RALSTON, Neb. (AP) — Ralston officials are hoping they won’t need their substitute school Tuesday for students who attend Karen Western Elementary.

The students got an unexpected field trip Monday morning to Ralston Arena because of a water main break outside their school building. The kids and staff were taken to the arena for the day so the loss of class time would be minimized.

Assistant superintendent for learning Kristi Gibbs says the main break left the school without pressure for bathrooms, water fountains and other fixtures. She says the district expects the repairs will be completed Monday.

Gibbs says the school has about 175 children enrolled in pre-kindergarten through sixth grade.

COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — Police have been investigating reports about an improper relationship between a Columbus High School teacher and a student over the summer.

The school board accepted the teacher’s resignation after a special meeting on Aug. 26, a day after she offered to resign. The boy is a junior at the school.

Columbus Police Capt. Todd Thalken says officers are trying to determine whether any criminal activity has occurred. On Monday online court records didn’t show any charges against the woman.

Schools superintendent Troy Loeffelholz (LEH’-fehl-hohlz) says the district also has reported its information to the state Education Department.

HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — A December trial has been scheduled for a Hastings man accused of trying to kill a Hastings police officer while escaping.

Online court records say Marty Deckert has pleaded not guilty to attempted second-degree murder and other charges. His trial is set to begin Dec. 15 in Adams County District Court.

Police say that on July 25, Deckert tried to avoid arrest by speeding away in his wife’s car while dragging a police officer with him. The car crashed, causing minor injuries to the officer.

Police say Deckert got away but was apprehended later in the day.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Lincoln Children’s Zoo has asked for $200,000 from Lancaster County to upgrade its Galapagos tortoise exhibit.

The zoo wants to make the enclosure more interactive and conducive to allowing the animals to lay their eggs.

The zoo already has $150,000 pledged for the renovation and received tentative approval from the County Board on Thursday. Board members expressed support to spend the $200,000 from a visitors’ fund that comes from a lodging tax.

The zoo president says he wants to begin the renovation before the five-night Boo at the Zoo event in October. He expects the project could be completed before the zoo reopens for its next regular season in mid-April.

He plans to bring a tortoise to Tuesday’s board meeting.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A grove of trees that had provided some shelter for homeless men at a camp in west Lincoln has been removed.

City finance director Steve Hubka sasi the Lincoln Police Department recommended cutting down the trees to make the site less inviting. The land is owned by the West Haymarket Joint Public Agency.

Hubka says around a dozen men would gather under the trees during the day and up to 20 would spend the night there in tents or in a mud hut. He says there was a lot of drinking at the site, and police had reported assaults and other crimes on the land. The Salt Creek Levee trail runs along the property.

YORK, Neb. (AP) — York has settled a lawsuit filed by a former firefighter who alleged sex discrimination for her firing in a disability case.

City and insurance officials had agreed to pay Lisa Peter $100,000.

Peter sued in 2012, saying a city administrator denied her requests for light duty after she broke her heel in a non-work-related accident. When she was not cleared to work without restrictions after she had exhausted her sick days, vacation and federal medical leave, she was fired and replaced by a man.

Her lawsuit says that three years earlier, the same city administrator cut the weekly hours of an ailing male firefighter to ensure he would not run out of leave. He also was given light duty.

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — Family tragedies including homicide, suicide and drug abuse have shaped the public-service platforms of several of this year’s Miss America contestants.

The brother of Miss Wisconsin Raeanna Johnson killed himself after hiding an addiction to methamphetamine.

The father of Miss Kansas Amanda Sasek killed himself when she was 17.

And Miss Delaware Brittany Lewis is still waiting for someone to be arrested in her sister’s 2010 slaying.

The platforms outline a social or public-service cause that the contestants plan to pursue or publicize.

Preliminary competition begins Tuesday in Atlantic City. The new Miss America will be crowned Sunday night in the nationally televised finale.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A doctor who became infected with Ebola while working in Liberia has visited with two of his family members at the Nebraska hospital where he’s receiving treatment.

A spokesman for the Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha says Debbie Sacra and the couple’s oldest son interacted with Dr. Rick Sacra for about 25 minutes Saturday via a video link.

Debbie Sacra says in a news release from the center that she was relieved to see her husband. She says he doesn’t remember much about Friday, when he first arrived.

She says he asked for something to eat.

A center spokesman said Saturday that 51-year-old Rick Sacra’s condition was unchanged from Friday, when he was deemed sick but in stable condition.

Sacra is the third American aid worker to be sickened with the virus.

MACEDONIA, Iowa (AP) — The pilot of a crop-dusting helicopter is being treated for injuries after crashing in western Iowa this weekend.

The helicopter crashed in a field near Macedonia after hitting a power line on Saturday afternoon.

Treynor Fire Chief Russ Maguire says the male pilot was out of the wreckage and conscious when paramedics arrived.

The pilot was taken to CHI Health Creighton University Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska for treatment. Authorities say his injuries are not believed to be life threatening.

Federal authorities are likely to investigate the cause of the crash.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The first director of the Sheldon Museum of Art on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus has died at the age of 98.

Norman Geske died Saturday.

Geske helped create the Sheldon in 1963 as part of his job as director of the University of Nebraska’s art galleries. He oversaw construction of the Sheldon’s landmark building and developed its collection.

Filmaker Laurie Richards who made a movie about Geske’s life says he helped develop an artistic culture in Nebraska that inspired Richards and other artists.

Geske was a leading researcher on painter Ralph Albert Blakelock who worked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He also helped create the Interstate 80 Bicentennial Sculpture Project.

Geske was a native of Sioux City, Iowa.