The UPS Foundation says it will no longer give grants to the Boy Scouts of America as long as the group excludes gays and lesbians from being scouts or scout leaders.

The philanthropic arm of the Atlanta-based shipping giant made the change Thursday after an online petition protesting the foundation’s annual grants to the Boy Scouts attracted more than 80,000 signatures. The UPS Foundation gave $150,000 to the Boy Scouts in 2010. It wasn’t clear how much they gave the group last year.

UPS spokeswoman Kristen Petrella says groups applying for the grants will have to adhere to the same standards UPS does. The company says it does not discriminate against anyone based on race, religion, disability or sexual orientation.

The UPS Foundation distributed $45.3 million in grants last year.

Nebraskans are being asked to keep an eye out for whooping cranes as the birds migrate through Nebraska on their way to winter grounds along the Gulf Coast in Texas.

The white cranes are graceful in flight, stand nearly 5 feet tall on the ground and have a wingspan of nearly 8 feet.

Mary Harner is science director for The Crane Trust in Wood River. She says the whooping crane is one of the rarest birds in the world.

The Crane Trust is a nonprofit group focused on enhancing habitats for and protecting whooping cranes, sandhill cranes and other migratory birds along the Big Bend Region of Nebraska’s Platte River Valley.

People who spot whooping cranes can call 888-399-2824 toll-free to report the Nebraska locations.

A 43-year-old man has been accused of stealing irrigation pipe from a farm in southeast Nebraska.

Authorities say Todd Fritzen was arrested on suspicion of felony theft. A Jefferson County jailer said Fritzen remained in custody on Monday. Online court records don’t list the name of Fritzen’s attorney.

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office says a farmer near Diller reported that several lengths of irrigation pipe had been stolen Friday. The office says a Fairbury salvage yard worker reported later in the day that Fritzen had sold the yard 11 pieces of pipe.

Most of the jewelry recovered from the wreckage of the Titanic will begin a three-city tour, its first public display since being salvaged from the ocean depths.

In a nondescript industrial office in north Atlanta, Premier Exhibitions Inc. and RMS Titanic Inc. officials previewed the artifacts before they go on display Friday in Atlanta.

Alexandra Klingelhofer, vice president of collections for RMS Titanic Inc., says the purpose of the exhibit is to enlighten the public of the wonder of exploration.

The jewelry recovered is from a single purser’s bag found during a 1987 research and recovery mission. The collection includes diamond and sapphire rings, brooches, necklaces, cuff links and a gold pocket watch.

Nebraska has been given more time to develop its own insurance marketplace to comply with the federal health care law.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced Friday that Nebraska will have until Dec. 14 to submit its plan for a so-called health insurance exchange.

Some states had complained that they needed more time to design a plan because they’d been waiting for the outcome of the presidential election. But states still have to declare by next Friday whether they will create their own exchange or default to a federal program.

Omaha Sen. Jeremy Nordquist says Gov. Dave Heineman’s administration has released very few details about Nebraska’s proposal, and he says there hasn’t been enough public debate over what the plan should include.

A federal judge has sentenced a Lincoln man to 13 years in prison for planning and carrying out a bank robbery in Lincoln while he out of prison on parole.

The Lincoln Journal Star says 22-year-old Cleophus Collier was sentenced on Friday by U.S. District Judge John Gerrard, who told Collier that wherever he goes “mayhem follows you.”

Collier pleaded guilty to robbing a Great Western Bank last March.

Collier’s federal prison sentence will run consecutive to a state prison sentence he’s serving for violating parole.

Collier was convicted of breaking into a Scheels store at a Lincoln shopping center in 2007 and stealing 79 handguns and rifles.

Outgoing Speaker of the Legislature Mike Flood appears ready to announce his candidacy for Nebraska governor.

The Omaha World-Herald reports Flood is planning to make a “special announcement” Monday evening at a convention center in his hometown of Norfolk.

Since June, Flood has toured the state and talked with Nebraskans as he considered a possible run for governor. During the tour, Flood has been saying the state needs to invest in infrastructure, schools and the state’s farmers.

Flood is a respected Republican lawmaker who helped broker compromises on difficult issues while leading the Legislature. But term limits are forcing him to leave office.

Besides Flood, Lt. Gov. Rick Sheehy has expressed interest in running for Gov. Dave Heineman’s job in 2014. Heineman cannot run again because of term limits.

About 120,000 homes and businesses in New York and New Jersey are still waiting for the lights to come back on about two weeks after Superstorm Sandy.

The Long Island Power Authority in New York still has the most customers out with about 100,000 on Sunday night.

The totals include 55,000 customers who are without power even though their local grid is back online. LIPA says it isn’t safe to connect those homes and businesses yet because their wiring and other equipment was flooded.

Consolidated Edison had more than 3,000 customers in New York without power Sunday. About 14,000 New Jersey residents were still without electricity.

The prolonged lack of power as well as dearth of information about when it will be restored has angered residents and government officials alike.

A television station reports that two people killed in a small plane crash in central California were a doctor and his father from the Midwest.

The FAA says a Cessna 421 was flying from Salinas to Omaha, Neb. when it went down in the mountains northeast of Fresno Saturday night.

Authorities told the Fresno Bee that the coroner’s office had not notified the men’s relatives, but family members identified them to KYTV in Springfield, Mo.

They were 41-year-old Scott Clarke, a doctor at Mercy Hospital in Springfield, and his 67-year-old father, Patrick, a prominent businessman in Omaha.

The plane crashed upside down near Shaver Lake, an alpine lake in the Sierra National Forrest.

The FAA and the National Transportation Safety Board were investigating the crash.

Police say an Omaha man died after his truck veered off the road and collided with a tree on a golf course.

The accident happened shortly after 7 a.m. on Sunday.

Police say Edward Murphy was driving north on 108th Street in northwest Omaha when his Ford F-250 left the road.

The 33-year-old’s truck hit a light pole and went down an embankment to the Knolls Golf Course. Murphy’s truck went through a fence and hit a tree.

Police say Murphy died at the scene of the accident.