LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — An eastern Kansas sunflower farm was so popular on Labor Day that law enforcement closed access to it after cars were backed up several miles to get a glimpse of the state’s botanical symbol.

The Grinter farm in Leavenworth County has drawn huge weekend crowds as the 40 acres of sunflowers reaches its peak, which is in late August and early September.

But with a combination of nice weather and the holiday, so many cars lined up along U.S. 40/24 between Lawrence and Tonganoxie that the county sheriff closed off access in mid-afternoon.

A message left on the farm’s Facebook page apologized for those who drove a long way to see the sunflowers before being turned away. It encouraged visitors to return this week.

BISMARCK, N.D. (AP) — The company building the $3.8 billion Dakota Access oil pipeline says in a court filing that it opposes the Standing Rock Sioux tribe’s request for a temporary work stoppage in North Dakota.

The tribe wants a federal judge to halt construction in the southern part of the state to prevent the destruction of sacred and culturally significant sites. The request came after Saturday’s skirmish between pipeline workers and protesters.

A hearing is scheduled Tuesday in Washington, D.C.

Attorneys for Energy Transfer Partners filed court documents Tuesday denying that workers have destroyed any cultural sites.

The Army Corps of Engineers said in court documents that it won’t oppose the tribe’s request in the interest of “preserving peace.”

The judge is weighing a broader challenge to federal permits granted for the pipeline, and has said he’ll rule by Friday.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Department of Correctional Services says three people have been treated for possible smoke inhalation after a fire broke out in a cell at a Lincoln prison.

A statement from the department says the fire was reported at the Lincoln Correctional Center around 10:05 p.m. Monday.

Battalion Chief Jim Bopp of the Lincoln Fire Department tells the Omaha World-Herald the fire was out of as 11 p.m.

The statement says all inmates in the unit were evacuated. It says as a precaution, two inmates and one staffer were being treated for possible smoke inhalation.

The statement gave no further details, and corrections officials didn’t immediately return messages from The Associated Press.

The fire comes after a disturbance with inmates last month sent nine employees to the hospital.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — A University of Missouri assistant communications professor fired for her conduct during student protests late last year has a new job with a university in Washington state.

The Kansas City Star reports that Melissa Click has been hired as a lecturer at Gonzaga University in Spokane.

Click was fired in February after a videotaped confrontation in which she called for “some muscle” to remove a student videographer from a protest area in November on the University of Missouri’s Columbia campus. The video went viral.

As dean of Gonzaga’s College of Arts and Sciences, Elisabeth Mermann-Jozwiak, says Gonzaga officials knew of Click’s recent history and were confident in welcoming her to the university.

Click was hired for a one-year, non-tenure-track position as a lecturer in Gonzaga’s communication studies department.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — The Missouri Department of Conservation plans mandatory inspections of deer killed in 29 counties during the opening weekend of the November firearms season as part of an effort to battle a deadly deer disease. The department has established a “Chronic Waste Disease Management Zone” in northern and central Missouri for the weekend of Nov. 12-13, the busiest period for deer hunting in Missouri.

It is the state’s first-ever mandatory testing for chronic wasting disease, which produces holes in brain tissue and causes the animals to die. There is no cure.

Since 2001, 33 cases of chronic wasting disease have been confirmed — 21 in Macon County, 9 in Adair County, and one each in Cole, Franklin and Linn counties. The zone includes those counties and neighboring areas.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Omaha city officials say they’re working on a panhandling ordinance to address a problem that some people believe has gotten worse. Omaha television station KETV-TV reports that city officials say they’re hearing about the problem frequently.

City prosecutor Matt Kuhse says he’s working on a panhandling ordinance that he hopes the city council can vote on by the end of the year. Kuhse says the ordinance will need to balance what the community wants with what the constitution and federal courts have said about panhandling.

Steve Frazee, senior program director at Open Door Mission, a local shelter, says giving a panhandler money is likely not going to take care of the needs they have.

O’FALLON, Mo. (AP) — Police say a teenager is dead after walking into the path of a tractor-trailer on Interstate 70 near St. Louis.

The Missouri State Highway Patrol says Ethan Brumbeloe of O’Fallon was hit about 5:45 p.m. Sunday while on a westbound lane of the freeway Sunday in St. Charles County.

He later was pronounced dead at a hospital. It’s not immediately clear why Brumbeloe was on the freeway. The incident forced the closure of the westbound lanes for about two hours.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — Police in Kansas City, Kansas, are trying to solve who set fire on a school playground, damaging tens of thousands of dollars of equipment.

KMBC-TV reports that equipment including slides and climbing structures at Stony Point North Elementary School was burned over the weekend.

Officials say the playground’s newest section featuring equipment for children with disabilities wasn’t damaged.

As the investigation continues, the school is trying to raise the estimated $50,000 it will take to replace the playground.

There was no immediate word Monday about any arrests or charges.