HASTINGS, Neb. (AP) — Police and wildlife officials are keeping a lookout in the south-central Nebraska city of Hastings after a family there reported a coyote bit and tried to drag away a 1-year-old child.

Hastings Police Sgt. Brian Hessler says the attack happened around 10:30 p.m. Tuesday while the family was watching July Fourth fireworks. The incident follows weeks of reported sightings of coyotes in the city.

A police report says the coyote left marks on the boy’s back but quickly ran off. Officers searched but did not find a coyote in the area.

Police say the family, which has hunted coyotes, is certain it was not a dog.

The boy’s mother, Katrina Clodfelter, tells station KSNB that the boy was given a tetanus shot and will undergo a series of rabies shots.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An Omaha high school has reported the theft of more than $5,000 worth of landscaping equipment, including a riding lawn mower valued at $4,000.

A school maintenance manager told police Wednesday that he discovered the riding mower and two push mowers missing from a detached garage at Mercy High School. The push mowers were valued at $600 and $100. The manager said an earlier theft in mid- to late June saw a sledgehammer, a weed trimmer and a backpack blower valued at $400 stolen.

Police found pry marks on the walk-in door of the garage. The school will review surveillance video in an attempt to identify the thieves.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A 69-year-old Columbus man has been sentenced to four years in federal prison for having child pornography.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for Nebraska says Michael Kruse was sentenced Thursday in Lincoln’s federal court. In addition to his prison term, Kruse will be required to serve 5 years of supervised release and register as a sex offender.

Prosecutors say a tip, subsequent investigation and a search warrant turned up more than 600 videos and images of child pornography on Kruse’s computers and storage media.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — An autopsy report says an Oklahoma man who was beaten and shocked a dozen times with a stun gun in an altercation with Omaha police suffered “sudden death associated with excited delirium.”

The report, released Thursday, says the death of 29-year-old Zachary Bearheels was also associated with physical struggle, restraint and use of a stun gun.

Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine says that report stops short of determining those actions caused Bearheels’ death.

Police have said Bearheels, who has a history of mental illness, was acting erratically and fought officers’ efforts to take him into custody on June 5. He died after being taken to a hospital.

Omaha’s police chief has recommended two officers, Scotty Payne and Ryan McClarty, be fired for violated department policy in their treatment of Bearheels.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Police in Lincoln cited a man after they say he set off a homemade firework that sent a 5-pound chunk of metal into a neighboring home.

Police say the 21-year-old man and a friend set off the explosive Monday night, sending the metal piece hundreds of feet into the air. It crashed through the roof and first floor of a home two doors down, landing in the home’s basement.

Police say an occupant of the home had just left the basement when the metal chunk crashed into it. No one was injured.

Police say the home suffered about $2,000 in damage.

The man was cited for felony for possession of an explosive device.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Omaha Police Department is taking applications for law enforcement officers with previous experience.

The department says in a news release that it’s looking for currently certified officers to apply for a lateral transfer police class. Lateral transfers will go through condensed academy and field training.

Salaries range from nearly $44,000 to $77,000, depending on years of experience.

Applications may be submitted online at https://hr.cityofomaha.org/employment . Applications will be accepted through July 14.

ELMWOOD, Neb. (AP) — A bald eagle, the soaring symbol of America, is recovering from an injury or ailment that left its head featherless.

Fishermen spotted the bird on the ground south of Syracuse last month. On its head was what looked like a pock-marked scab.

They reported the eagle to a state conservation officer, who took it to Fontenelle Forest’s Raptor Recovery center near Elmwood. The center manager, Betsy Finch, says the injury on the bird’s head has baffled her and other raptor experts. They’re treating it with medicated ointments — so far to no avail.

The center’s goal is to release the eagle back into the wild after the mark disappears and feathers grow back. She says that could be a few months away.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The mayoral race in Omaha this spring has set spending records.

Republican Mayor Jean Stothert and Democratic challenger Heath Mello spent about $3.8 million combined during the campaign. The candidates surpassed the previous spending record for the fourth time in the past six city elections.

Outside groups, including Firefighters for Better Government, spent an additional $750,000 to sway voters.

Paul Landow is a political science professor at University of Nebraska at Omaha. He says Omaha residents can expect the cost of future mayor’s races to increase.

Landow estimates the 2021 mayoral election could top $5 million. He says the influx of money into local elections follows a national trend.

Stothert won re-election with just over 52,500 votes compared to Mello’s more than 46,700 votes.

LAS VEGAS (AP) — Recreational marijuana sales have exceeded the expectations of Las Vegas area store owners.

Eager pot customers on Monday again lined up before dispensaries opened their doors. That’s after thousands swarmed the pot stores over the weekend.

Nevada on Saturday became the fifth state with shops selling pot to the public, jumpstarting a market that is expected to be fueled by the tens of millions of visitors that Sin City welcomes each year.

Jim Ferrence is the marketing coordinator for Euphoria Wellness dispensary, which had about 50 customers in line Monday morning. He says budtenders helped at least 1,000 customers during the first two days of legal recreational pot sales.

Those 21 and older with a valid ID can buy up to an ounce of pot. Consuming the drug in public remains illegal.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A northeast Nebraska community is keeping its county court judgeship for now, but the fight to do so showed a conflict brewing over whether judicial resources should go to the state’s urban or rural areas.

The state Court Administrator’s office asked the Judicial Resources Commission on Tuesday to postpone a decision about whether to fill an Eighth Judicial District vacancy in O’Neill.

Deputy Court Administrator Jennifer Rasmussen said a six-month delay would give them time to use grant funds to assess how best to serve central Nebraska’s needs.

For over two hours, the commission heard from a stream of people against the idea of losing a judge.

Commissioners voiced support for a statewide study of judicial resources, but voted 10-3 to replace the vacancy.