COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — A powerful thunderstorm has left a trail of downed trees and power lines in eastern Nebraska.

The storm struck around 8 p.m. Tuesday, packing winds reaching 75 mph at Columbus airport. Authorities say a semitrailer was blown over north of Columbus, near Humphrey.

Lightning set a Columbus house aflame and firefighters also responded to minor grass and tree fires just outside of town.

No injuries have been reported.

Tennis ball-size hail was reported north of Atkinson and on the west side of Hastings.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A nonprofit is providing veterans with disabilities in the Omaha area with new flags and flagpoles.

Cliff Leach and his family founded the organization 13 Stripes 50 Stars last year. So far, the group has given flags to 14 veterans.

Flags and poles are funded solely by donations and business sponsorships. Leach says he and his wife install the poles themselves.

In exchange, Leach asks that the Pledge of Allegiance be said after raising the flag and that he get at least 10 minutes of the veterans’ time to listen to their experiences.

He says many veterans who were previously reluctant will open up to him about their stories of war and sacrifice.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Law enforcement in southeastern Nebraska say a traffic stop on Interstate 80 led to the discovery of 118 fraudulent credit cards.

Lancaster County Sheriff Terry Wagner says a sport utility vehicle driven by a 49-year-old Hollywood, Florida, was stopped around 8:30 a.m. Tuesday on the interstate in Lincoln on suspicion of speeding.

Deputies say they searched the SUV and found the credit cards inside a bag hidden in the wheel well.

The driver and a 31-year-old passenger from Grand Island were arrested on suspicion of criminal possession of a financial transaction device.

Wagner said the investigation is ongoing and deputies are trying to determine to whom the card accounts belong.

BRIGHTON, Colo. (AP) — A 15-year-old boy in the Denver area has been charged with killing a 10-year-old girl and could be tried as an adult.

Adams County District Attorney Dave Young said Wednesday after a closed hearing that the boy was charged with first-degree murder with intent to kill after deliberation, and first-degree murder of a child under 12 by someone in a position of trust.

Young said he intends to prosecute the boy as an adult. Authorities have not released the boy’s name.

Kiaya Campbell of Thornton was found dead June 8 after her family reported her missing the previous night.

WOOD RIVER, Neb. (AP) — The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is suing a Nebraska bank it says violated federal law by paying a woman less than it paid a man for the same work.

The lawsuit says Heritage Bank in Wood River paid Christine Schwieger and another woman, both relationship managers who sold insurance at bank branches, a salary of $30,000, plus commission, from 2010 to 2013.

The lawsuit says that in 2014, a man hired to replace the other woman, who had quit, was paid $40,000 plus commission for the same job.

The EEOC says that the bank did nothing when Schwieger complained, violating the Equal Pay Act of 1963.

A message left late Tuesday afternoon for a bank official seeking comment was not immediately returned.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A 70-year-old man who said he robbed a Kansas City, Kansas, bank so he could get away from his wife blamed his actions on depression.

A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced Lawrence John Ripple to probation.

Ripple went to the Bank of Labor — a block from police headquarters — last September. He gave a note to a teller saying he had a gun and was demanding money. After he was given it, Ripple waited for police.

Court records indicate Ripple wrote the robbery note in front of his wife and told her he would rather be in jail than at home.

Ripple told the judge Tuesday that heart surgery left him depressed and unlike himself before he robbed the bank.

WEST POINT, Neb. (AP) — A collaboration between a city and several northeast Nebraska educational institutions has announced plans to build a $2.7 million training facility meant to expand career and technical education in the region.

Mayor Marlene Johnson signed a memorandum of understanding Monday on behalf of the City of West Point. Other project partners include the Northeast Community College of Norfolk, Wayne State College, the City of Wayne and Educational Service Unit 2.

The proposed 15,000-square-foot (nearly 1,400 square meters) facility will be constructed near the Nielsen Community Center in West Point.

The education center is expected to be ready by fall 2018. Up to six career pathways are anticipated to be available to students at the facility by fall 2019.