OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska mother has been killed and four other family members have been injured in a car crash in Rock Port, Missouri.

Police say the five were driving south on Interstate 29 on Tuesday afternoon when their vehicle ran off the pavement into the median and rolled several times. According to authorities, the woman was ejected from the passenger side.

30-year-old Cristyna Pace, of Columbus, Nebraska, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police say 34-year-old Jason Pace was flown to Mosaic Life Care in St. Joseph, Missouri.

Two children suffered serious injuries and a third child had minor injuries. The children were taken to Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

The crash is being investigated.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Students at schools in Nebraska and Iowa are joining others around the nation in planting milkweed plants to help attract monarch butterflies.

About 30 students and 10 adults last week planted milkweed, a plant that provides the only food for newly emerged butterfly larvae, behind St. Margaret Mary School in Omaha, Nebraska.

Another group of students and volunteers also recently dug and planted milkweed at St. Albert School in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

The two schools were among 10 Catholic schools in the Midwest that received grants to start butterfly-friendly gardens from the National Catholic Education Association.

COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — A 22-year-old Columbus man has been accused of injuring his girlfriend’s 4-month-old child.

Francisco Villatoro was arrested on suspicion of child abuse resulting in serious injury. Officers and medics were sent to a Columbus residence on Saturday morning after Villatoro called 911 to report that the child was choking. The child was taken to Columbus Community Hospital and then transferred to Omaha Children’s Hospital & Medical Center in Omaha.

Online court records don’t list the name of an attorney who could be contacted to comment about the allegation on behalf of Villatoro.

ELK CREEK, Neb. (AP) — The Pentagon says the remains of a Nebraska fighter pilot missing since World War II have been found in Germany.

The Department of Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced Friday that the remains of U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Alvin Beethe, of Elk Creek, will be laid to rest on June 8 in Arlington National Cemetery outside the nation’s capital.

Officials say Beethe was flying a P-38 Lightning during a mission on Nov. 26, 1944, when it crashed near Morschenich, Germany. He was reported as killed in action.

U.S. officials learned in 2008 that the crash site had been found. In June 2013 the site was excavated and human remains and aircraft wreckage were recovered.

Confirmation of Beethe’s remains included two forms of DNA analysis.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — The Central Community College-Grand Island has decided to use a grant from the Federal Highway Administration to introduce students to transportation careers.

The $40,000 National Summer Transportation Institute grant will be used to hold a camp this summer focusing on female, minority high school students. This demographic is considered to be underrepresented in transportation engineering careers.

Boys are also welcome to participate.

Charlie Gregory, associate dean of extended learning services at the Grand Island campus, says the camp from July 6-16 will focus on all aspects of engineering related to transportation.

Grand Island Community Education Coordinator Judy Weston says there will be no cost for a student to attend the camp.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Organizers say the 15th International Cather Seminar will be held in two locations next month: Lincoln and Red Cloud.

The seminar celebrates the life and writing of Willa Cather, the renowned author of “My Antonia” and “O Pioneers,” who died in 1947.

Six of Cather’s novels contain references to Red Cloud, where she spent her early life, and she attended college and wrote for newspapers in Lincoln.

More than 70 scholars and students from several states and five countries will participate in the seminar, which is titled, “Cather and the Arts.” It will focus on Cather in interdisciplinary contexts, including theater, music and the visual arts. The seminar will be held June 5-12.

Call 866-731-7304 or go online at www.WillaCather.org or www.cather.unl.edu for more information.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The body of Omaha Police Officer Kerrie Orozco (or-ROHZ’-koh) will be laid to rest Tuesday after a funeral in Omaha and burial services in Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Orozco was shot to death Wednesday by a fugitive who was fatally wounded by another officer. Orozco was 29. She lived in Council Bluffs and was a native of nearby Walnut, Iowa.

The funeral is scheduled to begin at 11 a.m. at St. John’s Catholic Church at Creighton University. The Omaha Police Department says church seating is being limited to only family and groups selected by the family. The funeral will be broadcast at CenturyLink Center in downtown Omaha.

Burial will follow at St. Joseph Cemetery in Council Bluffs. Law enforcement officials have asked the public to line the 8.5-mile-long procession route.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a person has been critically injured following a shooting in north Omaha.

The Omaha Police Department says officers responded to a radio call Monday afternoon and found a male with an apparent gunshot wound.

The male was transported to a local hospital in critical condition. Authorities say he has a life-threatening injury.

Additional information about the shooting is unavailable.

FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say two people have been injured following a shooting in Fremont.

Fremont police say officers were called to a residence Sunday night. They found a man and a woman with gunshot wounds.

The man was injured in the hand and the woman was wounded in the arm and chest. They were taken to a local hospital for treatment, but additional information was not available.

Authorities say children in the home at the time of the shooting were removed under child protective services. The case remains under investigation. No arrests have been made.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska authorities say an inmate on death row for the 1985 cult killings of two people, including a 5-year-old boy, has died in custody.

Spokeswoman Jessica Houseman for the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution in southeast Nebraska confirmed Monday that 66-year-old Michael Ryan died in prison. Houseman said he died around 5:45 p.m. Sunday. She said an autopsy would be performed to determine the cause of death.

Ryan was convicted in the torture and killing of 26-year-old James Thimm at a southeast Nebraska farm near Rulo, where Ryan led a cult, and in the beating death of Luke Stice, the 5-year-old son of a cult member.

Ryan has been on death row since his convictions.