TECUMSEH, Neb. (AP) — Officials say an inmate has attacked a staff member at the state prison in Tecumseh.

The Nebraska Correctional Services Department said in a news release Thursday that the inmate used a blunt, homemade weapon to strike the staffer once in the head Wednesday evening. Other staffers soon subdued the inmate.

The department says the staffer was treated for minor injuries and released.

The department also says the names of the staffer and inmate will not be released.

Last year officials detailed a rash of attacks on corrections officers and staff at various Nebraska prisons.

SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb. (AP) — Authorities have killed a mountain lion that was found on the front porch of a home in Scottsbluff.

Scottsbluff police say the animal was first reported around 11:40 p.m. Wednesday. A Nebraska state trooper in the area talked with the person who reported the sighting and then also spotted it. It was in a field, heading east into the city.

Officers soon found it on the front porch nearby, where it was darted with a tranquilizing agent and then euthanized by a veterinarian.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission policy is to kill mountain lions found within city limits in order to ensure the safety of residents.

KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) — A 50-year-old Kearney woman has pleaded not guilty to a child abuse charge.

Online court records say Rebacca Hofaker-Zeller entered the plea last month. Her next court hearing is scheduled for March 3. The records don’t show that a trial date has been set.

A court document says a Buffalo County sheriff’s deputy arrested Hofaker-Zeller in December after day care workers discovered bruises and red marks on the face of one of her daughters. The girl and two sisters told social workers about being struck with an open hand and spanked with a belt.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Results from a monthly survey of business supply managers suggest economic conditions continue to improve in nine Midwest and Plains states.

The Mid-America Business Conditions Index report released Wednesday says the overall economic index for the region rose to 54.7 in January from 53.1 in December. It’s the highest figure since February 2015 and the third monthly increase in a row.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss oversees the survey, and he says the increases point to an improving regional manufacturing economy.

The survey results are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score above 50 suggests growth in that factor. A score below that suggests decline.

The survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma and South Dakota.

ORD, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska roads supervisor has been fired after state auditors alleged he exchanged asphalt millings for beer.

Auditors shared the allegations of the unnamed employee with Nebraska Department of Roads officials in November. The employee was relieved of his position one month later.

Auditors claim the millings were saved from a 2016 resurfacing project on Nebraska 70, northeast of Ord.

Asphalt millings are normally used for filling worn road shoulders, or are recycled for new pavement.

According to a letter from the state auditor’s office, several people in the Ord area admitted to receiving the millings for their driveways in place of gravel. At least one person says the employee allegedly “received payments of beer in exchange.”

The newspaper was unable to reach Valley County prosecutor Brandon Hanson for comment on the potential for charges.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A proposal that would help balance the state’s finances in the current budget cycle has hit a roadblock in the Nebraska Legislature.

Senators continued to debate the measure on Wednesday but adjourned for the day without voting.

Some lawmakers argued against the cuts recommended by Gov. Pete Ricketts and the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee. Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha suggested lawmakers scrap the proposal and craft a new budget.

Nebraska faces a projected $895 million revenue shortfall in the upcoming two-year budget cycle. The bill under debate would address the current fiscal year’s shortfall by imposing across-the-board cuts, taking unspent money back from departments and making withdrawals from various cash funds.

Sen. John Stinner of Gering, the Appropriations Committee chairman, says the cuts were carefully reviewed by his committee.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Pork industry experts say U.S. consumers shouldn’t worry about a bacon shortage.

The reassurance comes amid news that demand for bacon depleted frozen pork belly supplies in the U.S. to a record low for December. Pork bellies are the cut of the hog from which bacon is derived.

But the industry is confident it can boost hog production enough to avoid any serious shortages.

Steve Meyer is a pork industry economist for Express Markets Inc., which tracks industry trends for retailers and foodservice companies.

He expects pork production to increase about 3 percent this year. So if prices do climb, they should stabilize once the industry catches up.

Bottom line: A pound of bacon may cost a little more as winter wears on, but prices should stabilize by summer.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska could join eight other Republican-dominated states calling for a convention of states to pass constitutional amendments limiting federal government power.

Sen. Laura Ebke of Crete presented the proposal Wednesday to the Legislature’s Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee. It would limit the scope of the convention to focus on the size and scope of the federal government, fiscal restraint and possible term limits for U.S. senators and representatives.

Proponents argue such amendments would bring the federal government back in line with the nation’s founding principles. Critics say there’s no way to control a constitutional convention.

Either 34 states or two-thirds of both houses of Congress can call for a constitutional amendment. Thirty-eight states have to approve amendments.