LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The University of Nebraska will present its Regents Medal in honor of the late Robert Daugherty, the Omaha man who helped fund the Water for Food Institute.  The university’s most prestigious award will be given Friday to Daugherty’s family. The founder of irrigation company Valmont Industries died in November at age 88.  Last year, Daugherty gave the university $50 million to establish the global Water for Food Institute.  Board of regents chairman Bob Whitehouse says Daugherty’s donation has allowed the university to take the lead in developing ways to use water efficiently for farming.  The Regents Medal was established in 2006 to recognize individuals who contribute to the university’s mission.

VALENTINE,Neb. (AP) – Pavement work is expected to disrupt traffic on U.S. Highway 83 near Valentine in northern Nebraska.  The Nebraska Roads Department says the work will begin Monday.  New pavement will be laid as base work is completed on a nearly 8 1/2-mile stretch from north of Valentine to the South Dakota state line.  The department says a pilot car and flaggers will be used to guide motorists through the construction.  The nearly $2.8 million project is scheduled to be finished this fall.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Duncan Aviation says it’s restoring wages and adding jobs, but it hasn’t restored all the employment lost to the sharp decline in corporate flights.  The Lincoln-based company provides aircraft maintenance in more than a dozen states.  Duncan had about 2,200 employees, including1,400 in Lincoln, in January 2009, when it announced it was cutting pay for all employees to prevent layoffs.  In March 2009, the company cut more than 300 jobs, including 170 in Lincoln.  The Lincoln Journal Star says Thursday that Duncan announced this week that it will be restoring full wages.  Company PresidentAaron Hilkemann says demand for its services has improved as the business aviation industry recovers.  Hilkemann says Duncan will continue to hire additional workers throughout 2011.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers have received a $2.4 million federal grant to study why cattle are more likely to transmit E. coli bacteria than other animals.  The five-year grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture is expected to build on other research led by food microbiologist Andy Benson.  Researchers will try to figure out what makes livestock so-called “super-shedders” of pathogens.  The bacteria strain they are studying is known to colonize in a cow’s gut, and can be transmitted to humans through improperly cooked beef.  Scientists say the research may help devise strategies to stop the disease earlier during cow processing.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The successes of four Nebraska business owners who received assistance from a program that aids people with disabilities have been recognized by Gov. Dave Heineman.  B&B Street Motive in Grand Island, Take Out Express in Beatrice, Quality Block and Basement Company in Lincoln and Van Horn Saddlery in Ogallala were honored Wednesday.  The Nebraska State Rehabilitation Council selected the businesses because of their entrepreneurial spirit and successes.  One of the owners of each of those businesses received help from Nebraska Vocational Rehabilitation.  That division of the state Department of Education helps people with disabilities find work and live independently in their communities.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – A new poll suggests most rural Nebraska residents own cell phones and often use the Internet to make purchases.  The 2011 Nebraska Rural Poll was conducted in March and April by the Center for Applied Rural Innovation at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.  The results show that 91 percent of rural Nebraskans own a cell phone, and 72 percent of them often buy things online.  Survey manager Becky Vogt says the results show that technology has penetrated the state. But low-income people and the elderly still lag behind others in using technology and the Internet.  About 39 percent, or 2,490, of the 6,400 surveys sent out in the poll were returned. The surveys went to randomly selected households in 84 non-metropolitan counties.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – The Nebraska Department of Roads has produced a new state map.  A department news release says the map includes highway systems, Scenic Byways and insets of 13 cities over 10,000 in population.  Two million maps were printed by an Omaha company.  They will be available soon at tourist attractions and visitor centers throughout the state and at Roads Department offices in Ainsworth, Gering, Grand Island, Lincoln, McCook, Norfolk, North Platte and Omaha.

LOUISVILLE, Ga. (AP) – Executives with the parent company of Thermo King in the small Georgia town of Louisville say they will close the plant, which employs 235 people, by next year.  The Augusta Chronicle reports that Ireland-based Ingersoll-Randwill move the Georgia plant’s manufacturing line to a Thermo King facility in Hastings, Neb.  Community leaders say the decision to close the plant, which has been in the town southwest of Augusta for 47 years, is a devastating loss for the region.  Misty Zelent, an Ingersoll-Rand spokeswoman, said that some employees may be offered an opportunity in other company facilities.  She said the decision was made in an effort to improve all of the company’s plants and to consolidate manufacturing where it makes sense.  Thermo King makes refrigeration equipment for the transportation industry.

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) – Officials say Scottbluff’s Riverside Zoo expects to reopen soon.  Executive director Anne James told Scottsbluff radio station KNEB that a Friday reopening is scheduled.  The zoo closed June 7, when it lost sewer service because of rising water from the North Platte River.  James says all the attractions and exhibits will be reopened.  Also Friday, the city’s Riverside Park is expected to open for visitors.  Parks Director Perry Mader says the Monument Valley Pathway in the park will stay closed until it is inspected for safety.