The corn harvest is picking up in Nebraska, but last week’s cooler temperatures and rain won’t help with drought-damaged fields.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the harvest gain momentum in southeast and east central Nebraska while farmers continue to cut damaged corn for silage where moisture is still high enough.

The USDA says in Monday’s report that 41 percent of Nebraska’s corn crop is in poor or very poor condition, with 28 percent in fair condition and 31 percent in good or excellent shape.

The USDA says soybeans are almost done setting pods, and 22 percent are turning colors, well ahead of the average of 4 percent.

Soybeans are rated 42 percent poor or very poor, 37 percent fair and 21 percent good or excellent.

Federal regulators have scheduled another in a series of meetings to discuss the efforts to restart the Fort Calhoun nuclear power plant.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says it will meet with Omaha Public Power District officials from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Sept. 11 at Dana College’s Gardner-Hawks Center in Blair.

The plant sits 20 miles north of Omaha. It’s been offline since April 2011. Initially it was shut down for refueling maintenance, but flooding along the Missouri River and a series of safety violations forced it to stay closed.

State and federal officials have said Fort Calhoun’s problems never represented a threat to public safety.

Nebraska wants to hear from residents on a new law aimed at keeping Asian carp and other bad fish and invasive mussels and plants out of its lakes and rivers.

The law allows the state to inspect boats and require that they be decontaminated. It also requires people to dump all water from a boat before leaving a lake. And it allows the state to quarantine a boat or trailer when an owner refuses an inspection or decontamination.

Ogallala Sen. Ken Schilz is the law’s sponsor. He says the next step is to secure funding to pay for inspection sites and cleaning stations.

A public hearing will be held in Broken Bow as part of the Game and Parks Commission meeting on Friday.

Regulators have proposed more than $104,000 in penalties for Tyson Foods because of safety violations the regulators say were found at a Nebraska beef plant where a worker was fatally injured.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration says Springdale, Ark.-based Tyson was cited for seven violations at its Dakota City plant.

Authorities say 37-year-old Rodney Bridgett was injured March 14 when a piece of equipment he was working on collapsed on him. The company has said the slaughter and processing plant was not in operation at the time.

Tyson’s options include complying with the citations’ provisions, seeking an informal conference with OSHA’s area director in Omaha, or contesting the citations to an OSHA review commission.

Tyson representative Worth Sparkman said Monday the company hasn’t decided which course it will take.

The ACLU Nebraska Foundation says it has received complaints from teachers about a new rule that requires public schools to set aside time to recite the Pledge of Allegiance.

The group sent a letter Monday to superintendents throughout the state, asking them to remind schools that no student or teacher should be pressured into saying the pledge.

The Nebraska State Board of Education unanimously approved the rule earlier this month. Schools must comply to keep their state accreditation and funding, but participation for students and teachers is voluntary.

ACLU Nebraska legal director Amy Miller says her group is concerned the new rule will lead some school administrators to mistakenly believe that reciting the pledge is now mandatory.

It is still illegal to force a teacher to recite the pledge.

From Salina Post

Law enforcement officers are looking for a man who escaped from the minimum security unit at the U.S. Penitentiary in Leavenworth.
Prison officials say 49-year-old Joel Rodriguez was missing from his assigned quarters Sunday afternoon. The prison’s statement gave no information on how he might have escaped.
Rodriguez was sentenced this year to 98 months in prison for selling drugs. He began serving his sentence on March 28. He is considered non-violent.

A 75-year-old Kansas man was killed when his antique tractor rolled on top of him at the Nebraska State Fair.

The Nebraska State Patrol says Charley DeWeese was trying to load his 1936 John Deere tractor onto a trailer when the accident happened Sunday morning.

The Thayer, Kan., man fell off the tractor and was pinned beneath it after the tractor’s right rear tire slipped off the ramp.

State Patrol Lt. Dennis Leonard said DeWeese took part in Saturday’s attempt to set a new record for the largest tractor parade. Fair officials say 1,139 people brought tractors to the fairgrounds in Grand Island, Neb., for the tractor parade.

DeWeese travelled to the Nebraska Fair with his wife.

An Omaha man is facing drunken driving charges after crashing into a building.

Police said the 23-year-old driver crashed into a business in southeast Omaha near 15th and Vinton streets around 1 a.m. Sunday.

the driver of the 1996 Toyota Paseo veered off of Vinton Street and hit the building, causing about $30,000 in structural damage.

The driver was treated and released at an Omaha hospital for his injuries before being arrested.

The University of Nebraska Medical Center has received two grants worth nearly $1.6 million to help improve rural health care.

The Medical Center’s Patricia Leuschen says these grants will allow the Nebraska facility to play a prominent role in promoting rural health care.

One grant worth $993,910 over five years will help pay for two national conferences for physician assistants in 2014 and 2016.

The second grant worth $593,088 will support research examining ways to reduce falls in rural hospitals that serve older adults.

Indian Cave State Park near Shubert in the southeastern corner of Nebraska will celebrate Labor Day with a variety of activities, including guided horse trail rides and living history demonstrations.

A number of historic trades will be demonstrated, including candle, soap, butter and broom maing, blacksmithing and wood carving, from Sept. 1-3.

Also, the Pioneer Longrifle Gun Club will hold its rendezvous over the Labor Day weekend and hold a buffalo stew feed at 6 p.m. on Sept. 1. The cost is $9 for adults and $6 for children ages 12 and under. Tickets must be purchased in advance. A fireworks show is planned for later that night, if conditions allow it.

More information can be obtained by calling 402-883-2575. A park entry permit is required to enter the park.