GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) – A construction worker has been impaled in an accident at a Grand Island job site. Authorities say the upper thigh of one of Dennis Schwarz’s legs was impaled when he fell Monday morning at the Success Academy construction site. He landed on some concrete reinforcement bar.  The Grand Island Independent reports that Schwarz was taken to a hospital and is expected to recover from his injury.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Nebraska has launched a website that links students who want internships with the businesses that will provide them.  Gov. Dave Heineman says the Nebraska Internship Program “is an important component of Nebraska’s strategic economic plan.”  The program provides $1.5 million a year in job training funds and adds it to matching funds from businesses to encourage more internship opportunities.  So far, 79 businesses have applied for the internship funding.  Students can search for the paid internships at http://InternNE.com.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Lincoln police say two teenagers have been arrested for robbing a real estate agent during an open house.  Police say the agent was holding an open house Sunday afternoon when the teens came in and demanded her purse and car keys.  Officials say one of the teens threatened the woman with a homemade knife, then punched her and took her purse.  When they left, the woman yelled for help and the teens ran off.  Police caught the young men several blocks away and arrested them for armed robbery.  Authorities say one had escaped from a youth treatment center in Kearney, while the other was a runaway from Papillion.

SOUTH SIOUX CITY, Neb. (AP) – The sister of a U.S. Navy SEAL from South Sioux City says he was among the 30 American troops killed when a military helicopter was shot down in Afghanistan
Chan Follen told KCAU-TV in Sioux City that her brother, John Douangdara, was aboard a Chinook helicopter that the military says was shot down by a rocket-propelled grenade.  Follen says the family was notified of his death on Saturday.  Douangdara, who graduated from South Sioux City High School in 2003, was a lead dog handler for the elite unit.  At least two troops from Nebraska were killed in the helicopter crash. The Nebraska National Guard says Sgt. Patrick Hamburger, of Grand Island, was also among the dead. He was a flight engineer.

COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) – A Norfolk woman has died in a collision between a car and a semi north of Columbus.  The Platte County sheriff’s office told the Columbus Telegram that 62-year-old Linda Reinders was a passenger in the car involved in Saturday’s crash.  She died at the scene.  Reinders’ daughter, 49-year-old Laurie Vaughan of Norfolk, was driving the car.  The sheriff’s office says it struck the rear of the semi, driven by 55-year-old Dennis Starman of Elgin, as it was making a turn.  Reinders was flown to an Omaha hospital.  Details of her injuries weren’t released.  Her 12-year-old daughter, also a passenger, was treated at a hospital and released.  Starman wasn’t hurt.  The crash remains under investigation.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) – Authorities say a man shot and killed a woman in a Lincoln apartment before turning the gun on himself.  Lincoln police say a witness reported seeing the man shoot the woman with a shotgun during an argument just before 7 p.m. Saturday. That’s when the witness fled the apartment and called 911.  Police say officers arrived to find both the man and the woman dead.  The man died of a gunshot wound to the head.  Their names have not been released.  No other suspects are being sought.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Thousands of Nebraskans are without power after a storm blew through the eastern part of the state.
The Omaha Public Power District says more than 24,000 customers lost power in Saturday night’s storm.  Those affected stretched from Nebraska City north to Washington County, including the Omaha area.  Service was restored to many customers by 8 a.m. Sunday and work continues to get power back on for about 3,500.  A Lincoln Electric System spokeswoman says power was out for about 14,000 of its customers in the city at the height of the storm.  About 2,800 were still without power by midmorning Sunday but service was expected to be restored by day’s end.

WASHINGTON (AP) – Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton says U.S. officials are working with a Canadian company to develop safety standards beyond those required by law as the State Department weighs a plan to pipe oil from western Canada to the Texas Gulf Coast.  Clinton said Thursday that the new standards should ensure that if a permit for the pipeline is issued, “the project will be as safe as it could possibly be.”  Clinton called safety of the 1,900-mile pipeline “one of our highest priorities,” noting that an environmental review of the project is due later this month.  Calgary-based TransCanada wants to build a $7 billion pipeline from Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Houston and Port Arthur, Texas. The State Department has authority over the pipeline because it crosses an international boundary.