OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The attorney for an Omaha man accused of stealing a gay pride flag and burning it says his client’s actions don’t add up to a hate crime.

Twenty-three-year-old Cameron Mayfield is charged with arson and resisting arrest. He’s accused of taking the rainbow flag on Saturday from the porch of a lesbian couple who lived near him and setting the flag on fire.

James Martin Davis is Mayfield’s attorney, and he said if his client’s actions seemed political, it wasn’t intentional.

Davis says that what Mayfield did “is criminal mischief, it’s destruction of property, and I think he’s willing to pay for that and probably apologize to these ladies.”

BEATRICE, Neb. (AP) — A 40-year-old Beatrice man convicted of sexually assaulting a 9-year-old boy has been found incompetent.

Gage County District Judge Paul Korslund said in a court document signed Monday that Scott Taylor needs court-ordered custody or treatment because he suffers an intellectual disability or severe chronic cognitive impairment. In September Taylor pleaded no contest to sexual assault of a child. Prosecutors had lowered the charge.

His sentencing was delayed after questions were raised about the danger he poses to the public. Three evaluations were conducted on Taylor, who is unable to read, write or do math. Court documents say experts concluded that Taylor does pose a threat to others.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services has been ordered to devise a plan for his treatment and custody.

MADISON, Neb. (AP) — A former zoning administrator for Madison and Pierce counties has taken a deal and pleaded guilty to a lesser theft charge.

Online court records say 55-year-old John Johnson was convicted on Tuesday of misdemeanor theft. He’d been charged with a felony. Prosecutors say Johnson charged more than $500 in gasoline to Madison County for use in his personal vehicle.

He’s scheduled for sentencing on May 21.

Johnson, of Madison, had served 12 years as zoning administrator for both counties before resigning last summer.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A University of Nebraska budget request for “economic competitiveness” projects is drawing scrutiny from lawmakers.

The request to the Appropriations Committee on Tuesday would cost the state an additional $20 million. Some lawmakers expressed skepticism, saying economic development should be left to the private sector.

If approved, the money would help pay for improvements at the Nebraska Innovation Campus, the Peter Kiewit Institute and the Rural Futures Institute, among other programs. Many of the initiatives allow private businesses to work with university officials on new inventions, businesses and technology.

Sen. Galen Hadley of Kearney, the speaker of the Legislature, says the projects would help grow businesses and keep young people in Nebraska.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson says the state should not be forced to recognize gay marriages until the matter is decided by the U.S. Supreme Court.

Peterson filed a motion Tuesday with the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for an emergency stay. The filing came a day after U.S. District Judge Joseph Bataillon struck down Nebraska’s gay marriage and civil union ban as unconstitutional.

Bataillon ordered that his ruling not to go into effect until March 9, to give the state time to appeal.

The 8th Circuit is expected to decide by next Monday whether to grant the emergency stay.

The U.S. Supreme Court has said it will decide whether same-sex couples have the constitutional right to marry everywhere in the U.S. A decision is expected by late June.

WASHINGTON (AP) — A law enforcement official tells The Associated Press that a Justice Department investigation has found patterns of racial bias in the Ferguson, Missouri, police department and at the municipal jail and court.

The official says the investigation found that officers disproportionately used excessive force against blacks and too often charged them with petty offenses. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to speak on the record before the full report was released.

The official says the report will allege direct evidence of racial bias among police officers and court workers and a system that prioritizes generating revenue from fines over public safety.

The full report could be released as soon as Wednesday.

The Justice Department began the civil rights investigation following the August shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old, by a white police officer.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska Court of Appeals has revived the lawsuits of two women who say that Omaha’s Metropolitan Utilities District discriminated against them by passing them over for a job that went to a less qualified man.

Kristina Hartley and Sherri Meisinger sued the utility in 2011 after applying for a supervisory position. Although each had worked for the utility for 20-plus years and met educational and other requirements of the job, the position was given to a man they said did not meet the posted educational requirements who had only four years’ experience.

The appeals court found Tuesday that a judge improperly dismissed Meisinger’s case. It also ordered a new trial for Hartley, saying the judge wrongly excluded the testimony of two other women who accused MUD of discrimination.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Authorities say icy roads have caused several accidents in eastern Nebraska and at least one fatal crash.

The freezing drizzle arrived at a bad time for travelers and morning commuters Tuesday, especially for people driving down residential streets headed to major thoroughfares and highways.

Authorities say a crash reported around 6:45 a.m. on the northwest side of Omaha left one person dead. The victim’s name and other details haven’t been released.

The National Weather Service issued a freezing rain advisory for eastern Nebraska and western Iowa that was scheduled to expire later Tuesday morning.

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Oklahoma would become the first state to allow the execution of inmates using nitrogen gas under a bill that overwhelmingly passed the House of Representatives.

The House voted 85-10 on Tuesday for the bill by Oklahoma City Republican Rep. Mike Christian, who described the method as humane, painless and easy to administer. There was no debate against the bill, which now heads to the Senate.

Christian says the nitrogen would be administered to the inmate either by a “tent or some kind of secure mask.”

Christian began studying alternative methods after a botched lethal injection last spring that has led to the U.S. Supreme Court considering whether Oklahoma’s current method is constitutional.

He says prison officials in several other states are interested in his proposal.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A tiny boy born on his parents’ way to a Nebraska hospital is struggling for life as they mourn his twin sister.

Kaleb and Savannah Clark arrived early on Feb. 5 as their parents, 39-year-old Kevin and 36-year-old Laura Clark, headed to Lincoln from their home in Barnes, Kansas. Kevin Clark had to stop alongside U.S. Highway 77 on the south side of Lincoln because one baby already had arrived.

Laura Clark’s cousin Mary Crevier said two days after the twins were born, Savannah died after blood vessels burst in her head and lungs.

Crevier says Kaleb weighed about 2 pounds at birth. He’s since gained about 10 ounces and been taken off a breathing tube.

She says Kaleb’s “a little fighter.”