(AP) — Authorities say an 8-year-old boy has died after he was run over by a float at the end of a Fourth of July parade in central Oklahoma.

Edmond Police Officer James Hamm says the boy was riding on a martial arts group’s float at the city’s LibertyFest parade on Thursday morning. Hamm says the boy fell or got down from the float at the end of the parade and was struck by the same vehicle.

Police spokeswoman Jenny Monroe says the boy’s father was driving the float.

Hamm says the incident was an unfortunate, freak accident.

Edmond is just north of Oklahoma City.

Thousands of spectators typically line the parade route as bands, floats, antique cars and marching groups pass by.

(AP) — Two young girls, their mother and a man are recovering from injuries they received in a fireworks accident west of Fremont.

The Dodge County sheriff said that the girls, ages 2 and 9, and mother suffered injuries to their faces when an improvised firework exploded Wednesday night.

Sheriff Steve Hespen says people were taking apart mortar shells and packing the powder into a cannon. A stick or wooden rod used to pack the powder ended up serving as a projectile when something ignited the powder, sending wooden shrapnel out from the firework.

An adult male also was hurt. The four were taken to a hospital, but details on their conditions were not immediately available.

(AP) — Paul Adams, a Nebraska veteran who served as a Tuskegee Airman during World War II, has died. He was 92.

Adams’ son, Michael Adams, tells the Lincoln Journal Star (https://bit.ly/17W1y4O) that his father died Sunday.

A native of Greenville, S.C., Paul Adams joined the Army after graduating from South Carolina State University and flew with the 332nd Fighter Group. The Tuskegee Airmen broke racial barriers, becoming the first black aviators in the U.S. military.

The military transferred Adams to Lincoln in 1962. He retired a year later and began teaching industrial arts at Lincoln High School in 1964. His son says Adams also taught what likely was the first Black History class in the district. Adams retired from teaching in 1982.

Funeral services will be held Saturday.

(AP) — The state had lifted a warning advising people not to swim or drink water Lone Star Lake in Fillmore County.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services says there are currently no health alerts for any lakes in Nebraska.

Last month, the department issued the warning for Lone Star Lake because it had a high level of microcystin, a toxin released by strains of blue-green algae.

Skin exposed to the toxin can develop rashes and blisters. Someone who drinks water containing the toxin is at risk for headaches, nausea and muscular pain.

Lone Star is the only lake this year to go under alert. Officials began conducting weekly tests at 50 public lakes across the state in early May, and the tests will continue throughout the summer.

(AP) — Former state Sen. Arlene Nelson of Grand Island has been named to the Nebraska Democratic Party’s Hall of Fame.

Nelson received the honor during the Morrison Exon Dinner in LaVista last weekend.

Nelson represented the 35th District from 1985 to 1993, serving on the Judiciary, Education and Agriculture committees.

While in office, she helped craft legislation that created College Park, a consortium of postsecondary educational institutions based in Grand Island. She also chaired the state retirement system committee.

Nelson says she was surprised to learn of the honor, which she received before about 500 people attending the dinner.

(AP) — As the nation celebrates the Fourth of July, the Statue of Liberty will reopen to the public for the first time since Superstorm Sandy swamped Lady Liberty’s little island.

A large crowd is expected for the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Federal officials and New York’s mayor are slated to attend. The first boats leave for the island from New York and New Jersey at 8:30 a.m.

Some repairs to brick walkways and docks are still under way, but much of the work has been completed since Sandy swamped most of the national landmark’s 12-acre site.

In Arizona, sober tributes will be held for 19 firefighters who died earlier this week battling a blaze near Yarnell. The city of Boston prepares to host the first large gathering since the marathon bombing that killed three and injured hundreds.

(AP) — Nebraska opponents of the Keystone XL pipeline are planning to use rocking chairs in an effort to build support for their cause.

A group calling itself the Grandmothers’ Apple Pie Brigade unveiled a campaign to stage rocking-chair sit-ins in public places to protest the project, and to raise awareness of local environmental issues. Opponents are also planning to launch a website,www.applepiebrigade.org , with guidelines for sit-ins in parks, public squares, and other venues.

Opponents are urging President Barack Obama to reject a federal permit for the project, which would carry oil from Canada to Texas Gulf Coast refineries.

Pipeline developer TransCanada says the project has undergone numerous state and federal reviews, and will be built to safety standards that exceed federal requirements.

(AP) — Police in Lincoln continue to search for answers after a mentally disabled man was beaten to death last weekend.

Officers found 20-year-old Nathan Walton, known as Shane, two blocks away from his house early Saturday.

Investigators think his attacker, or attackers, used a club-like weapon to repeatedly beat Walton on the head.

Walton was taken off life support Tuesday night.

Police say that although they don’t yet have much information, they’re looking for a full-sized red pickup with a ladder rack.

(AP) — Police in western Iowa are asking the public’s help in finding a man they say hit an officer with a stolen car and is facing charges that include attempted murder.

Andrew Brown was being chased by the Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department on June 25 in a vehicle allegedly stolen from Omaha.

Council Bluffs police officers attempted to disable Brown’s vehicle with stop sticks. But officials say Brown directed the vehicle toward several officers before striking one.

The officer was flipped in the air and against a utility pole before landing in a ditch. He was taken to a local hospital for treatment of minor injuries and released.

Brown then abandoned the vehicle and fled on foot.

(AP) — A Grand Island official arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence after a hit-and-run crash last month has entered a written plea of not guilty.

51-year-old Jaye Monter, the finance director in Grand Island, was scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday in Hall County Court.

Monter instead opted for a written plea of not guilty while also requesting a jury trial.

Monter was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving following a hit and run accident on Highway 2 on June 7.

A Hall County Sheriff’s Deputy witnessed the accident. He says Monter failed to stop after he pulled her over.

Monter’s pre-trial hearing is scheduled for September 19.