IS THERE SUCH A THING AS TOO MANY NONPROFITS? NEBRASKA STATE SENATOR WANTS TO KNOW

LINCOLN — State Sen. Terrell McKinney has a question for nonprofits: What is your plan to alleviate the need for your organization?

“We’ve had feel-good programs for forever, but communities like North Omaha are still the most impoverished,” he said.

Members of the Legislature’s Urban Affairs Committee on Friday heard testimony on a study McKinney proposed looking into the effects of an oversaturation of nonprofits and philanthropy in densely populated, high-poverty areas. The study is underway.

McKinney previously told The World-Herald that his experience growing up and working in North Omaha prompted the study. He saw a lack of investment by businesses, he said, while millions went to nonprofits year after year. He now represents the 11th District, which covers most of North Omaha.

After the hearing, McKinney shared data showing that 34% of people in his district lived in poverty in 1991. In years since, it stayed within a range of about 32% to 41% and was at 33.5% as of 2019.

There’s a need for nonprofits and philanthropists in our communities, McKinney said. But some nonprofits and philanthropists are viewed by some community members as self-serving while operating under a guise of benefiting North Omaha. A term for this, he said: “poverty pimp” — a label that implies profiting from misfortune, not truly wanting to eliminate it.

McKinney said the intent of the study is not to broadly attack nonprofits but to look at how money is being invested — to highlight an imbalance and rethink.

“We have to make sure that all the money isn’t going to nonprofit entities; we have to make sure that we’re doing something as a state to put money into small businesses within the community to help them grow and be sustainable,” he said.

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BY CHANCE AND DETERMINATION, SOME NEBRASKANS TRAPPED IN AFGHANISTAN ESCAPE

KABUL- Her brother beaten in front of her. Her cousin beaten, too. Frightening encounters with the Taliban at checkpoints. Her small children lost and nearly trampled in the crowd of tens of thousands.

That’s how a Nebraska mother stranded in Kabul, Afghanistan, described to family back home her efforts to reach the airport and a flight out of the country.

Her brother in Nebraska, who has talked by phone with his sister and other family members, relayed their account to The World-Herald.

The woman, her children, ages 2, 4 and 11, and her mother, all American citizens, had gone to Afghanistan to visit family. They had tickets for a flight back in early August but were bumped by a fleeing Afghan official and his family. Since then, they’ve been trying to get home.

After a half-dozen attempts since Friday, she made it out of the country, and she and her children were safe in Qatar Wednesday. The woman’s disabled mother, also an American citizen, turned back at the airport this week, fearing she could not survive the crowd there, her brother said.

He asked not to be named out of concern for the safety of family members remaining in Afghanistan.

The key to his sister’s escape, he said, was Afghan men who were neighbors and willing to put themselves in harm’s way to help her, and her own willingness to overcome her fear of the Taliban. A widow, she could have been forced to marry a Taliban soldier had she been discovered, her brother said, and that terrified her.

The brother said he told his sister she couldn’t count on the U.S. government to arrange for safe passage to the airport. He said he has been trying to get his brother out of Afghanistan for nearly 11 years.

His family, including those still in Afghanistan, are at risk because he worked as a translator for the U.S. military.

"I told her the only thing I know is if you can get yourself to the Marines and show your (U.S.) passport, you can get out."

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NEBRASKA ENVIRONMENTAL TRUST DIRECTOR RESIGNS

LINCOLN — The Nebraska Environmental Trust Board accepted the resignation of the Trust’s longtime director Wednesday, and moved to adopt steps recommended in a recent state audit.

The board, which hands out $20 million a year in state lottery funds for wildlife habitat, recycling and groundwater improvement projects, has been under fire in recent months for defunding some conservation projects to redirect grant funds to purchase ethanol blender pumps.

Some conservation groups, including the recently formed Friends of the Environmental Trust organization, have complained that the Trust’s focus has veered from its original mission of funding environmental projects that otherwise wouldn’t have been funded, to promoting agriculture and economic development.

The Trust, since 1992, has awarded $349 million in grants to more than 2,400 projects across the state. The grants focus on five areas: surface water and groundwater, soil management, air quality, wildlife habitat and waste management/recycling.

Mark Brohman, who has directed the Trust since 2006, declined to comment on his reasons for resigning. Two members of the Trust Board, Mark Quandahl of Omaha and Jeff Kanger of Lincoln, declined to comment on whether Brohman was forced to resign.

The Environmental Trust Board, in recent years, has switched from supporting conservation easements — used to preserve private land — to opposing them. That reflects criticism of such easements by Gov. Pete Ricketts, who appoints the nine citizen members of the 14-member Trust Board, and appoints three of the five state agency directors who round out the panel.

Ricketts recently declined to reappoint one Trust Board member, Gerry Lauritzen of Omaha, because she supported conservation easements.

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MILLARD ELEMENTARY CLASSROOM IN QUARANTINE AFTER CLUSTER OF COVID CASES

MILLARD- A classroom of elementary students in the Millard Public Schools is in quarantine at home after a cluster of COVID-19 cases was identified this week in the class.

The classroom will be closed for seven days to prevent possible spread, a district official said.

The situation could be a model for how the school district and health officials handle future clusters in the new school year.

District officials requested the classroom quarantine after three students in the class at Montclair Elementary School tested positive, and transmission was suspected, a district spokeswoman said.

The school, located at 2405 South 138th St. in Omaha, has about 700 students and has a Montessori program.

Spokeswoman Rebecca Kleeman said one case in the Montclair classroom was verified Monday, and the parents of classmates were notified.

Late on Tuesday, school officials learned of the additional two positive cases, she said. At that point, district officials notified the classroom parents to keep their kids home on Wednesday, she said.

Two additional students are suspected of contracting the virus, which would make five in all if confirmed, Kleeman said.

Kleeman said the district is following the guidance of the Douglas County Health Department on quarantining.

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GOV. PETE RICKETTS CRITICIZES 'BOTCHED' AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL

LINCOLN- Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts criticized President Joe Biden on Monday for the “botched” withdrawal of troops from Afghanistan.

Ricketts’ statement was released after Biden addressed the nation on the withdrawal, which has also drawn criticism from members of Nebraska’s congressional delegation.

“As shocking images and videos of the Taliban takeover pour in from Afghanistan, our military veterans need to know that their service and sacrifice there was not in vain,” Ricketts said.

Members of Nebraska’s all-Republican congressional delegation also issued statements after Biden’s address Monday.

Rep. Don Bacon said U.S. credibility has been “greatly stained in the world.”

“We must focus on getting all refugees with U.S. visas to safety, including those who have applications in. Next, we need to focus on legislation in the upcoming (National Defense Authorization Act) to address security for our country and support for those who assisted us in Afghanistan,” Bacon said.

Rep. Jeff Fortenberry said a small-scale residual force could have been kept in Afghanistan to stabilize the country, without significant American risk. Instead, he said, the result was “chaos.”

“Now we will watch as this primitive entity called the Taliban will wreak destruction, cruelly assassinate, repress women, and return the country to darkness,” he said.

Sen. Ben Sasse said Biden “failed to rise to the occasion.”

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NEBRASKA CORRECTIONS REPORTS COVID-19 OUTBREAK AT INTAKE FACILITY

LINCOLN- A COVID-19 outbreak at the intake facility for state prisons in Lincoln has prompted the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services to pause visits and volunteer activities and to ask county jails to hold off on sending new inmates, the department announced Tuesday.

Thirty-three inmates have tested positive for COVID-19 at the Diagnostic and Evaluation Center, according to state data. All adult men who are sentenced to the Department of Corrections go through the facility. It also houses interstate transfers and returned parolees and escapees, among others.

People who’ve tested positive at the intake facility are isolated in housing away from other inmates to avoid spreading the coronavirus, according to corrections chief of staff Laura Strimple.

“Before, when cases increased in the community, we experienced a corresponding increase in our facilities,” Director Scott Frakes said. “It is not a surprise that we have an uptick in cases now, especially at DEC which serves as the intake facility for all male inmates who are new admits or returning to us from the community.”

The intake facility’s average daily population was about 418 between July 2020 and June 2021. That made it, on average, the most overcrowded of the state’s 10 facilities over that year, at 209% of its operational capacity and 261% of its design capacity.

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OMAHA AND LINCOLN POLICE, OTHERS WARN OF SPIKE IN FENTANYL OVERDOSES

NEBRASKA- Local, state and federal law enforcement agencies are warning of a spike in fentanyl-related overdoses and deaths in the Omaha and Lincoln areas over the past week.

From Aug. 10 to Sunday, officials have documented two fentanyl-related overdose deaths and five more nonfatal overdoses in Omaha, said Emily Murray, a spokeswoman with the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Omaha division. Six fentanyl-related overdose deaths and 16 nonfatal overdoses were identified in Lincoln over that same time period.

Authorities said the majority of the deaths involved cocaine mixed with fentanyl, which is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times more powerful than morphine.

A lethal dose of fentanyl is about the same size as a few grains of salt, authorities said.

Investigators say they are finding cocaine, methamphetamine and counterfeit pills made to look like real pharmaceutical pills that are laced with fentanyl.

Murray said authorities have seen overdoses and deaths steadily increase in recent weeks, but the numbers have spiked in the past week because of a batch of cocaine that is laced with fentanyl.

Authorities reminded the public that under state law, people are exempt from criminal liability if they call for medical help for themselves or others for a drug overdose.

The Omaha and Lincoln Police Departments, Nebraska State Patrol and federal DEA in Omaha issued a joint press release about the matter Tuesday afternoon.

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MASKS WILL BE REQUIRED IN SOME LABS, CLASSES AT UNL THIS FALL, CHANCELLOR SAYS

LINCOLN- With classes at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln set to resume on Monday, students are being asked to check their online syllabus to see if masks will be required for a specific class or lab assignment.

In an email to students, faculty and staff on Wednesday, UNL Chancellor Ronnie Green said face coverings may be required in some settings as a way to safely provide "a robust, in-person educational experience."

Green said masks may be required in settings where students work in close proximity for an extended period of time, including lab courses, performance courses such as dance, music and theater classes, art and design studios and experiential learning opportunities.

In addition, Green said, face coverings may be required in a class where the instructor or a student has immediate family members who are unable to be vaccinated. Students who wish to make such a request are encouraged to speak with their instructor.

Green said that Executive Vice Chancellor Elizabeth Spiller has worked with college deans and department leaders on processes for requiring masks under these conditions. The guidelines are similar to those outlined at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

Ahead of the first day of classes, all students, faculty and staff members are to complete a COVID-19 test. Test results, Green said, will help UNL to make data-driven decisions on how to keep the campus safe this fall.

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U.S. JUDGE SAYS FLORIDA CAN'T BAN CRUISE SHIP'S 'VACCINE PASSPORT' PROGRAM

FLORIDA- A U.S. judge has allowed Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. (NCLH.N)todemand that passengers show written proof of coronavirus vaccination before they board a ship, dealing a major blow to Florida Governor Ron DeSantis's effort to ban "vaccine passports."

In a preliminary ruling issued on Sunday, U.S. District Judge Kathleen Williams in Miami said Norwegian would likely prevail on its argument that the "vaccine passport" ban, signed into law by DeSantis in May, jeopardizes public health and is an unconstitutional infringement on Norwegian's rights.

The judge blocked DeSantis from enforcing the law against Norwegian, allowing the cruise ship operator to proceed with a plan to resume port activity in Miami on Aug. 15. Violations of the law could have triggered a penalty of $5,000 per passenger, potentially adding up to millions of dollars per cruise.

The ruling comes as big business and some government entities are responding to the rapid spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus with vaccination requirements, prompting legal challenges from vaccine skeptics and civil libertarians.

"We are pleased that Judge Williams saw the facts, the law and the science as we did and granted the Company's motion for preliminary injunction allowing us to operate cruises from Florida with 100% vaccinated guests and crew," the company's executive vice president Daniel S. Farkas said in the statement.

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WOULD A PEDESTRIAN-ONLY ZONE IN THE OLD MARKET BE A 'GHOST TOWN' OR A BOOMTOWN?

OMAHA- While the debate over whether the Old Market should have a pedestrian-only zone has ebbed and flowed over the years, two factors recently helped push it to the forefront.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, some cities have prohibited through traffic on certain roads. For example, in May 2020, Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan permanently limited almost 20 miles of residential streets to pedestrians, bicycles and local traffic to provide more space for people to bike and walk. Other cities expanded their pedestrian-only zones to help restaurants survive by increasing outdoor dining space.

In Omaha, local historian Bob Marks helped reignite the Old Market debate in an April 25 column published in this newspaper.

Marks proposed a pedestrian-only zone along Howard Street from 10th to 12th Streets and 11th Street from Harney to Jackson Streets. Marks’ column drew agreement from some Public Pulse writers.

But city officials and business owners say a pedestrian mall in the Old Market poses logistical obstacles, especially related to parking.

Old Market Association President Chip Allen, who is also the event coordinator for Upstream Brewery, said the proposal has generated spirited debate among Old Market merchants. But, he said, a pedestrian-only zone is “something that right now we couldn’t do.”

Marks noted that there are about 120 parking spots in the part of Old Market that he proposed closing to cars. “Who finds a place on the streets there anyway,” he wrote.

The Old Market has 650 parking meters in total, and those spots have some of the highest demand in the downtown area, said city parking and mobility manager Ken Smith.

Mayor Jean Stothert said she hasn’t heard support for the idea of a pedestrian-only zone.

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NEBRASKA'S DARK SKIES DRAW ALMOST 400 STARGAZERS TO SECLUDED SPOT IN THE SANDHILLS

MERRITT RESERVOIR — Nebraska lacks majestic mountains and scenic ocean views, but it has something few states possess — heavenly, dark night skies.

Last week, more than 380 stargazers from across the country gathered along this remote reservoir to peer into the cosmos at the 28th annual Nebraska Star Party.

It’s among half a dozen “star parties” of its size in the country, and the main attraction is the lack of light pollution in this part of Cherry County, a sparsely settled grassland area known for its treeless vistas of sandhills and widely scattered ranches. There are 50 times more cattle than people.

The party is held on moonless nights at a campground about 30 miles from the nearest town, Valentine, far from any streetlights. On cloudless nights, the Milky Way is so bright that it creates shadows on the hilltops and campground roads where clusters of people gather around telescopes.

This year’s turnout was slightly higher than in the past, possibly because the Nebraska Star Party was the first major stargazing event resumed after the pandemic canceled star parties in 2020, said John Johnson, a retired nuclear engineer from Omaha who helps run the event. The smoky haze from wildfires in the West obscured some stars near the horizons, he said, but overhead, the viewing was excellent on Wednesday night after some clouds moved out.

By 11 p.m., you could barely see your own hand in front of your face. But through the darkness, you could hear conversations as people gathered around telescopes. Dim, red lights illuminated some of the equipment. Occasionally, a laser beam shot into the sky, helping aim equipment at distant nebulae, 10 to 20 million light-years away. 

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WARREN BUFFETT'S BERKSHIRE HATHAWAY POSTS 7% GAIN IN 2Q PROFIT

NEW YORK- Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway company reported a 7% gain in profit for the second quarter as the conglomerate saw improvements in its railroad, utilities and energy companies.

Omaha-based Berkshire Hathaway said Saturday that it earned $28.1 billion, or $18,488 per Class A share, during the second quarter. A year earlier, Berkshire reported a profit of $26.3 billion or $16,314 per Class A per share.

Buffett has long said Berkshire’s operating earnings offer a better view of quarterly performance because they exclude investments and derivatives, which can vary widely. By that measure, Berkshire’s operating earnings improved to $6.7 billion during the quarter from $5.5 billion in the year-ago period.

The conglomerate has seen profits at its businesses turn around as the economy continues to rebound from the pandemic. However, profits for its insurance operations declined during the second-quarter.

The company also disclosed that it repurchased $6 billion of its stock during the second quarter, bringing the six-month total to $12.6 billion.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. owns more than 90 companies, including the BNSF railroad and insurance, utility, furniture and jewelry businesses. The company also has major investments in Apple, American Express, Coca-Cola and Bank of America.

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NEBRASKA COULD GET $2.5 BILLION FROM BIPARTISAN INFRASTRUCTURE BILL

NEBRASKA- The state could receive over $2.5 billion for roads, bridges, public transportation and broadband under the Senate’s infrastructure plan, according to the White House.

More state-specific data is expected soon, according to the White House, to show the potential effect of the package on “drinking water infrastructure, power infrastructure, airports, resiliency and more.” The current documents will be updated if and when the Senate passes the bill, according to the release.

A procedural vote on the bipartisan proposal is set for Saturday. It initially appeared on track for eventual final passage, though senators have struggled to agree on amendments. President Joe Biden offered words of encouragement Friday after a late night filled with various amendments and objections.

The package calls for $550 billion in new spending over five years above projected federal levels for a nearly $1 trillion expenditure, in what could be one of the more substantial investments in the nation’s roads, bridges, waterworks, broadband and the electric grid in years.

A spokesperson for Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse on Friday declined to comment on the package until the Senate has worked through more amendments, and spokespeople for Sen. Deb Fischer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

According to a White House “fact sheet” released Wednesday, Nebraska would be estimated to receive the following over five years under the Senate bill:

$2 billion for federal-aid highway apportioned programs.

$225 million for bridge replacement and repairs.

$192 million to improve public transportation options.

$30 million to expand an electric vehicle charging network.

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NEBRASKANS FOR MEDICAL MARIJUANA PLANNING TWO NEW PETITIONS FOR 2022 BALLOT

NEBRASKA- Not long after the Nebraska Supreme Court barred an initiative legalizing medical marijuana from going before voters last year, backers of the measure had another petition ready to go for the 2022 election cycle.

To avoid a repeat of the court’s 5-2 decision that the initiative violated the state’s single-subject rule, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana opted to go with a broad, one-sentence addition to the state constitution.

“Persons in the State of Nebraska shall have the right to cannabis in all its forms for medical purposes,” reads the petition on file with Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen.

But in the weeks after the end of the 2021 legislative session, which saw lawmakers also narrowly defeat a measure, Legislative Bill 474, by Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln to legalize cannabis for medical use and create a regulatory framework in the state, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana has reconsidered its strategy.

With help from the Marijuana Policy Project, the ACLU of Nebraska and others, the ballot initiative committee worked to consider “every possible challenge” a petition could face before going to voters, Wishart said, as well as the best way to get language before voters next November.

To do so, Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana will scrap the petition it filed after the court’s decision last year in favor of a pair of initiatives, said Wishart, who led the 2020 petition drive alongside Sen. Adam Morfeld of Lincoln.

“Our main goal is putting in place language that we feel absolutely confident in,” Wishart said, “that we have looked at every type of potential challenge that could come and feel we have addressed it.”

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FORMER NEBRASKA GOV. KAY ORR CHASTISES UNL CHANCELLOR OVER STATEMENT OPPOSING CRT RESOLUTION

LINCOLN- Former Nebraska Gov. Kay Orr took University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Ronnie Green to task Monday over a statement opposing a resolution on critical race theory.

The statement was written by the six faculty and staff members leading the chancellor’s anti-racism initiative.

It takes issue with a resolution proposed by University of Nebraska Regent and GOP gubernatorial candidate Jim Pillen that would bar “any imposition of critical race theory in curriculum” at the university.

Orr, who has endorsed Pillen, called the statement “inflammatory and beneath the dignity of your office.” She went on to say that, in the past, the office of chancellor has never been “wielded as a weapon against duly elected officials.”

“The University would do you well to remember that as a tax-supported institution, they are responsible to reflect the virtues that are embodied in the minds and hearts of Nebraska citizens,” she said.

Orr said she found one passage in the statement particularly disturbing.

The passage blamed the anti-CRT movement for emboldening “white supremacist groups like the KKK” and said that “the authors” of the CRT resolution “may have unwittingly invited those undemocratic and hateful actions into the lives of members of the UNL community, based on misinformation, distortions and fallacies.”

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PETITION EFFORT LAUNCHED IN NEBRASKA TO RAISE MINIMUM WAGE TO $15 AN HOUR BY 2026

NEBRASKA- A petition drive was announced Monday that would let Nebraska voters decide whether the state’s minimum wage should incrementally increase from $9 to $15 an hour by 2026.

Raise the Wage Nebraska, composed of a long list of organizations and two Democrats in the Nebraska Legislature, launched the effort to get the issue on the ballot in 2022.

Gradually increasing the minimum wage in Nebraska, they argue, will help middle- and working-class people and start to close racial and gender pay gaps.

“The context in which all of that sits is an economic reality where things are getting much more expensive, and wages are staying stagnant,” said Ken Smith, Nebraska Appleseed’s economic justice director. “The cost of housing and child care and food are all going up, but people aren’t taking home any more money than they were in years past.”

The federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour hasn’t increased in more than a decade. Thirty states and Washington, D.C., have minimum wages higher than that — including Nebraska.

Nebraska’s is higher because voters overwhelmingly approved a ballot initiative in 2014. After that measure passed, the state’s minimum wage increased from $7.25 an hour to $8 an hour in 2015, then to $9 an hour in 2016, where it stands today.

“Nebraskans have previously made their voices heard on this issue and voted to increase the minimum wage when the Legislature wouldn’t,” Smith said. “And I think that’s where we find ourselves again today.”

Under the ballot language provided by Nebraska Appleseed, state law would be amended so that the minimum wage would bump up by $1.50 each year, starting in 2023.

It would rise from $9 an hour to:

$10.50 an hour on Jan. 1, 2023.

$12 an hour on Jan. 1, 2024.

$13.50 an hour on Jan. 1, 2025.

$15 an hour on Jan. 1, 2026.

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OPS BOARD VOTES TO REQUIRE MASKS INSIDE SCHOOLS

OMAHA- The Omaha Public Schools will join a growing number of Nebraska school districts requiring students to wear masks indoors when they return to classrooms next week.

The same for teachers and parents, though there will be some exceptions.

School board members voted Monday to require all people to wear masks indoors at school, effective Tuesday.

Students won’t have to wear them outdoors, so not for recess or activities like marching band. Students will be allowed to remove the masks while eating and drinking.

If teachers or staff are alone in their classrooms or offices, they will be allowed to unmask.

The resolution adopted by the board also allows people to go without a mask “when doing so creates a greater health, safety or security risk to the individual or public.”

“We have an issue in this country with a variant,” board member Tracy Casady said, “and until we can get a handle on it, I think this is the best possible solution we can do in our community to try to get our kids back in school and keep them there.”

The vote was 8-1, with Spencer Head voting no.

Head tried unsuccessfully to amend the resolution to have the mask mandate sunset Oct. 18, unless the board took action before then to extend it.

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NONPROFIT DIGS INTO DATA TO HELP NEBRASKA GET A HANDLE ON OVERCROWDED PRISONS

LINCOLN- For the next several months, stakeholders and analysts will dig into data and discuss policies aimed at criminal justice reform in Nebraska.

“We are committed to using research-based and cost-effective strategies to ensure public safety and improve the quality and functioning of Nebraska’s criminal justice system,” state leaders wrote in a letter earlier this year.

Gov. Pete Ricketts, Chief Justice Mike Heavican, Speaker of the Legislature Mike Hilgers and State Sen. Steve Lathrop signed the March letter. They were asking the U.S. Department of Justice and The Pew Charitable Trusts for technical help from a nonprofit that can analyze data and use research — and its experience in other states — to inform decisions and policy.

In April, they received a response: Nebraska was approved and will get that help from the nonprofit Crime and Justice Institute (CJI) as part of the Justice Reinvestment Initiative.

In the March letter, the four officials wrote that Nebraska’s prisons are some of the most crowded in the nation. Between July 2019 and June 2020, Department of Corrections data show, the average daily population of the state’s prisons was 115% of facility operational capacity and 157% of design capacity. And, the officials wrote, the system faces aging infrastructure.

The incarceration rate here increased by 17% over the last 15 years, they wrote, while it declined in most U.S. states. The rate of people who returned to custody also increased.

The officials pledged to provide CJI with access to data, establish a task force with representatives from “across the justice system spectrum,” and use that group’s findings to prepare for legislative and administrative actions next year.

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SCOTT GRAY NAMED EXECUTIVE DEPUTY CHIEF OF OMAHA POLICE DEPARTMENT

OMAHA- Police Chief Todd Schmaderer has announced that Deputy Chief Scott Gray will lead the department when he is unavailable.

After interviewing several candidates, Schmaderer selected Gray to be his executive deputy chief. Gray is a 25-year veteran of the department who was promoted to deputy chief in 2017. Gray will begin his role as executive deputy chief immediately, the department said.

Gray currently oversees the Uniform Patrol Bureau, the largest division of the department with nearly 550 officers.

Lt. Neal Bonacci, a police department spokesman, said the executive deputy chief will supervise large-scale events, mentor new deputy chiefs, help out with all five bureaus in the department, review personnel matters, oversee projects that pertain to more than one bureau and approve some items that would need a chief’s approval “so decisions can be made in a more timely manner.”

“The chief of police will always carry the heavy responsibilities and spearhead the overall cultivation of direction/culture of the department,” Bonacci said in a prepared statement. “Chief Schmaderer feels a designated second in command will help him do that.”

Schmaderer has said some police departments in other cities have a designated No. 2 and others don’t.

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JIM PILLEN'S RESOLUTION OPPOSING CRITICAL RACE THEORY DIVIDES NU REGENTS

LINCOLN- Friday’s planned vote by the Nebraska Board of Regents on a resolution opposing critical race theory being taught on NU campuses continues to stir debate and has created divisions on the eight-member board.

Based on responses from regents contacted recently by The World-Herald, Regent Jim Pillen’s resolution will head into Friday’s board meeting with two votes for and two votes against. The resolution needs a simple majority, or five votes, in order to pass.

Chair Paul Kenney told The World-Herald that he will join Pillen in voting for the resolution. Regents Elizabeth O’Connor and Barbara Weitz said they will vote against it.

The other four regents declined to give their position or did not respond to questions from the newspaper. But others have been more vocal.

Gov. Pete Ricketts has been urging the board to pass Pillen’s resolution, and former Gov. Kay Orr criticized University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Ronnie Green on Monday after a group of six faculty and staff members issued a statement opposing the resolution. The group members are leaders of the chancellor’s anti-racism initiative.

On Tuesday, the Governor’s Office released a letter signed by over two dozen elected officials imploring the board to pass it. Those who signed include Ricketts, Lt. Gov. Mike Foley, Treasurer John Murante, Auditor Charlie Janssen and 22 state legislators — including Speaker Mike Hilgers of Lincoln and Sen. Brett Lindstrom of Omaha, who’s also running for governor.

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