UNION HEAD: TEACHERS NEED MORE INCENTIVE TO TEACH THIS SUMMER

Omaha- Omaha Public Schools teachers are exhausted after teaching through the pandemic and needed more incentive to teach through two months of summer school, according to the union representing the district’s teachers.

Robert Miller, president of the Omaha Education Association, said Thursday that his association repeatedly tried to get OPS to raise the summer school rate of pay up from $28.50, which is less than what some teachers are regularly paid.

“They’ve gone above and beyond what anyone has done in the past,” Miller said of teachers this year. “In order to feel valued, the district needed to step up and offer some incentive.”

Approximately 8,600 elementary students had signed up to attend summer school in June and July. All of the elementary students will be allowed to attend in June.

 Two school board members asked whether pay for teachers could be increased for working summer school. Board Vice President Jane Erdenberger encouraged district officials to negotiate or give a signing bonus because she said OPS owed it to the teachers and it would help staff the huge undertaking with people who are happy to be there. Charles Wakefield, the district’s chief human resources officer, said at the time that pay for summer school is a negotiated item in teachers’ contracts and that the district would have to negotiate with the OEA.

For full article click HERE

NU SECURES $400M IN FINANCING TO BEGIN RENOVATING, REPLACING AGING FACILITIES

Lincoln- The University of Nebraska took $345 million in municipal bonds to market on Wednesday as part of its effort to tackle a growing list of facilities projects. As the largest university issuer this week, NU found investors ready to buy.

The sale netted $400 million in financing to begin addressing an $800 million backlog of renovation and replacement projects at NU campuses in Lincoln, Omaha and Kearney, as well as the Nebraska College of Technical Agriculture in Curtis. Wednesday’s sale was the largest issuance of new bonds in NU’s history, and the second-largest bond sale after the university refinanced $433 million in bond debt and secured an additional $130 million in 2019.

With financing in hand, NU will begin acting on priorities developed by campus leadership teams to tear down and replace aging facilities or renovate buildings with new roof, window and HVAC systems in the next few years.

A total of 20 projects are slated for “major building improvements,” according to a preliminary list used for internal discussions that was shared with the Journal Star.

For the full article click HERE

LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE OUTLINES PLAN FOR INVESTIGATION OF CHILD WELFARE CONTRACTOR

LINCOLN — A special legislative committee charged with investigating Nebraska's contract for private management of Omaha-area child welfare cases met Thursday to get started on its task. State Sen. John Arch of La Vista, who will chair the committee, laid out a work plan for the summer and fall, leading up to production of a report by the committee's Dec. 15 deadline.

The plan includes a public hearing in Omaha, surveys of key groups of people and questioning of state officials and leaders with St. Francis Ministries, the Kansas-based nonprofit that holds the contract to manage the cases of abused and neglected children in Douglas and Sarpy Counties. Arch said the committee will have access to thousands of pages of documents about the contract and how it was bid. Some of the material will come from Tom Kenney, an attorney who sued the state on behalf of PromiseShip, the Omaha-based nonprofit that held the previous state contract and came in second in the state's bidding process.

Arch said the committee will hire Kenney and a second attorney to help with its work. The committee has the power to issue subpoenas, if approved by the Legislature's Executive Board. 

"We want to have a very thorough, very deliberate process," he said. 

For the full article click HERE

NEBRASKA GOVERNOR'S OFFICE AMENDS MEDIA CREDENTIALING FORM AMID PRESS FREEDOM CONCERNS

Gov. Pete Ricketts has amended his new media credentialing procedure amid complaints that it may violate the free press guarantees of the U.S. Constitution and serve as a tool to exclude journalists with whom he disagrees. Representatives from Nebraska news outlets believe the revised application is an improvement from the one released in April, but the news outlets are still concerned. The application was brought forth in early April after NOISE (North Omaha Information Support Everyone) was denied access to press briefings and email access. Following this event the Governor’s Office issued a formal policy for obtaining access to Ricketts’ news briefings at the State Capitol. No written policy had existed before that. As freedom of press committees and officials weighed in on Gov. Ricketts' new application, the main concern was that the new policy appeared to provide a pretext to exclude media outlets based on their perceived political viewpoint. 

The new application allows media outlets who exclusively publish online are allowed to apply. Other alterations to the application include a non requirement of a notarized letter and questions surrounding how the organization is funded. Gov. Ricketts' media office did announce that if a media company is denied, they will be provided a reason. Since the applications birth in early April, there have been no events that required the new press credentials, it will first be tested on May 24th at an upcoming news event.

For the full article click HERE

AIR FORCE'S ONLY 'NUKE-SNIFFER' JET, PART OF OFFUT FLEET, WAS SIDELINED FOR TWO MONTHS

The Air Force’s only “nuke-sniffer” aircraft for detecting airborne radiation is back home in Nebraska after mechanical problems sidelined it for two months on the other side of the world. The 60-year-old WC-135 jet, part of the Offutt-based 55th Wing, landed in Lincoln at noon Friday, almost 20 hours after leaving RAAF Base Amberley, an Australian air force base near Brisbane. After seeing smoke come from one of the planes four engines, the crew landed safely and found that hydraulic fluid was leaking into the engine. The plane wouldn't fly again until April 16th when it begin a series of test flights in preparation for its return to Nebraska. The lengthy repair was due to the first replacement part failing and a second had to be flown in. It is also believed that the plane was damaged in other areas as a result of engine malfunction. 

The Constant Phoenix jets have been in demand in recent years as unpredictable regimes, such as North Korea, have developed nuclear weapons programs and tested missiles. The need is so critical that a $218 million dollar program was created to convert three former KC-135 tanker aircrafts into "nuke-sniffers." Nebraska officials Sen. Deb Fischer and Reps. Don Bacon and Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska pushed hard to secure the funding. The first batch of the converted planes is scheduled for 2022, for now the lone "nuke-sniffer" will return to its job of detecting nuclear radiation. 

For the full article click HERE

STATE SENATOR PLEDGES TO INTRODUCE BILL TO ALLOW PERMITLESS CARRY OF CONCEALED FIREARMS IN 2022

LINCOLN- After being forced to abandon his attempt to allow permitless carry of concealed firearms in most Nebraska counties, State Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon is planning a counter-offensive in 2022. Brewer, a decorated military veteran and competitive shooter, said he will seek approval of “constitutional carry” of concealed guns statewide, not just in 90 of 93 counties as his recently revised bill would have done. 

“There’s good momentum for it right now,” Brewer said. “And next year is an election year. We’ll get a really clear up-and-down vote on the Second Amendment, I think we know how the people feel," Sen. Brewer said.

Last week, Brewer had to abandon his proposal because of an adverse legal opinion from the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office. The AG’s office said allowing Nebraska counties to opt out of the requirement of obtaining a state concealed handgun permit, as Brewer’s Legislative Bill 236 would have done, was an unconstitutional delegation of power over the issue from the state to local governments.

Read the full post by clicking HERE

POLITICAL RANCOR RAMPED UP AFTER FILIBUSTER OF BILL FOR DEVELOPMENTALLY DISABLED NEBRASKANS

LINCOLN- Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh's LB376, a bill to allow the state to seek a federal waiver for a pilot project to provide respite care and other services to help keep developmentally disabled children at home instead of placing them in expensive care centers, died Wednesday. On a 30-11 vote, the bill fell 3 votes short of halting filibuster led by Sen. Julie Slama. The bill, a priority for the Health and Human Services, would have provided $10,000 worth of services per family and would have reduced the state's long-running waiting list for services, now containing 3,000 children and adults. 

Sen. Slama said addressing the waiting list is a worthy goal, but not one of the state's top priorities. She also questioned why the measure was not needs based and would cover everyone, even billionaires. 

The evening debate slowly turned personal, with Cavanaugh accusing Slama of disingenuous opposition and neglecting families for the sake of making tax cuts. “You did a bad thing yesterday for bad reasons,” she said, charging opponents with killing the bill on behalf of Gov. Pete Ricketts.

Read the full article on our website by clicking HERE

FISCHER SAYS SHE WILL SEEK THIRD SENATE TERM IN 2024

Nebraska- Sen. Deb Fischer said Friday, May 14th she's already decided that she is going to seek a third term in 2024, recognizing the importance that seniority plays in determining how effective a member of the U.S. Senate can be. "If you want to get things done, seniority matters," Fischer said. A contest without an incumbent in the field is a much easier political mountain to climb, and virtually all potential Republican candidates would be highly unlikely to consider a primary challenge with Fischer seeking reelection. Although Republican Gov. Pete Ricketts has not revealed any potential political plans after he is term-limited out of office at the end of 2022, a Senate bid has been high on the speculative list along with a possible bid for the 2024 Republican presidential nomination if that race is wide-open.

Senator Fischer is the first Nebraskan Senator since 1990 to seek a third term in office, the first since Senator Jim Exon. Fischer said she is positioned to move up the ladder in seniority on Senate committees with a third term, and that, she said, "makes it easier to advance legislation and get things done." Fischer, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee, was among a small group of Republicans who initially met with Biden at the White House for a bipartisan discussion about infrastructure legislation. "I told the president I thought the focus should be on core infrastructure," Fischer said, including roads, bridges, pipelines and broadband, instead of the broad range of topics, including child care and home care, contained in his original proposal." 

Read the full article on our website by clicking HERE

MASK MANDATES EXPRIRING IN LINCOLN, RALSTON, AND OMAHA AS VACCINES CONTINUE AND COVID CASES DROP

OMAHA- City governments across the state are beginning to late mask mandates expire as more people become vaccinated and cases continue to go down. Lincoln's mask mandate expired at the end of the day Thursday, meaning masks will no longer be required at most indoor settings. Omaha's will expire this upcoming Tuesday. Many smaller communities such as Papillion, Bellevue and others had mandates expire in February. 

According to the CDC, anyone who is still not vaccinated should continue to wear masks indoors. Large retailers such as Walmart, Target and Hy-Vee have announced they will no longer be requiring masks for vaccinated customers unless required by a local ordinance.

50% of Nebraska's adults are vaccinated.

Read the full article on our website by clicking HERE

UNMC SELECTS DEVELOPERS FOR $45 MILLION SADDLE CREEK PROJECT

OMAHA- The University of Nebraska Medical Center has selected a team of developers to lead the $45 million renovation and redevelopment for the west side of Saddle Creek Road. The project will become an “innovation hub” with space for offices and community amenities. Koelbel and Co., a Denver developer ad Omaha's GreenSlate Development will lead the project. There will be a food hall and market with an event center and office space as well. 

The Lund Company will handle the property management efforts for the project after being selected through a competitive bidding process. 

“We will create a space that both advances UNMC’s mission and revitalizes (the) area in a way that will benefit our neighbors and the city of Omaha,” Dr. Jeffrey Gold, UNMC’s chancellor, said in a statement.

The hope is to break ground on the project by the end of 2021. Historic preservation will be at the forefront of the developers mind.

"The innovation hub will house a number of existing operations, including UNeMed, UNMC’s tech transfer office, and UNeTech, which coordinates the creation of business startups from UNMC and University of Nebraska at Omaha research. Also on the tenant list are UNeHealth, UNMC’s contracting and fiscal arm for industry-funded clinical trials, and UNO’s Nebraska Business Development Center."

Another part of the project will be the administrative tower which will be closely tied to the university's proposed Project NExT, the project that will create a new academic medical center and federal disaster response capability. The project will cost around $2.6 billion including public and private donors and grants from the federal government. 

Read the full article on our website by clicking HERE

SENATORS KILL MEATPACKING PLANT SAFETY BILL AND ADVANCE UNEMPLOYEMENT BENEFITS FOR IMMIGRANT WORKERS

LINCOLN- For the second time this year, a proposal to establish COVID-19 'safeguards' in meatpacking plants in Nebraska, was blocked. Nebraska is the only state that does not provide unemployment insurance to legally authorized workers. Gov. Pete Ricketts remains opposed to ensuring these benefits for workers, so if LB298 gains final approval, the governor is ready to veto.

The Meatpacking Employees COVID-19 Protection Act garnered opposition from senators that argued the pandemic is almost over and that meatpackers already have safeguards in place. Another senator, Ray Aguilar, said the constituents in his district that work at the meatpacking plant are still afraid to go to work. 

LB298 comes with an amendment that will require employers to use the 'Systemic Alien Verification for Entitlements' program in order to double-check employees' immigration status. Even with this amendment, the governor remains opposed. “LB 298 would grant state benefits to illegal immigrants,” said Ricketts’ spokesman, Taylor Gage. “Nothing about the technical amendment that was adopted changes what is a fundamentally unfair bill that undermines the rule of law.”

Sen. Mike McDonnell, the introducer of LB298, says he believes he has the votes to pass this bill but is worried there is not enough time in the legislative session to wrap it up before adjournment.

Read the full article on our website by clicking HERE

CLASH OVER TEACHER USE OF PHYSICAL INTERVENTION KILLS PROGRAM TO TRAIN ON ALTERNATIVES

LINCOLN- A game of 'political chicken' on Tuesday killed plans to train teachers about other ways to address behavior problems in students. The programs also included training on mental health crises and would provide scholarships to students who spend time in the state's juvenile offender institutions. Sen. Lynne Walz, chair of the Education Committee, pleaded with her colleagues to support the programs. 

“It’s time to stop playing games,” she said. “I ask you to focus on the goal of the bill and that is to provide scholarships to your kids.”

The bill fell five votes short of ending a filibuster, meaning the bill is officially dead. The body amended a separate bill to continue to give lottery funds into college scholarships for three more years. Opponents of the bills dubbed the amendment the 'hit the kids' bill and used procedural motions to prevent it from being debated and potentially added to the lottery funds  measure. 

Another Omaha lawmaker, Sen. Megan Hunt, said the issue of teachers intervening physically with students was “like a zombie” that has been debated and defeated repeatedly but continues to come back.

Read the full article on our website by clicking HERE

MEAD COMMISSION RECOMMENDS REVOKING ALTENS PERMIT WITH EXCEPTIONS FOR CLEANUP

MEAD- The Mead Planning Commission announced on Wednesday that they recommend revoking AltEn's conditional use permit to manufacture ethanol 1 mile south of the Saunders County town. The Board of Trustees on June 8 will take up the recommendation and make a final decision. The original plan was adopted in 2014. 

AltEn's ethanol manufacturing process left behind solid and wastewater byproducts that heavily contaminated the area with insecticides and fungicides which can lead to both health and environmental problems. 

Commissioner's said the company's long history of violating state regulations and the lack of communication made them leery of continuing business. However, AltEn will have to continue to clean up the site during this process. 

“The sooner we can get it cleaned up, the better,” he added. “If that means we have to let them run their digesters and other things to get the water and other stuff out there, we’ve got to do it.”

Read the full article on our website by clicking HERE

SOCIAL SECURITY INCOME TAX EXEMPTION BILL APPROVED FOR NEBRASKA TAXES

NORFOLK- The Legislature gave 41-0 final approval Thursday to a bill that will incrementally reduce the state income tax on Social Security income with a goal of total exemption by 2030. The bill (LB64), sponsored by Sen. Brett Lindstrom of Omaha, would achieve a 50% tax reduction by 2025 with an expressed intention to achieve 100% reduction by 2030, subject to review by a future legislative session. The built-in "guardrail" that allows a future Legislature to decide whether to continue with the annual 10% increased tax reduction after 2025 was attached to the bill by Sen. John Stinner of Gering, chairman of the Legislature's Appropriations Committee. Reduction in annual state revenue is estimated to grow to $73.8 million in the fifth year and then incrementally climb to $168 million in the 10th year with full exemption.

The built-in "guardrail" that allows a future Legislature to decide whether to continue with the annual 10% increased tax reduction after 2025 was attached to the bill by Sen. John Stinner of Gering, chairman of the Legislature's Appropriations Committee. Reduction in annual state revenue is estimated to grow to $73.8 million in the fifth year and then incrementally climb to $168 million in the 10th year with full exemption.

Read the full article on our website by clicking HERE

CALLAWAY RANCHER, FORMER US SENATE CANDIDATE JIM JENKINS WILL SEEK DISTRICT 36 LEGISLATIVE SEAT

CUSTER COUNTY- Custer County rancher, entrepreneur and restaurant owner Jim Jenkins of Callaway announced that he will be a candidate for the District 36 legislative seat in 2022. Sen. Matt Williams of Gothenburg will be term-limited out of the nonpartisan Legislature at the end of next year after serving two terms.Jenkins, who was an independent candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2014, currently manages his family ranching and cattle feeding business near Callaway and is one of the owners of the Skeeter Barnes restaurant in Kearney. "Since agriculture is literally the foundation on which our state economy is built, urban and rural senators must work together for the benefit of all Nebraskans," Jenkins said. Jenkins recently was nominated to chair the Blueprint Nebraska entrepreneurship council and is a member of the board of directors of the Platte Institute. He is past chairman of the Nebraska Ethanol Board. 

Read the full article on our website by clicking HERE

LEGISLATURE SOFTENS POLICE REFORM BILL TO SATISFY RURAL SENATORS CONCERNS

LINCOLN- After hearing many rural senators concerns over LB51, the Nebraska Legislature adopted a pair of compromise amendments Monday evening. Last summer, following the murder of George Floyd, 200 Nebraskans testified about their interactions with police over two days of Judiciary hearings. Following those stories, Sen. Steve Lathrop introduced LB51, which is a bill to increase annual training for officers, psychological examinations for new recruits, mandates that departments adopt policies on an officer's duty to intervene when excessive force is being used and bans the use of chokeholds and other restraints except when using deadly force is authorized. 

Rural senators discussed how burdensome these new requirements would be on rural law enforcement departments. Sen. Tom Brewer then introduced amendments that would address those concerns, which were both approved. The bill will be considered for final reading in late May.

“You have to understand that if we increase the requirements for training, it does directly impact them,” Brewer said. “Both the cost and for the county to be without their law enforcement officer, or half of their law enforcement, for a time.”

Read the full article by clicking HERE

ATTORNEY GENERAL QUESTIONS BILL TO ALLOW PERMITLESS CONCEALED CARRY IN MOST NEBRASKA COUNTIES

LINCOLN- A bill to make permitless carry of concealed weapons possible across most of Nebraska raises "significant constitutional concerns," according to an opinion issued by Attorney General Doug Peterson's office Monday.

Peterson's opinion said LB236 would improperly delegate state authority to the counties without adequate standards which appears to violate the state constitution. The measure was expected to be up for debate this week. Sen. Tom Brewer who introduced the bill proceeded with the bill and replaced the current contents of the bill with portions of three less-controversial measures relating to concealed carry. As introduced, LB236 would have given counties the power to authorize carrying of concealed firearms without a permit or training requirements. Currently, gun owners must obtain a state permit and pass a firearm course before they can legally carry a concealed gun. The bill was emended by the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee to bar Douglas and Lancaster from going permit less. 

"We think that a court would likely conclude that the regulation of concealed handguns under the Concealed Handgun Permit Act's shall-issue statutory scheme is a matter of statewide concern," Peterson said. The amendment also stated the county sheriff would need to advise and council the county on how to proceed with this. There are also exemptions to the law for those with criminal offenses included. 

Read the full article by clicking HERE

LEGISLATURE'S REDISTRICTING COMMITTEE ESTABLISHES GROUND RULES

LINCOLN- The Legislature's nonpartisan redistricting committee embarked on the challenging, often partisan and bitter, journey. The nine-member special committee met to lay the groundwork and split the vote on a couple of decisions that will help guide the group. Sen. Adam Morfeld attempted to reduce the recommended maximum population deviation factors applied to forming new districts, but was rejected on a 6-3 vote. 

Maximum population variances that will be considered are 10% for legislative districts and 1% for congressional districts. The committee will hold a public hearing on its proposed framework next Tuesday. Final census figures are expected August 16. Much of the focus will be on the new boundary lines for metropolitan Omaha's competitive 2nd District, which handed President Joe Biden one of Nebraska's five electoral votes while also reelecting Republican Rep. Don Bacon. 

Legislative redistricting will also center on decisions that will determine whether rural Nebraska loses one or two seats in the 49-member Legislature.

Read the full article by clicking HERE

SENATORS MOVE TO SHEILD BUSINESSES FROM COVID LAWSUITS

LINCOLN- A bill that would shield Nebraska businesses and local governments from coronavirus-related lawsuits won first round approval from state lawmakers on Tuesday. The measure would protect businesses so long as they were following federal public health guidelines. About 30 other states have enacted laws addressing the same issue. 

“We need to do everything we can to help our state recover from the impact of the pandemic, and that's what this bill's intended to do,” said Briese, the measure's sponsor.

The proposal has backing from businesses, hospitals, schools, counties and cities, however organizations representing Nebraska trial attorneys and public school teachers opposed it. Sen. Matt Hansen of Lincoln said the state is taking “a serious misstep with liability protection for businesses, not directly for the people of Nebraska.

Read the full article by clicking HERE

FILIBUSTER STOPS MEDICAL MARIJUANA BILL; SEN. WISHART SAYS PETIITION DRIVE WILL PROCEED

LINCOLN- Sen. Anna Wishart offered the Legislature one more chance to legalize medical marijuana and enact strict regulations over who could access cannabis and how it could be used.

If lawmakers decided not to advance her measure (LB474), she said, voters will almost certainly be granted the opportunity to consider a ballot initiative next year asking them to enshrine “the right to cannabis for medical purposes” into the state constitution. Her warning went unheeded, however. Opponents used procedural motions to mount a successful filibuster, and shortly after 6 p.m., only 31 senators voted to invoke cloture, falling two short of the tally needed, effectively pushing LB474 off the agenda for the year.

“Make no mistake,” Wishart said on Wednesday morning, “we will get the signatures to qualify the initiative for the ballot. We’ve done it before in a global pandemic, and it will pass with overwhelming support in this state.”

Wishart said she won’t bring another bill forward next year — she’s sponsored legislation to legalize medical cannabis in each of her five years in the Legislature — and instead will shift her focus to gathering signatures from voters across the state.

Read the full article by clicking HERE