HELEN RAIKES WILL CHALLENGE INCUMBENT IN LEGISLATIVE DISTRICT 23

LINCOLN - Helen Raikes has filed to run for the legislative seat in District 23, which includes Saunders, Butler and Colfax counties.

Raikes, who lives near Ashland, is a registered Independent in the nonpartisan race. She is challenging incumbent Bruce Bostelman.  
“I am the independent voice for property tax relief and opportunities for agriculture and small business," Raikes said. "I am involved in farming, small business and education. I believe I am the right voice for rural communities and that I can be effective in making the changes we need in the Legislature."

View the article HERE

COMPROMISE BILL WOULD RECOGNIZE INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, COLUMBUS ON SAME HOLIDAY

LINCOLN - Aproposal designating the second Monday in October as Indigenous Peoples Day advanced in the Legislature on Wednesday with a compromise keeping Columbus Day in place as well.

The proposal (LB848) from Lincoln Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks originally aimed at replacing Columbus Day with a holiday recognizing the "historic, cultural and contemporary significance" of the first people in the Americas -- a step taken by many other states and cities.

View the article HERE

SCHOOL AID NEGOTIATIONS WITH NEBRASKA'S BIG-CITY SCHOOLS AT IMPASSE

LINCOLN - Negotiations with big-city schools seeking agreement on major property tax reduction and school aid reform legislation have reached an impasse and may have collapsed.

"I'm still hopeful," Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, chairwoman of the Legislature's Revenue Committee, said Wednesday during an interview in her Capitol office.

But the optics are not good.

View the article HERE

WILL SIMPLE ECONOMICS DEAL FATAL BLOW TO LONG-DELAYED KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE?

WASHINGTON — The Keystone XL pipeline has faced bureaucratic hurdles, court challenges and the determined opposition of environmental groups.

But the biggest challenge to the project at this point could come from basic economics.

Weak oil demand and cheap alternative sources mean pipeline developer TC Energy should consider putting construction plans on pause — perhaps forever, said Charles Mason, chair in petroleum and natural gas economics at the University of Wyoming.

View the article HERE

RICKETTS LIKENS CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK TO 'REALLY BIG SNOWSTORM' AS OFFICIALS URGE PREPAREDNESS

LINCOLN - Officials on Monday urged Nebraskans to start preparing for the arrival of the coronavirus.

“Our goal here in the state of Nebraska is to be the best-prepared state to deal with the coronavirus,” Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts said at a press conference on the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus.

The preparation, he said, should start with good hygiene, including washing hands frequently, covering coughs and sneezes and staying home if you’re sick so you don’t infect others. Officials on Monday eschewed traditional handshakes as greetings and instead exchanged elbow bumps.

View the article HERE

MINORITY STUDENTS VISIT NEBRASKA STATE CAPITOL, HOPE TO ERASE DIVERSITY DEFICIT IN LEGISLATURE

LINCOLN-  More than 150 minority Nebraska students, primarily from Lincoln and Omaha, congregated in the Rotunda and stared 112 feet up.The students spent a day in the Capitol for the Black and Brown Legislative Day to learn the ins and outs of the bill-making process and to engage elected officials to make their voices heard.

The first Black and Brown Legislative Day was in 2017. About 30 students attended the first session, according to Ja Keen Fox, advocacy chair for the Urban League of Nebraska Young Professionals.

“Black and brown people aren’t monolith,” Fox said. “We don’t all think the same way. And we all have different opinions.”

The kids met several senators, including Wayne, Vargas and Chambers. Chambers, the oldest and longest-serving state senator in Nebraska’s history, reminded the youths that although they don’t see many people who look like them in the Legislature, an opportunity to rise still exists. 

View the article HERE

TOP DEMOCRATS' FIGHT OVER WHO STEERS STRATEGY, FUNDRAISING IN OMAHA IS COMING TO A HEAD

OMAHA-  A long-simmering dispute between two of Nebraska’s top Democrats has boiled over into open war with the 2020 presidential election just eight months away.

At the center of the tussle are Nebraska Democratic Party Chairwoman Jane Kleeb and Douglas County Democratic Party Chairwoman Crystal Rhoades. Both say they want to move on from their years-long fight, but neither is giving ground. Kleeb says she either wants Rhoades out as county party chairwoman, or she wants Rhoades to cooperate more with the state party.

Rhoades continues to push back against the state party. In 2018, she supported a behind-the-scenes bid to remove Kleeb from her state party post after she said Kleeb supported Rhoades’ challenger at the county convention. At the core of their fight is the question of who should steer the Democratic Party’s actions and fundraising in the Omaha area.

View the article HERE

STATE OF NEBRASKA REVENUE FORECAST UP, BUT VIRUS IMPACT A QUESTION

Lincoln- Nebraska's economic forecasters edged the state's revenue projections higher Friday in spite of questions about what impact the COVID-19 virus could have on businesses or the state's workforce. 

Generally, information for forecasts is gathered from national forecasting services, and the virus wasn't incorporated into those forecasts, Tom Bergquist, legislative fiscal analyst director, told the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board. The board revised the fiscal year 2019-20 forecast by an increase of $115 million, with projections that sales and corporate taxes would rise. Members weren't as optimistic about fiscal year 2020-21, raising projected revenues by only $25 million. 

View the article HERE

'WE'LL DEAL WITH IT': NEBRASKA, IOWA PREP FOR POSSIBLE SPRING FLOODING

Those living and working near Nebraska and Iowa waterways are wary, remaining on high alert for a repeat of the destruction that caused billions in damages to homes, roads, bridges and livestock operations. 

"The fact that we still haven’t recovered from last year and might get hit again this year certainly causes concern," said Audrey Cline, who lives along the Wood River in Shelton, Nebraska. Her family's property flooded twice last year, in March and July.

The weather conditions that combined to create massive, widespread flooding across the eastern third of Nebraska and parts of western Iowa last March are not quite the same this year. This winter has been warmer and drier, with less thick ice forming on rivers. 

View the article HERE

TRILINGUAL SOUTH OMAHA NATIVE FILES TO RUN AGAINST STATE SEN. TONY VARGAS

LINCOLN — Jorge Sotolongo, a longtime resident of South Omaha, has filed for election to the state legislative seat now held by State Sen. Tony Vargas.

Sotolongo, a 31-year-old Republican and commercial real estate executive, said he understands the "diverse" legislative district, and speaks Spanish and French as well as English.

"I'll do everything in my power to promote education, the creation of good jobs, small business and family values," he said in a press release.

View the article HERE

GUN CONTROL ADVOCATES BRING COOKIES, NOT GUNS, TO STATE CAPITOL

LINCOLN — A group of gun control advocates gathered Tuesday at the State Capitol, bringing cookies instead of guns to show their support for a proposed “red flag” law in Nebraska.

The gathering of about 40 people wearing red T-shirts was a smaller and less raucous event than on Friday, when more than 400 gun rights backers crowded hearing rooms and the halls of the Capitol to voice opposition to gun control proposals.

View the article HERE

HOUSING BILL AIMED AT INCREASING RENTAL OPTIONS DRAWS CONCERN FROM LINCOLN NEIGHBORHOOD LEADERS

LINCOLN - Lincoln neighborhood leaders have sounded the alarm about a state proposal seeking to allow duplexes, cottage clusters, town houses, triplexes and quadplexes in residential areas that have limited them locally.

"It looks like it’s just an open-ended shooting gallery, particularly, for older neighborhoods," Paul Johnson, the East Campus Community Organization Board president, said of the legislation (LB794).

View the article HERE

PROPERTY TAX NEGOTIATIONS CONTINUE; DEBATE WON'T RESUME JUST YET

LINCOLN - Negotiations are continuing in an effort to find agreement clearing the way for the Revenue Committee's property tax reduction and school funding reform package to move forward in the Legislature, Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn said Monday.

After weekend talks with school representatives who are concerned about the proposal,  as well as some senators, Linehan said she plans to continue to visit with all the players in this year's property tax debate, including Gov. Pete Ricketts or his representatives. 

View the article HERE

NEBRASKA LEADERS TALK ABOUT WHETHER GUNS SHOULD BE ALLOWED AT CAPITOL

LINCOLN - The vast majority of opponents who showed up Friday at the state Capitol for a legislative hearing on gun-related bills were respectful and circumspect about the right time and place to carry a gun.

But at least two opponents openly carried assault-type long rifles around the Capitol for several hours. And one of those men, Brett Hendrix, brought it into the hearing room to testify on a suicide prevention measure (LB958) that also initially would have added semiautomatic rifles and shotguns to the category of firearms for which a purchase certificate would be required.

View the article HERE

UNMC LAUNCHING CLINICAL TRIALS FOR EXPERIMENTAL CORONAVIRUS THERAPY

OMAHA - In addition to serving as one of the lead quarantine sites for Americans diagnosed with COVID-19, the University of Nebraska Medical Center is spearheading the effort to find a treatment for the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus.

Tuesday, UNMC announced the first clinical trial in the U.S. of remdesivir, a "broad-spectrum" antiviral therapy that has proved effective against SARS and MERS — other respiratory diseases caused by varying strains of the virus — as well as against the Ebola virus.

View the article HERE

BILL ALLOWING COLLEGE ATHLETES TO MAKE MONEY OFF NAMES ADVANCES

LINCOLN - Legislation giving college athletes in Nebraska the chance to endorse brands or products, promote sponsored content on social media or get paid for private lessons or to host camps advanced from first-round debate Tuesday.

Omaha Sen. Megan Hunt's Nebraska Fair Pay to Play Act (LB962), which would allow athletes to make money on their name, image or likeness, won early-round approval on a 36-4 vote.

View the article HERE

KOCH-FUNDED CENTER AT UNL SET TO EXPLORE FUTURE IMPLICATIONS OF TECHNOLOGY

Researchers around the world are zeroing in on techniques capable of reprogramming viruses to attack cancer cells or to eradicate unwanted genetic mutations from human DNA altogether.

At the same time, new algorithms are allowing computers to anticipate changes to the financial markets with better accuracy and consistency, enabling trades to take place thousands of times every second.

View the article HERE

COUNTY LEADERS SAY SARPY ISN'T THE RIGHT PLACE FOR A PROPOSED NEW STATE PRISON

LINCOLN — Two Sarpy County leaders are making it clear that they don’t want the suburban Omaha county to become the site of a new state prison.

“It just wouldn’t make any sense to build a large maximum security prison in the fastest growing and among the most populated counties in the state, where the unemployment rate is less than 3%,” said Don Kelly of Papillion, chairman of the Sarpy County Board.

View the article HERE

SUICIDE ATTEMPTS, ASSAULTS, ESCAPES, AN UPRISING: WHAT'S GOING ON AT THE KEARNEY YOUTH CENTER?

KEARNEY, Neb. — Tammie Jones’ heart raced every time her cellphone rang with a call from the state’s largest juvenile justice center.

The calls often brought bad news about her 17-year-old son, who was at the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center-Kearney.

Jones, 37, got the latest gut-punch call on Feb. 12. Her son was hospitalized after trying to take his own life by overdosing on pills. It was his third suicide attempt while at the facility.

View the article HERE

PRIVATELY BUILT PRISONS - AS ENVISIONED IN NEBRASKA - ARE STARTING TO CATCH ON

LINCOLN — The largest and oldest prison in Kansas, the Lansing Correctional Facility, opened when Abraham Lincoln was president.

So when Kansas officials decided to replace the 2,400-bed Lansing facility because of overcrowding, rising operating costs and its age, they opted for a novel solution: hire a private company to build a replacement, and have the state staff it with their workers and lease it for 20 years, when it would then own it.

View the article HERE