WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — A 58-year-old man has been arrested after police say he attached jumper cables to the ears of a 15-year-old Kansas boy to get information about a robbery.

Wichita police Lt. James Espinoza says the boy was walking early Sunday when he said someone placed a gun at his back. Espinoza says the suspect took the teen to a garage, tied him to a trailer hitch, then attached jumper cables to his ears and shocked him repeatedly while questioning him about a recent robbery.

Police say the man’s wallet had been stolen and he believed the teen knew who was responsible.

The suspect eventually released the boy, who ran home and told his father what happened. He was taken to a hospital.

The man faces charges of aggravated battery and kidnapping.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Three groups will receive $5.9 million in federal grants to train first responders to handle railroad incidents involving crude oil, ethanol and other flammable liquids.

The U.S. Transportation Department announced the grants Monday.

Concerns have been growing about these shipments because the number has surged, and there have been several fiery derailments involving crude oil in recent years.

Railroads carried about 500,000 carloads last year, up from 9,500 in 2008.

The worst derailment happened in July 2013 and killed 47 people in a small Canadian city just across the U.S.-Canada border from Maine.

Officials estimate the grants will pay for training for roughly 25,000 firefighters, police and other responders nationwide.

The grants are going to the International Association of Fire Chiefs, Center for Rural Development and the University of Findlay.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — As Nebraska’s utilities decide whether to sign new long term deals with power suppliers, they have new options that didn’t exist the last time they decided where to buy electricity.

A handful of local utilities in the northeast corner of the state are switching from the Nebraska Public Power District to a different supplier to take advantage the flexibility offered by the region’s power grid today.

The utilities making the switch — South Sioux City, Northeast Nebraska Public Power, Wakefield and Wayne — believe they will save some money. But mainly they wanted a shorter contract and more flexibility to buy renewable energy from other providers.

All 75 of NPPD’s wholesale customers are weighing their options this fall because the state’s largest utility wants them to sign new 20-year contracts.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Lancaster County Truancy Diversion Project is seeing success in improving grades and attendance among students at the six participating schools.

The program allows students facing truancy petitions from the county attorney’s office to avoid possible legal punishments by participating in the program. The program requires students to avoid further unexcused absences or suspensions, attend counseling services and demonstrate passing grades.

Students who achieve perfect attendance, improved grades and commitment to therapy are now able to skip bi-weekly truancy diversion court hearings.

The program began in January 2011 at Park Middle School. Since then, average daily attendance at the school has increased from 94.2 percent to 95.5 percent.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Lancaster County sheriff says an internal investigation shows a deputy followed department protocol in shooting an armed 18-year-old, ending a chase across a street from the Nebraska Capitol.

Sheriff Terry Wagner said Monday that Deputy Jeffrey Moeller acted within the scope of the policy on use of force. Wagner says Moeller and a deputy U.S. marshal shot Tareik Artis after Artis pointed a loaded .45-caliber handgun at them. Artis was fleeing from a Lincoln officer after a traffic stop. Lincoln police say the officer saw that Artis was carrying the gun, so the officer called for more aid.

The U.S. Marshals Service hasn’t named the deputy marshal involved. The agency and Lincoln police also are investigating the shooting.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities are investigating after a 66-year-old woman was stabbed in her Omaha home.

According to police, Charlotte Jones was stabbed by an intruder around 12:45 a.m. Sunday. Jones was transported to a hospital with cuts to her hand, torso and ear. Authorities say her injuries are not considered to be life-threatening.

Police have not made any arrests in the case.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha, Bellevue and Sarpy County will be asked to pay more than $2 million each for levee repairs around Offutt Air Force Base.

The $25 million repair project is aimed at recertifying 19 miles of levees that protect the Offutt area from Missouri River flooding. The cost-sharing figures are part of a proposal being presented Tuesday to the Sarpy County Board.

Officials have been working to recertify the levees since 2010. If they aren’t brought up to stricter federal standards, the land they protect would revert to flood plain status, including the base and a number of other properties that have been targeted for development.

Officials have said that development becomes all but impossible if the land behind the levees reverts to flood plain.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Crime Commission says Lincoln police officers stopped black motorists at a disproportionately higher rate than other motorists last year.

The commission report released last week says officers pulled over more than 54,000 motorists in 2014, and 10.2 percent of them were black drivers. Black residents account for 3.9 percent of the city’s population.

Eighty-two percent of Lincoln’s population is white, and white drivers were pulled over in 78.8 percent of the Lincoln Police Department’s stops last year.

Civil liberties and civil rights advocates say the report’s findings are troubling.

Lincoln Public Safety Director Tom Casady says he doesn’t think racial bias is behind the disparity but also says he doesn’t know why the disparity exists.