COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa (AP) — A new gun club in the Omaha area is focusing on an atypical group of people: women.

The Well Armed Woman was started in Arizona as a shooting business and organization for females several years ago. It now boasts 280 clubs and 40,000 members across the U.S.

Papillion resident Patricia Harrold worked to open a chapter in the Omaha metro area. She says an informational meeting in April drew about 80 prospective members.

The club serves as a resource providing products and information for women interested in the firearms industry, which is typically male-dominated.

Harrold says she was drawn to the club because she wanted to learn how to defend herself after her husband’s death in 2012.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — What’s being called Nebraska’s first commercial solar energy project is expected to begin tracking the sun and delivering some of its power by June 20.

The Enerparc project will be able to output about 3.6 megawatts, enough to power around 900 Lincoln homes. It sits on a 46-acre parcel on the west side of the capital city.

Lincoln Electric System has a 20-year contract to buy the power, with a five-year extension option.

The utility has declined to say how much it will pay for the electricity or how the rate will compare to the cost of fossil fuel-produced electricity or other renewable sources such as wind. Enerparc has said the project is costing $8.9 million.

MERRIMAN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 15-year-old South Dakota resident has been killed in a Nebraska crash.

The crash happened just after 9 a.m. Sunday on Nebraska Highway 61, just north of Merriman. The Nebraska State Patrol says a southbound pickup ran off the roadway and rolled into a ditch, landing on its roof.

The conditions of the driver and another passenger have not been reported. The patrol identified the 15-year-old as Sydney Lindbloom, of Pierre, South Dakota.

WATERLOO, Neb. (AP) — Onlookers helped a mom and dad and their 9-year-old son escape from the Elkhorn River after their canoe flipped over.

Brandon Monroe and Gary Burns jumped into the water Monday evening after they saw the three tossed into the river near Waterloo.

Monroe says he went after the boy and told his dad to get to the bank quickly. Monroe says an airboat was able to reach the boy’s mother and help her to safety.

LA VISTA, Neb. (AP) — A 25-year-old motorcyclist has been fatally injured in a suburban Omaha collision.

The accident occurred around 2:20 p.m. Sunday on the west side of La Vista. La Vista police say the eastbound motorcycle collided with a westbound car that was turning left in front of the motorcycle.

The motorcyclist was pronounced dead later at an Omaha hospital. Police identified him as Jeremy Liford, of Omaha. The car driver was not injured. He was identified as 36-year-old Joshua Spencer.

The collision is being investigated.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Mike Harper, who is credited with transforming ConAgra from a struggling grain company into a giant food conglomerate, has died in Omaha.

John A. Gentleman Mortuaries said Monday that Harper died Saturday at the age of 88. His daughter Elizabeth Murphy friends had visited her father during his final weeks and that he died peacefully at home.

In addition to his ConAgra work from 1974 through 1992, Harper also helped create the downtown Omaha renaissance by constructing ConAgra’s headquarters campus along the Missouri River and in Nebraska’s economic growth through his insistence the state adopt tax incentives.

Gov. Pete Ricketts said Sunday that Harper “was charming, hard-nosed, generous, and a great role model for any aspiring business executive.”

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Police say a man whose body was found in a Lincoln mobile home died of blows to the head.

Police on Saturday identified the victim as 35-year-old Robert Leazer. An autopsy completed Friday shows he died of blunt force trauma to the head.

Police were called to the Contempo Lincoln Mobile Home Park about noon Thursday to check on reports that Trenton Reiner was breaking the windows of his car.

When officers arrived, they received consent from Reiner to enter the home, where they found Leazer’s body.

Officers charged Reiner with first-degree murder. His arraignment is set for Tuesday.

The death was Lincoln’s seventh suspected homicide of the year.

HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — Construction will begin soon to transform a 109-year-old former brewery in Hastings into housing.

The Hastings Brewery Building will be converted into 35 apartments called Brewery Lofts.

The work is part of an $8 million project that also includes the construction of senior housing in an adjacent empty lot.

The Hastings Planning Commission has recommended approval of the proposals.

Community Redevelopment Authority executive director Randy Chick says the project should meet a demand for downtown housing.

The brick brewery is known for its large smoke stack, which will be retained.

Although it began operation as a brewery in 1908, that use ceased with the passage of prohibition in Adams County in May 1917. Since then, it has had a variety of uses.