliation were found in 2010 and 2011. So the railroad has been ordered to train its managers and employees on the rights of whistleblowers.

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) – Fire officials say a grass fire that got out-of-control destroyed a barn and another building near  Scottsbluff.  The fire broke out Wednesday night on a farm. Firefighters from six departments were on the scene for over three hours and battled flames that were nearly 30 feet high. The fire burned about 75 acres of grass.  Assistant Scottsbluff Rural Fire Chief Paul Reisig says the renter had done some burning earlier in the day and thought the fire was out, but the embers were fanned and caught the grass on fire.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The Nebraska State Fair is returning to its rural roots as organizers prepare for a second year in Grand Island. Organizers say they are placing more emphasis now on farm animals, equipment and the rural lifestyle featured in traditional Midwestern state fairs. The fair will still feature concerts and rides when the gates open Friday in Grand Island. Vendors will sell corn dogs, funnel cakes and chocolate-covered bacon. But organizers say they want to attract more farm families from rural central and western Nebraska. The fair was staged at State Fair Park in Lincoln for more than a century, but was moved last year to make way for a University of Nebraska high-tech research park at the old fairgrounds. The fair runs through Labor Day.