LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have lifted a quarantine from a northeastern Nebraska chicken egg farm because follow-up tests did not confirm the presence of avian flu.

The Nebraska Agriculture Department imposed the quarantine on the Knox County farm May 27 after a preliminary test indicated the probably presence of the bird flu. The flock of 3 million birds was tested daily since, and the department says all the tests came back negative.

The department said in its weekly flu report that flu has been confirmed at five Nebraska operations and that nearly 5 million chickens are being destroyed to help control outbreak. The U.S. Department of Agriculture says the virus has affected more than 48 million birds nationally — mostly turkeys and egg-laying chickens.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas Board of Regents is limiting increases in tuition and fees at state universities this fall to 3.6 percent after strictly interpreting a cap imposed by the Legislature.

The board’s unanimous decision Thursday came a day after it told universities to revise their proposals on tuition and fees.

All universities initially proposed limiting tuition increases for undergraduates from Kansas to 3.6 percent, but some proposed increases for non-Kansas students or graduate students were as high as 6 percent.

Some proposed fee increases also would have boosted total tuition and fee costs for some Kansas undergraduates by 4.9 percent.

The Legislature’s cap of 3.6 percent specifically applies to tuition, but several regents said it is more in line with lawmakers’ wishes to limit fee increases as well.

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is making it easier for a farmer to use his regularly registered vehicles for agricultural operations, while still giving him regulatory exemptions he enjoys on vehicles registered only for farm use.

That is because after July 1 Kansas will offer an expanded definition of “covered farm vehicles” that brings the state in compliance with federal law.

The change allows farmers to use regularly registered vehicles to transport agricultural commodities, livestock, machinery or supplies within 150 miles from their house. Under the expanded definition, those vehicles would still be exempt from motor vehicle safety regulations requiring a commercial driver’s license, logbooks, drug testing or medical qualifications.

The Kansas Department of Revenue website has a form farmers can fill out and keep in the vehicle.

ST. CHARLES, Mo. (AP) — The number of heroin deaths continues to grow in the St. Louis region.

KMOX Radio reports that 113 people died of heroin overdoses in St. Louis County last year, 126 in the city and 30 in St. Charles County.

Experts say there are several factors, including easy access to the drug and lack of awareness about the danger. Heroin today is much more pure than in years past and users often don’t know the strength of the drug when they inject it.

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas’ new education commissioner says employers across the state are telling him that students need to be learning more life skills in school.

Randy Watson, who will become education commissioner July 1, made his comments Wednesday at a meeting with employers and educators in Lawrence.

Employers at the meeting said students need to learn life skills such as punctuality, work ethic and problem solving along with their academic studies. Watson says it’s clear some changes need to be made in the focus of K-12 education.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports the gathering was the last of several sessions the education department held across Kansas. Input from the sessions will be used as the Kansas Board of Education creates a new strategic plan for K-12 education.

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (AP) — Police say a suburban Kansas City music instructor charged with child molestation has been arrested in California.

Overland Park police said they were notified Thursday that 28-year-old Sean Dow was arrested in the Los Angeles area. Further details about the arrest were not immediately released.

Dow is charged with sexually abusing four female students at a Shawnee music store where he taught music.

He was out on bond but confined to his home in Overland Park. Police say he removed an electronic monitoring device and fled on Saturday.

Police say they are unsure when Dow will be returned to Kansas.

COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) — The University of Missouri Panhellenic Association is proposing an education plan to help sororities prevent sexual assaults on campus.

The association says the plan will be used by sororities beginning in the fall semester. It will present the plan during a summit on Saturday designed for Greek leaders and members to discuss how to prevent sexual violence.

The Panhellenic Association is an umbrella group for campus sororities. Spokeswoman Carolyn Welter says the plan uses resources already available on campus, with additions.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports the plan includes a yearly education for sorority members and encourages peer educators. It also would require sorority chapter leaders to be trained to handle reports of sexual violence in their chapters.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The U.S. Department of Agriculture says it’s expanding a program to develop the use of plant-based plastic, rubber and fiber used in manufacturing.

The USDA is offering loan guarantees initially designed for ethanol plants to companies that replace petroleum-based materials with plant-based plastics and other components used in manufacturing a wide range of products from Coca Cola bottles to seat cushions used in Ford cars.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says a report released Wednesday shows bio-based industries can boost the rural economy by providing new jobs and returning manufacturing to the U.S.

The report, mandated by the 2014 farm bill, was written by professors at Duke University and North Carolina State University. It says plant-based manufacturing contributed $369 billion to the nation’s economy in 2013 and created four million jobs.

NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. (AP) — A man believed to have been the oldest Nebraskan had died at the age of 110 in Nebraska City. Gude Funeral Homes says Mark Behrends died Saturday at a nursing home. Services were held Wednesday. Behrends was born on May 16th, 1905. He farmed for years and worked for a farm implement dealer.

He married Irene Schreiner in 1930, and she died in 1983. He’d lived on his own until turning 106.

According to the Nebraska Health Care Association and verified by E.A. Kral of Wilber, who tracks Nebraska’s oldest residents, Behrends was one of three people living in Nebraska to have reached age 107 and older.

Behrends used to tell people that his secret to longevity was love and a daily can of beer.