LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — An evaluation survey conducted by the Nebraska State Bar Association has given passing grades to all but two of Nebraska’s 137 judges.

19 percent of active bar association members who live in Nebraska, Council Bluffs and Sioux City, Iowa, and Yankton, South Dakota, completed the electronic survey.

Association President G. Michael Fenner says the 2014 Judicial Performance Evaluation isn’t an absolute measure but says it lets attorneys evaluate judges on a variety of criteria.

This year the lawyers gave passing grades to 94 percent of the state’s judges. The only two with retention ratings below 50 percent were Douglas County Judge Darryl Lowe and Douglas County Juvenile Judge Elizabeth Crnkovich (SUR’-koh-vihtch). They didn’t immediately return messages left by The Associated Press on Tuesday.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska fire crews have extinguished a Union Pacific train that caught fire and temporarily closed a highway.

The eastbound train ignited on Monday evening northeast of Grand Island.

The city’s fire chief says a cooling fan in the engine is what caught fire. It’s unclear why.

The chief says firefighters had to use dry chemical extinguishers to put out the fire. No injuries were reported.

U.S. Highway 30 was closed for about 20 minutes so the fire crews could stabilize the train.

WEST POINT, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha couple have been killed in a rollover crash off a state highway in eastern Nebraska.

Cuming County Sheriff Bradley Boyum says the crash site and crumpled vehicle were found Monday morning about two miles south of West Point, just off U.S. Highway 275. The victims were identified as 40-year-old Yvonne Pivonka and her husband, 41-year-old Franklin Pivonka. Their bodies were found in a heavily wooded area.

Deputies believe the accident occurred sometime late Saturday night or early Sunday morning, as the Pivonkas were heading home from a concert.

Relatives say the Pivonkas had seven children ranging in age from 3 to 20.

Efforts to reduce serious injury and fatality crashes with an emphasis on impaired driving will be the focus of a special enforcement planned for Hall County over the weekend.

Troopers with the Nebraska State Patrol Troop C-Grand Island, in conjunction with the Hall County Sheriff’s Office, will conduct high visibility patrols in and around Grand Island and Hall County during the evening hours on Saturday, August 2.

“There is a lot going on this time of year and that means the potential for increased traffic volume,” said Troop C Commander, Captain Chris Kolb. “By increasing our visibility we hope to encourage voluntary compliance with all traffic safety laws.”

Motorists are reminded to obey the posted speed limits, pay special attention in work zones, never drive impaired or distracted and always buckle up.                           

A $2,375 grant from the Nebraska Office of Highway Safety (NOHS) will help pay for overtime hours used by troopers and communication specialists during the special enforcement.

WISNER, Neb. (AP) — The small northeast Nebraska town of Wisner has hired its first city administrator.

Wisner hired Al Vacanti to be its city administrator, clerk and treasurer.

He’s replacing Barb Rabe who has been clerk and treasurer for nearly 26 years.

Rabe says Vacanti’s background as a lawyer and his experience as Scribner’s first city administrator and treasurer and clerk will help him in Wisner.

Vacanti says he enjoys city administration and will do his best for Wisner.

Part of Vacanti’s job will be helping Wisner’s volunteer mayor and city council comply with increasingly complex rules and regulations.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Prosecutors have charged another man with first-degree murder in the shooting death of an Omaha man.

19-year-old Jaquez Clifton has been charged with first-degree murder and use of a weapon to commit a felony. He was ordered held without bail Monday.

An assistant prosecutor with the Douglas County Attorney’s Office says Clifton shot and killed 59-year-old Frank Sanders at his home on July 20.

Another man, 24-year-old Absalom Scott, also faces a first-degree murder charge in the case. Twenty-nine-year-old Rico Larry has been charged with being an accessory to felony murder.

Preliminary hearings for all three men are scheduled for Aug. 25. It is unclear if they have attorneys.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Additional federal aid is being made available to Nebraska for areas affected by recent severe weather.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said in a news release Monday that the money will supplement state and local recovery efforts for areas affected in early June by severe storms, tornadoes, straight-line winds and flooding. Federal aid was made available to other areas of the state earlier this month.

Federal funding is available to state and local governments, as well as certain private nonprofit organizations, for emergency work in Burt, Butler, Cass, Hamilton, Holt, Nemaha, Pawnee, Polk, Rock, Thurston, Valley, and Washington counties.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln man has been given prison time for severely beating his infant son last year.

A district judge on Friday gave 23-year-old Anthony Souza four to five years in prison on a child abuse charge.

Police say Souza threw his six-month-old son into a bedroom in December, hitting him against a door frame and closet. The infant was found limp and unresponsive and spent several days in the hospital. The boy suffered several injuries including broken bones and skull fractures.

Souza pleaded no contest in May as part of a deal with prosecutors.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say a 19-year-old man has died after being shot in west Omaha.

Police say officers sent to check a report about a shooting a little before 9 p.m. Sunday found Joseph Morolla, who had been wounded. Police spokesman Michael Pecha (PEH’-kuh) says Morolla died overnight.

Pecha says it’s too early in the investigation to know whether Morolla’s death was a homicide.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Three people have been taken into custody after a car chase that began with gunshots from a deputy.

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office says the three were arrested after their vehicle was stopped early Monday morning on U.S. Highway 275 just inside Dodge County.

The Sheriff’s Office says in a news release that a deputy responding to a call about a suspicious vehicle northwest of Omaha spotted a car and stopped it just after 1:30 a.m. The office says that as the deputy approached the car, the driver turned it around and accelerated toward the deputy, who opened fire.

State troopers and other officers joined the chase, which continued up U.S. Highway 275 before ending southeast of Fremont.

No one in the car was injured. Neither was the deputy.