BREAKING NEWS: GOVERNOR RICKETTS ISSUES EXECUTIVE ORDER TO GIVE PUBLIC BOARDS THE FLEXIBILITY TO HOLD VIRTUAL MEETINGS

LINCOLN – Today, Governor Pete Ricketts issued an executive order to permit state and local governmental boards, commissions, and other public bodies to meet by videoconference, teleconference, or other electronic means through May 31, 2020.  The Governor’s order stipulated that all such virtual meetings must be available to members of the public, including media, to give citizens the opportunity to participate as well as to be duly informed of the meetings’ proceedings.  The Governor’s order did not waive the advanced publicized notice and the agenda requirements for public meetings.

 The Governor’s executive order comes a day after the White House Coronavirus Task Force issued guidance limiting social gatherings to 10 people or less through March 31, 2020.  The executive order is part of an overall public health strategy to increase social distancing to stem the spread of the coronavirus disease.

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Governor Ricketts Announces Directed Health Measure for Cass, Douglas, Sarpy, & Washington Counties

LINCOLN – Today, Governor Pete Ricketts announced the Nebraska’s first Directed Health Measure (DHM) for COVID-19.  The DHM imposes an enforceable limit on public gatherings.  The measure comes a day after the Douglas County Public Health Department confirmed its second case of community transmission of COVID-19.

The DHM applies to all communities in Educational Service Units (ESU) #3 and #19 which encompass Cass, Douglas, Sarpy, and Washington counties.  It will be in effect until April 30, 2020.  Among other steps, the DHM requires restaurants and bars in these areas to close their dining areas immediately and move to takeout service, delivery, and/or curbside service only until further notice.  Additionally, schools in these areas are directed to operate without students in their buildings.  This restriction does not apply to school staff working in school buildings.

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WOULD YOU LIKE SOME BOOZE WITH THAT? RICKETTS LOOSENS LIQUOR LAWS

OMAHA-  Gov. Pete Ricketts on Thursday announced the state's first measure to enforce the cap on public gatherings of 10 people in Douglas, Cass, Sarpy and Washington counties.

Restaurants and bars in the Omaha area, where two COVID-19 cases of community spread have been reported, must close their dining areas and move to takeout or delivery service. Alcohol sales are restricted to takeout and delivery only in Omaha. To provide some relief to those businesses, Ricketts issued an executive order that permits establishments statewide to sell beer, wine and spirits to customers placing takeout or delivery orders. Restaurants and bars will also be able to sell alcohol on drive-thru or curbside orders without customers having to exit their vehicles. 

In addition, temporary operating permits will be extended from 90 to 180 days, and the state will waive penalties for late payments on excise taxes.

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A NEBRASKA HOSPITAL AIMED TO CONTAIN THE VIRUS. BUT IT HAD ALREADY SPREAD

OMAHA — Just a month ago — back when hardly anyone in the United States had tested positive for the coronavirus, back when the federal government spoke hopefully about keeping the virus from spreading in American cities, back when the mass cancellation of school and work and basketball seemed unimaginable — a small hospital ward in Omaha was at the center of the country’s effort to quash the illness.

Nebraska Medicine’s Biocontainment Unit is where the federal government sends people with the most fearsome pathogens. In 2014, its doctors and nurses treated Americans who contracted Ebola in Liberia and Sierra Leone. And in February, after a cruise ship near Japan became a floating coronavirus petri dish, those same doctors were tasked with helping more than a dozen American passengers.

The goal? To keep the virus’s presence in the United States limited to a handful of people who had been exposed overseas, and to prevent them from spreading it to others.

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INSIDE THE NATIONAL QUARANTINE CENTER, THERE IS NO FEAR OF CORONAVIRUS. THERE IS ONLY URGENCY.

OMAHA - The National Quarantine Center, this nation’s only federal quarantine facility, sits on a single floor of a new building on the campus of the University of Nebraska Medical Center west of downtown Omaha. It holds 20 beds, 15 of which are occupied by patients exposed to the novel coronavirus, or SARS-CoV2, including several passengers from cruise ship Diamond Princess.

A couple of blocks away sits the UNMC biocontainment unit, the largest of its kind in this country, which takes up part of an upper floor in a large inpatient-care facility. Ten beds, with a 35-bed surge capacity. Two pressurized entrances providing constant negative air pressure via a HEPA airflow system, and decontamination autoclaves for waste disposal. Currently four of the beds are occupied by contagious COVID-19 patients. (“COVID” means coronavirus disease.)

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NEW OMAHA-AREA CHILD WELFARE CONTRACTOR REPEATEDLY LEFT CHILDREN OVERNIGHT IN WAITING AREA

LINCOLN — A Nebraska state government contractor repeatedly left abused and neglected Omaha-area children overnight in a place meant for stays of only a few hours.

The incidents occurred at least 44 times over three months and involved 31 youngsters, according to state officials. Twelve youths had multiple overnights. At least one spent three separate overnights at the Project Harmony Triage Center.

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RICKETTS CONFRONTS CORONAVIRUS WITH NEBRASKA MEDICAL CENTER AT HIS SIDE

LINCOLN - Gov. Pete Ricketts has had to rearrange his time, attention and priorities to tackle the coronavirus challenge that has crept into his state, but he says he feels "very, very blessed" to have the acquired knowledge, talent and resources of the University of Nebraska Medical Center at his side.

A governor who has been a manager in the private sector and is generally viewed as a quick learner has moved coronavirus to the top of his to-do list, with a growing understanding of how to measure its threat in Nebraska and how he should respond.

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NEW LEADER CHOSEN FOR NEBRASKA'S FOSTER CARE REVIEW OFFICE

LINCOLN — Monika Gross, an attorney with more than 15 years of experience in Nebraska’s child welfare system, has been named the new executive director for the state’s Foster Care Review Office.

Gross spent nine years working for PromiseShip, an Omaha-based nonprofit that contracted with the state to manage Omaha-area child welfare cases. She was interim president and CEO of the agency for the past six months. Previously, she worked eight years as an attorney with the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.

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NEBRASKA'S DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES DIRECTOR LEAVING FOR FEDERAL JOB

LINCOLN — Courtney Miller is stepping down as Nebraska’s developmental disabilities director to take a job with the federal government.

Miller will become the Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program operations group director within the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a newly created position, according to a Wednesday announcement. She will leave her Nebraska job on April 4.

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CORRECTIONS PROCEEDING WITH INFORMATION REQUEST FOR NEW PRISON

LINCOLN - The Department of Correctional Services has posted on the state purchasing website a request for information to build a new prison.

Prisons Director Scott Frakes said in a news release that responses are due May 27 and that the sealed requests will be opened that day.

It is the first step, he said, in identifying what is required, given current and projected prison populations. In calendar year 2019, the average daily number of prisoners was 5,661, 92% of whom were males.

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SCHEER DOES NOT RULE OUT LEGISLATIVE SESSION OUTSIDE OF LINCOLN

LINCOLN - The Legislature will reconvene at some yet-to-be-determined date, perhaps as early as Monday, to appropriate the state funding that may be required to help aggressively battle the coronavirus in Nebraska, Speaker Jim Scheer of Norfolk said Thursday.

While Scheer anticipates senators will meet in the legislative chamber at the Capitol in Lincoln, he does not rule out the possibility of "going off campus" at some point and convening in another city in the state if that emerges as the safest and most prudent way to complete its 2020 session, the Speaker said in a telephone interview.

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BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY SHAREHOLDERS WON'T BE ABLE TO ATTEND ANNUAL MEETING, BUFFET SAYS

Berkshire Hathaway shareholders won't be able to attend the May 2 annual meeting this year because of the coronavirus threat, founder Warren Buffett said in a letter Friday.

"The annual meeting will be held at 3:45 p.m. on May 2nd as scheduled," Buffett wrote. "However, we will not be able to allow shareholders to physically attend the meeting, and all special events are canceled."

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NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE MOVES TO SEPARATE YRTCs BY GENDER AND ADVANCES RELATED BILLS

LINCOLN - The Legislature forwarded a package of bills Tuesday aimed at addressing long-running problems at the state's Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Centers.

Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth managed to attach his bill that would separate male and female youths, keeping only boys at Kearney and girls at Geneva. That measure was attached to a bill (LB1188) that would mandate the Office of Juvenile Services to establish a superintendent of schools to administer education programs at the Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Centers by Aug. 1.

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TC ENERGY TO BEGIN FELLING TREES ALONG KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE ROUTE

BILLINGS, Mont. — A Canadian company said Wednesday it has started preliminary work along the route of the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline through the U.S. in anticipation of starting construction next month, as opponents await a judge's ruling on their request to block any work.

TC Energy spokeswoman Sara Rabern said the Calgary-based company was moving equipment this week and will begin mowing and felling trees in areas along the pipeline's 1,200-mile route within the next week or so.

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NEBRASKA STATE SENATOR CREATES WEBSITE URGING GOP TO RESTORE ITS VALUES

LINCOLN - Sen. John McCollister of Omaha has launched a website urging the Republican Party to recover and restore its past values and apply them to the issues of today such as climate change, immigration reform, criminal justice reform and "reasonable gun legislation."

The new website presence was heralded by a series of tweets from McCollister, a Republican member of the nonpartisan Legislature, who said he is seeking a return to "a more rational and responsive Republican Party" rather than the GOP of today.

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NEBRASKA LAWMAKERS SHOOT DOWN PROPOSED $52 MILLION WORK-RELEASE FACILITY IN OMAHA

LINCOLN — A proposal to build a $52 million work-release facility in Omaha was shot down Wednesday by state lawmakers amid questions about whether Corrections Department officials would actually use the money and build a prison.

State Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha said the Legislature needs to address the state’s prison overcrowding “crisis” because it’s not being seriously addressed right now.

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NEBRASKA LAWMAKERS REVIVE PROPERTY TAX RELIEF EFFORT WITH REVISED MEASURE ADDRESSING SCHOOL CONCERNS

LINCOLN — Thanks to some legislative gymnastics, state lawmakers will get another chance to debate a much-amended property tax relief proposal.

Further debate on an initial tax relief proposal, Legislative Bill 974, had been blocked since Feb. 20 because backers couldn’t show they had 33 votes to overcome an expected filibuster.

But on Tuesday, a legislative committee found a way around that blockade, pushing a 75-page amendment into a noncontroversial cleanup bill, LB 1106.

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STATE LEADERS BRACING FOR SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS

LINCOLN - State lawmakers and top government officials are preparing for the possibility the novel coronavirus could reach the state Capitol.

In a tweet Monday afternoon, Gov. Pete Ricketts said he had convened his cabinet last week "to review continuity of operations plans" and prepare state workers to work from home if necessary.

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DON WALTON: REDISTRICTING BATTLE UNDERWAY AHEAD OF 2021

LINCOLN - What already has the look of a gangbuster 2020 general election in Nebraska may be about to add another featured attraction.

Last week's announcement that a petition drive will be launched later this month to place an initiative proposal to create an independent citizens' redistricting commission on the November ballot is the latest biggie.

Already in the works are proposals to sharply reduce property taxes, authorize casino gambling at horse race tracks and legalize medical marijuana in the state.

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NEBRASKA LAWMAKERS ADVANCE BILL TARGETING SEXUAL MISCONDUCT BY TEACHERS

OMAHA - Nebraska lawmakers voted Monday to advance the first part of a package of measures targeting sexual misconduct by teachers and other educators.

Legislative Bill 1080, introduced by State Sen. Steve Lathrop of Omaha, cleared first-round consideration on a 39-0 vote. The bill would require Nebraska schools to adopt policies prohibiting sexual contact between educators and students or former students for up to a year after they leave school.

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