LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The head of state government’s largest union says Gov. Dave Heineman is discriminating against rank-and-file state workers by proposing to give some leading state employees bigger raises.

Local media says that Heineman is designating some state employees as executive leaders. They get 4 a percent raise this year while most other state workers get 2 percent.

Nebraska Association of Public Employees union executive Julie Drake Abel says it’s despicable and damages employee morale.

Executive leaders are defined as those who report to a director or deputy director and handle broad, complex issues. The governor’s spokeswoman says people with more responsibility should receive more pay

As many as 128 state employees could get the 4 percent raise. About 10,600 union employees will get 2 percent raises.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A Lincoln woman who drove an 85-year-old woman with Alzheimer’s disease to a bank to take cash from her account has been sentenced to probation.

Police say 28-year-old Megan Clark had only traffic fines on her record before being charged with attempted abuse of a vulnerable adult and theft.

Local media reports that in December 2010, the elderly woman’s daughter reported cash missing from her mother’s account and said she’d discovered several suspicious cash withdrawals earlier that year. They added up to just under $3,000.

Police says Clark, the woman’s home health care worker, was seen on bank video driving the woman through the drive-through to make a withdrawal.

Clark has pleaded guilty to both misdemeanors and was sentenced Monday.

GRAND ISLAND, Neb. (AP) — A Grand Island man has been sentenced to six years in prison and 10 years of supervised release for distribution of child pornography.

The U.S. attorney’s office says 31-year-old Arik Lemburg was charged after a computer crimes task force investigator identified Lemburg’s computer as one offering child pornography to others for download.

A search warrant was issued in November 2010. Investigators say they found more than 2,700 videos of young children.

During the investigation Lemburg told investigators he had child pornography on his computer.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The holding company for Nebraska Book Co. has emerged from bankruptcy as a smaller company with less debt.

The company restructured $450 million in debt and sold off 56 of its off-campus college book stores.

Nebraska Bookstore emerges from bankruptcy with about $210 million debt and ownership of 250 stores. Its textbook division serves more than 2,500 bookstores.

Nebraska Bookstore will now be a privately held company, and its largest shareholder is Mast Capital of Boston. There are more than 15 other shareholders with a stake in the firm.

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.