NEBRASKA DEMOCRATS' CONGRESSIONAL MAP WOULD EXCLUDE REP. BACON'S FUTURE RESIDENCE

OMAHA- Under Democrats’ proposal to redraw congressional districts in Nebraska, Rep. Don Bacon would continue residing in the Omaha-centered 2nd District — but not for very long.

Bacon, who currently lives in Papillion, purchased an undeveloped lot in southern Sarpy County in July. He and his wife plan to build and move into a home on the land sometime in 2022, Bacon told The World-Herald.

The congressman’s new home would be close to the current boundary line but still inside the 2nd Congressional District, which includes Douglas County and a portion of western Sarpy County.

Bacon’s new home would remain inside the district under the Republican redistricting proposal introduced in the Legislature earlier this month. But under the plan put forward by Democrats, Bacon’s new home would fall into District 1, currently represented by Rep. Jeff Fortenberry of Lincoln, a fellow Republican.

Bacon, a three-term congressman, would not be barred from running for his current office even if he ultimately resides outside the district, though it could pose political problems for him.

In crafting their proposal, Democrats did not intend to draw Bacon out of his district — in fact, it was the opposite, said Sen. Justin Wayne, the vice chairman of the Legislature’s Redistricting Committee. Wayne, of Omaha, introduced the proposal drafted by Democrats in the officially nonpartisan Legislature.

That initial proposal was actually drafted with the goal of keeping Bacon in the 2nd District. Wayne said he and others who worked on the proposal went out of their way to avoid excluding incumbents.

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NEBRASKA AG: BILL TO ADD 50TH SENATOR NOT ALLOWED DURING SPECIAL SESSION

LINCOLN — Attorney General Doug Peterson has concluded that a proposal to expand the Nebraska Legislature does not fit within the purpose of the Legislature’s special redistricting session.

An opinion issued Thursday said Legislative Bill 12 is “not sufficiently related to, germane to and naturally connected with” the job of redrawing district boundaries to be considered during the session that began Monday.

The measure would add one member to the 49-member body and take the Legislature to the maximum size allowed under the Nebraska Constitution.

State Sen. Mark Kolterman of Seward, who introduced the bill, said he offered it as a way to help preserve rural representation in the Legislature. Kolterman is facing the prospect that his legislative district would be moved to the Omaha metro area under the Republican redistricting plan.

Despite the attorney general’s opinion, the Legislature has scheduled a public hearing on LB 12 at 11 a.m. Friday in the State Capitol.

Speaker of the Legislature Mike Hilgers of Lincoln said that scheduling a hearing does not mean the bill will get further consideration. He said lawmakers could proceed with the bill but at the risk of a court challenge.

“The Legislature ultimately has to make an independent judgment on whether it is in or out,” he said.

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SENATOR SAYS REPUBLICAN PARTY APPEAL CASTS CONCERNS ABOUT FAIRNESS OF REDISTRICTING

LINCOLN- The first visible whiff of political party engagement in the Legislature’s redistricting process surfaced Wednesday along with battle lines forming over a rural strategy that opponents warn could lead to a court test.

This year’s redistricting plot thickened during a committee hearing in Lincoln, the second of three public airings of competing legislative and congressional redistricting plans in advance of consideration by the nonpartisan Legislature.

Sen. Mark Kolterman of Seward, whose District 24 — composed of York, Seward and Polk Counties — would be moved to Sarpy County under a plan supported by the five Republican members of the Redistricting Committee, said the Nebraska Republican Party is actively engaged in the redistricting process.

Kolterman, a Republican, pointed to an email from Ryan Hamilton, executive director of the Nebraska Republican Party, urging Republicans to “show up and support (the) fair and evenhanded” proposals crafted by Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, the committee chairwoman, and the committee majority.

“Nebraska is a conservative state with conservative values ... and our people deserve a map that enables them to have their beliefs reflected in government,” Hamilton wrote in the email.

Kolterman said Hamilton’s “full-throated endorsement of one of the legislative proposals to reflect ‘conservative values’ raises serious concerns that the proposal is neither fair nor evenhanded.”

“I’m disappointed,” he told the committee. “I didn’t take an oath to serve the Republican Party. Partisanship has no place in this process.

“Don’t tear my district apart,” Kolterman said.

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KEY DIFFERENCES BETWEEN REDISTRICTING PROPOSALS FOR METRO OMAHA CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICTS

LINCOLN- Sen. Lou Ann Linehan of Elkhorn, the committee chairwoman, developed her plan with fellow Republicans.

Her plan moves the northwestern part of Douglas County out of the 2nd District, represented by Republican Rep. Don Bacon, into the 1st District, which includes Lincoln and is represented by Republican Rep. Jeff Fortenberry. (All of Douglas County now sits in the 2nd District, which became known as Nebraska’s “blue dot” following Democrat Joe Biden’s electoral victory there in the 2020 presidential election and Democrat Barack Obama’s win there in 2008.)

The Republican map would split Douglas County roughly along Interstate 680 and West Dodge Road. Areas north and west of those main thoroughfares would move into the 1st District. Among the areas affected: the northern part of the former town of Elkhorn, Bennington, Waterloo, Valley and the Cunningham Lake and Standing Bear Lake areas.

All of Sarpy County would be in the 2nd District. Currently, the county is divided between the 1st and 2nd Districts. Generally, the Bellevue area now is in the 1st District; areas to the west, including Papillion, La Vista and Gretna, are in the 2nd District.

In addition, all of heavily rural Saunders County, which is currently in the 1st District, would become the western part of the 2nd District.

The geographic size of the 2nd District would more than double.

State Sen. Justin Wayne of Omaha developed his plan working with fellow Democrats.

Wayne’s plan would leave all of Douglas County in the 2nd District and continue splitting Sarpy County.

The Democrats’ plan would have the 2nd District take the eastern parts of La Vista and Papillion — generally dividing those cities along 84th Street — and much of Bellevue. The rest, including most areas south of Highway 370 and west of 84th Street, would go into the 1st District. Offutt Air Force Base and Gretna would be in the 1st District.

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NORTHPOINT RECOVERY OPENS 44-BED INPATIENT TREATMENT FACILITY IN OMAHA

OMAHA- Mark Jones walked down the hallway of the Northpoint Recovery facility with Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts and a small crowd of political and health officials by his side.

He pointed out patient rooms, a nurse station, the cafeteria and other features of the 44-bed inpatient treatment facility that will soon provide addiction recovery services to Nebraskans.

“We want to be a longtime provider in this community,” said Jones, a vice president with Northpoint. “We think access to care is very important.”

Wednesday’s grand opening of the Omaha facility took about two years and $10 million, which included the purchase of the building at 7215 Ontario St., said Northpoint CEO John Flanagan.

The Omaha center is the fourth built by Northpoint Recovery. Others are based in Boise, Idaho; Seattle; and Denver.

“Northpoint’s mission is saving lives and restoring relationships, and this is the fourth building we’ve restored,” Flanagan said. “You take an old building, renovate it, really make it nice, and then you start treating people in it. It’s a whole transformative process.”

A few patients are already lined up to begin treatment at the center, which will officially open Thursday, Flanagan said.

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FOUR CREIGHTON STUDENTS SUE OVER COVID VACCINE MANDATE

OMAHA- A group of students has filed a civil lawsuit against Creighton University in response to the university’s mandate of the COVID-19 vaccine.

The lawsuit filed by four students on Wednesday alleges that Creighton “refused to consider or grant religious exemptions” in mandating the vaccine for all students.

The university announced July 7 that the vaccine would be required for all students attending classes or events on campus. On Aug. 23, a waiver that allowed students to opt out of the vaccine was withdrawn after the Food and Drug Administration approval of the Pfizer vaccine.

Students were required to provide proof of vaccination by Sept. 7 to be allowed on campus.

Lauren Ramaekers, a Creighton student named as a plaintiff in the suit, is the president of Creighton’s anti-abortion group, Students For Life. In a press release, Ramaekers said she is opposed to taking the vaccine “because of the use of abortion-derived fetal cells in the research and development of the vaccines.”

In an affidavit filed with the court, Ramaekers said, “…the use of fetal tissue, fetal cells, or any ‘product’ of abortion in the development and/or testing of a vaccine or any other medical treatment, is abhorrent to me. This is a sincerely held religious belief, which impacts my moral and ethical views of the world.”

In a press release announcing the students’ lawsuit, their attorney Robert Sullivan said, “A Catholic university should never be placing its students in such a position where they may be required to violate the teachings of the Church.”

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RICKETTS APPOINTS PROSECUTOR, ARMY VETERAN AS DOUGLAS COUNTY DISTRICT JUDGE

DOUGLAS COUNTY- The State's newest judge is a longtime prosecutor and an Army veteran who thinks that his military service will help him in a growing part of the justice system: veterans treatment courts.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts announced Friday that Jeff Lux, 50, will become Douglas County’s next district court judge. The state’s biggest county, which has operated for at least two decades with 16 judges, is expanding because of increasing caseloads. Lux will be the county’s 17th district judge.

Lux — a 1989 graduate of Creighton Prep, a 1994 graduate of Creighton University and a 2000 graduate of Creighton Law School — has practiced in several areas of the law. Before his 20 years as a prosecutor, he clerked for the Nebraska Supreme Court. He worked on the civil side of the Douglas County Attorney’s Office, defending the county in civil claims. He then prosecuted felonies and handled appellate work both in the County Attorney’s Office and in the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office.

Lux said he looks forward to the variety of cases a judge handles.

“To be able to give somebody their day in court — to make sure they know they were heard — that to me is special,” he said.

Kleine said Lux is analytical, even-keeled and fundamentally fair.

“He’s solid, he’s smart, he makes decisions for the right reasons,” Kleine said. “He’ll give everyone the right to be heard and a fair shake. We’re going to miss him.”

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EMPLOYEES AT NEBRASKA STATE PRISONS DESCRIBE REALITIES OF UNDER STAFFING

NEBRASKA- In a packed hearing room on Wednesday, person after person — corrections corporals, a librarian, a lieutenant, a parent of an inmate, a nurse, caseworkers, staff members who’ve resigned and others — gave powerful testimony of what record-high vacancies and other troubling issues at the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services have meant for their daily work, safety and inmates’ lives.

“Decreases in staff have always led to violence; they’ve always led to death,” said Jeff Seeley, a lieutenant at the prison in Tecumseh. “We have to do something about it.”

Lawmakers on the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee listened and asked questions. Those who testified detailed emergency lockdowns that keep inmates in their cells and away from rehabilitative programming, legitimate fears for safety, low wages, increases in drugs and other contraband, and an illogical decision-making structure.

The forum was scheduled to accommodate shift changes at the facilities, offering workers a chance to come share their experiences after shift-change at 7 p.m. The situation, many emphasized, is urgent.

“This is our Hail Mary pass,” said Cpl. Chris Bergner, who said he’s bused from Omaha to work at the state penitentiary in Lincoln. Bergner told The World-Herald that, just the day before, he had worked an 18-hour shift.

Rhonda Wilson said her son is in the general population at Lincoln Correctional Center but was locked in his cell for 2½ weeks straight. He wasn’t let out for showers or to talk to his young son. She’s concerned for his mental and physical health.

“It’s barbaric,” she said. “It’s inhumane.”

Sen. Terrell McKinney of Omaha asked nearly every — if not every — person who testified whether a new prison would be a solution or good idea. Some said it could help or is necessary, but nearly all also said there’s no way it could be adequately staffed under the current conditions. Others rejected the idea outright.

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DON KLEINE WILL SEEK ANOTHER TERM AS DOUGLAS COUNTY ATTORNEY, THIS TIME AS A REPUBLICAN

DOUGLAS COUNTY- Don Kleine is in his 43rd year as an attorney, his 33rd year as a prosecutor and his 15th as the Douglas County attorney.

But he’s in his first as a Republican after a year of turmoil, with COVID-19 in the courts and protests in the streets, sometimes outside his own home.

Despite that “tough” year, Kleine said, he feels energized and as passionate as ever about the job ahead. He announced on Thursday his intention to run for reelection in November 2022.

First elected in 2006, Kleine, 68, said party politics don’t matter in his job. Evidence, facts and trying to do right by people do, he said.

“I still have the fire, the desire to do this work,” Kleine said. “This is such a critical job, when you talk about community, about making our community a better place to live, about trying to help people and making sure society is protected from the people who do terrible things.”

Kleine is the first to announce a candidacy. No attorney has announced from the Democratic Party — of which Kleine was a longtime fixture and was sometimes courted for higher office such as the U.S. Senate.

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SECOND WEST NILE DEATH REPORTED IN EASTERN NEBRASKA

NEBRASKA- An eastern Nebraska public health department reported a West Nile death Wednesday, which is the second death reported by the department in less than one week.

Terra Uhing, executive director of the Three Rivers Public Health Department, reported the first death of the year from the mosquito-borne virus on Monday.

Both individuals were older adults with underlying health conditions and both lived in counties served by the Three Rivers Public Health Department, which includes Dodge, Saunders and Washington Counties, according to a press release from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.

The state department began its West Nile virus surveillance at the beginning of June. As of Wednesday, 26 mosquito pools had tested positive from 12 counties in Nebraska.

Most people exposed to the virus don’t get sick. About 20% become ill, and less than 1% experience serious illness that can lead to death.

Those who are older or have underlying medical conditions or depressed immune systems are at higher risk of severe infections.

People can reduce their risk of West Nile by taking precautions to avoid being bitten by mosquitoes.

Residents of the district can obtain free mosquito dunks from the Health Department office at 2400 N. Lincoln Ave. in Fremont. Mosquito dunks are discs that, when placed in bodies of water, kill mosquito larvae.

Nebraska’s first human case this year was discovered in July.

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VOTING RIGHTS GROUPS FORM COALITION OPPOSING VOTER ID PETITION IN NEBRASKA

LINCOLN- A coalition of voting rights groups says it’ll work to oppose a ballot initiative seeking to ask Nebraskans to approve voter ID next year.

Decline to Sign Nebraska, which announced its campaign opposing the petition drive at a rally at the Capitol on Tuesday, said the proposal would be costly to the state and further complicate the voting process.

The coalition includes Civic Nebraska, Black Votes Matter, the League of Women Voters of Nebraska, the ACLU of Nebraska and the Nebraska Poor People’s Campaign.

Brad Christian-Sallis, the statewide voting rights field director for Civic Nebraska, called the voter ID petition “dangerous and hurtful” and said Decline to Sign will “fight it with all our power.”

The voter ID petition was filed with the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office in August. It is sponsored by Sen. Julie Slama of Sterling, Nebraska Republican Party National Committeewoman Lydia Brasch and former Douglas County GOP Chairwoman Nancy McCabe under the name Citizens for Voter ID.

The proposed constitutional amendment would need to net an estimated 124,000 signatures, including 5% of registered voters in 38 of Nebraska’s 93 counties, to appear on the 2022 general election ballot.

Slama said she launched the petition drive in order to have Nebraskans’ voices heard on the matter, after voter ID proposals have been introduced in nine of the past 10 legislative sessions but failed to advance to a vote of the Legislature.

Opponents of the petition on Tuesday said it would enact “voter restrictions.”

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STATE SEN. CAROL BLOOD BECOMES FIRST DEMOCRAT IN 2022 RACE FOR NEBRASKA GOVERNOR

LINCOLN — State Sen. Carol Blood of Bellevue on Monday formally launched a bid for the Democratic nomination for governor in 2022.

She’s the first Democrat to enter the race to lead a state that’s been led by Republicans for the last two decades, and she centered her message on overcoming partisan divides.

On the State Capitol’s steps in Lincoln on Monday, Blood praised the state’s unique one-house legislative body, in which she serves. It works, she said, because it depends on collaboration among policymakers.

Unlike the state’s cooperative unicameral, Blood said “many” in Nebraska’s government have taken an “us vs. them” stance similar to what has been seen across the U.S., which she said is “killing our democracy.”

“I know we can do better and see opportunities for effective change,” she said. “We can begin to make things better by building relationships and bridging these divides. We can transform division and contempt into understanding and connection.“

Jane Kleeb, chair of the state’s Democratic Party, told The World-Herald that she’s not aware of any other Democrats who plan to seek the nomination.

“As I travel across the state of Nebraska, the one thing I hear over and over again from rural and urban Nebraskans is that they want somebody that is gonna govern again,” Kleeb said.

Current Gov. Pete Ricketts is term-limited and cannot run for reelection in 2022.

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DESANTIS, CRUZ, AND PENCE PROMISE A REPUBLICAN 'REVIVAL' AT RICKETTS EVENT

NEBRASKA CITY — Three leading Republican prospects for president in 2024 took turns Sunday bashing the current occupant of the White House — and promising a GOP “revival” — at the annual steak fry hosted by Gov. Pete Ricketts.

Amid the trees at Arbor Lodge State Historical Park, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and former Vice President Mike Pence condemned “weak” Democratic President Joe Biden as pushing the liberal agenda of “rich, coastal elites.”

Whether it was because of the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, the surge of immigrants at the southern border or the mandate that federal employees be vaccinated against COVID-19, the trio said Americans are “waking up” to Biden’s “failed leadership,” and will return Congress and the presidency to Republican control.

“Fight, fight, fight, and we will win,” DeSantis said.

“I think Joe Biden is Jimmy Carter 2.0,” Cruz said. “A revival is coming.”

“I’ve been patient, but my patience is running thin,” Pence said. “It’s time for Nebraskans to say ‘enough is enough’ and take back the Congress in 2022, and take back America in 2024.”

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THOUSANDS LINE OMAHA STREETS TO HONOR MARINE CPL. DAEGAN PAGE

OMAHA- Cpl. Daegan Page received the kind of welcome home no warrior’s family wants — the kind with black limousines and flag-draped caskets, slow salutes and tears.

But on Friday afternoon, thousands of Nebraskans and Iowans made Page’s mournful homecoming an occasion to remember.

Holding flags and signs saying “God Bless You, Cpl. Daegan Page” and “Welcome Home,” they lined streets from Eppley Airfield to southwest Omaha to watch the passage of a vehicle carrying the remains of the Marine to Braman Mortuary.

Few of them would have known the name of the 23-year-old Millard South High School graduate before his death Aug. 26 — along with 12 other U.S. service members and at least 169 Afghans — in a terrorist bombing at the Kabul airport in Afghanistan.

Page’s homecoming represented a convergence of tragedies. His death came in the final days of America’s War in Afghanistan, while the return of his body to Omaha occurred one day before the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks that launched the U.S. into that war.

Page’s casket arrived at Eppley from Dover Air Force Base in Delaware about 1:20 p.m. and was transferred from the aircraft to a hearse out of public view. His family followed in several black SUVs as the procession — escorted by Omaha motorcycle police — traversed the city.

In a statement via email, Page’s family said they were touched by the warm tribute.

“Omaha, you never looked better,” they said. “It was an amazing honor to bring Daegan home to the open arms of his hometown today.

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NEBRASKA'S DOUG PETERSON, 23 OTHER AGs THREATEN TO SUE BIDEN OVER VACCINE DRIVE

LINCOLN — Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson joined 23 other attorneys general Thursday in warning President Joe Biden to drop his proposed mandate of COVID-19 vaccinations for private-sector workers, or risk a lawsuit.

The warning came four days after Gov. Pete Ricketts got a loud ovation at his annual steak fry after saying that he was working with other governors and attorneys general on a strategy to attack “the egregious overreach” of Biden’s vaccine mandate.

A seven-page letter from the coalition of Republican attorneys general, led by Attorney General Alan Wilson of South Carolina, calls the president’s mandate “illegal” and says it is likely to increase skepticism about the vaccines.

“Your plan is disastrous and counterproductive,” it says. “From a policy perspective, this edict is unlikely to win hearts and minds ... “

Peterson did not comment in a press release from his office announcing the threatened lawsuit.

The attorneys general, in their letter, outlined their legal and policy concerns. They said courts have been “highly skeptical” of OSHA emergency temporary standards. Seven of the 10 issued in recent decades have been challenged, and the courts upheld only one of the standards, with another yet to be decided, they wrote.

“Your vaccine mandate represents not only a threat to individual liberty, but a public health disaster that will displace vulnerable workers and exacerbate a nationwide hospital staffing crisis, with severe consequences for all Americans,” the attorneys general wrote.

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CHUCK HAGEL SAYS AFGHANISTAN WITHDRAWAL WAS A GOOD DECISION EXECUTED POORLY

WASHINGTON D.C.- President Joe Biden “made the right decision” to withdraw U.S. military forces from Afghanistan and bring an end to America’s longest war, but “there’s no question that a lot went wrong in the execution of that exit,” former Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel said.

“We stayed way, way too long,” Nebraska’s former two-term Republican senator said in a weekend interview.

“We were never going to win that war,” Hagel said, not in a tribal country where “the Afghan government was losing and getting weaker while the Taliban was growing stronger.’’

“Biden could have put 50,000 more U.S. troops in there,” and it would not have changed the outcome, Hagel said.

“They are elusive,” he said. “There is no surrender.”

“I admire Biden for making the tough decision,” Hagel said. “He did the difficult thing; he knew he’d have tremendous backlash.

“It was not going to be pretty; it was going to be chaos.

“It was going to be very, very difficult even if we had been much better prepared. But this was not a surprise.

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BUSINESSWOMAN RAYBOULD SEEKS LINCOLN LEGISLATIVE SEAT

LINCOLN — Jane Raybould, a Lincoln businesswoman and City Council member, announced plans Tuesday to run for central Lincoln's District 28 legislative seat.

The seat is now held by State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks, who cannot run again because of term limits.

Raybould said she wants to bring her experience with local government to focus on state-level policies. She named her priorities as funding public education, criminal justice reform, mental health services, environmental resiliency, and restoring state aid to cities and counties.

Raybould and her brother run B & R Stores, a family grocery business started by her father. She has been elected twice to the Lincoln City Council since 2015 and previously spent five years on the Lancaster County Board. In 2018, she was the Democratic challenger to U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer.

She joins Chris Bruns, a Lincoln County Board member, as among the earliest candidates to announce legislative bids. Bruns, a rancher near North Platte, is seeking the District 42 seat now held by Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte, who is term-limited.

Bruns, a North Platte native, returned to the area in 2018. He is a former Marine with a degree in entrepreneurship.

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GOV. PETE RICKETTS HAS A LOT TO SAY LATELY. IS HE RUNNING FOR SOMETHING?

LINCOLN — Political observers have noticed a change in Gov. Pete Ricketts, who has ramped up his public criticism of policy changes coming out of Washington in recent months.

In his weekly columns, press statements and public appearances, the Republican has taken President Joe Biden to task for the chaotic exit from Afghanistan, “trampling” on gun rights, canceling the Keystone XL pipeline and rescinding a prohibition on using U.S. foreign aid for abortion.

Ricketts and some of his key supporters swatted down the presidential talk like so many flies in a feedlot, saying there are just a lot of things to criticize coming out of Washington these days.

When asked whether he is positioning himself for a run at the White House or a Cabinet post by weighing in on more federal issues, the 57-year-old millionaire said what he’s been saying for months — he’s working only on being “the best governor I can be” for the remaining 16 months of his second term.

Other political observers see a method to Ricketts’ madness about Biden’s policies. They see some calculation in the political hits and see the invitation of three GOP heavy hitters to his steak fry as a clear indication that he is looking toward his political future after he leaves office in January 2023 because of term limits.

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NEBRASKA STATE FAIR SUES NONPROFIT, ALLEGING MISUSE OF AKSARBEN STOCK SHOW NAME

LINCOLN — For decades, the Aksarben Stock Show was an Omaha fixture, operated by the titans of the city through the Knights of Aksarben.

But now there’s a showdown in central Nebraska over who owns the rights to the stock show name and logo.

The Nebraska State Fair, which took over management of the stock show after its move to Grand Island four years ago, has sued two central Nebraska men, including an associate of Gov. Pete Ricketts, over ownership of the name Aksarben Stock Show, which is billed as the nation’s largest 4-H livestock show.

The federal lawsuit claims that Trent Loos, the governor’s associate; his wife, Kelli; and Greg Harder, a former State Fair employee, have wrongly claimed the name and the stock show’s unique logo for their own use via a nonprofit corporation they formed a year ago called Nebraskans 4 Youth Livestock Inc.

Harder, of Phillips, used to manage the stock show for the State Fair. But he was fired in September 2020, just a couple days after that year’s show ended. His role in forming the Nebraskans 4 Youth Livestock entity to stage livestock shows was cited as a sign of disloyalty and an effort to “seize control” of the fair’s assets.

The State Fair wants the name and logo back and, in the lawsuit, says Harder and the Looses have refused to relinquish them. The fair claims that deceives the public, violates the state’s deceptive trade practices act and harms the event, which is slated to be held at the fair’s barns in Grand Island on Sept. 24-26.

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DOOR TO DOOR EFFORT IN SOUTH OMAHA SUCCEEDS IN BOOSTING VACCINATIONS

OMAHA- OneWorld has made vaccination as easy and omnipresent as possible to the residents in three South Omaha ZIP codes. It has invested time, money, creativity and sweat equity to convince a sizable chunk of residents, many of them dubious and some downright hostile, to get vaccinated.

This summer, vaccination in Nebraska has morphed into a public health version of hand-to-hand combat, where medical providers go person to person, holding intensely personal conversations and trying to correct rampant vaccine misinformation.

Since mid-May, the area served by OneWorld has moved the needle more on vaccinations than almost anywhere else in Nebraska, according to data released by the Douglas County Health Department and the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.

More than one of every eight residents in the area OneWorld serves were newly vaccinated between May 15 and Aug. 15.

“We simply weren’t going to sit behind the scenes and wait for people to come to us,” says Jennifer Mayhew, OneWorld’s director of operations. “Not when we can be proactive and do something to prevent this loss of life.”

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