LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Farmers rumbling down the road in feed trucks are a common sight in Nebraska, but they may be breaking the law.  Farm implements fall into a legal gray area on the state’s roads, creating confusion among farmers and ranchers and forcing some to pay thousands of dollars in fines.

Nebraska lawmakers will wade into the debate during a legislative hearing Monday. Senator Jim Smith of Papillion has introduced a bill that would exempt several types of farm equipment from the state’s weight and load restrictions.

The rules are designed to keep heavy vehicles from causing damage. But the Nebraska Farm Bureau Federation and the Nebraska Cattlemen Association say the rules haven’t kept pace with farming equipment and trucks that have grown larger and heavier.

 

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Westar Energy is set to deploy drones to help the electric company perform a variety of tasks like pinpointing storm damage and inspecting wind turbine blades.

The Wichita Eagle reports that the utility obtained a rule exemption from the Federal Aviation Administration last week.

The utility is awaiting final approval from the FAA.

Jason Klenklen, one of Westar’s two qualified drone pilots, says using the drones to do things like inspecting utility towers and lines is safer for all involved.

Westar plans to initially focus on using the drones for emergency line inspections because they can be deployed quickly, which helps restore power faster.

Westar has been working with Kansas State University since 2013 to develop its unmanned aerial program.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Students at a Lawrence high school want to ban what has come to be known as the Confederate flag throughout the school district.

Students at Free State High School have started a petition to ban the flag and plan to present it to the Lawrence school board at an upcoming meeting.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports the move comes after school administrators told a student he could not fly the flag on the vehicle he parked in the school parking lot.

Abena Peasah, a senior at Free State and one of the students who drafted the petition, says she wants the district to ban the Confederate flag. The petition has more than 200 signatures.

Peasah says she’s working to add the proposal to the Lawrence school board’s agenda. The board’s next meeting is February 8th.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska officials say they are working to hire enough guards to staff the state’s prisons, but it remains difficult to keep workers because of strong competition for them.

The Lincoln Journal Star reports retaining guards at the prisons in Tecumseh and Lincoln continues to be a challenge.

Low staffing levels and excessive overtime were factors in last spring’s riot at the Tecumseh prison on May 10th.

Dawn Renee Smith with the state Department of Correctional Services says the state’s low unemployment and strong economy makes it hard to keep workers.

Last year the turnover rate among protective services staff increased two percentage points to nearly 31 percent.

Mike Marvin with the Nebraska public employees union says he doesn’t think staffing levels are adequate at the state’s biggest prisons.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — A $2 increase in Kansas vehicle registration fees would help pay for 75 more state troopers under a proposal in a state House committee.

The Kansas City Star reports that the Kansas Highway Patrol’s superintendent, Col. Mark Bruce, told members of the House Transportation Committee on Thursday that the funding is needed to address low staffing.

Bruce says the patrol’s 400 troopers are about 100 short of what’s considered full staffing.

He says the staffing shortage means dozens of counties have no or only one trooper assigned to them, and that the fallout includes a drop in drunken driving and speeding arrests and longer response times.

Bruce warns the patrol needs to be ready to respond to public safety emergencies such as active shooters and violent demonstrations.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers are scheduled to begin discussion of the controversial subject of school district consolidation next week.

A bill proposed by Rep. John Bradford would require districts to consolidate into countywide school districts. Bradford, a Republican from Lansing, says the bill would affect only central administrations and would not require school closings.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports any county with 10,000 or fewer students would have one countywide district. The Kansas State Department of Education says that would apply to 98 counties, 22 of which already are single-district counties.

The Kansas Association of School Boards estimates the bill would reduce school districts in the state to 132 from the current 286.

The House Education Committee is scheduled to open hearings on the bill Wednesday.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration is confirming for the first time that Hillary Clinton’s unsecured home server contained some closely guarded secrets, including material requiring one of the highest levels of classification.

The revelation comes just three days before the Iowa presidential nominating caucuses in which Clinton is a candidate.

The State Department will release more emails from Clinton’s time as secretary of state later Friday.

But The Associated Press has learned that 7 email chains are being withheld in full for containing “top secret” material.

Department officials wouldn’t describe the substance of the emails, or say if Clinton had sent any herself.

Spokesman John Kirby tells the AP that no judgment on past classification was made. But the department is looking into that, too.

BRIDGETON, Mo. (AP) — A spokesman for Lambert-St. Louis International Airport says no one was injured when a fighter jet made an emergency landing that forced the brief closure of a runway.

Jeff Lea says the Boeing F-18 jet landed safety about 6 p.m. Thursday.

Lea says the plane was having mechanical issues, and that a wire system on the runway had to be deployed to help stop the plane.

It’s not immediately clear if the plane was being flown by a Boeing employee or by someone with the military.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Two Missouri lawmakers have switched seats in the House chamber after one filed a restraining order against the other because he says they got in a fistfight.

Rep. Courtney Allen Curtis this week said Rep. Michael Butler swung at him outside a union reception over a dispute on a contested right-to-work bill. Butler has declined to comment.

Curtis was granted a restraining order against Butler. The two previously sat close to each other in the House chamber, where members vote and debate bills.

The Kansas City Star reports that House officials this week switched seating in the chamber to separate the two St. Louis-area Democrats.

Curtis was the only Democrat to vote last September in favor of enacting controversial right-to-work legislation that would have banned mandatory union fees.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Missouri Senate could debate a bill that would repeal the state’s death penalty.

A Senate panel approved the Republican-sponsored legislation Tuesday. It would end capital punishment in a state that’s executed 18 killers in the last two years.

Sen. Paul Wieland, of Imperial, is Catholic and opposes abortion. He said that motivated him to propose repealing the death penalty.

Legislation proposed by Wieland last year didn’t receive a hearing in the Republican-controlled Senate. Wieland says it’s highly unlikely the bill will pass this year, but says it’s important to discuss.

The bill now is up for a potential debate in the full Senate.