STATE TOUTS 'NO MANDATED COVID-19 VACCINE' IN JOB ADS FOR VETS HOMES, OTHER INSTITUTIONS

LINCOLN — A Bellevue state senator and several medical officials are raising “grave concerns” about a state pitch to fill jobs working with some of Nebraska’s most vulnerable residents.

In recent advertisements, the state touts its lack of a COVID-19 vaccination mandate to attract applicants for nursing and nursing assistant positions at a variety of state institutions.

Those institutions include Nebraska’s four veterans homes, which care for aging veterans and their spouses. They also include the Beatrice State Developmental Center, which houses people with developmental disabilities, many of whom have additional physical disabilities.

Others include the state’s psychiatric hospitals, the state-run facilities for juvenile offenders and the prisons.

State Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue, who is considering a potential run for governor as a Democrat, said she heard from countless people in her district about the ads, particularly family members of veterans home residents. She sent a letter Monday to Gov. Pete Ricketts and the State Department of Veterans Affairs questioning the tactic.

“This is especially concerning knowing that recently, nearly 60 medical organizations joined together stating that all health care workers should be vaccinated against COVID-19, yet Nebraska is actively encouraging those who are not vaccinated to come and work with our veterans,” she said.

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MASKS, SEX ED, CRT TURN SLEEPY NEBRASKA SCHOOL BOARD MEETINGS INTO CULTURE WAR BATTLEGROUNDS

OMAHA- Heated debates over masks, sex education standards and critical race theory have transformed once-dull school board meetings in Nebraska into skirmishes in a national culture war — and there could be fallout at the ballot box.

Before the pandemic, parents rarely filled local and state board rooms, and when they did, it meant that a band or gifted program was getting cut.

But now an agitated, mobilized and partisan public is showing up in numbers, packing board meetings, shouting, clapping, cheering and sometimes jeering.

School officials are adding security to meetings, reducing the time that people have to speak, cutting speakers off mid-sentence and sometimes even escorting them out for violating rules or decorum.

An attempt is underway to recall board members in the Norris Public Schools over a mask requirement for younger students. Another recall is underway for the board president in the Wahoo Public Schools in an argument over the state’s proposed health standards.

A North Platte woman has already announced that she will run against incumbent State Board of Education member Robin Stevens in 2022.

Elizabeth Tegtmeier says on her website that she would “represent values of western Nebraskans and listen to their concerns” and “protect children from sexually inappropriate and racially divisive material.”

Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen, whose eight years on the State Education Board were uneventful compared with today’s raucous meetings, doesn’t think that the rising discontent reflects a change in Nebraskans.

“It’s not the opinions of the citizens that have changed,” he said. “It’s the proposals of the board members that have changed.

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STOTHERT DIRECTS $50,000 IN FEDERAL MONEY TO LEGAL HEP FOR TENANTS FACING EVICTION

OMAHA- The City of Omaha is steering $50,000 to the Douglas County Tenant Assistance Project to boost its volunteer legal help for people facing eviction.

Mayor Jean Stothert said Friday that she had authorized $50,000 in federal rental assistance funds to pay for a coordinator for the project. It has been sending volunteer lawyers to represent people facing eviction for nonpayment during the current moratorium on evictions. Omaha City Council member Aimee Melton had proposed a city budget amendment to use city money for the position, but the council voted it down on Tuesday.

Stothert arranged for the $50,000 to come out of the city’s $22 million in federal Emergency Rental Assistance Program money. The federal money is being distributed by the Metro Area Continuum of Care for the Homeless. Stothert sent a letter Thursday to MAACH authorizing them to distribute $50,000 to the Nebraska State Bar Association.

“The federal guidance for distribution of these funds allows for an allocation to the bar association for this purpose,” Stothert wrote in the letter to Randy McCoy, executive director of MACCH. “I am committed to supporting this program with the Emergency Rental Assistance funds MACCH is managing on the city’s behalf.”

Stothert had been working since Tuesday with city finance and law departments to be certain that federal guidance allows the money to be used that way, a spokeswoman for the mayor said.

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EX-NEBRASKA STATE FAIR FINANCE CHIEF PLEADS NO CONTEST TO FELONY THEFTS, IS SET FOR SENTENCING

HASTINGS- A Hastings man charged with three counts of felony theft in connection to his time as the Nebraska State Fair’s finance chief pleaded no contest Tuesday.

Hall County District Judge Andrew Butler could give Patrick Kopke, 30, up to 20 years in prison on each charge at his sentencing and restitution hearing in October.

Last year, the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office charged Kopke with thefts dating back to 2019, on Feb. 7 or 8, July 12 and Sept. 3.

By then, Kopke already had resigned from his job as the fair’s chief of finance and administration after a state audit showed a company he created had been paid nearly $150,000 in state fair funds with no invoices proving the company had done any work for the fair.

Auditors said Kopke had used bank accounts connected to the company to pay for more than $100,000 in personal expenses.

In 2020, the fair board announced that an internal review of its finances turned up “suspicious” activity. Beth Smith, the board’s chairwoman, announced at the time that the board had alerted the Nebraska State Patrol and the Attorney General’s Office.

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NORTH PLATTE SCHOOLS, HEALTH OFFICIALS STRUGGLE WITH COVID SURGE: "WE'RE DROWNING"

NORTH PLATTE-On Aug. 24, 2020, the North Platte Public Schools had seven positive COVID-19 cases and 54 exposures.

Now, a year later, they’re seeing a fivefold increase, with 36 positive cases and 392 exposures, Superintendent Ron Hanson said at a Wednesday press conference at McKinley Education Center.

Currently, three NPPS schools require face coverings: Lincoln Elementary will require them until Sept. 9, Jefferson Elementary until Sept. 10 and Washington Elementary until Sept. 13.

Hanson added that there were no plans now to close any schools, “but we will do what’s safest for our students and staff.”

Area medical professionals are also feeling the strain of the delta variant of the virus, which is significantly more transmissible.

“We’re drowning,” said Dr. Renee Engler, assistant medical director of Great Plains Health’s emergency department.

At Great Plains Health, 15 patients were hospitalized with COVID-19, two of them intubated, as of Wednesday morning, GPH infection preventionist Jenny Lantis said, and the hospital is at capacity.

“As of this morning, we are full with in-patient beds. We cannot accept any more patients today,” Lantis said. “We’re expecting 14 people to discharge today, but if we had a COVID patient come in right now, we would have to try to find them a bed somewhere else.”

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UNL TO TEMPORARILY CLOSE FRATERNITY WHILE INVESTIGATING ALLEGED SEXUAL ASSAULT

LINCOLN- The University of Nebraska-Lincoln said Wednesday that it was closing a fraternity house while an investigation into an alleged sexual assault takes place.

In an email, Chancellor Ronnie Green said UNL was suspending operations of the Phi Gamma Delta fraternity — better known as Fiji — a day after protesters descended on the Greek house Tuesday night.

Fiji was currently under probation for previous violations of university policy, Green said in an email.

“We are closing the fraternity house and suspending operations of the Fiji chapter while this investigation is ongoing, due to potential violations of that probation,” the chancellor wrote.

Chief Hassan Ramzah, now in his second year leading the University Police Department, said the alleged assault, reported at 3:47 a.m. on Tuesday, is under investigation and the department is “looking at a variety of different factors based on what was reported.”

The alleged assault was the 103rd rape or attempted rape reported to UNL Police since 2005 — and the 78th such incident reported since 2015, according to police data. Another rape was reported around eight hours after the alleged assault at the Fiji house, according to records.

UNL police on Wednesday directed all questions relating to the incident to the school’s communications office.

Green said that an investigation remains open and is ongoing, but added that UNL was “committed to creating a safe environment for our students, faculty and staff.”

The announcement came hours before a second night of protests was anticipated at the Fiji house, 1425 R St. in Lincoln.

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LANCASTER COUNTY BRINGS BACK MASK MANDATE

LANCASTER COUNTY- Lincoln, it’s time to dig out your masks.

The Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department on Tuesday announced plans to reinstitute the local mask mandate due to rising COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths.

Beginning at 12:01 a.m. Thursday, people 2 and older — regardless of vaccination status — will be required to wear masks in indoor spaces when 6 feet of separation can’t be maintained. The mandate will be in effect until Sept. 30, at which time officials will reevaluate whether it is needed.

Lincoln Public Schools said in a message to parents that it would institute a full mask mandate starting Wednesday. Previously, only students and staff in grades K-6 were required to wear masks.

The Health Department also raised its COVID-19 risk dial for the fifth straight week, from low-orange to mid-orange.

Lancaster County was the first city or county in Nebraska to have a mask mandate during the pandemic, instituting one in late July of last year, and it was in place longer than any other city or county, extending through May 20.

As of Tuesday, Lancaster County had recorded 18 COVID-19 deaths this month, more than in May, June and July combined.

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UNO, UNL ISSUE CAMPUS-WIDE INDOOR MASK MANDATES

UNO & UNL- Masks will be required at all indoor spaces on the University of Nebraska’s Omaha and Lincoln campuses beginning Wednesday.

UNO’s mask requirement, announced in an email from Chancellor Joanne Li and Interim Director of UNO’s Office of Health Security Jane Meza on Tuesday, was intended “to preserve our in-person learning opportunities and out of abundance of care for the community.” It applies to all students, faculty and staff regardless of vaccination status.

Masks are not required outside, when eating, when alone in a room with a closed door or in campus housing units. It takes effect at 6 a.m. Wednesday.

UNO’s announcement came the same day Douglas County Public Health Director Lindsay Huse asked the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services for approval to issue a directed health measure requiring people to wear face masks indoors in the county.

In its announcement, UNO also encouraged students, faculty and staff to get vaccinated.

Masks also will be required at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, the university said Tuesday, the same day the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department announced that it will require masks in public indoor spaces beginning Thursday. The health measure applies when 6 feet of separation can’t be maintained.

UNL will require students, faculty, staff and visitors to wear masks or face coverings in all indoor places beginning Wednesday, Chancellor Ronnie Green said in an email to the campus.

“This public health decision was necessary due to increased cases of COVID-19 in Lancaster County and the incredible strain it is putting on local hospitals, which are seeing younger and younger patients seriously ill with COVID-19 infections due to the Delta variant,” Green wrote.

As universities and schools across the state begin the academic year, Nebraska is experiencing a steady increase in COVID-19 cases. The state tallied 3,755 new cases during the week ending Friday, up from 2,668 the previous week, according to a World-Herald analysis of data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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NU REGENT JACK STARK CHARGED WITH FELONY COUNT OF WITNESS TAMPERING

LINCOLN- A University of Nebraska regent was arrested and charged Wednesday with a felony count of witness tampering on allegations that he encouraged a former Nebraska football player to not testify on behalf of a weightlifting coach accused of rape.

Jack Stark, a sports psychologist who was elected to the NU Board of Regents in 2020, made his first appearance before a judge Wednesday and was released on his own recognizance.

Stark, 74, is accused of trying to dissuade Willie Miller, a former fullback at Nebraska, from testifying at the trial of Douglas Anders, who owned a workout facility for bodybuilders. If convicted, Stark would face up to five years probation or two years in prison.

Stark was the team psychologist from 1989 to 2004. Miller was a fullback from 1996 to 2000.

But in the Anders case, the two were on opposite sides. Stark was endorsed as a witness for prosecutors, and was ready to testify on behalf of the victim. Miller was a friend and supporter of Anders and was poised to testify for him as a character witness.

According to an Omaha police report, Miller, 42, told detectives in August 2020 that he received a text message “from a person he knows and this person asked him not to testify in the case.” That text came six months before the case went to trial.

Melissa Lee, a spokeswoman for the University of Nebraska system, issued a statement Wednesday night: “The university is aware of Regent Stark’s case and we are following the developments.”

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SEN. BEN SASSE AMPS UP HIS 'DAMN THE DEADLINE' MESSAGE

WASHINGTON D.C.- Damn the deadline. Do not give the Taliban the power nor the time of day.

Sen. Ben Sasse has hit those themes hard, heaping criticism on President Joe Biden in a series of press releases and high-profile interviews during the past week, during Afghanistan’s speedy fall to the fundamentalist Islamist group that ruled the country before 9/11.

“The Taliban doesn’t get to run a countdown clock on American lives,” he told NPR’s Steve Inskeep on Wednesday.

“They need to go faster. We have a national security crisis, it’s ongoing,” he told Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday. “We have a lot of Americans in harm’s way.”

“President Biden needs to eliminate all red tape and let our troops load families onto planes. Move! Run an airlift around the clock,” Sasse told CNN’s Jake Tapper last week.

Sasse spared no criticism, though, in an interview Wednesday with The World-Herald. He said the Trump administration should never have negotiated with the Taliban, much less agreed to withdraw U.S. forces by May 1 of this year.

But he said it was Biden’s fault for sticking to the agreement, and then failing to get out U.S. citizens and Afghan allies before the sudden collapse of the Afghan government and Army.

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150 NEBRASKA NATIONAL GUARD MEMBERS TO DEPLOY TO SOUTHWEST BORDER IN OCTOBER

NEBRASKA- Two Nebraska National Guard units are slated to deploy to support U.S. Customs and Border Protection at the southwest border in early October.

The deployment could last up to a year, according to Maj. Scott Ingalsbe, spokesperson for the Nebraska National Guard.

A total of about 150 guardsmen from the Nebraska Army National Guard’s 1-376th Aviation Battalion, based in Grand Island, and the 128th Engineer Battalion, based in Columbus, will deploy at the direction of the federal government, according to Ingalsbe. They’re replacing units from other states that have been deployed there, he said.

“Under the direction of U.S. Northern Command and its forward operational command, U.S. Army North, the Nebraska National Guard units’ mission is to assist CBP by providing aviation and engineer support,” Ingalsbe wrote in an email.

He did not offer a more specific location where the soldiers will be based.

Deployments are always in support of a lead agency’s request for assistance for some specific capability, he said. Sometimes that could be for law enforcement, though that is not the case with this deployment. In this case, Ingalsbe said, the soldiers will “provide mission enhancing support” to Customs and Border Protection’s “border security operations” so its agents can “conduct their law enforcement mission more efficiently.”

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NEBRASKA'S COVID CASES UP FOR 9TH STRAIGHT WEEK; RICKETTS' FOCUS REMAINS ON HOSPITAL CAPACITY

NEBRASKA- Nebraska’s tally of new COVID-19 cases rose last week for the ninth straight week, fueled by the continued rise of the delta variant.

The state tallied 3,755 new cases during the week ending Friday, up from 2,668 the previous week. That 41% increase was the ninth-highest week-over-week increase in the nation, according to a World-Herald analysis of data from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Nebraska still ranks only 33rd in the nation in per-capita case counts, having started its summer surge well behind many other states. The state’s per-capita case tally remains about one-third below the national rate.

But weekly case counts now are at their highest sustained level since February and have topped counts during the original surge in spring 2020.

Nebraska Medicine announced Monday that it would no longer allow visitors into the emergency room at the Nebraska Medical Center because of increasing cases in the community and the delta variant’s higher transmission rates. ER patients who are minors can be accompanied by one visitor at all times. No changes were made to visitor guidelines for the Bellevue Medical Center’s ER or to inpatient and outpatient visitor policies.

Asked Monday whether the governor had any plans to limit gatherings or relaunch the TestNebraska testing program, Taylor Gage, a Ricketts spokesman, wrote in an email: “The State of Nebraska’s goal has always been to protect hospital capacity, and we remain focused on that measure. Working together, Nebraskans have successfully protected hospital capacity over the last year and a half.”

Gage also wrote that he had no announcement about the state’s data dashboard, which went dark at the end of June with the expiration of the state’s COVID-19 state of emergency.

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DOUGLAS COUNTY LOOKS FOR WAYS TO SPEND $111 MILLION IN FEDERAL COVID AID

OMAHA- The deliberations are just beginning over how Douglas County will spend its allocation of $111 million from the American Rescue Plan Act.

The Douglas County Board is considering how to spend the first half of the federal funds, which are already in hand. The board voted to prioritize mental health initiatives and to address county government needs before considering external requests.

It’s a large amount of money for a county with a general fund budget of $230 million for 2021-22 and a total budget of $460 million without the federal relief money.

No specific large spending proposals have emerged, although it appears likely that the county will direct a substantial portion of the money to mental health services.

Currently, the county is routing requests through its finance director, Joe Lorenz, and an American Rescue Plan Act Strategy Committee led by County Board Chairwoman Mary Ann Borgeson. The committee, which includes County Board members Mike Friend and Chris Rodgers and three administrative staffers, will vet requests and make recommendations to the full board.

Board votes are expected by this fall for significant portions of the $55.5 million that Douglas County has already received. The other half of the federal money is expected in May.

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BACKERS, OPPONENTS OF NEBRASKA VOTER ID PETITION AREN'T AWARE OF ANY IMPERSONATION CASES

NEBRASKA- Supporters of an effort that would require Nebraska voters to show photo ID at the polls say it’s necessary to ensure elections here “stay free and fair.”

Opponents frame it as an unnecessary requirement that would serve as a barrier to the ballot box, especially for people already at the margins of access.

Underlying opponents’ argument is that there doesn’t seem to be a single documented case of the presumed problem voter ID laws aim to address — Nebraska voters trying to impersonate other voters.

“The thing I can say about widespread voter fraud is: Both proponents and opponents of voter ID laws have looked really hard for evidence of widespread voter fraud, and neither side has found it,” said University of Nebraska-Lincoln political scientist Kevin Smith.

That’s not to say nothing illegal ever happens.

The one example most people point to occurred in 2017, when court records and news reports show that two Dawson County men were accused of voting twice and pleaded no contest. Neal Erickson, who was elections director in Nebraska for two decades and is now legal counsel for the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee, recalled a case where someone voted in Kansas then came to Nebraska and voted here, too, and a couple when a man signed a ballot for his wife.

But, in his 20 years, he doesn’t recall a case of false impersonation and there was never an indication of any systemic fraud operations.

Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen supports requiring photo ID to cast a ballot — the issue was key to his successful statewide election bid in 2018. He uses an analogy of bank vaults: Robberies are rare, but all banks have vaults.

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NEBRASKA SUPREME COURT RULES THAT ELECTION COMMISSIONERS MUST BE APPOINTED, NOT ELECTED

LINCOLN — The Nebraska Supreme Court upheld on Friday a more than century-old state law that requires the appointment — rather than the election — of election commissioners in the state’s three most populous counties.

The ruling resolves a dispute that had drawn in the state’s top elected officials, and stemmed from a Nebraska attorney general legal opinion in 2019 that questioned the constitutionality of appointing election commissioners and their deputies in Douglas, Lancaster and Sarpy Counties.

The AG’s opinion spawned a lawsuit to clarify the issue, and prompted Gov. Pete Ricketts to hold off on appointing a replacement for Douglas County Election Commissioner Brian Kruse, whose four-year term was about to expire.

The Supreme Court, in a 17-page decision written by Justice Jeffrey Funke, sided with a Lancaster County judge who ruled that the Attorney General’s Office had “swept too broadly” in interpreting who qualified as a county officer — an elected position.

“We hold that the Legislature possesses the discretionary authority to create and define county offices, a power which includes the ability to define or identify who is a county officer,” Funke wrote.

The AG’s opinion was requested by State Sen. Matt Hansen of Lincoln. He made the request after Civic Nebraska, a Lincoln-based group working to promote civic involvement, raised the issue.

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NEBRASKA READY TO AID AFGHAN REFUGEES, BUT IT COULD BE A LENGTHY PROCESS

NEBRASKA- Abdullah Lami lost nights of sleep as he watched the news coming out of Afghanistan. Thinking of his family and friends who are still there was “like a nightmare.”

Afghans are scrambling to find ways to escape after the Taliban overran their country.

Lami, a caseworker with the Omaha-based Refugee Empowerment Center, is eagerly waiting to help Afghan refugees who may enter the state. And he can relate — he came to Omaha as a refugee five years ago.

Many area refugee resettlement agencies are staffed and ready to accept Afghans who are fleeing the country. But local officials and federal leaders caution that it could be a lengthy process before any fleeing Afghans arrive in Nebraska.

“Our team is ready and we’re excited to start welcoming people,” said Amanda Kohler, Refugee Empowerment Center’s executive director. The organization doesn’t yet know how many Afghans it will be able to help resettle in Nebraska.

The number of refugees allowed to enter the United States each year is set at the federal level by the president. Under Barack Obama, the cap was 110,000. Donald Trump dropped the cap to 50,000 through an executive order when he took office in 2017. Under the Trump administration, the number continued to drop until hitting an all-time low of 15,000.

“The hard part right now, there is a will from the federal government to resettle, but the systems have been dismantled,” she said. “It’s going to take a lot of effort across the country and the world really to get that machine back in order.”

Thousands of Afghan nationals also are attempting to leave the country. Many of those individuals hold special immigrant visas, which show that they worked for the U.S. government. They, along with their relatives, are considered at risk of reprisal from Taliban soldiers.

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RICKETTS DELCARES HOSPITAL STAFFING EMERGENCY, ANNOUNCES TWO NEW MEASURES

LINCOLN — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts on Thursday announced emergency measures intended to relieve pressures on hospital staffing in the state.

Nebraska faces rising hospitalizations due to both COVID-19 and other conditions, Ricketts said, as well as a shortage of nurses and other health care workers. To address those issues, he declared a hospital staffing emergency and announced two actions. The first is an executive order restoring some steps taken during the previous peak in COVID-19 cases, namely, waiving some licensing requirements for hospitals. Those include authorizing the credentialing of retired or inactive nurses, deferring some continuing education requirements for health professionals and suspending state statutes for new health care workers seeking a license to practice. 

In addition, he is issuing a directed health measure, effective Monday, that will limit elective surgeries that can be delayed four or more weeks. 

Ricketts said his new emergency declaration is specific to hospital staffing, not the coronavirus, and was prompted by conversations with hospital administrators. He said his administration would continue to focus on hospital capacity, as it has throughout the pandemic. The goal, he said, is to make sure that anyone who needs a hospital bed, intensive care bed or ventilator in the state can get one

“This was a challenge we had before the pandemic,” he said.

On Nov. 20, 2020, a total of 987 people were hospitalized with COVID-19, making up 32% of hospitalizations. According to state statistics, 337 people were hospitalized with COVID-19 on Wednesday, comprising 11% of all hospitalizations. But cases in the state continue to rise and are on their way to a 10th straight week of increases. In addition, the number of people hospitalized with the virus is the highest since January. 

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PLATTSMOUTH CITY ADMINISTRATOR GOING TO NEBRASKA EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY

NEBRASKA- It’s a behind-the-scenes job but one that has immense impact on Nebraskans when they are at their most vulnerable.

The position of assistant director of the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency is changing hands.

Bryan Tuma, who oversaw the agency during Nebraska’s costliest natural disaster, the 2019 flood, will retire in September.

In his place will be someone who already knows a thing or two about disasters: Erv Portis, the Plattsmouth city administrator who shepherded that city through its recovery from the 2019 flood. Plattsmouth was severely affected by the flood, which disabled its water treatment and sewage plants.

Portis was named to the job by Maj. Gen. Daryl Bohac, who serves as director of the agency as the state’s adjutant general.

Portis has served as Plattsmouth city administrator since 2007. Tuma has been assistant director of NEMA since 2014.

Bohac cited Portis’ experience working in disaster recovery, both at the local and federal level, in his selection.

Portis said he is looking forward to joining the state office.

“Having worked through multiple disasters here in Plattsmouth, I have come to appreciate the NEMA team and the important role it plays in recovery,” he said in a statement.

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ONE-THIRD OF NEBRASKA NURSING HOME STAFF NOT VACCINATED

LINCOLN- As large portions of Nebraska’s long-term care staff remain unvaccinated against COVID-19, nursing facilities will have to require their workers to get vaccinated if they want federal Medicare and Medicaid funding.

Federal data show that one-third of all Nebraska nursing home staff — some 5,400 workers — are not vaccinated against COVID-19.

At least 33 of the state’s nearly 200 federally licensed nursing homes have staff vaccination rates under 50%, federal figures show.

In announcing the federal requirement Wednesday, President Joe Biden said the pace of vaccinations needs to go faster. “These steps are all about keeping people safe and out of harm’s way,” Biden said.

Since the coronavirus pandemic began, at least 850 nursing home residents in Nebraska and eight workers have died of COVID-19.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts’ office issued a statement saying that the governor “slams President Biden’s nursing home vaccine mandate.” In his statement, Ricketts said that “the heavy hand of government should not force vaccinations” and that the requirement will “make it more difficult to take care of our elderly and most vulnerable.”

In the last six weeks, six Nebraska nursing home residents have died from COVID-19.

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BRYAN HEALTH, WITH LINCOLN HOSPITALS FULL, DELAYS ELECTIVE SURGERIES AGAIN

LINCOLN- Bryan Health officials made a grim announcement Thursday regarding the health system's capacity.

"Bryan Medical Center is full," said Bob Ravenscroft, vice president of advancement for the Lincoln health-care system.

Because of its high patient numbers and trouble finding enough staff, Bryan this week decided to postpone certain elective surgeries.

Essentially, any elective surgery that requires an overnight stay, has not already been scheduled and can safely be postponed for 30 days will not be scheduled until further notice. Outpatient surgeries are not affected, and any surgeries that were already scheduled will go forward, officials said.

Bryan implemented the change Tuesday and already has seen results, said John Woodrich, president and CEO of Bryan Medical Center.

On that day, Bryan had 578 patients in its two hospitals and another 30 in the emergency rooms waiting for a bed. By Wednesday, that number dropped to 565, and Thursday, it was at 541.

The restrictions on elective surgeries, while providing temporary relief, are not a long-term solution to what Bryan officials said is likely to be the worst surge of patients of the whole pandemic. Bryan on Thursday had 66 total COVID-19 patients, 61 of whom, or 91%, were not fully vaccinated against the disease. There were 17 patients in intensive care, 16 of them unvaccinated, and 15 on ventilators, 14 of whom were not vaccinated

"I truly believe these numbers are going to exceed what we saw last November," Woodrich said, noting he bases that on what has happened in other, mostly Southern states, that saw their current surges start several weeks earlier.

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