LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — The University of Kansas has announced the resignation of the director of the office that investigates sexual violence reports on campus.

Jane McQueeny has resigned from her job as director of the university’s Office of Institutional Opportunity and Access. Her last day was Friday.

The office was created in 2012 to investigate reports of sexual violence and other discrimination on campus. The office also recommends disciplinary action when a student is found responsible for sexual misconduct.

The university announced last week that it is creating the new Sexual Assault Prevention and Education Center, which will be devoted to preventing sexual violence on campus. The new center will also be the central coordinating office for the university’s sexual assault prevention and education programming.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The American Civil Liberties Union is calling for civil forfeiture reforms in Nebraska to protect innocent people who have had their money or property seized.

A 16-page report from the ACLU requests that Nebraska pass a reform that only allows civil forfeitures if the property owner has been convicted of a crime.  The ACLU says it’s seeing more cases in which people who aren’t charged or do not have a criminal past are having their property taken.

Nebraska is the fifth-largest recipient of federal funds coming from civil forfeiture. The state received about $16.1 million between 2010 and 2014.

The ACLU’s report also suggests that all money forfeited be put into the state’s general fund or earmarked for education.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — State officials say a new power plant for the Kansas Statehouse and nearby office buildings will cost $3.3 million more than previously expected.  The disclosure Tuesday prompted Republican Rep. Mark Hutton of Wichita to ask officials to re-examine their plans for the new plant.

Department of Administration official Mark McGivern said the previous estimate was $13 million and is now $16.3 million.

The department plans to build the new plant on the site of a parking lot north of the Statehouse. The existing plant is at the Docking State Office Building west of the Statehouse.

The department plans to demolish the Docking building after building the new plant.

McGivern said savings on demolition costs would offset part of the extra costs from the new plant.

PILGER, Neb. (AP) — A Lutheran church in a small northeastern Nebraska community has broken ground on a new building after its previous home was destroyed by severe weather.

The June 2014 tornado damaged most of Pilger, including St. John’s Lutheran Church.

The church’s congregation and guests gathered Sunday for the groundbreaking on the new building.  Church members have used a portable building for services since the tornadoes.

The new building’s sanctuary will be able to seat 140 people, and will also have a large social hall, classrooms, two offices and a kitchen.

Church furnishings such as pews, a pulpit and a baptismal font will come from St. Peter’s Lutheran Church of Snyder, which voted to close recently.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Cleanup is underway after an estimated 90,000 gallons of sewage spilled into a St. Louis waterway.

Workers for the Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District on Monday discovered a blocked sewer that allowed sewage to spill into the River Des Peres.

Cleanup is expected to take up to three days. MSD officials are urging the public to avoid contact with the River Des Peres, but to wash thoroughly with soap if contact occurs.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Efforts to reform the juvenile justice system in Kansas are gaining new momentum with the launch this week of a grassroots campaign.

Kansans United for Youth Justice on Tuesday released a report outlining problems and proposing reforms. Kansas ranks eighth in the nation for its overuse for the confinement of youth even though the juvenile crime rate is lower than the national average.

A series of community meetings are planned across the state beginning Tuesday in Overland Park. Similar events are planned in the coming days in Ottawa, Kansas City, Wichita and Garden City.

The effort aims to end the practice of sending low and moderate risk youths to prison or out-of-home placements. It wants to shift funding away from incarceration and to local intensive rehabilitation programs.

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. (AP) — Springfield police are investigating reports of three alleged rapes at Missouri State University.

The Springfield News-Leader reports that four reported rapes triggered campus crime alerts from late August to early October.

Police spokeswoman Lisa Cox says the department’s Special Victims Unit is investigating three of the incidents. She says the investigating into a fourth incident has been suspended because of a lack of cooperation.

Cox says in the remaining cases, the alleged suspects and victims knew one another, and there’s no obvious link between any of the cases.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — A 62-year-old man recently freed from a Missouri prison where he was serving a life sentence on a marijuana-related charge wants supporters to help change marijuana laws.

Jeff Mizanskey was released recently after spending about two decades in prison. He was sentenced to life in 1994, but Gov. Jay Nixon commuted Mizanskey’s sentence to life with the possibility of parole in May.

His release followed years of lobbying by supporters who argued the sentence was too tough.

The Jefferson City News-Tribune reports Mizanskey told a chapter meeting of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws on Monday that Missouri’s marijuana laws need changing.

He also says Missourians should urge lawmakers to change the criminal justice system and reduce or eliminate the number of non-violent people in prison.

HERSHEY, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania’s most iconic chocolate maker is doubling-down on one of its most popular treats.

The Hershey Company on Tuesday announced its Hershey Kisses Deluxe.  The new Kisses, on sale Nov. 5, will be twice the size of a normal Kiss — the oversized, chocolate chips wrapped in silver foil — and feature a hazelnut center and rice crisps in the chocolate.

The bigger Kisses are wrapped in gold foil and, according to the company’s website, will be packaged in quantities ranging from 3 to 75.

The three-Kiss box will cost $1; the 75-piece gift box will be $32.  Company officials tell USA Today the innovation is the biggest since the central Pennsylvania company added almonds to the Kisses 25 years ago.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska landowners who oppose the Keystone XL pipeline are still trying to overturn a law that allowed the governor to approve the project.

That’s despite the fact that pipeline developer TransCanada is no longer relying on it.

Pipeline opponents said Monday they’re concerned that companies could use the law in the future to avoid a state commission that regulates pipelines, opting instead for a governor’s review and blessing.

Former Gov. Dave Heineman approved a Nebraska route for the Keystone XL in 2013. But the 2012 law which gave him that power is mired in court, preventing the project from moving forward.

TransCanada says it withdrew its eminent domain claims against landowners and reapplied to the commission. Spokesman Mark Cooper says the company now believes there’s no case to continue challenging the pipeline-siting law.