HOLT COUNTY SUPERVISOR OFFERED $49,000 'COOPERATION BONUS' TOLD NOT TO VOTE OR LOBBY ON PIPELINE

LINCOLN — A Holt County supervisor is being advised not only to abstain from voting on issues related to the Keystone XL pipeline but also not to lobby or advise fellow board members about the controversial project.

Holt County Board member Bill Tielke of Atkinson declared a conflict of interest this summer after signing a right-of-way agreement with TC Energy for the pipeline to cross his farmland, and stating that he’ll receive a $49,000 “cooperation bonus” from the company if the crude oil pipeline is built.

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CREIGHTON PRESIDENT SAYS NO AFTER 2,093 CU STUDENTS VOTE IN FAVOR OF FOSSIL FUEL DIVESTMENT

OMAHA - The president of Creighton University disagreed Wednesday with 2,093 students who voted last week to ask Creighton to divest from fossil fuels. The students requested through a formal referendum that Creighton’s administration stop new investments in the fossil fuel industry.

The Rev. Daniel Hendrickson, Creighton’s president, sent a letter to the university community Wednesday saying that he supports those who are passionate about sustainability efforts. But he said the aim of the nonbinding student referendum “does not align with our goal of a properly diversified endowment, and could negatively impact Creighton and our students.”

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Read President Hendrickson’s letter HERE

MAN STEALS DESK FROM LINCOLN CHURCH, TRIES TO DRAG IT UP STEPS OF THE CAPITOL BUILDING

LINCOLN - A Lincoln man was arrested for burglary after police said he broke into a church, stole a desk and tried to drag it up the stairs of the State Capitol building. Lincoln police were called to 14th and K Streets around 6 a.m. Wednesday. They found a 36-year-old man, seemingly under the influence of alcohol or drugs, pulling the desk. The church, located directly across from the Capitol was found in disarray.

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FRACKERS ARE PREPARING TO PUMP LESS, CURBING U.S. OIL GROWTH

After pushing U.S. oil and natural-gas production to record levels, some shale companies plan to pump less.

The pullback is sharpest among the country’s largest natural-gas drillers. Several producers, including EQT Corp. EQT and Chesapeake Energy Corp. have said during third-quarter earnings that they may shrink output next year.

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RICKETTS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT PROPERTY TAX RELIEF AGREEMENT

LINCOLN - Gov. Pete Ricketts said Wednesday that he and leaders of the Legislature's Revenue Committee have not yet settled on a plan for additional property tax relief, but he believes that "we're going to get something done" during the 2020 legislative session.

"I'm confident we'll get a solution we can get agreement on," the governor said during a telephone conference call from Germany, where he's leading a Nebraska trade mission this week.

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STATE SEN. TONY VARGAS OF OMAHA WILL RUN FOR REELECTION TO NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE

LINCOLN — State Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha has announced that he will seek reelection to his District 7 seat in the Nebraska Legislature. Vargas, a 35-year-old consultant for nonprofit groups, was first elected to the Legislature in 2016. District 7 covers downtown and South Omaha east of the Kennedy Freeway.

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JUDGE HEARS ARGUMENTS IN CITIZEN'S LAWSUIT BLOCKING DOUGLAS COUNTY JUSTICE CENTER PROJECT

OMAHA - The lawsuit holding up the controversial proposed Douglas County courthouse annex and juvenile detention center could come down to the definition of a two-word phrase: “used jointly.”

State statutes require that facilities created or renovated by public building commissions in Nebraska’s largest cities be used jointly by those cities and their respective counties. But the law doesn’t define what “joint use” is.

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NEBRASKA IS ON TRACK FOR NEW VOTE-COUNTING MACHINES FOR 2020 PRIMARY

LINCOLN — If all goes well during the next six months, Nebraska counties will be tallying up the 2020 election results with new equipment. State election officials are in the process of acquiring new ballot-counting machines for all 93 Nebraska counties. They also are getting new devices for every polling place that voters with disabilities can use to mark ballots.

Secretary of State Bob Evnen called the purchases a step toward ensuring that Nebraska elections remain “secure, reliable and accurate.”

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DON WALTON: TAX REFORM, THE NATS AND WHAT WOULD LINCOLN THINK?

LINCOLN - The Legislature's Revenue Committee is attempting to forge a property tax relief plan centered on state school aid that is acceptable to Gov. Pete Ricketts and one that can command the 33 votes required to overcome a filibuster by its legislative opponents.

A proposal discussed by the committee during an executive session last week would be a smaller-ball alternative to a more ambitious plan that had been tentatively formulated around substantial tax reform.

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HIGH-SPEED INTERNET SHORTAGE A BIG CONCERN IN RURAL NEBRASKA

LINCOLN - Nebraska's rural areas are struggling with a major shortage of high-speed internet, and people who live there are likely paying more for service than their urban counterparts, according to a new report commissioned by state lawmakers.

The report by the Rural Broadband Task Force says just 63% of rural Nebraskans have access to fixed, high-speed broadband service capable of handling downloads at 25 megabytes per second or faster. That's the speed typically recommended to watch high-definition movies, use video-chatting services and download large data files.

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TRUMP TO MEET WITH VAPING INDUSTRY AS E-CIGARETTE POLICY NEARS

President Trump said Monday that he would meet with vaping-industry representatives as he nears a decision that could bar sales of sweet, fruit-flavored e-cigarettes aimed at young people, raising concerns among public-health advocates that the measure could be diluted.

Mr. Trump wrote in a tweet Monday morning. “Children’s health & safety, together with jobs, will be a focus..” of a planned meeting with stakeholders of the issue.

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WITHOUT RAISING TAXES, OFFICIALS FIND $30M FOR MAJOR SEWER PROJECT TO KEEP UP WITH SARPY GROWTH

SARPY COUNTY - For decades, more than half of Nebraska’s fastest-growing county has sat untouched and undeveloped, unable to support houses and shops and businesses because it lacks a basic component of modern infrastructure: the sewer line.

In 30 to 50 years, if all goes to plan, the southern half of Sarpy County could undergo a transformation, welcoming housing subdivisions and mixed-use retail buildings, industrial parks and perhaps even more data centers.

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SECRET GOOGLE PROJECT GATHERS HEALTH DATA ON MILLIONS OF AMERICANS

Google is engaged with one of the U.S.’s largest health-care systems on a project to collect and crunch the detailed personal-health information of millions of people across 21 states.

The initiative, code-named “Project Nightingale,” appears to be the biggest effort yet by a Silicon Valley giant to gain a toehold in the health-care industry through the handling of patients’ medical data. Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. are also aggressively pushing into health care, though they haven’t yet struck deals of this scope.

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HOW MUCH THE TRUMP TRADE AGREEMENT WOULD HELP NEBRASKA FARMERS DEPENDS ON WHO YOU ASK

LINCOLN - When Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi appeared at a fundraising dinner for the Nebraska Democratic Party last month, Republicans were waiting for her in Omaha and on social media.

At a news conference, Republicans from Nebraska's federal delegation and Nebraska Farm Bureau President Steve Nelson urged Pelosi to bring the Trump administration's trade agreement to a vote in the House.

The argument goes like this: The United States-Mexico-Canada Trade Agreement, abbreviated as USMCA, which would replace the North American Free Trade Agreement, would provide a boon to Nebraska's economic future.

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HHS SEEKS $8.8 MILLION TO CUT SUICIDE RISK AT STATE PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL IN LINCOLN

LINCOLN — Nebraska officials want $8.8 million this year to help keep patients from killing themselves at the state psychiatric hospital in Lincoln. The Department of Health and Human Services submitted the budget request after a September inspection found numerous “ligature risks” at the Lincoln Regional Center.

Ligature risks are objects or fixtures that patients could use to hang or choke themselves, said Karen Harker, deputy director of finance for the HHS Behavioral Health Division.

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FIRE UNION WANTED OMAHA'S MAYOR CHARGED WITH FELONY WITNESS TAMPERING. THE WITNESS? DON BACON

OMAHA - Omaha’s firefighters union wanted Mayor Jean Stothert charged with felony witness tampering over comments she made to a character reference who went to bat for an embattled fire union president. The character witness the fire union says Stothert tried to tamper with: Rep. Don Bacon.

Under state law, a person tampers with a witness if they attempt to induce a witness to “testify falsely or withhold any testimony, information, document or thing.”

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NEBRASKA CORRECTIONS DIRECTOR FRAKES: REENTRY PROGRAMS CRITICAL IN EASING PRISON OVERCROWDING

LINCOLN - Corrections Director Scott Frakes oversees a crowded prison system that has grown significantly over the past two years, despite reforms intended to reduce the inmate population.

Frakes went to the Capitol on Friday afternoon to talk to the Legislature's Judiciary Committee about how the Department of Correctional Services goes about preparing inmates to reenter society.

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FREMONT BUSINESSMAN TO CHALLENGE SEN. LYNNE WALZ FOR SEAT IN NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE

LINCOLN — Business owner David Rogers has announced plans to challenge State Sen. Lynne Walz for the legislative seat representing Fremont and the rest of Dodge County.

Rogers is the owner and president of Professional HPP Services, a company that repairs and services ultrahigh-pressure equipment around the world, and an adjunct professor of cybersecurity at Bellevue University. He is a U.S. Air Force veteran who came to Nebraska when he was stationed at Offutt Air Force Base. He also is former chairman of the Dodge County Republican Party.

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CREIGHTON STUDENTS VOTE IN FAVOR OF DIVESTING UNIVERSITY FUNDS FROM FOSSIL FUEL INDUSTRY

OMAHA - Creighton University students who cast ballots Tuesday voted overwhelmingly in favor of divesting university funds from the fossil fuel industry.

The students said through their referendum that Creighton should freeze any new investments in fossil fuels. By 2025, the students say, Creighton should divest the 2% of its endowment that is invested in the top 200 carbon-emitting fossil fuel companies. Creighton’s endowment was about $570 million as of mid-2018.

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PROPANE SUPPLIERS STRUGGLE TO MEET RURAL DEMANDS AMID CHILL

DES MOINES, Iowa — A late harvest, wet grain and the fall chill have combined to multiply demand for propane in Iowa, Nebraska and other states, according to agriculture and propane industry officials. Iowa Agriculture Secretary Mike Naig said that the demand on the supply system during the last week to 10 days has been tremendous.

"It's really created a supply pinch," Naig said, adding that nearly every bushel of corn needs to be dried.

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