A northeast Ohio middle-school teacher has until later this week to respond to an allegation that she posted a Facebook photo of her students with their mouths covered with duct tape.

The Akron Public Schools Board of Education voted last week to pursue the firing of Melissa Cairns. She’s a math teacher at Buchtel Community Learning Center.

The school district says the photo, posted on Cairn’s personal Facebook page, showed some of her students with duct tape across their mouths. The caption read: “Finally found a way to get them to be quiet!!!” The district says a colleague of Cairns’ notified a supervisor of the photo.

The Akron Beacon Journal reports that Cairns was put on paid leave Oct. 19. She hasn’t responded to requests for comment.

Police are investigating a fire that damaged two houses under construction in Omaha and caused a series of small explosions.

The Omaha World-Herald reports three propane tanks exploded Monday afternoon inside one house. The subsequent fire damaged a second nearby home.

Electricians working inside the first house were able to escape without injury. They then alerted workers in the second home.

The front of the first house collapsed and a side of the second home had fire damage. It was declared under control less than an hour later.

Fire officials say nobody was injured.

White powder contained in a letter sent to a Lincoln attorney turned out to be flour.

The Lincoln Journal Star says the lawyer found the powder inside an envelope he opened Monday.

The lawyer, who specializes in debt collection, didn’t think the powder was dangerous but decided to call experts.

Lincoln Fire and Rescue Capt. Lloyd “Eddie” Mueller says police and firefighters responded, and the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department had the powder tested. It was just flour.

Police Capt. Jim Davidsaver says the letter included a return address and the name of an 86-year-old man. Davidsaver says the attorney is involved in a case against the man, but the man won’t be arrested because the letter didn’t include any threats.

Authorities are investigating the death of a Nebraska man whose body was found at a casino parking garage in Council Bluffs.

The Daily Nonpareil reports the body of the 54-year-old Omaha man was found a little after 9:30 p.m. Sunday on the ground level of the parking garage of Harrah’s Casino & Hotel. Police Sgt. David Dawson says the man is believed to have jumped from the fifth floor of the garage around 6:30 p.m.

Dawson says a note was found in the man’s vehicle and that “it doesn’t appear that anything is suspicious” about the man’s death.

 

A U.S. Education Department study says the high school graduation rate nationally is the highest since 1976, but more than a fifth of students fail to get a diploma in four years.

Officials say the steady rise of students completing their education is a reflection of the struggling economy and a greater competition for new jobs.

The study released on Tuesday says that across the U.S., the dropout rate for male students was 3.8 percent. For females, it was 2.9 percent.

The dropout rate was higher among males in every state. The percentage gap between male and female dropouts was largest in Connecticut and Rhode Island, at 1.7 percentage points.

Many students who don’t receive their diplomas in four years stay in school, taking five years or more to finish their coursework.

The national dropout rate was about 3 percent overall, down from the year before.

The discovery of some 40-year-old bad math about the building housing the Fort Calhoun nuclear reactor in Nebraska is being scrutinized and could further delay resumption of operations at the plant.

The plant, which has been closed since 2011, is subject to strict oversight from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission because of ongoing problems.

So it was worrisome when utility officials said they’d discovered that supports for some heavy equipment in the containment building might not withstand extreme stress.

Critics say the Omaha Public Power District should consider shutting down Fort Calhoun for good because of the mounting costs.

But the utility believes Fort Calhoun is worth salvaging because significant improvements have already been made — and it’s the only power plant it owns that produces electricity without greenhouse gases.

State officials are urging Nebraskans working on their GED certificates to finish their task this year or they’ll have to start over next year with a new series.

Lincoln media reports that nearly 10,000 Nebraskans are working on their GED diplomas in place of high school diplomas.

A Nebraska Education Department official says the GED Testing Service will release a new series of tests next year, so test results on the current series won’t be valid.

Department director of adult education Vicki Bauer says “there’s no grandfathering of scores, because it changes so dramatically.”

The GED certificate is earned by passing tests on reading, writing, social studies, science and math.

The case of a Kansas sperm donor being sued by the state for child support underscores the confusing patchwork of laws that govern how assisted reproduction is regulated in the United States.

Many states haven’t updated their laws to address the evolution of family structures, such as parenting by same-sex couples. Experts say as case law changes, families put themselves at risk by failing to seek legal advice.

In late 2012, Kansas officials went after a Topeka man who answered a Craigslist ad from a lesbian couple seeking a sperm donor. William Marotta thought he’d signed away his parental rights, but was deemed financially responsible when the women split and one sought public assistance.

The trio didn’t go through a doctor — the only way Kansas recognizes men as donors.

Abortion opponents are planning to deliver flowers to Nebraska state senators to mark the 40th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court decision that declared abortion legal.

The group Nebraska Right to Life will distribute flowers and cards to lawmakers’ Capitol offices on Tuesday, the anniversary of the Roe v. Wade ruling.

The flower distribution follows the group’s annual “Walk for Life” event on Saturday, which drew an estimated 5,000 people. The gathering featured Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman, Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy, State Auditor Mike Foley, State Treasurer Don Stenberg, and U.S. Reps. Jeff Fortenberry and Lee Terry.