LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A federal judge has ordered a Wood River bank to pay more than $30,000 to a female employee after ruling it unlawfully paid her less than a male counterpart.

Heritage Bank was ordered Tuesday to pay $30,598 to Christine Schwieger.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued the bank last month, saying it paid Schwieger $10,000 a year less than a male employee in the same position for several years for no reason other than her gender. The commission said the bank also ignored her complaints about the discrepancy, violating the Equal Pay Act of 1963.

The order also requires Heritage Bank to implement policy and procedural changes to prevent future discrimination.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium has reopened a portion of a new children’s playground that was closed when a girl seriously injured a leg on it over the weekend.

A slide on the Children’s Adventure Trail’s area was closed after the girl was hurt Saturday. Some parents have said the slide was too steep to be safe.

The zoo reopened the slide, which resembles a wrecked pirate ship, on Tuesday after adding a segment to the bottom of it to lessen its slope.

The new $27.5 million play area, just north of the Desert Dome, opened June 30.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Officials aren’t sure what’s killing the fish piling up along the shore of a lake in west Omaha.

Brook Bench is director of the Omaha Parks, Recreation and Public Property Department, and he said it’s not the first fish kill reported at Lake Zorinsky.

Omaha Public Works asked people to stay away from the lake in June after a storm-related power outage at a nearby sewage lift station caused let untreated sewage flow overland into the lake. That advisory was later lifted. It’s unclear whether the sewage intrusion is involved in the fish kill, however.

BANCROFT, Neb. (AP) — Two men have pleaded not guilty to charges stemming from a northeast Nebraska bank robbery.

Court records say Jeffrey Bonneau and Lenn Zuhlke entered the pleas Monday in U.S. District Court in Omaha. Both are charged with bank robbery. Bonneau also is charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Both men live in Bancroft.

Authorities say Bonneau robbed the First Bank of Bancroft in Bancroft of more than $6,700 on April 20 and later crashed on an all-terrain vehicle as he tried to flee the area. Court documents don’t say what Zuhlke did to merit the charge.

OSMOND, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a smoky fire has destroyed a northeast Nebraska business.

Firefighters were dispatched a little after 3:10 p.m. Sunday to the Tiger Town Food & Floral Center in downtown Osmond. The three-story brick building wasn’t open at the time, and no injuries have been reported.

The blaze left the Pierce County community without a grocery store for its 770 or so residents.

Firefighters from Pierce, Plainview, Randolph and Wausa were sent to help the Osmond department, and an aerial truck from Norfolk also joined the fight. Osmond residents supplied the firefighters with bottled water as the temperature soared into the low 90s.

The fire cause is being investigated.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A new mosque and cultural center has opened in Nebraska.

Nearly 3,000 people toured the American Muslim Institute in Omaha on Sunday. Attendees had the opportunity to tour six stations, including a prayer room.

The 35-acre center is part of the Tri-Faith Initiative, which is made up of Jewish, Christian and Islamic faiths.

Imam Mohamad Jamal Daoudi says the project “comes at a very crucial time of violence, divisiveness, and intolerance in our nation.” He says the institute’s goal is to promote “education, peace, and brotherhood.”

The institute is located at the Tri-Faith Initiative Commons campus, which also houses a Jewish synagogue. A Christian church, park and community center are expected to be completed by 2018.

Institute leaders say they hope to see more tri-faith centers built in the U.S.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Salvation Army is operating cooling centers in Omaha and in Council Bluffs, Iowa, for people who need a break from the extreme heat.

The centers will be open through Friday or as long as extreme heat persists.

The Omaha locations are: the lobby of the Burrows Center, 6101 NW Radial Highway, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; at the Kroc Center, 2825 Y St., from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and at the North Corps location, 2424 Pratt St., from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The Council Bluffs location is at 715 N. 16th St., from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 to 3 p.m.

Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol (NSP) and Iowa State Patrol (ISP) worked together to apprehend a reckless motorcycle rider who led troopers on a pursuit along Interstate 80 starting in Lincoln and ending in Iowa.

The pursuit began just before 5:30 p.m. Friday, July 7 near mile marker 397 when an NSP trooper clocked the motorcycle traveling at 90 MPH in a 65 MPH zone. After the trooper activated lights and siren, the motorcycle accelerated and was tracked at speeds in excess of 100 MPH while still on I-80 in Lincoln. Due to the high rate of speed and increasingly dangerous driving of the motorcycle, troopers pulled back and allowed the NSP Aviation Support Division to take over the pursuit from the air.

The motorcycle was observed maintaining speeds in excess of 90 MPH, passing traffic on the inside shoulder of I-80 between Lincoln and Omaha. Several troopers positioned themselves along the route to monitor the pursuit while the NSP helicopter followed.

As the motorcycle entered Iowa, the Iowa State Patrol took over the ground pursuit with support provided by the NSP helicopter. Iowa troopers were able to corner the rider and engaged in a foot pursuit after forcing the motorcycle to stop. The suspect was apprehended and turned over to NSP to be returned to Lincoln.

Devon Brogdon, 22, of Omaha, was arrested for numerous charges and citations including Flight to Avoid Arrest, Willful Reckless Driving, Driving Under Suspension, Speeding, Failure to Signal, Driving on the Shoulder, No Motorcycle Endorsement, No Proof of Insurance, Failing to Display the Proper Number of License Plates, and Operating an Unregistered Vehicle. Brogdon was lodged in Lancaster County Jail. ISP also cited Brogdon for traffic infractions.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha man has been arrested on suspicion of making threats against Republican U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa.

The FBI’s Omaha office says in a news release that the 64-year-old man was arrested Friday by FBI agents in Omaha.

The man’s case did not appear Friday in federal online court records. The release says he will be taken to Council Bluffs, Iowa, for an initial court appearance.

An FBI spokesman in Omaha did not respond to questions about the nature of the threats. A news release from the Iowa office of the FBI says no other information or comments about the case will be made until court documents are filed.

Ernst’s office referred questions to U.S. Capitol Police, which said Friday it does not comment on ongoing investigations.