LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have given final approval to a bill that would require schools to accommodate pregnant and parenting students.

Senators voted 31-7 to pass the measure Tuesday over continued objection from conservative rural senators who say schools in their districts do not need a policy to take care of their students. Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard failed to amend the bill to limit it to schools Douglas and Lancaster counties.

The bill would require schools to give breastfeeding students a space to express and store milk and adopt written policies for how to handle absences and coursework.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska lawmakers have given final approval to a bill that would require schools to accommodate pregnant and parenting students.

Senators voted 31-7 to pass the measure Tuesday over continued objection from conservative rural senators who say schools in their districts do not need a policy to take care of their students. Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard failed to amend the bill to limit it to schools Douglas and Lancaster counties.

The bill would require schools to give breastfeeding students a space to express and store milk and adopt written policies for how to handle absences and coursework.

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — Preliminary autopsy results say a Scottsbluff man whose body was found in a ditch likely died of exposure.

Scottsbluff Police Capt. Brian Wasson says toxicology test results aren’t expected for at least two weeks. Wasson said Monday that nothing found by investigators so far suggests 45-year-old Billy LaDeaux died as a result of a crime.

Two teenage boys found the body around 5:45 p.m. Saturday. Family members last saw LaDeaux on Thursday night. He lived in Scottsbluff.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A bill that would allow Nebraska’s natural resources district to continue levying a temporary 3-cent property tax for every $100 of valuation has stalled in the Legislature.

The proposal failed to overcome a filibuster on Tuesday. Lawmakers voted 31-9 to force an end to legislative debate, two votes shy of the minimum needed.

The bill by Sen. Curt Friesen of Henderson was backed by a leading advocate for the state’s natural resources districts. The levy only could have been used for implement groundwater management activities. Opponents say it conflicts with the Legislature’s efforts to lower property taxes.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Hundreds of Vietnam War veterans in Nebraska’s capital were given a warm welcome home more than four decades after returning from war.

650 Vietnam veterans from Nebraska were flown to Washington to visit the Vietnam War memorial and pay tribute to their fallen comrades. More than 58,000 Americans died in the war.

The veterans took four Honor Flight jets back to the Lincoln Airport Monday night and were greeted by thousands waving U.S. flags.

It was a homecoming many of the veterans didn’t receive when they returned from the war. Rick Siebert of Fairbury says only his parents were at the airport to greet him.

The airport ceremony was organized by Patriotic Productions.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska village blamed for fueling alcohol-related problems on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation has become a virtual ghost town as mental health and substance abuse advocates arrive to help people.

The advocates found empty streets in Whiteclay, a sharp contrast from the usual scenes of drunkenness, loitering and violence in a town that sells millions of cans of beer each year near the home of the Oglala Lakota Tribe.

The push to offer services comes in the midst of a major shakeup in Whiteclay, a town with nine full-time residents. All four of its beer stores closed on Sunday after state regulators refused to renew their licenses, citing concerns about inadequate law enforcement. The stores are appealing the decision.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Results from a monthly survey of business supply managers suggest a slight improvement in the economic conditions in nine Midwest and Plains states.

The Mid-America Business Conditions Index report released Monday says the overall economic index for the region rose to 61.4 in April from 60.1 in March.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says the figures suggest strong growth for both manufacturing and nonmanufacturing through the third quarter of this year.

The survey results are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth in that factor. A score below that suggests decline.

The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska utilities are reminding farmers to watch out for power lines when they are planting crops or doing other field work.

The Nebraska Public Power District says a farmer using a boom sprayer knocked out power to several hundred utility customers this spring because he made contact with a transmission line.

NPPD’s Joel Dagerman says the farmer didn’t realize how tall the boom sprayer was. Fortunately the farmer was unhurt, but the sprayer was damaged.

The utility says farmers should make sure to keep their equipment at least 20 feet away from power lines.

If a power line is hit, the utility says farmers should contact their local public power provider.

NEW YORK (AP) — “The Fate of the Furious” throttled past $1 billion globally and took No. 1 at the box office for the third straight week on a weekend where multicultural offerings dominated North American theaters

As expected, the eighth “Fast and the Furious” installment stayed atop the domestic box office with an estimated $19.4 million.

The film also passed its predecessor, “Furious 7,” to become the highest-grossing imported film in China, where the Universal release has grossed $361 million.

In second domestically with $12 million and drawing a large Hispanic audience was Eugenio Derbez’s comedy “How to Be a Latin Lover.”

The Bollywood sequel “Baahubali 2: The Conclusion” also surprised with $10.1 million, a total that bested Hollywood stars Emma Watson and Tom Hanks. Their terribly reviewed “The Circle” opened with $9.3 million.

YORK, Neb. (AP) — A large crowd is likely at this week’s hearing on the Nebraska route for the proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline.

The Nebraska Public Service Commission is planning a daylong hearing on Wednesday in York to accept comments on the $8 billion project. The pipeline is designed to carry oil from Alberta, Canada, across Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska.

The project faces opposition from environmentalists as well as some landowners and Native American tribes. Nebraska is the only place where the route TransCanada proposed has not been approved.

Groups that oppose the pipeline plan to bus people from Lincoln and Omaha to York for the hearing.

Supporters of the project, which include labor unions and business groups, are also expected to bring large numbers.