GOV. RICKETTS TO END CORONAVIRUS STATE OF EMERGENCY: 'WE NEED TO GET BACK TO NORMAL'

LINCOLN- The giant bottle of hand sanitizer was gone, as was the sign language interpreter and the charts tracking COVID-19 numbers.

Nor did anyone wipe down the podium Monday before Gov. Pete Ricketts announced that he would end the COVID-19 state of emergency declared well over a year ago — on March 13, 2020 — as of 11:59 p.m. Wednesday.

He noted that hospitalizations for COVID-19 statewide are low and stressed the need to “get back to normal.” But as he has throughout the pandemic, Ricketts urged people to get a vaccine. “It’s important for everyone to know the coronavirus is going to be with us,” he said. “… That’s why it’s important to get a vaccine. Vaccines work. We have proof of it in Nebraska.”

Twenty-seven Nebraskans are hospitalized with COVID-19, Ricketts said. That number, which peaked Nov. 20 at 987, has been below 100 since mid-May and below 40 since mid-June. The announcement, however, comes as Nebraska ended its eight-week stretch of falling cases.

Nebraska’s rate of fully vaccinated individuals — 47.9% as of Monday — continues to exceed the nation’s 46%. The state still ranks highly in vaccinating the vulnerable 65-and-over population. Its 84.4% vaccination rate is 12th-best in the U.S. 

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HOW NEBRASKA TENATS MIGHT FARE ONCE EVECITONS BAN ENDS

NEBRASKA- Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts temporarily banned evictions for 2 1/2 months near the start of the pandemic, before the CDC moratorium was in place. Ricketts' order expired at the end of May 2020. Nebraska has earmarked $200 million from the coronavirus aid package Congress passed in December to help tenants with back rent, utility bills and other expenses.

The program, which is managed by the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority, offers up to $20,000 in assistance to renters or homeowners who need help paying up to 15 months of their bills. But the aid is only available to people who make 80% or less of their county’s median income and can show they’re unable to pay rent because of a financial hardship caused by the pandemic or they’re at risk of becoming homeless.

So far, more than $15.8 million has been distributed to 4,420 households in Nebraska by the state agency and local programs in Lincoln and Omaha.

Nebraska's homeless ranks could swell once the eviction moratorium ends because evictions and homelessness are closely linked and there is a lack of low-income housing in the state, Mertz said. Although the number of evictions in Nebraska is expected to jump after the moratorium ends, it's not clear how many landlords are waiting to act once it expires and the rental assistance programs may prevent some evictions.

“It’s going to be a real shock to the system if the backlog is as high as some people fear,” Mertz said. Recent census data shows there were 10,150 adults in the state who feared they could be evicted within two months.

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LINCOLN MAYOR TAPS TERESA EWINS AS NEXT POLICE CHEIF

LINCOLN- After a months-long nationwide search that saw a field of 31 applicants winnowed down to one nominee, Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird on Monday announced Teresa Ewins as the city's next police chief.  A 55-year-old commander and the highest-ranking LGBTQ officer with the San Francisco Police Department, Ewins was the only one of four finalists who had never before pursued the top job at a major police department.

Facing a room full of reporters, Gaylor Baird called Ewins "a historic choice" for the Lincoln Police Department, which has been led exclusively by men since 1870. If approved by the City Council, Ewins would take her new position Aug. 30, at which point she would be the first woman and first openly LGBTQ person to lead the department in its 151-year history. 

"When we set out on this process, we were looking for the best person to lead the department, and we found the best person to lead the department," Gaylor Baird said. "And she happens to be a woman. And I'm really proud of that."

The significance of the moment wasn't lost on Ewins, either. Appearing at the press conference by Zoom, the incoming chief reflected on what her selection meant to both her and the changing law enforcement landscape.

"You know, being the first is really — it's amazing," she said. "I mean, women have 50% of the population, and, in law enforcement, for chiefs, I think 1% are chiefs of police. Women have really added to moving to the profession forward in general, and it's really great to be recognized as the best to take on this role.

"And so I'm really hoping to really show that women can lead and be just as good as anyone else. And hopefully one day, in the future, we don't even have to have this conversation of male versus female. It's just the best person and most qualified person." 

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OPINION: THIS SUPRISING SUPREME COURT

WASHINGTON- When is a case about a pipeline about more than the pipeline? When it produces a 5-4 Supreme Court decision with a surprising mix of conservative and liberal Justices on both sides. Their opinions reflect disagreements from the founding era over the role and power of the federal government.

Pipeline developer PennEast has been seeking to build a 116-mile pipeline between Pennsylvania and New Jersey since 2014. The Natural Gas Act of 1938 delegates the federal government’s eminent domain power to private parties once the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) certifies a pipeline.

PennEast had negotiated the route with New Jersey politicians, but Gov. Phil Murphy pulled a switcheroo and invoked state sovereign immunity under the Eleventh Amendment to block the company from building on state-owned land. The Eleventh Amendment bars states from being sued in federal court by private citizens of other states. New Jersey argued that FERC’s eminent domain delegation doesn’t apply to state land. Chief Justice John Roberts along with Justices Stephen Breyer, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor and Brett Kavanaugh disagreed.

Both sides make compelling cases based on the Constitution’s structure. Justice Amy Coney Barrett writes in a dissent joined by Justices Clarence Thomas, Elena Kagan and Neil Gorsuch that the “Constitution limits the means by which the Federal Government can impose its will on the States” and sovereign immunity was a “deliberately chosen feature of the constitutional design.”

The 5-4 ruling is good for U.S. energy development, but it also shows that the Court with its two new Justices is far from a lockstep ideological battering ram. The Justices are seriously grappling with serious constitutional issues, with often surprising majority coalitions. 

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AS DOUGLAS COUNTY VALUATIONS ARE RELEASED, ASSESSOR SAYS DON'T BLAME HER FOR HIGHER TAXES

DOUGLAS COUNTY- As Omaha’s housing market continues to run strong, Douglas County’s tax valuations are taking another big jump just to keep up. With the local housing tax base rising by almost $2 billion overall, the increase raises the likelihood of significantly higher property tax bills for local homeowners.

But Diane Battiato, Douglas County’s assessor/register of deeds, said she gets tired of the “finger always pointing at the Assessor’s Office” as tax bills increase. Battiato said her office is doing what’s required under state law to keep up with the housing market in Douglas County — and prices that have been escalating for years.

Overall, Douglas County’s tax value on existing homes increased almost 6% this year. That’s on top of a 7% increase last year and almost 6% the year before.

The increase this year alone will add $1.95 billion to the residential tax base — potentially translating to tens of millions of dollars in higher taxes paid by home and property owners.

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OMAHA OFFICIALS SOUGHT $8 MILLION FOR STREETCAR BUT DIDN'T GET FEDERAL EARMARK

OMAHA- Omaha business leaders unsuccessfully tried to secure federal funding for the long-discussed streetcar project earlier this year.

The move is the latest sign that Omaha’s business community is continuing to push for creation of a streetcar.

“We are extremely serious about this,” said Jay Noddle, the developer who heads the public-private group focused on Omaha’s urban core. “We’ve never been more serious. It’s one of the more important and therefore more impactful things that can happen in the core of the city.”

This spring, the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce, along with City of Omaha and local transportation officials, attempted to get an $8 million federal earmark to fund the design of the long-discussed streetcar project that would connect downtown and midtown Omaha.

However, the earmark, requested by U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., was not included in a federal transportation bill currently making its way through Congress, his office said last week.

The federal earmark was sought to help pay for a $10 million “environmental review and final design” for the project. But lawmakers did not include the request in the Invest in America Act, which could go to a final vote in the House this week, Bacon’s office said.

Bacon made the request after being asked by the city to do so. The city’s request to Bacon was made on behalf of the Omaha chamber, according to Mayor Jean Stothert’s office.

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NATIONAL DEMOCRATS AIR PANDEMIC RECOVERY AD IN OMAHA, SIGNALING ENGAGEMENT IN 2ND DISTRICT

OMAHA- National Democrats began airing a pandemic recovery ad in the Omaha area on Wednesday, signaling that they're still willing to put resources into Nebraska's competitive 2nd Congressional District, even though the rest of the state is solidly Republican.

The 60-second ad in the Omaha television market highlights the nation's efforts to recover from the coronavirus pandemic and return to normalcy. The ad includes several shots of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who won the 2nd District in the 2020 election, marking only the second time in history that Nebraska has split its Electoral College votes.

Even though Biden and Harris won the district, voters also re-elected Republican U.S. Rep. Don Bacon over a well-funded Democratic challenger. The 2nd District, including the core of the Omaha area and parts of its suburbs, is one of the few nationally that's consistently competitive between Republicans and Democrats.

In a statement, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee said the American Rescue Plan signed by Biden is helping to vaccinate Americans, reopen small businesses and provide financial assistance.

The ad was timed to coincide with the July 4 holiday.

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STAFFING EMERGENCY DECLARED AT TWO MORE NEBRASKA PRISONS AMID RECORD VACANCIES

 LINCOLN — A record-high number of job vacancies and continued high turnover caused “staffing emergencies” to be declared Monday at two more prisons.

The declaration at the 518-inmate Lincoln Correctional Center and the 439-inmate Diagnostic and Evaluation Center means that staffing will shift immediately to two 12-hour shifts a day from three eight-hour shifts a day. That will allow required security posts to be filled with fewer employees.

Two other state prisons, the 1,000-inmate Tecumseh State Prison and the 1,250-inmate State Penitentiary in Lincoln, have been operating under staffing emergencies for more than a year in what has been described as a “short-term” solution to the lack of personnel.

Those staffing emergencies were expected to expire before the end of 2020, but Corrections Director Scott Frakes said Monday that a “slowdown” in hiring has forced the continuation, and expansion, of the emergencies.

“We are feeling the effects that many other industries and businesses are experiencing currently, nationally and across Nebraska,” Frakes said. “This is a very tight job market, especially in Lincoln.”

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NEW TECHNOLOGY LETS NEBRASKA STATE PATROL SCAN SEMIS ON INTERSTATE 80 FOR FLAT TIRES

NEBRASKA- The Nebraska State Patrol is using new equipment to provide better safety screenings for commercial vehicles, including semis on Interstate 80. The new system is now in use at I-80 weigh stations near Waverly and North Platte. The screening system uses cameras and sensors to read license plates and federal Department of Transportation identification numbers and check for flat tires, all while the vehicle continues to travel at Interstate speeds, said Lt. Mike Maytum of the State Patrol’s Carrier Enforcement Division.

That information is coupled with existing weigh-in-motion, PrePass and Drivewyze technology. After a quick scan, the vehicle is either given the go-ahead or routed to the weigh station for a closer look.

Maytum said the goal is to ensure safety and to keep trucks moving.

“It really boils down to keeping roadways safe,” Maytum said.

The state plans to add a similar system to the weigh station on Nebraska 2 near Nebraska City. The new system was funded through a grant from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

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UNL BREAKS GROUND ON COLLEGE OF ENGINEERING'S $97 MILLION KIEWIT HALL

LINCOLN — There are already two holes in the ground where the future Kiewit Hall will rise near 17th and Vine streets on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's City Campus.

The 181,500-square-foot facility will redefine the College of Engineering's footprint at UNL when it opens to students in the fall of 2023 as a new hub for engineering education.

On Monday, UNL ceremonially broke ground on the privately funded $97 million facility, which is part of a larger effort to renovate engineering facilities as part of a plan to grow the college from 3,200 to 5,000 students.

"It is a big day for the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the state of Nebraska, and the field of engineering," Chancellor Ronnie Green told a reception inside Othmer Hall, which will connect to Kiewit Hall via skywalk.

Construction on the facility is expected to ramp up this fall as work continues at the nearby Scott Engineering Center and the Link, the subject of a partnership between the university and the state of Nebraska. The construction at the Link involves an 87,000-square-foot facility, which replaces the former 25,000-square-foot facility.

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JIM PILLEN, SAYING HE'S NOT SPEAKING AS AN NU REGENT, CONDEMNS CRITICAL RACE THEORY

LINCOLN- A pair of conservative groups last week called on Regent Jim Pillen, who is running for governor, to sponsor a resolution denouncing the teaching of critical race theory at the University of Nebraska. In a press release, the Nebraska Freedom Coalition and the Nebraska Federation of Republican Women said Pillen had an opportunity to take a stand against what they called “the attempted indoctrination of students on college campuses.” But Friday’s meeting of the Board of Regents came and went without any mention of the issue. 

After the meeting, and clarifying that he was speaking as a candidate for governor, Pillen said he opposes the teaching of critical race theory in Nebraska, preferring instead that teachers and professors focus on “facts and commonsense Nebraska values.”

“I’m not supportive of teaching of theories or ideologies that are divisive, that are anti-American,” Pillen said. “I oppose our kids being indoctrinated with radical theories.”

“I oppose CRT today, I oppose it tomorrow, and I will oppose it as your governor,” he added. 

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GOV. RICKETTS: U.S. SUPREME COURT DECISION ON ETHANOL WAIVERS HURTS FARM FAMILIES

LINCOLN – Today, Governor Pete Ricketts issued a statement following news that the U.S. Supreme Court had overturned a decision by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals on small refinery exemptions from ethanol blending requirements.

“Today’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court on small refinery exemptions is disappointing and hurts farm families across the state,” said Governor Ricketts.  “Regardless of the Court’s decision, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency can still take steps to enforce a robust Renewable Fuel Standard.  I strongly urge President Biden and his administration to take clear steps to support our farm families, and to stop the broad use of waivers.”

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DHHS PARTNERS WITH CENTER FOR RURAL AFFAIRS FOR FACEBOOK LIVE TOWN HALL

Lincoln– In an ongoing effort to advocate and educate Nebraskans about the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine, Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is partnering with the Center for Rural Affairs (CFRA), a rural advocacy organization to hold a Facebook Live event focused on rural communities throughout Nebraska.

With nearly two million vaccines administered and 56% of Nebraskans over the age of 16 fully vaccinated, the state has made great strides in its fight against COVID-19. Hospitalization rates have fallen from a high of nearly 1,000 in November, to under 40 hospitalizations today.

To continue the forward progress, Nebraska DHHS CEO Dannette R. Smith and Chief Medical Officer Gary Anthone will take part in the CFRA’s “Rural Rapport” Facebook Live Townhall to discuss the safety and effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccine. More importantly, they will take the opportunity to answer questions and listen to the concerns of Nebraska’s rural community.

Established in 1973, the Center for Rural Affairs is a private, non-profit organization working to strengthen small businesses, family farms and ranches, and rural communities through action-oriented programs addressing social, economic, and environmental issues.

BIG BUSINESS PUSHED CONAGRA'S DOWNTOWN OMAHA CAMPUS, DOOMING HISTORIC JOBBERS CANYON

OMAHA- Big ugly red brick buildings. When Conagra's chief executive dismissed a historic Omaha warehouse district as such, he ignited preservation rallies, local division and a national spotlight. But none of that could stop demolition of the six-block Jobbers Canyon to clear the way for the company's global headquarters.

Charles "Mike" Harper would say later that only a handful of people wanted to preserve the century-old warehouses — "probably as a home for the rats." Indeed, tension over the largest-ever wipeout of a designated U.S. historic district grew much larger. Arguably, no other local real estate project in the last half-century created more community conflict and change in landscape and policy than the Conagra-anchored riverfront development.  And perhaps no other project showed so clearly the power of the city's corporate leaders in redefining downtown Omaha.

Working fiercely, mostly from behind the scenes, the city's corporate elite pulled out all the stops to provide the downtown canvas Conagra wanted for what became a nearly 45-acre campus connected to a new 30-acre public park. 

Driven in part by the fresh loss of a different corporate heavyweight, the business leaders pushed city officials to meet Conagra's demands for a suburban-style headquarters and the removal of those "ugly" warehouses. They raised private money, fended off lawsuits and found ways to ensure that the redevelopment happened.

Following opposition from many Omaha citizens and state officials, Conagra would go on to have their way with the building process. Now following Conagra's departure in 2016, the city looks to find a way to fill in the space and restore the area to its original "industrial" setting.

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NEBRASKA'S GAP BETWEEN URBAN AND RURAL VACCINATION IS WIDEST IN NATION

NEBRASKA- Nebraska’s rural communities have a long way to go to reach the levels of vaccination needed to end the COVID-19 pandemic. Vaccination rates in rural Nebraska badly lag those in urban parts of the state. In fact, Nebraska’s rural rates are among the lowest in the region, according to a World-Herald analysis of county vaccination data.

Roughly 40% of Nebraska adults living in rural areas are fully vaccinated, compared with more than 60% of those living in the state’s metro areas. What’s more, the county-level data submitted to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest that Nebraska’s rural-urban vaccination divide is the widest in the nation. And Nebraska’s rural vaccination gap among the vulnerable 65-and-over age group also appears to be the nation’s biggest.

“Communities that have chosen to not have a higher rate of vaccination are unfortunately setting themselves up to be preyed upon by some of these more transmissible variants,” said Dr. Mark Rupp, an infectious disease expert at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. Nebraska can take a lesson from neighboring Missouri, whose rural vaccination rates are even lower.

The Delta variant has now rushed into that gap, leaving the Show-Me State with the nation’s highest current case rate and inundating rural hospital wards with COVID-19 patients, all at a time the pandemic is supposed to be ending.

Most of the counties with Nebraska’s lowest vaccination rates can be found in the Panhandle and the Sand Hills — sprawling, sparse grasslands where cattle are plentiful and conservatism and general distrust of government are high. In one Sand Hills county, figures suggest that only 11% of adults have been vaccinated.

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U.S. SUPREME COURT BACKS REFINERIES IN BIOFUEL WAIVER DISPUTE

WASHINGTON D.C.- The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday made it easier for small oil refineries to win exemptions from a federal law requiring increasing levels of ethanol and other renewable fuels to be blended into their products, a major setback for biofuel producers.

The justices overturned a lower court decision that had faulted the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for giving refineries in Wyoming, Utah and Oklahoma extensions on waivers from renewable fuel standard (RFS) requirements under a law called the Clean Air Act even though the companies' prior exemptions had expired.

The extensions at issue were given to units of HollyFrontier Corp (HFC.N) and CVR Energy Inc (CVI.N).

The 6-3 ruling, authored by conservative Justice Neil Gorsuch, compared these extensions to ones granted in everyday life such as to a student wanting more time to complete a term paper even though the deadline has passed or a business contract whose term had expired.

"It is entirely natural - and consistent with ordinary usage - to seek an 'extension' of time even after some time lapse," Gorsuch said.

In a dissent, conservative Justice Amy Coney Barrett, joined by liberal justices Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, faulted the ruling's interpretation of the word "extend." The "EPA cannot 'extend' an exemption that a refinery no longer has," Barrett wrote.

President Joe Biden's administration has been considering ways to provide relief to U.S. oil refiners from biofuel blending mandates.

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FORMER NEBRASKA PRISONS ADMINISTRATOR SUES STATE, SAYS PRISON WAS MANIPULATING HOUSING STATS

LANCASTER COUNTY- The administrator who oversaw the state prisons' mental health and substance abuse services and sex offender program is suing her former employer alleging, among other things, that the prison was manipulating housing statistics by moving inmates who weren't mentally ill into the mental health unit. In a lawsuit filed in Lancaster County District Court, Alice Mitwaruciu alleged that Dawn-Renee Smith, deputy director of the Department of Correctional Services since 2018, made clinical decisions affecting the mental health care and treatment of inmates, regardless of a lack of medical or mental health training.

Mitwaruciu, a Black woman from Kenya, also is alleging she faced racial discrimination while working for the prisons. She said prison leaders treated her in an overtly aggressive and disrespectful way and interfered with her ability to do her job by keeping her out of meetings that involved matters she oversaw. 

The case comes on the heels of lawmakers last month approving a $100,000 payment to settle a discrimination lawsuit filed against the prison by Razak Aljanabi, a former corporal at the Nebraska State Penitentiary who is from Iraq and a practicing Shia Muslim. 

Among the claims, he said during a roll call in 2016, a lieutenant announced the start of Ramadan to booing and laughing, then said "Believe me, I feel the same way" and laughed. A month later, he was told he wasn't allowed to pray during his shift and couldn't have his prayer rug or holy book on him, though other officers were able to have Bibles.

The Nebraska Attorney General's Office, which will represent the prison, declined to comment on the lawsuit Wednesday.

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NEBRASKA SENATOR MAKES ANOTHER RUN AT ANSWERS ON AltEn

MEAD- A Nebraska state senator is making another run at getting answers for residents who live near pesticide contamination from the AltEn ethanol plant at Mead. The ethanol plant discarded pesticide-laced byproduct on area fields, describing it as a soil amendment. Area residents have linked the compost to their pets stumbling about in a stupor, dead wildlife and their own bloody noses, headaches and respiratory problems. Those residents also have expressed frustration in getting answers from Nebraska officials. The contamination has led to voluntary cleanup by major seed companies.

Sen. Carol Blood, who will be hosting AltEn-related information sessions, has sent a lengthy list of questions to the Nebraska Departments of Agriculture, Environment and Energy and Natural Resources.

“Every single one of those questions came from the residents,” she said.

Separately, Sen. Bruce Bostelman, whose district includes Mead, has proposed a study of whether the state needs greater authority to respond to problems such as what occurred with AltEn. Amanda Woita, spokeswoman for the Department of Environment and Energy, said the agencies were working on answers to provide to Blood.

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INVESTIGATION OF OMAHA-AREA CHILD WELFARE CONTRACT RAISES ECHOES OF THE PAST

OMAHA- Testimony in a legislative investigation of the problematic contract for managing Omaha-area child welfare cases began Friday with the words of baseball great Yogi Berra. “It’s déjà vu all over again,” former State Sen. Kathy Campbell of Lincoln told a panel of lawmakers. Ten years ago, she headed up a legislative investigation into the state’s disastrous attempt to privatize the oversight of child welfare cases statewide. The effort was plagued with turmoil, and four of the five original contractors ended up dropping or losing their contracts within two years.

On Friday, Campbell provided an overview of that history to the committee that has been charged with looking into how Nebraska ended up signing a $197 million, five-year contract with St. Francis Ministries. The new contract was signed in late January, after interim St. Francis CEO William Clark told state lawmakers that the agency would be out of money to operate by Feb. 12, unless Nebraska agreed to pay more. The $147.3 million emergency contract ends Feb. 28, 2023, the month after Gov. Pete Ricketts is term-limited out of office. 

On Friday, Tom Kenny, an Omaha attorney hired by the investigative committee, reviewed the flaws he sees in the state’s procurement process. He said the process allows state agencies broad discretion in seeking and awarding contracts and does not provide many options for appealing their decisions. 

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APPEALS COURT SIDES WITH OPS IN LAWSUIT OVER SEXUAL ABUSE OF FORMER STUDENT

ST. LOUIS- A federal appeals court has sided with the Omaha Public Schools in a lawsuit filed by the family of a young woman who was sexually assaulted by her middle school teacher. The young woman, who attended Davis Middle School starting in 2013, was sexually assaulted by teacher Brian Robeson outside of school, in Robeson’s classroom during lunch, in a computer lab and in a school bathroom. When police interviewed her about what was happening, she was 14 and Robeson was 35. Robeson pleaded guilty to first-degree sexual assault. In 2016, he was sentenced to 40 years in prison.

In her ruling in November 2019, U.S. District Judge Laurie Smith Camp said the family had to prove that the principal and OPS had “actual notice” that the girl was being assaulted and chose to not remedy the situation. In other words, they had to know that the sexual abuse was happening and do nothing. The family, Smith Camp said, failed to present any evidence that the principal had actual notice of the abuse. On Wednesday, a three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court’s ruling.

In an interview, Anna’s mother said the family was “devastated” by the court opinion.

The family’s next legal option would be to take the case to the U.S. Supreme Court. Dave Domina, the family’s attorney, said they are reviewing their options. He said the case contains issues that might be of interest to the court. “The odds are always against you,” Domina said of getting a case before the country’s highest court. “That’s why you look at the issue; you don’t look at the odds.”

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