PERU, Neb. (AP) — Two brothers who created a chain of interstate truck stops have pledged $500,000 to renovate a football stadium at Peru State College.

Lee and Bill Sapp of the Sapp Bros. Travel Centers offered the donation for the Oak Bowl Stadium renovation project. Officials say the pledge represents the largest non-estate gift in the college’s history.

The brothers are making the donation to honor their mother, Emilie Hubka Sapp, and sisters Veloura Sapp Barnard and Zelma Sapp Drake. All attended Peru State and taught in Nebraska country schools.

The project is also expected to receive $7.5 million from the state, which lawmakers and Gov. Dave Heineman approved this year. Peru State is required to raise private money for the project to qualify for the available state aid.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — No fireworks will be allowed in any state park in Nebraska on July 4. It’s just too dry and the fire risk is too high.

The Nebraska Games and Parks Commission announced the ban on Monday. It includes the seven state recreation areas that typically allow fireworks — Branched Oak, Memphis, Fort Kearny, Fremont, Two Rivers, Pawnee and Wagon Train.

Officials urge campers and visitors to be careful with fire, and properly dispose of charcoal and douse all campfires before leaving.

Firefighters have been fighting 11 fires in the state, all reported after a dry lightning storm on Saturday. A fire has destroyed about 1,000 acres in the Nebraska National Forest in the Sandhills in the north-central part of the state.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — An overhaul of the watchdog agency that monitors Nebraska’s foster care cases has taken effect.

The new Foster Care Review Office announced Monday that it has replaced the 30-year-old Nebraska Foster Care Review Board.

The board was created as a watchdog for the Department of Health and Human Services, to address concerns that too many children were being taken from homes and kept as state wards for too long. But critics say board members had conflicts of interest, because some worked for child welfare agencies that receive funding from the department.

The new law by Omaha Sen. Bob Krist dissolved the board and created a new office and advisory committee. The law bans committee members from having a financial interest in the child welfare system.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska’s corn, soybean and wheat crops are all ahead of schedule because of the warm spring, but the recent triple-digit heat is hurting the quality of those crops.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Monday that the temperatures last week registered 3 degrees above normal in the northeast and 9 degrees above normal in the Panhandle.

As a result, soil moisture levels are only about 21 percent adequate instead of the average of 85 percent adequate or surplus.

The corn crop is about 11 days ahead of average with 25 percent of the corn in the pollination stage. About one quarter of the soybean crop is also blooming.

The wheat harvest is about three weeks ahead of schedule and 69 percent complete.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln man who assaulted a pregnant woman has been sentenced to a year in jail.

Local media says 26-year-old Isaiah Nevins was charged last November. Police say he assaulted the woman, who was eight months pregnant, and threatened to use a stun gun on her.

Nevins also faced a drug charge.

Nevins pleaded no contest to third-degree assault on a pregnant woman on Monday and was sentenced to a year in jail. He pleaded guilty to attempted possession of methamphetamine and was given six months in jail.

PONCA, Neb. (AP) — A man has pleaded guilty to setting fires in 2010 in Dixon County in northeast Nebraska.

Iowa media reports  31-year-old Ahren Ferris, of Coleridge, pleaded guilty last week to one count of second-degree arson and three counts of criminal mischief.

Sentencing is set for Aug. 27 in Dixon County District Court in Ponca.

Ferris was accused of setting fire to outdoor restrooms at Buckskin Hills Recreational Area near Newcastle and Powder Creek Recreational Area in rural Dixon County, and to hay bales and a trailer near Maskell.

HALSEY, Neb. (AP) — Firefighters are battling a wildfire that has burned more than 1,000 acres in the rugged hills of the Nebraska National Forest.

The fire that started Saturday forced the evacuation of two campgrounds. Smoke is visible from Highway 2.

Bessey District Ranger Tim Buskirk says the fire has been difficult to fight because of the terrain. Sunday’s forecast for high temperatures and wind gusts up to 30 mph could make it hard to contain the fire.

Two other fires in the area have been contained, but they remain only a few miles away. One of those fires was north of Stapleton and one was near Ringgold.

Officials believe that lightning sparked the fires.