(AP) — Farm workers are being encouraged to take sensible precautions to avoid the hazards of working in grain bins.

The Labor Department’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is reminding workers about the hazards in the hope of avoiding more deaths.

Officials say a worker can become completely submerged by grain in less than a minute. At least 26 people were killed in grain bin accidents like that in 2010, which was the worst year on record.

Since January 2012, OSHA’s Omaha office has inspected dozens of concerns in the grain industry, including two deaths. An employee at a flour and feed mill in Wauneta died in February 2012 after being buried by grain. Another worker died this January after he was hit by a truck in Talmage.

(AP) — Planned Parenthood of the Heartland says the organization’s leader will retire next year after nearly three decades.

The group’s board of directors announced Friday that Jill June would retire as president and chief executive officer on June 30, 2014.

June has headed the organization since being hired to lead Planned Parenthood of Mid-Iowa in 1985.

Des Moines-based Planned Parenthood of the Heartland provides a variety of reproductive health care services, including abortions at some locations.

It has more than two dozen health centers across Iowa, Nebraska, Arkansas and Oklahoma.

(AP) — Construction work is expected to slow Interstate 80 traffic at the Kimball interchange in the Nebraska Panhandle.

The Nebraska Roads Department says the work is scheduled to begin next week on both the eastbound and westbound bridges. The project includes resurfacing the decks and updating the guardrails.

Traffic will be slowed and there will be lane closures. The eastbound onramp from Nebraska Highway 71 will be closed for the duration.

The project is expected to be finished by late summer.

(AP) — Nebraskans will have to pay more taxes on every gallon of fuel sold in the state starting in July.

The state Revenue Department says the tax will increase to 26.3 cents per gallon in July from the current 24.6 cents.

The fuel tax generates money to fund highway projects and maintenance. Each cent of motor fuels tax generates about $12 million in revenue annually for the state.

The new rate will be in effect from July 1 to the end of the year, and then it will be reset in January.

(AP) — A Lincoln judge has refused to send a newly convicted felon to the Nebraska Work Ethic Camp because all the man would learn there is “how to be a criminal.”

Judge Steve Burns made the remarks on Thursday during the sentencing of 24-year-old Brett Dovell. Dovell had pleaded guilty to attempted robbery, his first felony conviction.

His lawyer said Dovell was hoping the judge would give him probation and rehabilitation services at the Work Ethic Camp in McCook.

But Burns said people he’s sent to the camp end up violating probation after having problems with inmates housed there instead of in a state prison.

He says the only thing the probationers learn there “is how to be a criminal.”

(AP) — The Nebraska Lottery says a Panhandle man has won $1 million from the Mega Millions game.

Sixty-nine-year-old Loran Kramer and his family made their claim to the prize on Thursday afternoon.

Kramer bought his ticket Sunday at Vince’s Corner gas station in Kimball for Tuesday night’s drawing. The ticket matched five of the six numbers for a $250,000 payout. Kramer also bought a multiplier, so the prize was quadrupled to $1 million.

Kramer says he and his wife will split the winnings with their son and will set aside the rest for future needs.

(AP) — Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate has risen a tenth of a point, hitting 3.8 percent in May.

The Nebraska Labor Department said in a report released Friday that the rate was two-tenths of a point lower than the 4 percent in May 2012.

The national rate also rose a tenth of a point last month, to 7.6 percent from 7.5 percent in April.

 

(AP) — A brother and sister from Minden have been given jail time and probation for breaking into a Kearney church and stealing cash and other items.

The siblings, 21-year-old Alisha Galicia and 18-year-old Clifton Dedrick had made plea deals and were convicted of attempted burglary. Court records say Dedrick was sentenced earlier this week and Galicia was sentenced last week. Prosecutors say the two broke into Holy Cross Lutheran Church on Nov. 20 and took $115 in crash, four debit cards and office equipment.

Galicia, who also is known as Alisha Dedrick, was given 60 days in jail and three years of probation. Her brother was given 120 days in jail and three years of probation.

The two must jointly pay $2,400 in restitution.

• Today: Mostly sunny, with a high near 94. East wind 7 to 9 mph becoming south in the afternoon.
• Tonight: A slight chance of thunderstorms before 4am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 65. South wind 7 to 10 mph becoming northeast after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
• Saturday: A slight chance of thunderstorms after 1pm. Mostly sunny, with a high near 93. East southeast wind 6 to 8 mph. Chance of precipitation is 20%.
• Saturday Night: A slight chance of thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 63. South wind 5 to 8 mph becoming northeast after midnight. Chance of precipitation is 20%.