FREMONT, Neb. (AP) — A 53-year-old Iowa man has been imprisoned for stealing dozens of brass vases from an eastern Nebraska cemetery.

Gary Hostetter, of Carter Lake, Iowa, on Monday was given 20 to 60 months. He had pleaded no contest to a theft charge. Dodge County Attorney Oliver Glass has said Hostetter admitted taking 45 vases from Memorial Cemetery in Fremont earlier this year.

Dodge County Jail records say Hostetter remained in custody on Tuesday. Online court records don’t list the name of his attorney.

UPDATE 8/27/14 10:45 a.m.

According to Omaha Police, the COPS crew member who was shot during the shootout has died.

No further details have been released.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Police say a suspect has been killed and a crew member with the “Cops” television show has been wounded in a shootout after police interrupted a robbery at an Omaha fast-food restaurant.

Deputy Police Chief Dave Baker says an officer saw a man robbing the restaurant about 9:20 p.m. Tuesday and called for backup. The shooting soon erupted. Police have not said whether the suspect was fatally wounded by police gunfire.

No officers were hit, and police say no other suspects are being sought. The “Cops” crew member was taken to a hospital. The names of those involved haven’t been released.

The Wendy’s near 42nd and Dodge streets remained closed Wednesday morning with bullet holes in the windows.

“Cops” is syndicated reality show that depicts law enforcement officers in action.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — State officials have rescheduled a fog seal project on Interstate 180 in Lincoln.

The work was to begin Wednesday. Now it is set to begin Sept. 3.

Fog seal is oil sprayed onto the surface of newer pavement to seal the fine cracks.

The Nebraska Department of Roads says all lanes in both directions will be closed on the interstate spur from Fletcher south to Cornhusker starting at 6 p.m. on Sept. 3. The lanes will be reopened at 6 a.m. Sept. 4.

Message boards will be used.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Prosecutors have dismissed charges against a former Omaha police officer in an alleged excessive force case.

Aaron Von Behren’s misdemeanor charges of being an accessory to a felony and obstructing governmental operations were dismissed Monday. Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine said authorities did not have admissible evidence to support the charges.

Von Behren was one of several officers involved in a March 2013 arrest of three brothers. He was accused of trying to coordinate officers’ stories to cover up the incident.

Former officer James Kinsella is accused of destroying a memory card used by one of the brothers to record the arrest. He later entered a no contest plea to misdemeanor charges.

The family of the men arrested has sued the Omaha police department.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — A grand jury has declined to pursue any charges against Lancaster Countydeputies who fatally shot a man wielding an unloaded rifle.

The grand jury decision was released Monday by County Attorney Joe Kelly.

Sixty-four-year-old Doug DaMoude had barricaded himself in his former residence on May 30. Police say he’d broken back into his house after being evicted. Two locksmiths accompanied deputies and disabled the locks before the deputies rammed into the house’s entryway, where they were confronted by DaMoude.

Police say one deputy grabbed the rifle and struggled with DaMoude, as two other deputies fired five shots, striking DaMoude four times.

State law says grand juries must investigate whenever someone dies in police custody or while being arrested.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A Nebraska woman and an Iowa woman have been sentenced for conspiring to commit wire fraud in a telephone scam aimed at the elderly.

U.S. Attorney Debrorah R. Gilg announced Monday that 24-year-old Tempest Amerson of Lincoln was sentenced last week to four months in prison. She says 45-year-old Rosland Starks received 20 months. Each will be supervised for three years after their release and will have to pay nearly $14,000 in restitution.

Gilg says the women defrauded victims from May 2011 to November 2013. She says co-conspirators would contact elderly victims and pretend to be a relative or a family friend dealing with an emergency. Amerson and Starks would receive part or all of the money transferred.

ASHLAND, Neb. (AP) — People are invited to join singer-songwriter and conservation advocate Erica Wheeler for The Soulful Landscape workshop Sunday at Eugene T. Mahoney State Park near Ashland.

Writers of all experience levels and others are encouraged to attend.

The workshop includes a presentation on place-based arts, followed by writing exercises. Participants will learn how to generate fresh metaphors for use in songs, stories, poems and essays.

The workshop is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. at the park’s Kountze Memorial Theater. The workshop is free, but a park entry permit is required.

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A provocative anti-marijuana campaign aimed at Colorado youths has angered marijuana activists for its tag line, “Don’t Be a Lab Rat.”

Now a Colorado school system is declining to display a human-size cage used in the campaign.

The Daily Camera reports (http://bit.ly/1vIqG6T) that the Boulder Valley School District says it won’t participate. School officials say they don’t believe the “Lab Rat” cage is an effective display for 12- to 15-year-olds about pot’s potential harm.

The state health department says its campaign is getting people talking about pot. Recreational pot sales to those 21 and older in Colorado became legal this year.

The campaign is paid for by a pharmaceutical settlement fund that raises awareness for substance abuse.

DENVER (AP) — Some people in normally laid back Crested Butte, Colorado, are not up for “Whatever” — a secretive Bud Lite plan to paint their mountain town blue and turn it into a fantasy town for an ad campaign.

The company has agreed to pay the town $250,000 to fence off its main street and bring in more than 1,000 revelers for the Sept. 5-7 event. Secrecy has been part of the “Are you up for Whatever?” campaign from its beginning at last year’s Super Bowl when Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared in a spot playing pingpong with Don Cheadle.

Supporters and opponents packed a town meeting Monday night. They included a man dressed in Mickey Mouse ears who said he objected to the town being turned into Disneyland.