LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska law enforcement agencies are slated to get another training tool to help officers who are working on child abuse cases.

Attorney General Doug Peterson announced Wednesday that all of Nebraska’s law enforcement agencies will receive an eight-part DVD series with instructions on how to handle reported cases of child abuse.

The DVDs and informational notebooks are aimed at new officers, with lessons such as the proper way to gather evidence and interview children. The series also discusses the role of Nebraska’s child advocacy centers and protective services hotline.

Peterson says the materials are intended for officers who have been hired but not yet completed all of their formal training.

The project is a joint effort of law enforcement groups, municipalities and the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The mother of a woman who was murdered in a 2002 Norfolk bank robbery is gathering signatures for Nebraska’s death penalty referendum campaign.

Vivian Tuttle will collect signatures at the Scotts Bluff County courthouse in Gering on Thursday. Tuttle is the mother of Evonne Tuttle, a customer who was fatally shot during the botched robbery. Three of the men involved are on death row.

The group Nebraskans for the Death Penalty has also received help from the parents of Andrea Kruger, one of four people killed by Nikko Jenkins in Omaha 2013. Jenkins was convicted in last year but has not been sentenced.

Nebraskans for the Death Penalty has to collect at least 57,609 signatures from registered voters by Aug. 27 to place the issue on the 2016 ballot.

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission is accusing United Parcel Service Inc. of discriminating against employees who wear beards or long hair for religious reasons.

The EEOC sued the Atlanta-based shipping company on Wednesday in federal court in Brooklyn.

The lawsuit says UPS prohibits men who interact with customers or who hold supervisor positions from growing beards or hair below the collar. It accuses the company of violating federal civil rights law by not making exceptions for religion.

The EEOC says in one case, a bearded Muslim employee was told he would have to shave to get a driver’s job. It says he was told, “God would understand” if he shaved.

UPS denied the accusations in a statement on Wednesday.

NEW YORK (AP) — Health officials say the geographic areas where Lyme disease is a bigger danger have grown dramatically.

U.S. cases remain concentrated in the Northeast and upper Midwest. But now more areas in those regions are considered high risk.

A new report shows 260 counties where the risk of catching Lyme disease from tick bites is at least twice the national average, up from 130 a decade earlier.

Lyme disease is most common in wooded suburban and far suburban counties. Scientists aren’t sure why high-risk areas are expanding, but it likely has something to do with development and other changes that cause the mice, deer and ticks that carry the bacteria to move.

The article was published online Wednesday in a journal, Emerging Infectious Diseases.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Court of Appeals has ruled that a former prisoner who was sexually assaulted by a guard can sue the corrections department for retaliating against him after he reported the incident.

The court on Tuesday reinstated part of a lawsuit filed by the 33-year-old ex-inmate. The guard, Anthony Hansen, pleaded guilty to sexual abuse of an inmate in May 2012.

Court papers say Hansen pressured the inmate into meeting him in a commons area at the Omaha Correctional Center and sexually assaulted him. The inmate says that after he reported the assault, he was placed in segregation and eventually transferred to a maximum-security prison.

The appeals court upheld a judge’s dismissal of claims alleging that the state was negligent in hiring and supervising Hansen and in protecting the inmate.

(Kearney, Neb.)- The Nebraska State Patrol (NSP), in conjunction with the Kearney Police Department and the Buffalo County Sheriff’s Office, will conduct two nights of special enforcement efforts Friday and Saturday, July 17-18, in Kearney.

The special enforcement designed to reduce the potential for serious injury and fatality crashes is planned to coincide with the 28^th annual Kearney Cruise Nite. The event held Wednesday–Sunday, July 15-19, draws hundreds of classic car enthusiasts together for four days of fun and festivities.

The special enforcement will include high visibility patrols and vehicle checks during the evening and early morning hours of Friday and Saturday, July 17-18.

“Whenever we get a lot of people and automobiles together in one place there is the potential for traffic congestion and crashes,” said Captain Chris Kolb, Commander Troop C-Grand Island. “We want everyone to enjoy themselves and to do so in a safe, responsible manner, by complying with all traffic safety laws.”

In 2014, troopers made arrests and issued citations and warnings for Driving While Intoxicated (1), Minor in Possession of Alcohol (17), Open Container (2), Misdemeanor Drug Possession (7), No Seat Belt (9), and Child Restraint Violation (3).

A $10,950 grant from the Nebraska Office of Highway Safety (NOHS) will help to pay for overtime hours for troopers and communication specialists during the two night special enforcement.

GERING, Neb. (AP) — A Minatare man accused of violently sexually assaulting a 3-year-old girl has been found competent to stand trial.

29-year-old Jacob Summerville will stand trial in November on first-degree sexual assault of a child and intentional child abuse resulting in serious injury.

The girl was taken to a Scottsbluff hospital in March with bruises, a bite mark on her leg and significant internal injuries, and doctors determined she had been sexually assaulted.

Police arrested Summerville, who had been babysitting the girl when she was hurt. Police say Summerville told officers he had only spanked the girl.

An attorney for Summerville, Sarah Newell with the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy, did not immediately return a phone message left Tuesday seeking comment.

DOUGLAS, Wyo. (AP) — Authorities have released the name of a motorcyclist who died after he hit a deer in eastern Wyoming.

The Wyoming Highway Patrol says 58-year-old Meddie Cote, of Cozad, Nebraska, was riding on U.S. Highway 18/20 about 3 miles east of Orin Junction and Interstate 25 when he hit the deer Friday morning.

Cote and his passenger, 57-year-old Joyce Cote, were thrown from the motorcycle. Joyce Cote’s condition has not been released.

Investigators say both were wearing helmets at the time of the crash.