OFFUTT AFB IN BELLEVUE NAMED ONE OF SIX FINALISTS FOR NEW SPACE COMMAND HQ

BELLEVUE- Offutt Air Force Base is one of six sites being considered as the future headquarters of the U.S. Space Command, the Air Force announced Thursday. Offutt was named along with Kirtland Air Force Base in New Mexico, Patrick Air Force Base in Florida, Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado, Redstone Army Airfield in Alabama and the former Kelly Air Force Base in Texas, according to an Air Force press release. 

Applications for the headquarters came from sites in 24 states. Before a selection is made in early 2021, Air Force officials plan to make virtual and on-site visits to each location. The assessment will weigh mission-related factors such as infrastructure capacity, community support and cost to the Defense Department, according to the press release.

The Space Command was reactivated in August 2019 as a unified combatant command, with full responsibility for fighting wars in space. It assumed duties previously carried out under the direction of StratCom.

Senator Deb Fischer noted that many StratCom personnel have already worked on the Space Command mission. She also said Offutt boasts ample electrical and communications infrastructure, a high quality of life and a low cost of living in the surrounding community “I think we have a lot going for us,” she said. “It’s always tough going against the bigger bases.”

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NEBRASKA TAX COLLECTIONS UP IN OCTOBER

LINCOLN- Tax Commissioner Tony Fulton announced the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board's predictions were surpassed according to October tax receipts. The certified forecast of net receipts for the month was $261 million, but the Department of Revenue reported the number at $305 million, this includes an increase of sales tax by 14% and a rise in net individual income of 16% above the forecast. 

Tax refunds for October were $79 million, which was 16.5% below the certified forecast of $95 million.

The forecasting board met in late October and raised estimates on what the state could expect in sales, income and miscellaneous taxes in the current and next two fiscal years. Increased estimates for each fiscal year were: $285 million in 2020-21; $118 million in 2021-22; and $307 million in 2022-23.

Gov. Ricketts said this was a reflection of the resilience of Nebraskans and the strong economy they have built. 

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IOWA GOVERNOR REVERSES TRACK AND ISSUES MASK MADATE

DES MOINES — Iowans must wear a face mask or other face covering while indoors in public and near other people for at least 15 minutes under a new public health order issued Monday evening by Gov. Kim Reynolds.

The face mask requirement is part of new orders issued as COVID-19 continues to spread rapidly through Iowa, creating the state’s highest rates of cases, hospitalizations and deaths during the pandemic.Reynolds’ order, which went into effect at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, also places a limit of 15 people on all indoor gatherings, including wedding and funeral receptions, family gatherings, conventions and festivals. The order limits outdoor gatherings to 30 people.

In what is believed to be the first-ever live address from an Iowa governor televised during prime time, Reynolds on Monday night posited that Iowans may have become complacent, possibly leading to the latest spikes in cases, hospitalizations and deaths. She warned those spikes threaten to overwhelm Iowa’s health care system, echoing warnings issued by hospital officials. Reynolds noted if COVID-19 patients overwhelm hospitals, all Iowans who need health care will be placed in danger.

“If Iowans don’t buy into this, we lose,” Reynolds said. “Businesses will close once again, more schools will be forced to go online, and our health care will fail and the cost in human life will be high.

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HOW COVID-19 AFFECTS THE MENTAL HEALTH OF NURSING HOME STAFF

KEARNEY, Neb.- Nursing home workers are seeing the worst of the virus, as residents they care for suffer the most and sometimes die from the virus. 

"It is a true struggle to find joy in each day, However I have not lost hope," said Mt. Carmel Activities Director Christina Hensen.

Many say they could have never prepared for what losing a resident to the virus feels like. Through this though, they are still dedicated to helping the people they can. The sense of community within the staff is what keeps people going most days. 

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TEENS IN COVID ISOLATION: 'I FELT LIKE I WAS SUFFOCATING'

NEW YORK CITY- Aya Raji from Brooklyn was a very active and social high school student before the pandemic hit New York especially hard in the spring. Remote learning turned many students into completely new people through the loneliness and intense news updates every night. Students were relieved to hear that schools would be opening again in the fall. But, with social distancing rules, hybrid classes and no after school activities, connecting with peers is still difficult. With rising cases across the country, it is hard to know if K-12 students will be returning to in-person instruction following winter break. 

The mental health impact on teenagers has been severe and long lasting. Research shows that teenagers depend on friends to manage mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. A study of 3,300 students showed that 1 in 3 teens reported feeling depressed in recent months. Social media is seemingly not allowing a sense of connection through this time as many thought it would. 

Parents are cautioned with looking for warning signs of severe mental illnesses. Children's emergency room visits caused by mental health issues have spiked since the beginning of the pandemic. The psychological effects of lockdowns and social distancing have had grave effects on the youth of the country. Experts also warn about the long term effects of teenagers who have had to deal with financial strain from parents losing their jobs, losing family members and more

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HOW PFIZER PLANS TO DISTRIBUTE ITS VACCINE

NEW YORK CITY- For many people, the news about a possible vaccine being in its last steps was cause for celebration. However, experts say distribution will be just as complicated. Having to quickly make hundreds of millions of vaccines-- enough for everyone to get two doses, then getting them to hospitals, clinics, pharmacies is a whole new challenge. Once Pfizer gets the go ahead from the FDA, which is expected, they will be able to vaccinate millions of Americans by the end of 2020.  

The collaboration between Pfizer and federal agencies, state governments and health workers will be key. Employees at healthcare providers will need to be trained on how to handle the vaccine as to not waste anything. For example, the vaccine must be stored at -94 degrees F. 

“We have a lot of confusion at the state and the local health departments level, and a lot of concern about the nitty-gritty of deployment,” said Dr. Saad B. Omer, the director of the Yale Institute for Global Health. “Which places, where to vaccinate, how to get the vaccine there, how to identify people in various risk groups, how to document, how to call back people for the second dose.”

Nine other companies are also in the final stage of testing. If one of these other manufacturers receive FDA approval before Pfizer, they will replace the company as a frontrunner. Specificities have not been released, but Pfizer plans to ship the vaccine to large hospitals and healthcare workers or other vulnerable groups. The vaccines will go into vials, which go into trays, then the trays will go into cooler-type boxes and Pfizer plans to have about 100,000 coolers by December. 

Each state will have the decision of who to give vaccines to first. 

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ANTI-MASK GROUP HOLDS PROTEST IN OMAHA AS DOUGLAS COUNTY SEES RECORD NUMBER OF COVID CASES

OMAHA- Yet another week of record coronavirus cases in Douglas County has passed. With that, a group of nearly 40 people, completely maskless, was determined to protest the 'infringement of freedoms' masks create. The group's original plan was to go all go grocery shopping together, maskless as a protest to the mandate in Omaha. However, the store, along with the Omaha Police Department blocked stated they would block the protesters, and would push for the issuance of citations should the protesters enter the store.

Allie French, a protest organizer, instead planned for a group of protesters to march from the Millard West parking lot to the sidewalk in front of the grocery store with signs, flags and no masks. The majority of people came from No Mask Omaha, Nebraska Patriots and Nebraskans Against Government Overreach, two facebook groups with over 11,000 members, but messages by protesters were muddled with some yelling against masks, while others protested vaccinations for children.

“We weren’t trying to cause Hy-Vee problems, but we also aren’t just going to let ourselves be bullied and not be able to go to the grocery store, so today we are out here to stand up for that right,” French said. ”We’re not bad people. We just want to be left alone.”

On Saturday, the Douglas County Health Department reported a record 785 new COVID-19 cases, three more deaths and 384 hospitalizations, with 114 people in intensive care units.The county has recorded 270 coronavirus deaths since the pandemic began.

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LIKE METRO HOSPITALS, RURAL HOSPITALS OF NEBRASKA FACING CAPACITY CONCERNS AMID VIRUS SURGE

On Friday, the East Central District Health Department, which serves Platte, Colfax, Boone and Nance counties, said it had reached a record with 30 hospitalized COVID-19 patients and had only one available intensive-care bed.The Two Rivers Public Health Department, which covers Buffalo and several surrounding counties, said in its most recent weekly report that it had less than 10% of its ICU beds available.

In the spring, when certain areas of the state were hit with large outbreaks linked to nursing homes or meatpacking plants, there were plenty of hospital beds in Lincoln, Omaha and some other larger cities where patients could be transferred, however with urban hospitals filling at alarming rates, that is no longer an option. 

"As hospital beds in our state and region become increasingly unavailable, it has become more difficult to transfer patients in need of a higher level of care for any medical reason, not just COVID-related reasons," Veronica Schmidt, CEO of Melham Medical Center in Broken Bow, said last week in a message posted on the hospital's Facebook page. "The hospital has increased staffing and other resources to meet the need; however, as current trends continue, the care needs will far surpass local and regional resources,"

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PEOPLE WHO WORK FROM HOME SHOULD PAY NEW TAX, ECONOMISTS SUGGEST

NEW YORK- A new research report from Deutsche Bank offers a looking into the world economists see in the post-COVID-19 world.. The report, titled “What We Must Do to Rebuild,”  discusses the problems that may present themselves and puts forth possible solutions that some are finding radical. Deutsche Bank researcher Luke Templeman, in writing the report, suggests governments should impose a tax on those workers transitioning to a work-from-home model. 

Templeman points out in his arguments that ”between 2005 and 2018, internet technology fuelled a 173 percent increase in the number of Americans who regularly worked from home.” The report acknowledges that people working from home prior to the pandemic only made up about 5.4 percent of the workforce in the U.S. but estimates the number has skyrocketed to 56 during the pandemic. Under Templeton’s proposal, the tax would not apply during times of government mandated lockdowns, but did find in a survey of workers that the majority would prefer to continue working from home, even after the pandemic winds down.

"The sudden shift to WFH means that, for the first time in history, a big chunk of people have disconnected themselves from the economy," Deutsche Bank writes, adding, "remote workers are contributing less to the infrastructure of the economy whilst still receiving its benefits." 

The bank contends that these workers benefit from convenience and save money directly because they don't have to pay for commuting costs, takeout lunches, or dry cleaning work clothes. But it means that the millions of businesses that have grown up to support office-based workers won't be able to recover.

Read the full report HERE

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MODERNA'S CORONAVIRUS VACCINE IS 94.5% EFFECTIVE, ACCORDING TO COMPANY DATA

ATLANTA, Ga.- Moderna is the second company in the U.S. to report very positive results from COVID-19 vaccine trials. Dr. Anthony Fauci calls the 94.5% effective rate "truly outstanding." 

Moderna is prepared to begin vaccinations in the second half of December with high-risk groups. The rest of the population will be able to be vaccinated in the spring. 30,000 people participated in Moderna trials, with 15,000 people receiving placebo shots. 90 people with placebos developed COVID-19, with 11 of those cases being serious. Only 5 of the people with the vaccine developed coronavirus and none of them became severely ill. There were no serious side effects with the vaccine.  

Pfizer and Moderna used very similar techniques for the vaccine. They both use mRNA, a genetic recipe for making the spikes that sit atop the coronavirus. "There has always been skepticism about mRNA -- it's brand new and would it work? What we saw in the trials is there was no real safety concern, and the efficacy is quite impressive. We saw nearly identical results [with Pfizer and Moderna] and it almost really validates the mRNA platform," said Dr. Fauci 

Moderna's vaccine seems to be more practical than Pfizer's. Pfizer's vaccine must be kept at -75 degrees Celsius, whereas Moderna's only has to be stored at -20, which many vaccines already need to be stored at, meaning many hospitals already have the infrastructure to keep the vaccine for 30 days. The Pfizer vaccine can only last 5 days in the freezer. 

The company will apply to have the Food and Drug Administration authorize the vaccine by the end of the month.

Read the full article HERE

NEBRASKA TEACHERS UNION CALLS ON RICKETTS TO CLOSE BARS, MANDATE MASKS, LIMIT GATHERINGS; RICKETTS RESISTS AND URGES VOLUNTARY ACTIONS

OMAHA- The Nebraska State Education Association called on Gov. Ricketts to impose stricter restrictions including mask mandates, closing bars and suspending indoor dining. The board of directors of the NSEA fears a school shutdown if the state continues to have a relaxed approach to the pandemic. The union also wants the governor to decrease the density of the ratio of students to classroom. 

NSEA President Jenni Benson says the governor is "100% accountable for what is happening". 

According the a study conducted by the NSEA of it’s members, some teachers are planning on leaving teaching because of the absolute exhaustion they are feeling during this time. The top answer on the study to teachers said the top emotion they are feeling is 'overwhelmed', followed by 'stressed', 'frustrated' and 'worried'. 15% of teachers surveyed are looking for a new job and 3.6% are planning on quitting at the end of the year. 52% also said their district leaders were not listening to them, especially in relation to COVID-19 issues. 

Governor Ricketts continued to urge Nebraskans to voluntarily follow mask guidelines rather than enforcing a statewide mask mandate during his Monday morning press conference. He says educating the public will result in more people wearing masks and following health measures rather than trying to force it on people, pushing back on the NSEA and other’s push to mandate them state-wide. 

Ricketts said if figures rise to  25% hospital occupancy he will further restrictions on public gatherings. The 25% will be based on a 7-day rolling average of hospital beds available state-wide.

Read the full articles HERE and HERE

NEBRASKA MEDICINE DOCTOR PENS COVID-19 WARNING AS CASES RISE

OMAHA- The Midwest is breaking COVID-19 records everyday, and doctors like  Dr. Daniel Johnson of Nebraska Medicine are sharing a dire warning on  social media about these trends. Johnson wrote that if the state continues to fail, more Nebraskans will die, and stated that Nebraska has had the fifth worst outbreak in the nation. Most alarming is that if these trends continue, hospitals will run out of capacity in just three quick weeks. 

“We must do everything we can to reverse these trends. If things get completely out of control, every family in Nebraska will be affected either by a death or by serious illness” wrote Johnson. “The doubling time for COVID-19 hospitalizations in Omaha is currently 21 days. We currently have 372 COVID patients in the hospital. This doubling time means that in 3 weeks there will be 744 COVID patients needing the hospital, and in six weeks, there will be 1,488 COVID-19 patients needing the hospital. For perspective, the Omaha metro currently has 268 unoccupied, staffed hospital beds. The math is extremely worrisome”

Read the full letter by Dr. Johnson, M.D. HERE

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NEBRASKA SUPREME COURT SAYS ELKHORN SCHOOLS MUST PAY DEVELOPER AT LEAST $5.3 MILLION

OMAHA- Elkhorn Public Schools used the land on 180th Street and West Maple Road for their latest high school. But, the district undervalued the land during a condemnation process when the state seized it says a ruling by the Nebraska Supreme Court.

The Court ruled last Friday to uphold the Douglas County District Court's jury decision to award the developer twice as much as the district originally planned to pay. An appraiser for the school district listed the value at only $2.6 million, which is what an Omaha developer had paid for the land four months prior. 

The high court also ordered EPS to pay legal fees of $600,000 plus another $143,000 in interest. They noted that this high-traffic area was as valuable as the Village Pointe shopping center. The caveat is that the developer, Tribedo, will have to use the money on making the remaining land marketable. 

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SLOW AT THE POLLS? UNL RESEARCHERS ARE STUDYING HOW TO SPEED THINGS UP

LINCOLN- A group of students associated with the University of Nebraska- Lincoln timed how long it took voters to vote at the polls on Election Day. The students are part of a partnership between engineers and political scientists assembled by the University of Rhode Island, Auburn University and UNL. They are studying how to make voting more efficient. The group focused on 15 polling places in Douglas and Lancaster Counties with 30 students observing the polls, all of whom were trained to collect the data needed for the study.

This research is funded by the Democracy Fund and the Stanford-MIT Healthy Elections Project. 

The design of polling places have been criticized for years as people are left waiting in lines to vote for hours on end. This was only heightened during the election in the midst of a pandemic. In Nebraska, the largest numbers of people seemed to flock to the polls in the morning, but in Rhode Island it hit during 5 o'clock traffic. The hope is for this research to spark more conversation on the matter, and provide options for states to implement for efficient elections.

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NEBRASKA ATTORNEY GENERAL JOINS BRIEF CHALLENGING SOME PENNSYLVANIA MAIL-IN BALLOTS

LINCOLN- A case concerning a Pennsylvania Supreme Court decision allowing the county of ballots that were mailed by Election Day and received within three days is one of many filed after the national election. Nebraska's Attorney General Doug Peterson filed a friend-of-the-court brief challenging some ballots. 

The Republican Party of Pennsylvania filed the original challenge and is asking the Supreme Court to hear it. Peterson joined the brief filed by Oklahoma's AG, along with other states including Indiana, Kansas, Tennessee and West Virginia. The Attorney General's Office said the state joined in brief to “to maintain the proper separation of powers within state governments.”  

Another group of 10 states filed a similar amicus brief It argues that Pennsylvania overstepped its constitutional authority in accepting late ballots, that voting by mail creates voter fraud risks and that the decision to accept ballots after Election Day exacerbated risks of absentee ballot fraud.

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NEBRASKA CASINOS WORRY SOME IN IOWA GAMBLING INDUSTRY

DES MOINES, IA- Iowa's casino officials are worried that future Nebraskan casinos will hurt Iowa's gambling revenues. The state of Iowa, and the Iowa gaming industry is worried that the new Nebraska casinos would add to  the continued strain casinos are already feeling amidst the pandemic. Nebraskans who approved the ballot initiatives legalizing gaming at horse tracks at the ballot box hope to reclaim the estimated $500 million Nebraskans spend in Iowa casinos every year. 

Horse racing has also been on the decline in recent years and proponents of the gambling initiatives are hoping the new gambling laws will allow for that industry to flourish like it once did in the state. 

Michael Newlin, general manager of Horsemen’s Park in Omaha and Lincoln Race Course said he believes the new casinos will provide a boost to horse racing in the region because their profits will boost purses at races. The horse racing industry has been in decline for decades across the country.

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'OH, WHAT A GOOD IDEA': LINCOLN SENATOR CAN BE CREDITED WITH NEBRASKA'S UNIQUE ELECTORAL COLLEGE SYSTEM

LINCOLN- Former State Senator DiAnna Schimek and Senator Ernie Chambers can be credited with the state's unique electoral college system. Ernie Chambers can also be credited with blocking legislation trying to reform that system in the years following its adoption. Schimek heard of the idea of allowing electoral votes to be decided by the popular vote in the state's congressional districts at a conference in 1990. In the 1991 session, she introduced the bill. 

Following the bill‘s introduction, the state Republican Party got breath of the bill and worked hard to block the legislation through letters to senators. However, Schimek said nonpartisanship was taken more seriously back then, and the letters largely went ignored. Schimek said people understood the goal was to make sure everyone felt as though their vote actually mattered.

Following the adoption of the split electoral votes, attacks on the system have been introduced in the legislature to return to a winner-take-all state. These attacks gained momentum following the 2008 win of one electoral vote by then Senator Barack Obama.The last attempt to bring back the winner-take-all system was in 2017 and was introduced by Sen. John Murante. The Nebraskan Republican Party says the current system unfairly prioritizes a small group of voters, and a move to return to winner-take-all is once again expected following President-Elect Biden’s success in gaining the 2nd congressional district’s single electoral vote.

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MOST NEBRASKANS VOTED TO ABOLISH SLAVERY AS CRIMINAL PUNISHMENT. BUT 32% VOTED TO KEEP IT

LINCOLN- Nebraskans voted to eradicate the provision that slavery could be used as a punishment for crimes. But, an electorate the size of Lincoln, or nearly one out of three people, voted to keep it. This has left the state senator that introduced the bill, Sen. Justin Wayne, very confused. Douglas, Lancaster and Sarpy counties strongly supported the amendment. Whereas smaller, rural counties in western Nebraska opposed it. Out of the 10 least populated counties, nine voted against it. 

Nebraska originally adopted the statute after the Civil War when slavery was outlawed, with the one exception being prisoners. This developed into the practice of "contract leasing" which allowed people to round up black people, who had not committed crimes, and force them into involuntary servitude. Legislators voted unanimously to put this issue on the ballot. 

Preston Love Jr., a community leader in Omaha, says he attributes some of the opposition to confusion over ballot language. He said, “I can’t imagine that many in Nebraska would actually consciously say, ‘I don’t want to remove slavery as an option.'" A website that uses academic tests to determine the difficulty of reading ballot language said the estimate education level needed to understand the amendment was at a second-year post-college graduate student. 

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KEYSTONE PIPELINE DEVELOPER PLANS TO SUE TO GET CONSTRUCTION PERMIT IN NEBRASKA COUNTY

LINCOLN — The developer of the Keystone XL pipeline is planning to go to court to obtain a construction permit from a rural Nebraska county.A company spokeswoman made the comment after the five-member Holt County Board of Adjustment voted Thursday afternoon to deny a permit to TC Energy, formerly TransCanada, until the pipeline company agreed to comply with 19 conditions.

The conditions included the establishment of an escrow account to cover any clean-up costs from possible future pipeline leaks and pay for the removal of the pipeline and reclamation of the land. The board also wanted TC Energy to bypass any fields that had underground drainage tiles and provide additional tests to detect any slow leaks from the crude oil pipeline.

The vote Thursday was the latest development in TC Energy’s attempt to comply with zoning rules in the north-central Nebraska county. 

Robynn Tysver, a spokeswoman for TC Energy, said the company planned to go to court to obtain a pipeline construction permit, “which will unfortunately cost the county significant time and resources.” “A vote in our favor would have cleared the way for our crews to improve many of the county’s roads, as well as fund a large portion of the cost to replace the Stuart-Naper Bridge,” Tysver said.

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RICKETTS LAYS OUT PLANS FOR MORE RESTRICTIONS IF COVID PATIENTS FILL 25% OF NEBRASKA HOSPITAL BEDS

LINCOLN- Governor Ricketts on Friday outlined new restrictions that may be imposed on a state-wide level if COVID-19 patients continue to climb and fill 25% or more of hospital beds. Currently there are 905 patents in Nebraska hospitals battling COVID-19, making up about 20% of all staffed beds in Nebraska. 

At the current rate of increase in hospitalizations, it would be only a few days before Nebraska hits the 25% mark. Typically, hospitalizations rise about two or three weeks after the number of cases grows.

Should Nebraska hit the 25% threshold noted by the governor, they can expect to see indoor gatherings limited to 10 pepole, outdoor gatherings to 25 People, closure of bars except for delivery and takeout, postpone all elective surgeries, and limit weddings and funerals to 10 person limits. 

The governor said he wants to give Nebraskans “the opportunity to change their habits before tightening up on restrictions:. 

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