NEARLY 26,000 NURSING HOME RESIDENTS HAVE DIED FROM COVID-19, NEWLY RELEASED DATA SHOWS

WASHINGTON- Newly released data from the U.S. government show that nearly 26,000 nursing home residents have died from COVID-19 and more than 60,000 have fallen ill. These figures, however, don't account for all nursing homes across the country.

According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, known as CMS, about 80% of nursing homes nationwide reported data to the CDC as is now required. The remaining 20% could face fines if they don't comply. CMS Administrator Seema Verma told reporters on a conference call Monday that the data has limitations: Some facilities have reported cumulative figures, and some have reported weekly. She said she expects the discrepancies will even out over time. The figures will be publicly available Thursday on a government website called Nursing Home Compare. 

CMS also announced Monday that it will be stepping up fines for nursing homes that fail to sufficiently control infections. Nursing homes that have previously been cited for lax infection control could receive fines ranging from $5,000 to $20,000.

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EXPOSURE NOTIFICATION APPS USHER IN NEW PRIVACY BILL

WASHINGTON - Congress is on the beat for contact-tracing apps. On Tuesday, a bipartisan group led by Senate Commerce ranking Democrat Maria Cantwell of Washington and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) introduced a bill to require that public health agencies be involved before notifications can go out, our Tech colleague John Hendel reports.

The Exposure Notification Privacy Act would also require that consumers be able to give consent, opt out whenever they like, and delete their own data. “This bill defends privacy when someone voluntarily joins with others to stop the spread of Covid-19,” Cassidy said.

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GRAND ISLAND OFFICIALS LIKEN 1980 TORNADOES TO COVID-19

GRAND ISLAND - Tragedies such as tornadoes and a deadly virus show a community’s resiliency. They’re also an opportunity for city leaders to make things better than they were, according to the president of the Grand Island Area Chamber of Commerce. When you live through a tornado or a virus, “you can come out of them either better than you were before or you can come out of them a victim,” said Cindy Johnson.

Johnson is grateful for leaders like Wayne Bennett, who was Grand Island’s public works director when South Locust was widened. Sidewalks, lighting and greenscaping were added.

Sometimes it’s easy for a leader to “just hold the line” and keep things at the status quo. “It’s much more challenging to be a visionary leader” and “see what the possibilities are,” Johnson said.

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RICKETTS CONCERNED VIRUS WILL FLARE AGAIN WITH ON-GOING PROTESTS

LINCOLN - Nebraska could see another flare-up of coronavirus cases because of the demonstrations over the death of George Floyd, but state officials concluded that allowing protesters to peacefully vent was more important than concerns about the pandemic.

Protests in Omaha and Lincoln have each drawn more than 1,000 people, often clustered into large groups as they confront law enforcement officers. Some protesters and officers haven't worn masks, ignoring the recommendation of public health officials.

Ricketts said he discussed concerns about the virus with other public officials, but decided that the protesters' free-speech rights “outweigh the concerns about the pandemic."

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LINCOLN PUBLIC SCHOOLS CONSIDERING SEVERAL STAGGERED SCHOOL SCHEDULES FOR FALL, WANT PARENTS’ OPINIONS

LINCOLN – A survey Lincoln Public Schools plans to send to parents Thursday offers a glimpse of the scenarios the state’s second-largest district is considering for school this fall. The survey will ask parents which of the following options would work best for their families if the COVID-19 situation is severe enough that schools can’t operate normally:

* Students go to school every day for half a day.

* Students attend school every other week and attend classes via Zoom on the weeks they’re home. Students at home wouldn’t be on Zoom all six hours, but for a more limited time.

* Students participate in all classes virtually via Zoom conferences at specific times.

Matt Larson, associate superintendent for instruction, stressed that no decision has yet been made and the district is following guidance from the Nebraska Department of Education, the CDC and local health department.

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UNL FACILITY MAKES PROTEIN THAT COULD BE USED TO TREAT SEVERE CASES OF COVID-19

LINCOLN - Officials with a University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Engineering facility were working with a company to develop a recombinant protein for another use when the coronavirus struck. The company, which is involved in drug discovery, determined the protein could be used to treat the effects of the coronavirus, said Dennis Hensen, project manager with the Biological Process Development Facility.

The protein would not be a cure but could provide an option for people with advanced cases of COVID-19 to either prevent the need for or reduce time on a ventilator, said Scott Johnson, the facility’s production manager.

The next step for the company will be to conduct safety testing in animals. That testing must be completed before the firm could seek approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for clinical trials in people.

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LINCOLN SENATOR SAYS RECENT EVENTS HAVE SHAKEN HER 'TO THE CORE'

LINCOLN- The killing of George Floyd has impacted people in ways that the many other recent shootings and killings of black people in America have not.

Many have said they really didn't understand the extent of the racial inequality in this country — inequality and discrimination that has been highly present for 400 years — but now they are ready to listen and learn. So it is with this Nebraska lawmaker, Lincoln Sen. Suzanne Geist, who has been so disturbed by the Floyd killing she took to Twitter this week to talk about it. The May 25 killing of Floyd in Minneapolis, a city 6½ hours by car from her home, opened Geist's eyes wide. 

On Wednesday, she started the conversation on Twitter. 

"This post has been one that’s very difficult to find the right words but I must say something. The tragic events we’ve watched over the past week have helped expose a deep wound in our society that must be discussed and acted upon," she tweeted. "It has shook me to the core that this is happening and I didn't see it," she said. 

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DEMOCRATS CLAMOR FOR CLEAN ENERGY AID

WASHINGTON – “Democratic lawmakers — led by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and House E&C Environment Subcommittee Chair Paul Tonko — are calling on congressional leadership to help the clean energy sector as part of any new economic recovery legislation, amid reports that the sector already lost nearly 600,000 jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic. The lawmakers are seeking to extend and offer "additional flexibility" for clean energy tax credits and federal investments in various clean energy technologies.”

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LINCOLN MAULED: ONE NIGHT, MOR ETHAN $10 MILLION IN DAMAGE

LINCOLN - As rioters replaced protesters late Saturday and early Sunday, and moved between the two centers of government, they shattered dozens of windows, started fires, sprayed graffiti, uprooted signs, broke bus stops and trashed offices. The city estimated its damage alone at $10 million.

As for the capitol building, it lost 15 window panes on its northwest side, and vandals tagged the Abe Lincoln statue and other areas. And four days later, the offices along the mall aren’t done cleaning up, either.

The damage on the main level of the Nebraska Association of County Officials building was so thorough it could be months before employees return to work on that floor.

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OMAHA POLICE UNION CALLS OUT STATE SENATOR FOR COMMENTS ABOUT PROTESTS

Omaha — The Omaha police union is accusing a state senator from Omaha of “shamefully siding with vandals, rioters, and looters” for comments made on Twitter over the weekend. Sen.Tony Vargas criticized local police for their response to demonstrators. Sen. Vargas stated, “It is alarming and unacceptable that peaceful protesters were met with pepper balls, tear gas, and riot gear by officers sworn to protect and serve our community.”

The Omaha Police Officers Association, in turn, called the comments “false, irresponsible, and dangerous.” The union said Vargas was ignoring “criminal activity” that led to the response from authorities. The union also said that law enforcement used force only in response to the “antagonistic lawlessness and the disruptive acts of vandalism and violence that have marred what began as just and peaceful protests.”

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STATE SEN. ERNIE CHAMBERS JOINS GROUP OUTSIDE CITY HALL TO DISCUSS INJUSTICE, PROTESTS AND MORE

OMAHA - On the sixth night of protests in Omaha, Nebraska’s best-known advocate for racial justice, State Sen. Ernie Chambers, visited with about 60 mostly young people outside City Hall about injustice and civic engagement.

Sen. Chambers told those with him that the protests show that “you can have a profound impact.” He also cautioned that “You don’t have to prove anything by knocking out a window.”

Sen. Chambers calls for unfaltering efforts at reconciliation.

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RICKETTS ESTABLISHES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OFFICE IN GERMANY

LINCOLN - Theo Freye, a former executive for an ag machinery company headquartered in Germany, will lead economic development efforts for Nebraska in the European country. The decision to create Nebraska Center Germany follows Ricketts' 2019 trade mission to the nation.

Anthony Goins, the state's economic development director said, “We are incredibly pleased to have Theo Freye join the Nebraska Department of Economic Development to lead Nebraska Center Germany at a time when the state is increasingly involved in the country.” This will be Nebraska’s second international office with the first in Japan.

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HOW AMAZON IS BRINGING THE KEYSTON XL PIPELINE ONLINE; TRUMP TAKES AIM AT STATES POWER TO BLOCK PROJECTS

WASHINGTON - Amazon has cemented a partnership with the company that owns the controversial Keystone XL pipeline, recently announcing that TC Energy is “going all-in” on Amazon Web Services. The Canadian pipeline corporation, formerly known as TransCanada, has “migrated almost 90 percent of its corporate and commercial applications” to Amazon Web Services.

AWS released a statement saying, “TC Energy is going all-in on the world’s leading cloud, moving its entire infrastructure to AWS.” The announcement comes just weeks after TC Energy’s long-contested Keystone XL pipeline, which would carry some of the dirtiest, most carbon-intensive oil on the planet from the Alberta tar sands basin to Nebraska, faced a major legal setback when its permit was vacated by a federal judge.

Mitchell Browning, TC Energy’s senior developer for U.S. Real Time Systems, said months earlier at a presentation given at a tech conference held in San Francisco that AWS technology can help TC Energy maximize the profitability of its pipeline networks by combining third-party data sources, weather data, commercial data, and pipeline metered flow data into the AWS machine learning platform.

Additionally, on Monday the Trump administration finalized a rule Monday that takes aim at a powerful tool used by states to block new pipelines and coal export terminals. The final rule limits the types of issues that states can consider when using their authority under Section 401 of the CWA to block a federal permit and sets tight deadlines for them to do so. The rule also allows EPA to overrule a state's permit denial if the agency decides the action was based on issues outside the scope of the state's authority. Environmentalists have planned legal challenges to the rule, which they say conflicts directly with the Supreme Court precedent supporting states' authority under the 1972 water law. The rule will also have major implications for the relicensing of hydropower dams across the country. However, Senator John Barrasso said, “planning legal challenges to the rule, which they say conflicts directly with Supreme Court precedent supporting states' authority under the 1972 water law. The rule will also have major implications for the relicensing of hydropower dams across the country.”

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STATE OFFICIALS BACK FUND TO PLUG ORPHAN WELLS

WASHINGTON - State officials from North Dakota and New Mexico said federal funding for plugging tens of thousands of so-called orphan oil and gas wells would provide jobs to out-of-work energy service employees and reduce water and methane pollution. Some states have articulated that they lack adequate funding to plug and remediate such wells and that an oil market crunch will further exacerbate the problem if failing companies shirk cleanup duties.

Democratic Sen. Heinrich and Representatives Luján and Torres Small called for new federal funding. Daniel Raimi, a senior associate for think tank Resources for the Future, said a $1.4 billion program could create 13,000 jobs. North Dakota Mineral Resources Director Lynn Helms backed the concept, noting his state is already using CARES Act funding to put oil and gas workers in the field to plug wells.

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NATIONAL WILDLIFE FEDERATION JOINS GOP GOVERNORS CALLING FOR RENEWABLE FUEL WAIVERS

WASHINGTON - The National Wildlife Federation believes EPA's Andrew Wheeler should use the agency's waiver authority to reduce blending requirements under the Renewable Fuel Standard. According to the NWF, because the environmental destruction due to the program has been so great, the Renewable Volume Obligation should be lowered.

NWF stated, “Higher blends of ethanol necessitated by unrealistic RVOs diminish public health. In light of the clear and present danger to the environment, we join with the Governors of six states in asking for a waiver to the RVO."

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OMAHA PASTORS WALK OUT ON MEETING WITH GOVERNOR RICKETTS AFTER OFFENSIVE COMMENT; LEAKED AUDIO SHOWS DIFFERENT EXCHANGE

OMAHA – A group of Omaha pastors walked out of a meeting with Governor Ricketts concerning the protests held in Omaha the last few nights. One of the pastors took to Facebook to chronicle why the pastors decided to walk out. The pastor stated, “Pete Ricketts said, 'The problem I have with you people.' Did you hear what I just said? 'The problem I have with you people.' Ladies and gentlemen, I walked out of the Police Chief's office. I walked out on Gov. Pete Ricketts as he said — he called us 'you people.’”

The Governor stated that he chose his words poorly and that he apologized after it became apparent that his diction caused offense. Preston Love Jr. of Black Votes Matter said that the Governor apologized immediately and probably meant “you guys” instead of “you people.” After a release of an leaked audio recording of the meeting shows Ricketts did not use the specific term "you people" during a heated exchange. Instead, the Governor used the phrase, “you guys.”

Nonetheless, the Governor said, “But the point being that I said, you know, 'you guys.' That was not the sensitive way to be able to say it. That was the wrong way to say it.” Ricketts said Pastor Tony Sanders took him aside after the conversation and told him what he said was a trigger for African Americans.

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WILL PROTESTS SET OFF A SECOND VIRAL WAVE?

LOS ANGELES- Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people out of their homes and onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases.

While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. The spontaneous outpouring of protests are occurring as many states have warily begun reopening after weeks of stay-at-home orders with millions of American unemployed. Restaurants, schools, beaches and parks are under scrutiny as the public tentatively practices new forms of social distancing.

In Los Angeles, where demonstrations led to the closing of virus testing sites on Saturday, Mayor Eric Garcetti warned that the protests could become “super-spreader events,” referring to the types of gatherings, usually held in indoor settings, that can lead to an explosion of secondary infections.

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NEW TELEHEALTH STATS SHOW WIDE SUPPORT

WASHINGTON - A post from McKinsey estimates that up to $250 billion of the country's current health care spending could be done virtually, considering patients' rapid adoption of telehealth.

About 76 percent of consumers were highly or moderately likely to use telehealth in the future, according to the consulting firm's recent surveys. Seventy-four percent of people who had used telehealth reported high satisfaction.

Providers are getting on board too. About 57 percent of providers said they viewed virtual care more favorably than they did before the pandemic, and 64 percent said they're more comfortable using it.

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MIDWEST AND PLAINS BUSINESS LEADERS OPTIMISTIC DESPITE CORONAVIRUS, SURVEY SHOWS

OMAHA - The overall index for the Midwest improved in May to 43.5 from April's 35.1, but it remained in negative territory. The survey results are compiled into a collection of indexes ranging from zero to 100. Survey organizers say any score below 50 suggests decline. A score above 50 suggests growth.

Creighton University economist Ernie Goss said the survey shows that the coronavirus outbreak has had a greater impact on businesses tied directly to the consumer and a smaller impact on manufacturers. The monthly survey covers Arkansas, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Dakota.

Nebraska’s overall index for May rose to 43.9 from 36 in April. Components of the index: new orders at 32.9, production or sales at 34.1; delivery lead time at 61.2; inventories at 49.9; and employment at 41.3. Goss said the state’s unemployment rate increased from 4.2% in March to 8.6% in April. The state lost 86,000 jobs in that period.

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BARS ACROSS SOME NEBRASKA COMMUNITIES ALLOWED TO REOPEN STARTING THIS WEEK

OMAHA - People who get off work early in the morning could have a beer and unwind starting at 6 a.m. Monday when bars reopened for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic led to their closure. Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts announced last week that bars could reopen at 50% capacity.

In early May, restaurants, gyms and fitness centers, hair and nail salons, barbershops, tattoo businesses and massage studios reopened in 89 of the state's 93 counties. And in all the counties, churches were allowed to hold group services again, dentist offices could reopen for regular visits and elective surgeries could restart.

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