KIMBERLY HEFLING, AP Education Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — The nation’s largest teachers’ union wants Education Secretary Arne Duncan to quit.

Delegates of the National Education Association adopted a business item July 4 at its annual convention in Denver that called for his resignation. The vote underscores the long-standing tension between the Obama administration and teachers’ unions.

A tipping point for some members was Duncan’s statement last month in support of a California judge’s ruling that struck down tenure and other job protections for the state’s public school teachers. Even before that, teachers’ unions have clashed with the administration over other issues ranging from its support of charter schools to its push to use student test scores as part of evaluating teachers.

Duncan wouldn’t comment Monday to reporters while at a White House event.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Authorities estimate that about 1,000 large animals were killed by the June 16 storms that roared through northeast Nebraska, destroying more than half of Pilger.

Marty Marks of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service office in Wayne County says the toll could be 1,000 in a six-county region, plus hundreds of chickens and other poultry.

The Lincoln Journal Star says producers aren’t required to report livestock losses to the government, and businesses such as cattle feeding operations generally don’t insure individual animals.

The EF4 tornado that struck Pilger killed a 5-year-old girl in town and a motorist a few miles east of town.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Insurance Commissioner Sandy Praeger is urging Kansans who smoke or chew tobacco to check if their insurance plans cover programs to help them quit.

The U.S. Department of Labor announced in May that insurance companies and employer group health plans must cover counseling and other programs that help people quit smoking. The companies are not allowed to charge out-of-pocket costs or require prior approval for the programs.

The plans must cover at least two quitting attempts per year, which includes a 90-day supply of tobacco cessation medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration and at least four counseling sessions, whether by phone, in person or in groups.

Praeger says in a news release that some plans offer smoking cessation services and programs beyond those approved by the FDA.

 

COLUMBIA (AP) – University of Missouri administrators have decided to expand a new early alert system to all four system campuses after a pilot of the system got positive reviews.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports MU Connect will let faculty, advisers and other key staffers keep an eye on each student’s progress and identify any problems that could hinder the student’s success.

The system uses a tracking program known as Starfish that will give key people in each student’s life access to up-to-date information on grading and any notes made by the adviser, faculty members or the student.

The university’s College of Engineering implemented a pilot of MU Connect in the spring 2013 semester, and last semester administrators decided to implement it at all four campuses

WASHINGTON (AP) — Passengers at some overseas airports that offer U.S.-bound flights will be required to power on their electronic devices in order to board their flights.

The Transportation Security Administration says it’s requiring some overseas airports to have passengers turn on devices such as cellphones before boarding. It says devices that won’t power up won’t be allowed on planes, and those travelers may have to undergo additional screening.

American intelligence officials have been concerned about new al-Qaida efforts to produce a bomb that would go undetected through airport security. There is no indication that such a bomb has been created or that there’s a specific threat to the U.S.

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson recently ordered the TSA to call for extra security measures at some international airports with direct flights to the United States.

WINONA, Mo. (AP) – A murder suspect who escaped from a southeast Missouri jail while watching a fireworks show is back in custody.

Winona Police Chief Alonzo Bradwell says 35-year-old Jason McClurg of Winona was arrested without incident Sunday evening at a camper trailer near his hometown.

McClurg ran away from the Shannon County jail in Eminence Friday night when he and other inmates were taken outside to watch a fireworks show.

KYTV reports that Shannon County Sheriff Steven Blunkall says the deputy who took the inmates outside the jail to watch the fireworks was fired for violating jail policy.

JEFFERSON CITY (AP) – The Missouri insurance department is mounting a campaign against distracted driving.

The agency says that its “Mo Eyes on the Road” campaign will target parents and teenagers through social media, online and printed information and public service announcements.

The campaign addresses such distractions as texting or talking on cellphones while driving, but also eating, drinking or merely adjusting the radio.

According to the Missouri Department of Transportation, teenagers accounted for roughly 13 percent of distracted-driving-related fatalities from 2010 to 2012.

Traffic accidents also can result in higher insurance costs and the suspension of driver’s licenses.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon has signed legislation allowing law enforcement agencies to assist each other across state lines in the Kansas City metro area.

Now, the Kansas City Metro Tactical Officers Association will try to get a similar law passed in Kansas, as required by the Missouri legislation.

The measure signed by Nixon last week would let officers in nine Missouri and Kansas counties respond to requests for help across the state line for active shootings, terrorist acts or other incidents that endanger the public.

Missouri counties named in the bill are Jackson, Clay, Platte, Cass and Ray. The Kansas counties are Johnson, Wyandotte, Leavenworth and Miami.

The mutual aid arrangement would be established only if the Kansas Legislature passes a similar law, or the Kansas governor issues an executive order.

INDEPENDENCE, Kan- A fatal head on accident occurred just before 10 p.m. on Sunday in Montgomery County.

The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2013 Toyota Tundra driven by Corey Daniel Legaard, 21, Kansas City was southbound on U.S. 169 one mile south of the U.S. 160 Junction.

The Toyota went left of center and hit a northbound semi-truck head on.

Legaard was transported to Mercy Hospital in Independence where he died. The KHP reported that the semi-truck driver Justin Alexander Young, 37, Jacksonville, FL., was possibly injured.

The KHP report indicated it was unclear if Legaard was wearing a seat belt at the time of the accident.

KANSAS CITY- A teenager was injured in a Sunday accident in Wyandotte County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2010 Chevy Cobalt driven by Janett A. Espino-Alvarado, 19, Kansas City, was southbound on Interstate 635 at Mill Street.

The vehicle left the roadway and went into the embankment and stuck guardrail.

Espino-Alvarado was transported to KU Medical Center.

The KHP reported she was properly restrained at the time of the accident.