FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — The Fremont City Council has approved plans for a bigger Costco Wholesale chicken operation.

The plans were approved unanimously Tuesday.

The processing plant as approved would cover 360,000 square feet, compared with the original plan for 250,000 square feet. An associated hatchery would cover 85,000 square feet — up from 75,000 square feet.

City documents say the expansion would increase the facility cost to $275 million, compared with original plans for a $180 million project. A staff report estimates that the tax based added to Fremont and Dodge County will rise to $93 million from $63 million and the new estimate of infrastructure improvements and impacts will increase to $275 million from $180 million.

Costco has said the operation would employ 800 to 1,000 people.

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LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a toddler in foster care has died after suffering brain and internal injuries at a west Lincoln home.

Lincoln Officer Katie Flood said Wednesday that the little boy died just before 10 p.m. Tuesday at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. Medics who were sent to the home just before 11 p.m. Thursday took over resuscitation efforts by a caregiver there.

Police are checking for evidence or reports of physical abuse, but no arrests have been reported. An autopsy has been ordered.

Nebraska Health and Human Services Department spokesman Russ Reno says the home’s residents have been licensed foster care providers for nearly three years and have had no disciplinary reports filed against them. He declined to comment further.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a man was taken to a hospital after his standoff with police in Grand Island.

Officers were called to the scene near the Grand Island Public Library around 4:30 p.m. Monday, where a man was seen holding a gun toward his head. Just after 10 p.m. officers used a distraction device to startle and capture the man. It’s unclear whether any shots were fired.

The man’s name hasn’t been released.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a Cleveland-bound United Airlines flight was diverted to Lincoln Airport so a passenger with heart issues could be taken to a hospital.

The Boeing 737 landed a little after 5:45 p.m. Monday. The plane was on the ground for about an hour as the woman was taken off. Lincoln Airport Executive Director Dave Haring says the jet was refueled before departing, and its oxygen supply was topped off to replace the oxygen given the woman as doctors among the other passengers attended to her.

The flight had originated in San Francisco.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Some residents oppose plans by a nonprofit that operates re-entry programs for federal prisoners to open a residential center in a riverfront industrial park near Omaha’s Eppley Airfield.

Dismas Charities Inc. wants to provide housing alongside job readiness and placement programs for up to 95 soon-to-be-released prisoners.

Several neighbors oppose the plan, including Neal Drickey of NBG Enterprises, who says he’s concerned about theft and the safety of his employees.

The Kentucky-based nonprofit wants to secure a contract with the U.S. Federal Bureau of Prisons to build and operate the center. The bureau expects to pick a contractor by Friday.

The Omaha Planning Board has recommended that the city council grant Dismas a permit to allow transitional living in an area with industrial zoning.

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) — The mother of a Lincoln man killed by an Offutt Air Force Base guard during a police chase has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the guard and Air Force commanders.

The federal lawsuit filed last week alleges that shooting 21-year-old Zachari Johnson amounted to excessive force. Douglas Bickal, an Air Force security contractor, shot Johnson in the chest when he crashed a car through a base entrance in June 2012.

Air Force officials have said the guard was following procedure.

The Sarpy County sheriff’s office says Johnson was driving a stolen Honda Civic when he raced north and tried to leave the base. The guard fired at the car three times.

The defendants haven’t yet responded to the allegations.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Utility companies have restored power to most of their Iowa and Nebraska customers following the high winds and heavy rains on Christmas.

The National Weather Service says wind gusts of 70 mph were recorded Sunday night at the Norfolk and Wayne airports in Nebraska, and gusts exceeding 60 mph knocked out power to more than 4,300 customers in the Sioux City, Iowa, area.

MidAmerican Energy in Des Moines said Monday morning that fewer than 200 customers were still without power. Nebraska Public Power District says only a dozen or so of its customers haven’t gotten back their electricity.

In Nebraska, nearly an inch of rain was recorded in Fremont and Lincoln over the past 24 hours. In Iowa, more than eight-tenths of an inch was reported in Council Bluffs.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The demolition of the Civic Auditorium on the north side of downtown Omaha raises a question: What’s going up to replace it?

Developer Tetrad Property Group already has dropped its proposal for an office tower. Mayor Jean Stothert (STAH’-thurt) says Tetrad is looking at developing more public space for a nonprofit or a government entity.

Stothert acknowledged that there’s been discussion about moving the YMCA, the Children’s Museum or a city library to the four-block site. None of those organizations’ officials report any current plans to move, although a YMCA official says there have been talks with Tetrad about its plans.

Tetrad’s CEO and board chairman declined to comment on the project.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln program is helping to connect police officers, mental health providers and people who need mental health services.

The REAL Program provides contacts for those who need somewhere to sleep, a pamphlet of resources or someone who will listen to them.

The program run by the Mental Health Association of Nebraska also uses people who have struggled with mental illness to work with those who need hope.

Lincoln Public Safety Director Tom Casady says police officers have always had to deal with people with mental health issues, but the number of those calls has grown with the population.