OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — When American freight trains delivered cargo after World War II, they commonly had seven people aboard — an engineer, a conductor, up to four brakemen and a fireman.

Since then, trains have grown much longer. And crews have been reduced in size — to five people in the 1970s and two in 1991. Now U.S. railroads want to put a single person in charge of today’s huge locomotives.

For now, freight trains generally have two people aboard — an engineer who drives the train and a conductor who oversees the long line of cars. Railroad executives want to reduce that to a lone engineer, saying advances in safety systems could keep the risks to a minimum.

Labor groups, some federal agencies and people who live near rail lines are skeptical.

A 51-year-old North Platte man has been seriously injured in a Friday evening crash.

According to Officer Rodney Brown, with the North Platte Police Department, officers responded to a two-vehicle accident near South Oak and West Philip Avenue, at around 9:25 p.m.

Brown said an investigation revealed that an eastbound 2008 Pontiac G6, operated by 51-year-old Timothy Christophersen, crossed over the center line and struck the front left drivers side of a 2008 Chevy Suburban, driven by 35-year-old Melanie Freeze.

Christophersen was unresponsive at the scene, and was transported to Great Plains Health with life-threatening injuries.

Brown said Freeze and a 7-year-old male passenger were also injured, but were not transported by ambulance.

Officers reported that both front airbags were deployed in the Suburban, but they were not in the Pontiac.

It is also believed that Freeze and her passenger were both wearing their seat belts, but Christophersen was not.

Brown said, because the accident may result in a fatality, a blood test was administered on Christophersen.

He said the results are unknown at this time.  An update on Christophersen’s condition was not available.

The accident remains under investigation.

Nebraska has moved into the top 10 among the healthiest states in the country.

In a report issued by the United Health Foundation earlier this month, Nebraska moved up one notch after ranking No. 11 last year. The five states surrounding Nebraska ranked between 18 and 36.

“We are heading in the right direction,” said Ali S. Khan, M.D., M.P.H., dean of the University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health. “With a real concerted effort, we can reach No. 1 by 2020.”

Since joining UNMC in July, Dr. Khan has traveled across the state to talk about how to improve the state’s health indicators. He supports UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., and his strategic goal to work with all health systems and private and community partners to help make Nebraska the healthiest state in the union by 2020.

The report, “America’s Health Rankings: A Call to Action for Individuals and their Communities,” analyzed the health of the nation holistically with in-depth data and analysis. Its focus is on behaviors, community and environment, policy and clinical care to provide a comprehensive picture of the nation’s health. Indicators are: low birth weight, smoking, obesity, drug deaths, physical inactivity and adolescent immunizations.

First, the good news – Nebraska ranks:

• First – High rate of high school graduation. In the past two years, high school graduation increased 12 percent from 82.9 percent to 93 percent for incoming ninth graders. Nebraska is tied with Vermont for the highest graduation rate in the nation.
• Second – High immunization coverage among children. In the past year, immunization coverage among children increased by 9 percent from 72.6 percent to 79 percent for children aged 19 to 35 months.
• Third – Low rate of drug deaths.
• 10th – In the past year, the number of children in poverty decreased by 27 percent from 19.6 percent to 14.3 percent.
• 24th – In the past year, preventable hospitalizations decreased by 13 percent from 63.8 to 55.8 per 1,000 Medicare beneficiaries.

Still, it isn’t all good news. In areas that need work, Nebraska ranks:

• 16th – In the past two years, the percentage of adults with diabetes increased 10 percent from 8.4 percent to 9.2 percent.
• 21st – Percentage of adults who are smokers (self-report smoking at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and currently smoke).
• 23rd – Public health funding.
• 27th – Percentage of adults who are obese.
• 44th – Percentage of adults who self-report drinking alcoholic beverages on at least one occasion in the last month: women – four or more drinks at one sitting; men – five or more drinks at one sitting.

This marks the 25th year that UHF has issued state rankings in partnership with the American Public Health Association and Partnership for Prevention.

America’s Health Rankings is the longest-running report of its kind. It provides analysis of national health on a state-by-state basis by evaluating a historical and comprehensive set of health, environmental and socioeconomic data to determine national health benchmarks and state rankings. The rankings employ a unique methodology that is developed and annually reviewed and overseen by a Scientific Advisory Committee of leading public health scholars.

The data in the report come from well-recognized outside sources, such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, American Medical Association, FBI, Dartmouth Atlas Project, U.S. Department of Education, and the Census Bureau.

To view the rankings in full, go to www.americashealthrankings.org.

• Today Cloudy, with a high near 39. Breezy, with a northwest wind 14 to 22 mph, with gusts as high as 31 mph.
• Tonight A 50 percent chance of snow, mainly after midnight. Cloudy, with a low around 25. Blustery, with a northwest wind 17 to 23 mph, with gusts as high as 32 mph.
• Tuesday A 50 percent chance of snow, mainly before noon. Cloudy, with a high near 31. Blustery, with a north northwest wind 22 to 29 mph, with gusts as high as 38 mph.
• Tuesday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 17. Blustery, with a north northwest wind 15 to 20 mph decreasing to 9 to 14 mph after midnight. Winds could gust as high as 29 mph.
• Wednesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 37. West wind 7 to 10 mph.
• Wednesday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around 22.
• Christmas Day A 20 percent chance of snow after noon. Partly sunny, with a high near 40.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A newly released report says Nebraska’s preliminary unemployment rate for November dropped to 3.1 percent.

The Nebraska Labor Department said in the report released Friday that the rate was six-tenths of a point under the November 2013 rate of 3.7 percent. It was also a slight drop from October’s 3.4 percent.

The new Nebraska figure remains well below the preliminary national unemployment rate of 5.8 percent in November. The new national rate remained steady from October and came in at two-tenths of a percentage point below the November 2013 rate of 7 percent.

CAMARILLO, Calif. (AP) — The average price of regular gasoline nationwide has dropped another 25 cents a gallon in the past two weeks, to $2.47.

Industry analyst Trilby Lundberg said Sunday that prices will likely keep falling.

Lundberg says the average price of regular gasoline is the lowest it’s been in more than five years.

She says lower crude oil prices are driving prices down, along with an abundant oil supply and the rising value of the U.S. dollar.

The highest-priced gas in the Lower 48 states was found in Long Island, New York, at $2.82 a gallon. The lowest was in Tulsa, Oklahoma, at $2.06 a gallon.

California’s lowest average was in Sacramento, at $2.58 a gallon.

The average price for midgrade gas in the U.S. is $2.71. For premium it’s $2.87.

According to gasbuddy.com, the average price for a gallon of Regular in Nebraska is $2.39.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman is preparing for a new chapter after nearly 10 years in office.

The 66-year-old Republican is about to finish nearly two and a half terms marked by tax cuts, an expansion of business incentives and increased funding for higher education.

Heineman may also be remembered for scandals in the state prison system and the resignation of two lieutenant governors.

The governor says he and his wife, Sally Ganem, plan to return to their home in Fremont with their dog, Snickers. Heineman says he might consider a job on a corporate board or in a position that promotes economic development.

Some lawmakers say Heineman will be remembered for helping the state through the 2009 budget crisis, and for passing the largest tax cuts in Nebraska’s history.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — More than 400 students received diplomas from the University of Nebraska at Kearney on Friday during the fall commencement.

427 UNK students received degrees.

Chancellor Doug Kristensen welcomed an audience of 2,700 to the Health and Sports Center for the ceremony.

Jared Pettit, a graduating senior construction management major from Kearney and a staff sergeant in the Nebraska Army National Guard, gave the commencement speech. Pettit previously served as a U.S. Army squad leader for a year in Iraq.

Pettit said his mother instilled in him the importance of an education, emotionally recalling how he watched her leave to go to nursing school each day when he was 8 years old.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska State Auditor’s Office is taking the University of Nebraska to task for some travel expenses that include first-class flights, meal overpayments and expensive oceanfront hotel rooms.

A letter from State Auditor Mike Foley sent this week to university officials says his office reviewed 87 documents related to travel expenses for employees at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

State policy limits air travel reimbursement to coach seating, although employees are allowed to upgrade at their own expense.

But Foley says UNMC employees bought 20 first-class airline tickets totaling nearly $96,000 paid for by the university. UNMC administrators disagree with the report’s findings.

Foley also found that meal reimbursements were improperly submitted and included alcohol, barred from reimbursement by university policy and state law.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Six years ago, there was a massive spill of coal ash sludge in Tennessee. Three years later, tons of coal ash swept into Lake Michigan. Last February, there was another spill and gray sludge spewed into the Dan River in North Carolina.

With each disaster, environmentalists sounded alarms and called for the byproduct of burning coal to be treated as hazardous waste. On Friday, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency released the first standards for the coal-burning waste, but they were hardly what environmental groups were hoping for.

The EPA ruled that the ash can be treated like regular garbage, meaning regulating the stuff will be left up to states and watchful citizens.

The coal industry supported the less strict classification, arguing that the ash wasn’t dangerous.