NEBRASKA COVID NUMBERS HAVE FALLEN, BUT 'THINGS COULD STILL TURN SOUTH'

OMAHA- After a huge surge of cases in October and November, Nebraska maintained one of the highest rates of new cases in the nation. Now, cases are down 37% and hospitalizations are down 30%. The numbers are still much higher than they should be, officials said.

UNMC officials say the mask mandates passed outside of Omaha in Lincoln in late November are most likely having a huge impact on the state's infection rate. Nebraska has seen the nation's second-steepest reduction in hospitalizations, only trailing neighboring state Iowa. More coronavirus victims from nursing homes are also now able to be treated in the homes rather than automatically being sent to the hospital. Deaths last week were at 157, following a week of record-number deaths in the state which was 202 fatalities. Governor Ricketts would still like to see Nebraskans reduce the number of people at holiday gatherings and to continue to do what many know as right.

“Even with the improvement, the numbers where we are right now would have appalled us in the spring,” Dr. James Lawler said. “We have a vaccine rolling out, but that doesn’t change the overall picture. We’re still in a pretty dangerous spot. Things could still turn south pretty easily.”

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NEBRASKA RECEIVES FIRST SHIPMENT OF COVID-19 VACCINE

LINCOLN- Nearly 5,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine arrived in Nebraska on Monday. By the end of the week, the state is expected to have received 15,600 doses, as more deliveries of the vaccine are expected over time. Two of the state's largest hospital systems following delivery of doses began administering vaccines on Monday, with many other systems following Tuesday. 

The state is not mandating the vaccine, however the Department of Health and Human Services is strongly urging people to be vaccinated as soon as they are able. While some have expressed worries on social media about the vaccine, proven side effects of the vaccine are similar to that of a flu shot, tens of millions of which are given each year. The Pfizer vaccine has also shown high effective rates of 90%, an outstanding number while considering the flu vaccine, which is highly effective, sits around 60%.

The state has devised a tiered strategy based on the ACIP's recommendations to distribute the vaccines to Nebraskans, with frontline healthcare workers scheduled to receive the first dose of the vaccine as early as possible. The state is currently in Phase 1A, Tier 1 of it’s multiple step plan for vaccinating Nebraskans. 

Read the News Release of the vaccination plan as published by the Department of Health and Human Services HERE

CENTRAL CITY FARMER IS NEW FARM BUREAU PRESIDENT

LINCOLN- Mark McHargue, a farmer with a diversified agricultural operation has been selected to lead the Nebraska Farm Bureau. The organization is the state's largest and most influential agricultural organization with over 58,000 member families. McHargue wants to focus on the diversification and development and expansion of new markets. He wants to see more trade opportunities and for Nebraska agriculture to consider how it could help grow smaller meat processing facilities.

He is happy with President-elect Biden's decision to appoint Tom Vilsack, former Iowa governor as Secretary of Agriculture. Vislack also served as President Obama's agriculture secretary. He is happy that someone from the Midwest is representing the agricultural industry. McHargue is looking forward to working with officials on exploring new trade agreements. This could include some form of participation in the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which was abandoned by the Trump Administration.

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DEMOLITION UNDERWAY AT CROSSROADS; NEW $500 MILLION PROJECT 'WILL REVIVE THIS CORNER'

OMAHA- Demolition finally began Wednesday on the former Sears Auto Center at Crossroads Mall, a major step in the redevelopment of the corner at one of Omaha's busiest areas. Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert said the mall that originally opened in the 60's will be a part of Omaha's history, but needs to be revived. The demolition should be completed in June and should open in 2024. 

The new venture, “The Crossroads,” could reach 10 stories at its high point. O’Connor said work is going according to schedule.

Demolition of the mall (minus the Target store that will remain) should be done next June, James said. The 2,200-stall parking garage to the north also will remain intact. Already torn down are the former Best Buy and Applebee’s buildings to the west. Lockwood’s Emily O’Connor said some demolition work already had begun inside the mall structure. In its new form, The Crossroads is to include a series of structures containing offices; apartments; hotel rooms; retail stores; fitness, dining and entertainment venues; and a “signature” pavilion.

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GROWING MEDICAL STAFFING COMPANY BUILDS NEW $18 MILLION HEADQUARTERS

FREMONT- RTG Medical, the Fremont-based company that has connected traveling medical professionals to job sites nationwide for two decades is now building a new headquarters in the town. The 54,000-square-foot building will be triples the size of the old building and is near Highway 275 and Highway 30.

A majority of the new jobs that will be housed in the new headquarters will be six-figure salaries. 

The Fremont City Council approved LB840, a $700,000 forgivable economic development loan to support the project, which also received new market federal tax credits to provide jobs in non-metro Fremont. Many of the employees commute from Omaha but the community is welcoming and will be able to provide more people for the workforce. 

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ATTORNEY GENERAL: ACLU FAILED TO PROVE CLAIMS ABOUT NEBRASKA PRISONS

LINCOLN- The ACLU of Nebraska dropped a major lawsuit over the state's prison conditions Friday. Attorney General Doug Peterson praised his attorneys after they proved the ACLU did not prove any of their claims of overcrowding, substandard mental and healthcare, overuse of solitary confinement and did not provide accommodations for prisoners with disabilities. 

Peterson said they turned over a lot of stones to try to disprove the 28 tours of state prisons by experts, including depositions by 42 prison staffers and the 400,000 pages of documents. The case took a major hit in June after a federal judge refused to give the case a class-action status. The Attorney General maintains that many of the improvements the ACLU wanted to see in the lawsuit have already been started.

Danielle Conrad, the executive director for the ACLU, said Peterson's claims are simply untrue. Peterson acknowledges that the state has more work to do, especially with the issue of overcrowding. The state saved a large sum of money through the dismissal of the case. Arizona, which faced a similar ACLU challenge, spent $11 million and ended up settling the case. Nebraska spent $688,000 on this case.

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OUTGOING DOUGLAS COUNTY BOARD MEMBERS SEEK $10 MILLION MORE FOR JUSTICE CENTER

OMAHA- Clare Duda and Marc Craft, outgoing members on the Douglas County Board, proposed to commit another $10 million to the $120 million justice center project. This resolution would  direct money from the county's financial reserves. 

Maureen Boyle and Mike Friend, the council members preparing to take their new seats, have questioned the project. Friend believes the funding should have gone before voters. Duda said part of the $10 million would fund the changes that had to be made during the pandemic. 

The project has faced delays relating to a lawsuit that questioned the legal authority and financing for the project. The work was supposed to begin on the project last year but that was pushed back so it is now scheduled to be finished in August of 2023. 

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NEBRASKA AG JOINS TEXAS' LONG-SHOT EFFORT TO OVERTURN BIDEN WIN; SASSE SAYS SUPREME COURT WILL 'SWAT AWAY' SUIT.

LINCOLN- Nebraska is among 17 states that signed a brief which is a long-shot bid to overturn the results of the presidential election. The lawsuit was originally filed by the Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and seeks to invalidate the Electoral College votes in Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. The lawsuit contains a list of unsupported allegations that have failed in court about mail-in ballots. Nebraska Attorneys General Doug Peterson signed on to the case, bringing Nebraska into the move. 

The Wisconsin Attorney General, Josh Paul said, “I feel sorry for Texans that their tax dollars are being wasted on such a genuinely embarrassing lawsuit.”

Jane Kleeb, the head of the Nebraska Democratic Party said that the claim is outrageous and is disappointed that Gov. Ricketts is using taxpayer dollars to endorse. The Texas lawsuit, if successful, will set aside the above listed states vote totals and will leave the decision to the legislatures. 

On Thursday Senator Ben Sasse said that he expects that the U.S. Supreme Court 'swats away' this latest suit. In remarks to the Washington Examiner, Sasse said it appeared that the lawsuit may have been engineered by Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton in an attempt to gain a pardon from President Donald Trump for allegations of criminal behavior. Representatives Fortenberry and Smith have both signed onto the amicus brief in support of the Texas suit. 

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LPS RECORDS HIGHEST NUMBER OF STAFF TESTING POSITIVE FOR COVID-19, NEARS HIGH FOR STUDENTS

LINCOLN- As students and faculty returned from Thanksgiving break, Lincoln Public Schools passed their previous record of positive COVID-19 cases in staff and will soon pass the record of positive tests for students. The student absence rate was at 4% the past week. This is a similar number to previous years peak flu season. 196 staff members are currently quarantining and this is thought to come from the holiday.

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PAPILLION CITY COUNCIL PASSES MASK MANDATE

OMAHA- Papillion is the latest city to enact a mask mandate. Their City Council passed the mandate with a 7-1 vote and will not expire until the amount of beds occupied by COVID-19 patients in the state drops below 20% for 14 days straight. The last time the rates were that low was before Halloween weekend. 

Thursday’s vote followed two public hearings on the mandate that drew more than 40 supporters and opponents. The measure states thatMasking is not required when people can maintain 6 feet of distance, for those seated at a bar or restaurant, or for those seeking government services, among other exceptions.

The other cities that have passed similar mandates are Lincoln, Hastings, Kearney, Grand Island, Fremont Beatrice, Norfolk and Columbus. Most of the cities that have adopted mask requirements did so after State Sen. Justin Wayne pointed to a state law that gives cities of all sizes the authority to make regulations to prevent the introduction and spread of infectious diseases. Gov. Pete Ricketts has opposed a statewide mask mandate and had previously threatened to block the efforts of some communities.

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UNMC'S DR. ALI KHAN PROPOSES 'COVID-19 EXIT STRATEGY' CALLING FOR MORE RESTRICTIONS, FINANCIAL AID

OMAHA- UNMC epidemiologist Dr. Ali Khan cited an alarming projection from the CDC on the COVID-19 death toll at a Douglas County Commissioners Health and Human Services Committee meeting. 

Dr. Khan said 'herd immunity' is not a defense against the virus. He proposed a three step strategy that would make leaders add more restrictions-- including a mask mandate. He would like to see health leaders collect more data and make it available to the public as well as giving an incentive to people who test positive as a way to make them stay home. 

He also said if bars, restaurants and places of worship would close for three to four weeks the cases would dramatically decline. 

"Dr. [Robert] Redfield has projected 450,000 deaths," said Khan. "We are currently at 275,000. 450,000 preventable deaths by the end of February."

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PAPILLION LA VISTA COMMUNITY SCHOOLS SUPERINTENDENT TESTS POSITIVE FOR COVID

OMAHA- Andy Rikli, superintendent of Papillion La Vista Community Schools has tested positive for the virus. He has been experiencing mild symptoms and will be in isolation until Thursday. His rapid test came back negative, but the normal test was positive. 

Eyman said Rikli does not know how he contracted the disease.

In a memo to his staff, Rikli wrote that he started to experience symptoms Monday evening. He said he stayed home from work Tuesday and was tested through TestNebraska. He said he did not get results back immediately, so he stayed home again Wednesday.He then had a rapid test conducted that came back negative. But then he received a positive result from TestNebraska.

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BRITAIN BEGINS MASS INOCULATION CAMPAIGN WITH FULLY TESTED VACCINE; EFFECTIVE PROTECTION REPORTED

LONDON- Britain has become the first nation to begin a mass inoculation campaign using a fully tested vaccine, kicking off a global effort to fight Covid-19. Doctors, nurses, certain people aged 80 or over and nursing home workers will be among the first to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.

At 6:31 a.m. Tuesday, Margaret Keenan, 90, a former jewelry shop assistant, rolled up the sleeve of her “Merry Christmas” T-shirt to receive the first shot, and her image quickly became an emblem of the remarkable race to produce a vaccine and the global effort to end a pandemic that has killed 1.5 million people worldwide.

Following the first round of vaccinations, England’s National Health Service warned that those with significant allergic reaction history to a vaccine, medicine, or food, should not be given the Pfizer for Germany’s BioNTech vaccines. The warning came after two workers who received the vaccine Tuesday had reactions. Both had history’s of allergic reactions, and recovered following treatment. There have been no other reports of significant reactions.

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COMPUTER GLITCH CAUSES SOME NEBRASKANS TO MISS OUT ON COVID RELIEF AID

LINCOLN- When state officials announced that they would be giving out relief funds to small businesses on a first-come, first-served basis,  an Omaha business owner applied within three hours of the applications opening. However, she, among others, were caught in a computer glitch that allowed for their applications to slip through the cracks and not be reviewed by officials. The business owners were elected to the problem, but they barely even got another chance to apply before the deadline closed. These people are now worried they will receive no aid because the applications were discovered too late.

This aid would have come from the $1.084 billion Nebraska received from the federal government. Thus far, the state has paid out $648.3 million in aid. The first round of relief came in May and mostly helped local governments, health and human services agencies, small businesses, farmers and rural broadband access projects. In mid-October the second round began and targeted hospitals, charities and businesses. 

The glitch was fixed the day after it happened and affected 31 applications. Governor Ricketts has stated that those applicants are still able to access rewards through another source. 

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BIDEN PROMISES 100 MILLION VACCINE SHOTS IN 100 DAYS, BUT SHORTAGE WORRIES RISE

WASHINGTON — President-elect Joseph R. Biden Jr., setting ambitious goals to change the course of the coronavirus pandemic, vowed on Tuesday to get “at least 100 million Covid vaccine shots into the arms of the American people” during his first 100 days in office, and said he would make it a “national priority” to get children back to school during that time.

But in creating clear benchmarks for himself, Mr. Biden is taking a certain risk. He will undoubtedly be held to the 100 million promise at the 100-day mark on April 30, and fulfilling it will require no hiccups in manufacturing or distributing the vaccine and a willingness by Americans to be vaccinated.

Mr. Biden’s announcement came as fresh details emerged about how Pfizer, the pharmaceutical giant whose vaccine could receive regulatory approval in the United States this weekend, repeatedly urged the Trump administration to lock in a bigger supply. Before the vaccine was proved highly successful in clinical trials, the administration repeatedly turned down the chance to expand its pre-order beyond the 100 million doses it agreed to buy from Pfizer last July.The administration is now seeking to double the pre-order; otherwise it will run out of Pfizer’s vaccine by around March, according to people familiar with the talks. But Pfizer may not be able deliver more doses for Americans until as late as June because the company signed deals with other governments, including the European Union, as the Trump administration hesitated.

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BUSINESSES THAT GOT CARES ACT LOANS ARE FACING SURPRISE TAX BILLS

LINCOLN — Businesses that received federal Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans to help survive the economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic are facing a cruel surprise — an unexpected tax bill. While Congress indicated that its intent was that such PPP loans would not create a tax bill, federal tax officials have opined otherwise.

"Businesses are teetering on the edge as it is right now. A hit like that could make or break a small business," said Erica Parks, a Lincoln accountant and the chair-elect of the Nebraska Society of Certified Public Accountants.

The issue has a big impact in Nebraska, which ranked among the top four states in the nation for the percentage of eligible businesses that obtained PPP loans. About 92% of private businesses with employees in the Cornhusker State got the loans, according to the Small Business Administration. For example, a company that received a $150,000 PPP loan this spring is now confronted with being required to pay back as much as $63,000 of it in the form of federal and state income taxes, and self-employment taxes.

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WHITE HOUSE OFFERS $916 BILLION STIMULUS PROPOSAL, CUTTING JOBLESS BENEFITS

WASHINGTON) — The Trump administration is back in the middle of Capitol Hill's COVID-19 negotiations, offering a $916 billion package to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that would send a $600 direct payment to most Americans but eliminate a $300-per-week employment benefit favored by a bipartisan group of Senate negotiators. It also includes some relief to state and local governments, a priority for democratic leaders, and liability protections for businesses, a top priority for republican leadership

The offer from Steven Mnuchin, the Treasury secretary, to Speaker Nancy Pelosi was the first time since November’s elections that the Trump administration has engaged directly in talks on Capitol Hill about how to prop up the nation’s flagging economy. It came as lawmakers raced to reach a deal on another round of coronavirus relief before they conclude this year’s session, now expected to happen next week.

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NEBRASKA’S FIRST VACCINE SHIPMENTS ARRIVING IN COMING DAYS, RICKETTS SAYS

LINCOLN- Nebraska’s first shipment of COVID-19 vaccines will go to eight undisclosed hospitals for the initial deployment, the state announced Wednesday. After that, those hospitals will work with nine other Nebraska hospital systems to disperse the doses, which are expected to arrive in the coming days.

Nebraska’s initial expected allotment is expected to total 15,600 doses of the Pfizer vaccine.

Nebraska Medical Center said a survey currently under way within the health system indicates that a high percentage of those responding are interested in receiving the vaccine.Wednesday, state officials also further defined where different groups rank in Nebraska’s vaccine priorities. The top priorities, called Phase 1a, are front-line health care workers, long-term care staff and, now, long-term care resident

Phase 1b includes: First responders (the state did not define if that involved just 911 emergency responders or others), education, food and agriculture workers, the utilities and transportation sectors, and corrections staff. Phase 1c: People ages 65 and older, vulnerable populations and people in congregate living arrangements.

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NEBRASKA GETS SMALL REPRIEVE FROM COVID-19 CASES, HOSPITALIZATIONS, THOUGH NEW PEAK EXPECTED

LINCOLN- Cases and hospitalizations of COVID-19 have dropped in the past few weeks. Officials are wondering if this is a blip in the upward trajectory or an actual good sign. Cases are at the lowest level they have been in a month. As of Friday, 819 people are hospitalized statewide, which is over a 15% drop from the all-time high on November 20th. 

Dr. Gary Anthony, chief medical officer for the DHHS, says although this is good, there is still immense pressure on the healthcare system and healthcare workers. Nebraska is now 10th in the number of new coronavirus cases per capita and fifth in recent deaths. 

One factor that could make the numbers look smaller is that testing was limited over the holiday weekend, making it possible for people with symptoms just not getting tested. Dr. Anthone says the state won't know the impact Thanksgiving had on cases for awhile. Healthcare officials are worried about Christmas and New Year's approaching quickly, following possible exposures following Thanksgiving gatherings, making officials worried about the numbers and are still expecting to see a new peak in cases soon. 

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BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY WON'T BRING SHAREHOLDERS TO OMAHA FOR 2021 MEETING

OMAHA- Berkshire Hathaway won't bring shareholders to Omaha next May for its annual meeting because of the coronavirus threat. Instead, for the second year in a row, the meeting will be held virtually. The company said the May 1, 2021, meeting will be similar in format to the 2020 shareholders meeting.

"Unfortunately, we do not currently believe it will be safe at that time to hold a meeting with nearly 40,000 attendees as we last did in 2019," the company said in a press release issued Thursday.

Omaha's tourism industry has been dealt a series of blows by the coronavirus pandemic. This year, Berkshire chairman and CEO Warren Buffett decided not to allow shareholders to physically attend the meeting, and canceled all special events associated with the weekend. The NCAA canceled the 2020 College World Series, and USA Swimming postponed the Olympic Trials a year until June 13 through 20, 2021, at the CHI Health Center. Yahoo will provide worldwide streaming for Berkshire's 2021 meeting. Additional information will be included in the company's 2020 annual report, which is scheduled to be posted online on Feb. 27.

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