OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a man has been killed by a train on the west side of Omaha.

A conductor called Douglas County dispatchers about 2:15 a.m. Wednesday to report that the man had been standing on the tracks near Ta-Ha-Zouka Park and was struck by the westbound train.

The man’s name hasn’t been released.

MCCOOL JUNCTION, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska company faces an $84,000 fine in connection to the May death of a worker who fell while loading a tanker truck.

The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration said Tuesday Farmers Cooperative was being fined for violations at its McCool Junction fertilizer plant.

OSHA says Farmers Cooperative failed to implement safety measures that could’ve prevented the death of the 73-year-old employee.

Ron Velder, president and CEO of the co-op, says the order will be appealed but he declined to discuss OSHA’s findings.

The company was cited for failing to provide a standard guard rail in the fertilizer plant’s batching area. There were also violations for failing to provide fall protection for employees working on top of tanker trucks and failing to provide railing on stairways.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A suspected gang member has been imprisoned for his role in the beating deaths of two Lincoln men last year.

Online court records say 23-year-old Tyler Thornburg on Tuesday was given 20 years for manslaughter and 40 to 50 years for use of a deadly weapon, to be served consecutively. He also was given 20 months to five years on an unrelated weapons case. It’s unclear whether that sentence will be served at the same time or also consecutively.

Prosecutors say Thornburg and 20-year-old Ricky McLaughlin III are gang members who used a baseball bat to beat random victims in June 2013 to make a name for their gang. McLaughlin was given similar sentences. The two had taken plea deals to reduce charges of second-degree murder.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Investigators have confirmed that a teenager killed his mother this summer before taking his own life.

The bodies of 54-year-old Maureen Flanagan and her 18-year-old son, Cooper Flanagan, were found at their northwest Omaha home on July 16. Autopsies showed Maureen Flanagan died of blows to the head and that Cooper Flanagan, found in a car in the home’s garage, died of carbon monoxide poisoning.

A statement released Tuesday by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office says the mother’s skull fractures were inflicted with a hammer found in the home. It also says marijuana, alcohol, an opiate and amphetamine were found in Cooper’s system.

Investigators pointed to several factors, including Maureen’s declining health and Cooper’s recent arrest for being a minor in possession and other counts, as possible motives.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Lincoln school officials have been trying to ease some parents’ concerns that the district’s new attendance policy doesn’t let parents excuse their children from school.

The district sent an electronic message to all parents explaining the policy, which has just two categories for absences: excused and unexcused.

Some parents contacted district officials to express their concern that the parents no longer could excuse their students from school.

The LPS policy says school-excused absences include those caused by “impossible or impracticable barriers outside the control of the parent or child.” Those include doctor-documented illnesses. Everything else falls into the unexcused category, both truancies and parent-approved absences.

Student services director Russ Uhing (YOO’-ing) says parents can still excuse their children from school.

COLUMBUS, Neb. (AP) — A 58-year-old Columbus man convicted of stabbing and assaulting his wife before a standoff with police has been sent to prison.

Alfredo Santistevan was given six to 12 years in prison for assault and terroristic threats. He’d pleaded no contest after prosecutors amended and dropped other charges. He was sentenced on Friday in Platte County District Court.

Santistevan was arrested after the standoff on April 3 and taken to a local hospital to be treated for self-inflicted knife wounds. Court documents say Santistevan’s wife had a knife wound on her hand and swelling of her nose and around an eye.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha police say they’ve arrested a 20-year-old man who fled from police before driving his truck toward an officer.

Officer Michael Pecha says the driver pulled over Sunday night before accelerating toward the officer. The chase had topped speeds of 70 mph through several residential neighborhoods.

Pecha says police used a helicopter to track the man before he was arrested.

The suspect was booked on various counts including avoiding arrest and attempted assault of an officer. It’s unclear if he’s been charged.

He is being held at the Douglas County jail on $25,000 bond.

NORTH BEND, Neb. (AP) — A Union Pacific railroad official says the halting of trains because a Nebraska school volleyball team was using tracks for a team photo shows how seriously the railroad takes safety issues.

On Thursday trains were halted near North Bend after rail workers discovered the North Bend Central volleyball team was on the tracks.

Union Pacific spokesman Mark Davis told the Fremont Tribune that U.P. operates about 50 trains a day in the North Bend corridor, “so it’s extremely dangerous to be in and around the tracks, because you just never know when a train’s going to come.”

School district superintendent Dan Endorf says none of the volleyball players has been punished and that no teachers or school administrators were part of the photo shoot.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — More strong storms are rumbling through the Midwest, with the National Weather Service saying a tornado was confirmed in Kansas and other places seeing heavy rains, large hail and strong winds.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that the National Weather Service noted hail nearly 2 inches in diameter near the city. It said rain fell at a rate of nearly an inch per hour, raising concerns of flash flooding.

Ameren said about 8,500 people were without power in Missouri. In Oklahoma, regulators said about 9,000 people had lost power near Tulsa.

The Detroit Free Press said two tornadoes hit earlier Monday in northern Michigan. Jim Keysor, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said they damaged property but caused no injuries. To the south, flooding closed some roadways.