(AP) — The former Kansas lawman convicted in the death of his wife could face a punishment that would keep him in prison for decades.

Jurors found Brett Seacat guilty of first-degree murder in the shooting death of his 34-year-old wife, Vashti Seacat, in their home just days after she filed for divorce in 2011.

Sentencing was set for Aug. 5, and prosecutors say they intend to seek a “hard 50” sentence, which means Seacat would have no chance for parole for at least 50 years.

Investigators found Vashti Seacat’s body among the charred remains of the Kingman house where the couple lived with their two sons, ages 2 and 4.

Brett Seacat, a former police instructor and sheriff’s deputy, escaped the blaze safely with the two boys.

Crews are fighting at least four major wildfires in Colorado, including one that has burned homes.

El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa says a fire northeast of Colorado Springs led to the evacuation of hundreds of homes Tuesday. Video from a helicopter showed flames engulfing several large homes.

To the south, the Bureau of Land Management says three structures have been lost in a fire that prompted evacuations, including that of the Royal Gorge Bridge & Park.

A wildfire in southern Colorado in rural Huerfano County has prompted evacuation orders to about 200 homes.

A lightning-sparked wildfire that started Monday in Rocky Mountain National Park also is burning.

(AP) — A Nebraska police chief will pay a $750 fine for storing campaign signs in a police station and using public money to buy more than $200 worth of snack food.

Sutton Police Chief Tracey Landenberger agreed to the civil penalty as part of a settlement with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission. Commission members voted 8-0 last week to approve the fine.

The campaign signs were stored in the station between January 2010 and June 2012, and the snacks were bought between March 2010 and June 2012, according to the settlement.

The settlement says Landenberger did not intend to violate state law, and he believed at the time that his actions were allowed.

A phone message left for Landenberger at the police station was not immediately returned.

(AP) — Gov. Dave Heineman says he hopes to have a new adjutant general in place for the Nebraska National Guard by mid-July.

Heineman said Tuesday that a screening panel will likely name two to four finalists for the job by the end of June, so the change-of-command can be made in July.

The chosen finalist will replace outgoing Maj. Gen. Judd Lyons, who is taking a new job as deputy director of the U.S. Army National Guard in Arlington, Va.

The 50-year-old Lyons is Nebraska’s 32nd adjutant general. He assumed command of the Nebraska National Guard in August 2009.

The adjutant general serves as the senior uniformed officer responsible for leading nearly 4,700 Army and Air National Guard personnel in Nebraska. The position is part of the governor’s cabinet.

(AP) — A Grand Island man convicted in the kidnapping and rape of a 4-year-old girl has been given 96 to 100 years in state prison.

Judge James Livingston on Tuesday sentenced 27-year-old Abraham Richardson to two consecutive terms of 48 to 50 years. Richardson had pleaded no contest in April after prosecutors lowered the charges and dropped another.

Prosecutors say he kidnapped the girl from a Grand Island apartment on Oct. 2, 2011, and savagely assaulted her.

Richardson already faces 20 years in federal prison on a child pornography conviction. Livingston ordered Richardson to serve his two state sentences after his federal sentence has been completed.

(AP) — A jury has been selected for a Lincoln man charged with murder in the stabbing death of a man last summer.

The jury was chosen Monday and opening arguments were expected in the afternoon in the trial of 28-year-old Joshua Albright. He’s charged with second-degree murder, first-degree assault, second-degree assault and three count of using a weapon to commit a felony.

The charges stem from an Aug. 10, 2012, argument in which police charge Albright with stabbing to death 30-year-old Benjamin Miller. Police say the confrontation was about a woman both men dated.

Albright could face up to life in prison if convicted.

(AP) — Jean Stothert is taking office as the new mayor of Omaha, Nebraska’s largest city.

She says that after her inauguration on Monday, she’ll be talking to her new staff about her vision and goals and then will spend more time with constituents.

Stothert said that she wants to set up town hall meetings and “let people know what is important to them is important to me.”

The Republican also said she intends to address the city’s financial challenges without raising taxes.

Stothert defeated the Democratic incumbent, Jim Suttle (SUH’-tuhl), on May 14 with around 58 percent of the vote.

(AP) — A former Douglas County sheriff’s deputy has been taken into custody while awaiting court action on a charge of sexual assault.

The 29-year-old Cory Cooper surrendered at the Douglas County jail a little after 8 a.m. Monday.

Cooper was fired in May after being placed on leave. The Omaha Police Department handled the investigation into an allegation that Cooper sexually assaulted a woman while patrolling a park.

Sheriff Tim Dunning said Monday that Cooper’s conduct “was shocking, and the Sheriff’s Office fully supports his arrest.”

Cooper’s attorney, Michael J. Fitzpatrick of Omaha, said the public shouldn’t jump to any conclusions about the case.

A Douglas County jailer said Cooper remained in custody on Monday morning.

Cooper had been a Douglas County deputy for about five years.

(AP) — A 79-year-old Nebraska Game and Parks worker has died after a crash at Platte River State Park near Louisville.

Platte County Sheriff Office Capt. Capt. David Lamprecht says Richard Reveillac died just as his medical helicopter was landing Sunday night at Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha.

Lamprecht says deputies and Louisville firefighters were dispatched to the park at 7:40 p.m. Sunday. He says Reveillac had been driving a state pickup on the park’s main road when the truck ran off the road and rammed into a tree. Lamprecht says it appears that Reveillac suffered a medical emergency before the crash.

Reveillac lived in the Louisville area.

(AP) — Jury selection is starting in the second-degree murder trial of a Florida neighborhood watch volunteer charged in the fatal shooting of an unarmed teen.

The trial begins almost a year and a half after George Zimmerman fatally shot 17-year-old Trayvon Martin.

The first day of jury selection is Monday. Zimmerman is pleading not guilty, claiming self-defense.

The judge in the case also must listen to final testimony, and then rule on whether voice recognition experts can be allowed to testify at trial.

Pretrial testimony on whether experts could determine if Martin or Zimmerman were screaming for help on 911 calls took three days last week, but the matter is still unresolved.