CHAPPELL, Neb. (AP) — A Deuel County sheriff’s deputy who was shot four times while helping serve arrest warrants is fighting to regain his county-provided health insurance.

Hutchinson was injured Dec. 3, while trying to arrest a suspect in Big Springs. Authorities said the suspect came out of his home and shot Hutchinson.

The Omaha World-Herald reports that county commissioners took no action Tuesday on a request from Deputy Mike Hutchinson for the county to pay for his health insurance while he continues to recover from his injuries. Hutchinson was dropped from the county’s group plan May 31.

According to the Nebraska Association of County Officials, which provides the county’s group health plan, Hutchinson’s “reduction in hours of employment” triggered the termination of his coverage.

Commissioners are set to consider the issue June 21.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — State officials say an invasive insect that kills ash trees has been confirmed for the first time in Nebraska.

The Nebraska Department of Agriculture says Wednesday the beetle was found in a Pulaski Park tree in Omaha. With Nebraska added to the list, there are now 27 states where the pest has been confirmed since 2002.

Department Director Greg Ibach says the beetle’s presence in the state is not a surprise considering nearby states that already have infestations, including Iowa, Missouri and Kansas.

The insects are native to Asia and were first spotted in the U.S. in 2002, when they showed up in the Detroit area. Once infected, trees typically die within five years, though healthy trees can be treated to resist the bug.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A state official said the Kansas Legislature’s special session on education funding will cost at least $43,000 a day.

Legislative Administrative Services Director Thomas Day said Wednesday that lawmakers’ salaries and expense payments will be most of the cost. He said the Legislature would operate with a skeleton staff.

Gov. Sam Brownback called a special session that will begin June 23 to respond to a state Supreme Court order last month.

The court rejected changes in school finance laws made earlier this year. It warned that schools will not be able to open after June 30 unless legislators make the education funding system fairer to poor districts.

When lawmakers are in session, they receive $88.66 in salary and $140 for expenses each day, for a total of $228.66.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A western Missouri county has gotten back more than half of the $48,200 it lost after one of its officials fell for an email scam.

Platte County Treasurer Rob Willard was duped last week into sending a wire transfer to a bank in Florida at what he thought was the request of Presiding Commissioner Ron Schieber.

But Schieber didn’t make the request and Willard was caught up in an internet scam that has victimized several other counties in Missouri and Kansas.

Willard said Wells Fargo transferred just over $28,000 on Monday afternoon into the county’s general fund.

Other financial institutions and law enforcement agencies are involved in the effort to recover the remaining funds.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A circus has agreed to pay a $16,000 fine to settle a federal complaint involving elephant incidents at shows in Missouri and Pennsylvania.

U.S. Department of Agriculture records show Oklahoma-based Carson & Barnes Circus last month resolved the department’s April 2015 complaint alleging animal welfare violations.

The complaint says three elephants briefly escaped during a March 2014 circus near St. Louis. One elephant sustained scrapes and cuts and another had superficial lacerations.

The complaint also details how elephants were watered too close to a circus’ public area in Altoona, Pennsylvania, enabling a child to pose for a photo behind one. Federal regulations mandate for sufficient distance or barriers between the animals and the public.

Carson & Barnes didn’t return messages Wednesday seeking comment.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — A man is dead after an early morning shootout with federal drug agents who went to a Kansas City home to serve a warrant.

Kansas City Police Capt. Tye Grant says the man opened fire at Drug Enforcement Administration task force agents after they entered the home around 3 a.m. Wednesday.

Grant says the DEA agents returned fire and hit the man in the leg as they backed away to a secure area.

Agents fired tear gas into the home around 7 a.m. after a four-hour standoff, and just before 7:30 a.m. the man came out of the house and pointed a gun at officers.

Grant says the officers feared for their safety and shot the man, whose identity has not been released.

No officers were injured in the incident.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has appointed three members to the University of Missouri’s Board of Curators.

Nixon said Wednesday the newly filled nine-member board now can select a new president after student protests led to the former president’s ouster last year.

The announcement comes weeks after lawmakers adjourned. Senate President Pro Tem Ron Richard had said lawmakers wouldn’t confirm appointments.

Richard cited lawmaker frustrations with the system, which garnered national attention following Columbia protests over what some saw as administrators’ indifference to racial issues.

The appointees can serve until January, when senators will decide whether to confirm them.

Appointees include former Ameren CEO Thomas Voss, St. Louis Community College District attorney Mary Nelson, and former University of Missouri basketball star Jon Sundvold.

Nixon appointed Mizzou’s Gene Graham as student representative.

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — A federal judge is delaying a ruling on a bid by Planned Parenthood attorneys to prevent Kansas from halting the organization’s Medicaid funding.

U.S. District Judge Julie Robinson didn’t indicate when she might rule on the state health department’s action, while a lawsuit by two Planned Parenthood affiliates proceeds.

Kansas has said it plans to cut off funding July 7 because the health provider performs abortions, though attorneys for the state suggested Tuesday it may not be until September to allow for an administrative appeal.

Federal courts have blocked similar attempts to cut off Medicaid funding in other states.

Planned Parenthood argues the Kansas is acting out of “animus” toward the organization.

The state calls court intervention premature because Medicaid hasn’t yet been cut off.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Authorities say a leaking railroad tank car has left a 25,000-gallon trail of animal fat along tracks crossing Iowa. The Iowa Natural Resources Department says in a news release Tuesday the leak ran about 200 miles, from Missouri Valley in western Iowa’s Harrison County to Fairfax in Linn County. The leak was discovered Monday in Cedar Rapids.

The department says the fat leaked out apparently because a cap came off the bottom valve of the tanker.

The biggest spill was found in Boone, where an estimated 1,500 gallons leaked where the train stopped for 15 minutes.

The department is investigating the incident and monitoring the cleanup. It says none of the fat was found to have reached any surface water, where it could pose a threat to aquatic life.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A senior member of the Iowa Senate says he has suspended his Republican Party membership to protest “racist remarks” made by the party’s presumptive nominee Donald Trump.

The Des Moines Register reports Sen. David Johnson, of Ocheyedan, says Tuesday that he changed his voter registration from Republican to “no party.”

The senator from northwest Iowa says he would “not stand silent” if the Republican Party “buckles under the racial bias of a bigot,” referring to Trump.

Johnson’s criticism was prompted by Trump’s comments that a judge ruling in a lawsuit involving Trump University was biased because of his Mexican heritage.

Johnson says Republican leaders have been too timid in condemning Trump.

He says he hasn’t decided whether he will stop caucusing with Republicans in the Iowa Senate.