NEBRASKA DMV WILL SOON LAUNCH NEW $21.9 MILLION COMPUTER SYSTEM

LINCOLN — A 17-month-long effort to replace a 1990s computer system at the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles is about to be completed. The agency said its new, $21.9 million “VicToRy” computer system will go live Oct. 15 and will deliver more services to users and reduce errors in inputting data.

State DMV Director Rhonda Lahm said her agency has been working with county treasurers and others since March 2018 to make the switch to the VicToRy system. Training of workers to use the new system also has been underway.

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EVIDENCE EMERGES THAT AFFORDABLE CARE ACT HAS MADE SOME PEOPLE HEALTHIER

DETROIT — Poor people in Michigan with asthma and diabetes were admitted to the hospital less often after they joined Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act. More than 25,000 Ohio smokers got help through the state’s Medicaid expansion that led them to quit.

And around the country, patients with advanced kidney disease who went on dialysis were more likely to be alive a year later if they lived in a Medicaid-expansion state.

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DON BACON AT TOWN HALL: 'THERE IS NO LAW THAT'S BEEN BROKEN' BY TRUMP

OMAHA - To roars of booing and less cheering, U.S. Rep. Don Bacon told constituents at a Saturday town hall meeting that he’s seen no illegal behavior by President Donald Trump regarding Ukraine.

Bacon, a Republican who represents Omaha and central and western Sarpy County, addressed the topic of impeachment head-on: “There is no law that’s been broken,” he said repeatedly, to a smattering of cheers and a roar of boos. The crowd was rowdy at times, with people yelling in opposition and others showing support for Bacon.

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NEBRASKA SENATOR SEES PROGRESS IN NEGOTIATING TAX REFORM PLAN

LINCOLN - Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, who is spearheading the legislative effort to reach agreement on property tax relief and tax reform, said Friday she believes "we're closer than people realize...We're in a better place than most people think we are," the chairwoman of the Legislature's Revenue Committee said during a panel discussion at the Platte Institute's legislative summit in Lincoln.

When asked whether a special legislative session to deal with the issue may be in order, Linehan said she might agree to that "if I thought we had 33 votes" and the support of Gov. Pete Ricketts.

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PROPERTY TAX PETITION DRIVE TURNS ATTENTION TO NEBRASKA'S URBAN AREAS

LINCOLN — An initiative petition drive seeking a 35% rebate for property taxes paid is setting its sights on the state’s urban areas after gaining signatures in rural Nebraska. The TRUE Nebraskans petition drive will open an office in west Omaha on Oct. 16 in its push to gather more than 120,000 signatures of registered voters by July 2 to qualify its proposal for the November 2020 ballot.

Officials with the group said they may have already met one of the two qualifications to obtain a spot on the ballot, which is to obtain signatures from at least 5% of the registered voters in 38 of Nebraska’s 93 counties. Now, the group is determining how many more are needed from the state’s most populous areas to meet the overall signature requirement.

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LONG-TERM FIX TO NEBRASKA-WYOMING IRRIGATION TUNNEL COULD REACH $68 MILLION

CASPER, Wyo. (AP) — The cost of long-term repairs to a failed irrigation tunnel serving farmers in eastern Wyoming and western Nebraska could reach $68 million.

Goshen Irrigation District officials say they will seek more Wyoming state funding assistance once they've decided on a long-term solution. Meanwhile, the irrigation tunnel collapse in July raises doubts about two other aging tunnels in the system. The failure of the century-old tunnel in July imperiled corn, sugar beets and other crops in a 150-square-mile area.

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U.S. PLANS TARIFFS ON EU GOODS AFTER AIRBUS RULING

The U.S. plans to swiftly impose tariffs on $7.5 billion in aircraft, food products and other goods from the European Union after the World Trade Organization authorized the levies Wednesday, citing the EU’s subsidies to Airbus SE.

The new duties represent the most significant trade action against the EU since the Trump administration hit the bloc with steel and aluminum duties last year, and could further sour relations between allies that have long sought to resolve trade disputes without resorting to tariffs.

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NEBRASKA STATE SENATOR'S TWO-MAN TEAM TAKES FIRST PLACE IN INTERNATIONAL SNIPER COMPETITION

LINCOLN - State Senator Tom Brewer and his teammate and son-in-law, Dalton Boden, took the gold cup in the multigun competition, semi-automatic division, using both rifles and pistols.

Boden, a 1st lieutenant in the Nebraska National Guard, is married to Brewer's daughter Kalee, who is also a 1st lieutenant in the Guard, and they live in Murdock. He was alongside Brewer last year in the same competition.

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BRUCE BOSTELMAN ANNOUNCES REELECTION BID FOR EASTERN NEBRASKA LEGISLATIVE SEAT

LINCOLN — State Sen. Bruce Bostelman of rural Brainard has announced that he will seek a second term in the Nebraska Legislature.

Bostelman, a 57-year-old registered Republican, serves District 23, which covers Butler and Saunders Counties and most of Colfax County.

He pledged if reelected to continue to protect “unborn life” and gun rights. He has been endorsed by Gov. Pete Ricketts and former Gov. Dave Heineman, among others.

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CIGAR-MAKERS SUE NEBRASKA AG, TAX COMMISSIONER OVER LUMPING LITTLE CIGARS IN WITH CIGARETTES

LINCOLN - A law passed earlier this year changing the definition of a cigarette to include vaping products, which has lumped in certain cigars for tax purposes, has caught the ire of two tobacco product manufacturers and a New York trade association.

Swisher International Inc., Cheyenne International Inc. and the Cigar Association of America last week sued Nebraska’s attorney general and tax commissioner over the change that went into effect Sept. 1.

In a lawsuit filed in Lancaster County District Court, their attorney, Patrick Brookhouser Jr., called the move "unprecedented."

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COUNCIL OKs SOLAR PROJECT THAT WOULD BE STATE'S LARGEST

LINCOLN - The Lincoln City Council on Monday paved the way for a solar farm east of Lincoln that would be the largest in the state.

Council members voted 6-0 to grant a special permit to Ranger Power, a New York-based company that wants to build a 230-megawatt solar farm on roughly 1,100 acres in an area bounded by 128th Street, 148th Street and O Street and Havelock Avenue.

The Lincoln-Lancaster County Planning Commission voted unanimously in favor of the permit at its Sept. 4 meeting, but two neighbors opposed to the project appealed that decision to the City Council.

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COMMUNITY ACTIVIST SEEKS TO SUCCEED ERNIE CHAMBERS IN NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE

LINCOLN — Terrell McKinney, a north Omaha native and community activist, is running for the legislative seat now held by State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha.

McKinney appears to be the first candidate seeking to succeed Chambers, who is barred by term limits from seeking reelection.

This will be the second time Chambers has been term-limited out of office. The longest-serving Nebraska lawmaker left office in 2009 after serving for 38 years in the Legislature. He sat out four years, then won his seat back in 2012 and was reelected in 2016.

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SAPRY COUNTY, NEBRASKA MEDICINE AGREE TO EXPLORE CREATION OF MENTAL HEALTH CRISIS CENTER

OMAHA - Sarpy County and Nebraska Medicine officials have agreed to explore the creation of a mental health crisis center at the Bellevue Medical Center.

The agreement, approved by the Sarpy County Board on Tuesday, is essentially a promise by both partners to continue discussing the possibility of working together on the center. It makes no financial or staffing commitments.

In late August, Nebraska Medicine officials signaled that they were prioritizing building a similar center at the medical system’s campus on 42nd Street in Omaha as opposed to one in Sarpy County.

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OMAHA SEN. CHAMBERS SENDS LONG 'OPEN LETTER' TO NEBRASKA GOV. PETE RICKETTS

LINCOLN - Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers last week delivered a 44-page "open letter" to Gov. Pete Ricketts, calling him out for what Chambers said was a "tell-tale pattern of problematic behavior."

The most serious part of Chambers' complaint, he said, implicates "respect/disrespect for the law, personal and professional integrity, the higher duty of an elected official and moral rectitude.

"If one would land a slippery fish, one must employ a net of finest mesh," he wrote. "Hence this letter, of necessity, must be detail-rich."

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OMAHA WORLD HERALD EDITORIAL: JAPAN AND TAIWAN TRADE NEWS IS POSITIVE, BUT BIG CHALLENGES ARE STILL AHEAD

OMAHA - New trade-related announcements offer a measure of encouragement to the Midlands agricultural sector, which has been hard hit this year by export woes, anemic prices and horrendous weather. Still, big uncertainties remain on the trade front regarding China as well as a new North American trade pact.

On the positive side, Japan has signed a preliminary trade agreement that will end the major price disadvantages U.S. ag producers have faced against foreign competitors. Essentially, the U.S. will face the same tariff levels as members of the trans-Pacific trade agreement from which the Trump administration withdrew in 2017. For example, the new U.S.-Japan pact means U.S. beef producers will no longer face a steep 38.5% tariff in Japan while Australia and New Zealand market their beef exports for far less.

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25-YEAR-OLD CONSERVATIVE MAY CHALLENGE FORTENBERRY IN GOP PRIMARY

LINCOLN - A 25-year-old Republican who describes himself as committed to "conservative virtues and principles" said Tuesday he may challenge Rep. Jeff Fortenberry in the 2020 GOP primary election.

Nicholas Oviatt of Yutan, who earned degrees in economics at DePaul University and the University of St. Andrews in Scotland, said he could bring conservative Republican energy to the House similar to what Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York has delivered for liberal Democrats.

"We hear stories about the infamous A.O.C. nearly every day — a freshman congresswoman who, despite her sharp ideological differences with the average Nebraskan, has entered Washington politics on a wave of energy that has propelled her district's agenda into the national spotlight," Oviatt said.

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FUTURE MURKY FOR NEBRASKA CENTER FOR FEMALE JUVENILE OFFENDERS; HHS WORKING ON PLAN FOR GIRLS

GENEVA, Neb. — The future of the troubled state institution for female juvenile offenders in Geneva remains cloudy, nearly six weeks after state officials emptied the facility.

Dannette Smith, CEO of the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, told a panel of state lawmakers Wednesday that she is still putting together a plan for serving the teenage girls who were removed from the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center-Geneva.

She had ordered the girls moved to a similar institution for boys in Kearney on Aug. 19, after concluding that staff shortages, inadequate programming and deteriorating buildings had combined to create an urgent situation.

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AS HARVEST BEGINS AND BIOFUEL PLANTS IDLE, ETHANOL BACKERS GROW IMPATIENT FOR DEAL

WASHINGTON — Impatience is growing among Midwestern corn farmers and ethanol plants looking for an official announcement of the long-awaited deal to boost biofuels production.

“Would we like it to happen this week? Sure, we’d like it to happen last week,” said Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association.

At issue is a federal mandate that billions of gallons of ethanol and biodiesel be blended into the nation’s fuel supply, a requirement known as the Renewable Fuel Standard.

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E-CIGARETTES 'NOT AS SAFE AS WE THOUGHT,' WARNS FAMILY OF OMAHA MAN WHOSE DEATH IS TIED TO VAPING

OMAHA - The wife and daughter of a Nebraska man whose May death now is linked to vaping are warning those still using the products.

“The message is, ‘Don’t do this until we know more,’ ” said Kathleen Fimple of Omaha.

John Steffen, Fimple’s husband of nearly 37 years, died May 10 after being hospitalized for what the family believed was pneumonia. His death certificate, Fimple said, listed the cause of death as acute respiratory failure, with chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder as a contributor.

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LISA LEE, CANDIDATE FOR DISTRICT 29 SEAT, SAYS PROPERTY TAX REFORM, EDUCATION FUNDING ARE PRIORITIES

LINCOLN — Lisa Lee, who works for a Lincoln nonprofit group, has announced her candidacy for the District 29 seat in the Nebraska Legislature.

Lee, a 57-year-old registered Republican, said her work with the Lincoln Council for International Visitors gives her a unique perspective on the strengths of the state and “where we need to improve.”

She said that property tax reform is the state’s top issue but that it must be aligned with adequate funding of education. Lee, a graduate of the University of Iowa, also said greater investment in workforce development is needed.

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