LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A state senator says Nebraska should keep children safe by requiring seat belts on school buses and mandating car seats for children younger than 8 years old.

Sen. Robert Hilkemann of Omaha told a legislative committee on Monday that Nebraska must update its laws to fit new car safety technology. A third bill he introduced would allow police officers to write tickets for drivers with unrestrained children even if they are not violating any other traffic laws.

Child passenger safety instructors support the bills. They say motor vehicle accidents are a leading cause of death for children and seat belts and car seats reduce that risk.

The Nebraska Association of School Boards opposes the school bus seat belt measure because it does not include additional funding.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A struggling farm economy could mean more budget challenges for Nebraska lawmakers this year, based on new state estimates.

Members of the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board offered a gloomy outlook for agriculture over the next few years as they set new revenue projections on Monday.

The board’s projections will leave lawmakers with a projected $288 million revenue shortfall in the upcoming two-year budget.

Lawmakers have developed a plan to reduce their original $900 million shortfall to roughly $134 million. Because of the board’s new estimates, however, that projected shortfall will now grow to $288 million.

Board members say Omaha and Lincoln’s economies are faring well, but low commodity prices continue to hurt agriculture, the state’s largest industry. Board member David Ochsner says he’s concerned the trend may continue.

CHICAGO (AP) — An influential doctors group is beefing up warnings about marijuana’s potential harms for teens amid increasingly lax laws and attitudes on pot use.

Many parents use the drug and think it’s OK for their kids, but “we would rather not mess around with the developing brain,” said Dr. Seth Ammerman.

The advice comes in a new report from the American Academy of Pediatrics, published Monday in Pediatrics. The group opposes medical and recreational marijuana use for kids. It says emphasizing that message is important because most states have legalized medical use for adults, and many have decriminalized or legalized adults’ recreational use.

Those trends have led parents to increasingly ask doctors about kids’ use, said Ammerman, a Stanford University pediatrics professor who co-wrote the report.

“Parents will say, ‘I use it moderately and I’m fine with it, so it’s really benign and not a problem if my kid uses it,'” he said.

Doctors need to know how to respond to that thinking, and parents and teens need to know the risks, Ammerman said.

POTENTIAL HARMS

The brain continues to develop until the early 20s, raising concerns about the potential short- and long-term effects of a mind-altering drug. Some studies suggest that teens who use marijuana at least 10 times a month develop changes in brain regions affecting memory and the ability to plan. Some changes may be permanent, the report says.

Frequent use starting in the early teen years may lower IQ scores, and some studies have shown that starting marijuana use at a young age is more likely to lead to addiction than starting in adulthood. Not all teen users develop these problems and some may be more vulnerable because of genetics or other factors.

MEDICAL VERSUS RECREATIONAL USE

Solid research on medical marijuana’s effects in children and teens is lacking, although some studies have suggested it may benefit kids with hard-to-treat seizures. The report says other potential benefits, doses and effects are mostly unknown.

Recreational use is illegal for those under age 21 even in states that allow adult use. Parents should avoid using marijuana in front of their kids and should keep all marijuana products stored out of kids’ sight, the academy says. Some young children who accidentally swallowed their parents’ pot-containing cookies or drinks have landed in the emergency room for mostly minor symptoms although some developed breathing problems.

WHO’S USING

Government data show that almost 40 percent of U.S. high school students have tried marijuana, about 20 percent are current users and close to 10 percent first tried it before age 13. Use has increased in recent years among those aged 18 and older but not among young teens. Still, kids aged 12-17 increasingly think that marijuana use is not harmful.

Dr. Sheryl Ryan, a Yale University pediatrics professor and lead author of the academy report, said marijuana “is the drug of choice” for many of her teen patients in New Haven, Connecticut. Some think daily use is safe, noting that their parents or grandparents smoked pot in college and turned out OK. But today’s marijuana is much more potent and potentially more risky, Ryan said.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Federal authorities have accused a 44-year-old Scottsbluff woman of committing bank fraud while she was the manager of a credit union.

The indictment filed last week lists six counts against Christine Darley, alleging fraud between August 2010 and June 12, 2012. She was the manager of Panhandle Federal Credit Union at the time.

Darley’s husband, Phil Darley, told The Associated Press on Monday the allegations are not true and that his wife would fight the charges.

Court records contend she took credit union money and deposited it into her accounts there and at a local bank. Prosecutors say her actions resulted in a loss to the credit union of more than $200,000.

Her initial court appearance is scheduled for March 10 at U.S. District Court in Lincoln.

BROKEN BOW, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have captured a prisoner who stole a court transport van when it stopped in Broken Bow.

Police Chief Steve Scott said the man was found in a field around 10:30 a.m. Monday, about seven miles south of the Custer County community. Scott identified the man as 28-year-old Richard Coons.

Scott says Coons was being driven from the state prisons department’s Diagnostic and Evaluation Center in Lincoln to Valentine for a hearing when the van driver stopped at a fast-food restaurant and went inside. Scott says the driver apparently left the van running, which let Coons get into the driver’s seat and drive away. The van was found empty south of town.

Court records say Coons was scheduled for a preliminary hearing later Monday in Cherry County Court.