$140 MILLION CHILD CARE GRANT PROGRAM TO HELP NEBRASKA PROVIDERS SURVIVE

LINCOLN — Nebraska child care providers have an “unprecedented opportunity” to get back on the solid financial ground and help families get equal access to high-quality care, thanks to a new grant program.

State Department of Health and Human Services officials unveiled the $140 million Child Care Stabilization program this week.

Stephanie Beasley, children and family services director for HHS, said the grants will shore up a key part of the state’s economy. She said the pandemic put a spotlight on the critical role that child care providers play in making it possible for parents to work.

“Child care providers have been and continue to be the workforce behind the workforce throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.

Nationally, the pandemic has exacerbated the shortage of reliable and affordable child care, which in turn has restricted the growth of the broader economy. The shortage has forced many people — mostly women — to leave the workforce and contributed to a deepening labor shortage.

Child Care Aware of America estimated that 9% of licensed child care programs have permanently closed since the pandemic began, based on its tally of nearly 16,000 shuttered centers and in-home daycares in 37 states between December 2019 and March 2021.

The new grant program is intended to address some of the challenges that have pushed providers to close.

State officials said it aims to ease financial burdens faced by child care providers because of the public health emergency and the instability of the child care market as a whole. It has a special focus on supporting providers in underserved and lower-income areas of the state.

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ADM PLANS TO MAKE JET FUEL AT NEBRASKA ETHANOL PLANT

COLUMBUS- Archer Daniels Midland's Columbus, Nebraska, the dry mill is part of a plan the company announced to turn ethanol into sustainable jet fuel.

ADM said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with a company called Gevo Inc. to transform ethanol into sustainable jet fuel and other renewable hydrocarbon fuels.

According to terms of the deal, Colorado-based Gevo would use its processing technology to turn about 900 million gallons of ethanol produced at ADM’s dry mills in Columbus and Cedar Rapids, Iowa, as well as its Decatur, Illinois, complex into about 500 million gallons of sustainable, low-carbon fuels for aviation and other industries.

The Columbus and Cedar Rapids facilities both have production capacities of about 300 million gallons a year, so it appears the plan is to dedicate all their capacity to the sustainable fuels effort.

Gevo CEO Patrick Gruber said in a press release that it has potential demand from customers for more than 1 billion gallons of sustainable fuels.

“By working with ADM, who already has committed to reducing their carbon footprint, we have the opportunity to accelerate scale," Gruber said in the press release. "The technology to convert low carbon ethanol and isobutanol into (sustainable aviation fuel) by Gevo is well developed and ready for world-scale commercialization."

ADM said in the release that demand for sustainable aviation fuel is likely to increase over the coming years because U.S. airlines, airports, shippers, and the U.S. government are working together to advance its use.

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CONSTRUCTION OF NEW, LARGER SARPY COUNTY JAIL REMAINS ON TRACK

SARPY COUNTY- After their weekly meeting, Sarpy County Board members donned hard hats and neon vests.

They headed to the construction site next door, where crews have erected the skeleton of a new jail in recent months. Construction remains on track to wrap up in December 2022, according to Jake Tietgen, lead project manager.

Tietgen described the new facility as about 25% finished. The jail is expected to be operational in early 2023, according to county spokesperson Megan Stubenhofer-Barrett.

Crews broke ground in the spring. They cleared the site and have completed some underground work — laying pilings, plumbing and electric — and stood up structural beams and an elevator shaft. Next, observers will start seeing walls go up, said Stubenhofer-Barrett.

In April, the County Board approved a guaranteed maximum construction price of $69.4 million with JE Dunn. The facility was designed by DLR Group.

The new 150,000-square-foot jail, on the county’s campus near 84th Street and Nebraska Highway 370, is aimed at easing overcrowding and will have more space for programming and services to help people experiencing mental health challenges.

The current jail, built-in 1989, was designed to hold about 150 people, according to Ryan Mahr, the head of the Sarpy County Department of Corrections. The new lockup is designed to hold close to 360.

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RICKETTS DEFENDS DECISION TO SCALE BACK NEBRASKA COVID-19 REPORTING

LINCOLN - At the end of a news conference that highlighted the importance of data reporting availability to Nebraska’s COVID-19 response, Gov. Pete Ricketts defended the state’s decision to scale back its COVID-19 dashboard.

“That really just reflects the needs right now that we have here in the state. So we are looking to get back to normal, folks, right?” he said.

Ricketts said daily data updates are unnecessary and providing that information on a weekly basis is “sufficient.”

“There is nobody who is planning their staff on a daily basis. Right? Nobody needs daily information to do staffing,” he said, stating that staffing occurs on a week-to-week basis. “People want to know a week ahead of time when they’re going to be working.” Ricketts emphasized the decrease of the state's hospital staffing emergency and the increase of hospital capacity in his justification for the shift.

Hospital capacity is also what the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services emphasized in their latest dashboard release. Hospital capacity falling below 10% triggers Directed Health Measures, and the reappearance of the dashboard, until capacity increases above 10%.

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RICKETTS: NEBRASKA TO SEEK INJUNCTION AGAINST OSHA VACCINE REQUIREMENTS

LINCOLN - Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts said during a news conference that he plans to fight OSHA in court over the COVID-19 vaccination requirements as soon as the agency reveals them.

The Governor also reiterated his position against vaccination mandates and said during the news conference that he planned to take action against the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to fight those requirements.

“As soon as those rules come out, we will be taking OSHA and anybody else to court to get an injunction and stop what is a huge abuse of federal power to mandate vaccines through these emergency rules,” Ricketts said. Ricketts has cited Nebraska's lack of a vaccine mandate as a reason why potential employees should come work in Nebraska; specifically, nurses as the shortage continues.

Ricketts went on to encourage Nebraskans to get the COVID-19 vaccine, especially for those 40 and older.

Tasked by President Biden to draft vaccination rules for businesses with at least 100 employees, OSHA is expected to roll out its plan any day now.

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CORPS OF ENGINEERS HOSTS MEETINGS ON MISSOURI RIVER MANAGEMENT

MIDWEST- With unusually dry conditions as the backdrop, the Army Corps of Engineers is hosting its annual fall meetings this week on the management of the Missouri River.

The meetings are being held from Montana to Missouri. Earlier in the week, meetings were held in Sioux City, Iowa as well as Nebraska City.

By regulating releases from six dams on the upper river, the corps influences how much water is held in those reservoirs as well as river levels downstream. Those levels affect farming, aquatic life and habitat, power generation, flood control, and drought mitigation.

Upper basin runoff (upstream of Sioux City) in September was 67% of normal, according to the corps. The upper basin is on pace to see its 10th-driest year out of 123 years on record.

Winter releases will be set at 12,000 cubic feet per second.

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SARPY COUNTY BOARD WILL CONSIDER CUTTING ELECTION COMMISSIONER SALARY

SARPY COUNTY- The Sarpy County Board will consider a proposal that would cut the salary of the county’s newly appointed election commissioner by 16% in 2022 and the deputy election commissioner’s salary by 11%.

Gov. Pete Ricketts appointed Emily Ethington, 25, the twin sister of State Sen. Julie Slama, to serve the balance of the term that ends Dec. 31 and another four-year term after that. State law requires the commissioner to appoint a chief deputy of a different political party — Sarpy County chief deputy Michelle Boyland was appointed in July 2020.

As a result, Ethington’s 2022 salary would be $72,753, and Boyland’s 2022 salary would be $69,910. County employees typically receive yearly raises tied to the cost of living and moving up in the salary schedule. Megan Stubenhofer-Barrett, the county spokeswoman, believes that this would be the first time these positions’ salaries would be tied to a schedule.

According to board member Jim Warren, Ethington had requested that commissioners set her salary at $90,000.

State law says the election commissioner and chief deputies are county “employees.” Don Kelly, chairman of the County Board, said the county had been treating the roles like elected officials instead. Kelly said he crafted the proposal by looking at comparable positions outside the county as well as within county ranks, along with previous salaries for Sarpy election commissioners and their qualifications and experience.

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TRUMP ENDORSES HERBSTER IN GUBERNATORIAL RACE; RICKETTS DISAGREES

NEBRASKA - Former President Donald Trump announced that he is endorsing Charles Herbster in his bid to be elected governor next year, prompting a swift response from Gov. Pete Ricketts who said he "strongly disagrees" with that judgment.

Herbster, who was an agricultural adviser to Trump during his presidency, is a candidate for the Republican nomination.

In his endorsement statement, Trump took a verbal shot at Republican Sen. Ben Sasse and lavished praise on Ricketts.

Herbster "has been a tremendous supporter of America First and Make America Great Again, right from the beginning," Trump said, "and will do a fantastic job" as governor. Ricketts responded via Twitter with claims that he has also been a supporter of President Trump's conservative leadership and America First mentality. Ricketts wrapped up his comments with "Nebraska deserves better."

Ricketts is expected to endorse Jim Pillen of Columbus, a University of Nebraska regent, but has not done so yet.

Despite the disagreement between President Trump and Ricketts, the former President has referred to Ricketts as a "terrific" governor of Nebraska.

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FORMER NEBRASKA SEN. CAP DIERKS, A CHAMPION FOR RURAL AMERICA, DIES AT AGE 89

EWING- A strong advocate for rural development, who was known for getting things done during his long tenure in the Nebraska Legislature, has died.

Former Sen. Merton "Cap" Dierks, 89, died from complications following a stroke. He was known as a state senator who preserved relationships as he advocated for issues important to him.

"Rural America lost one of its very best champions," said John Hansen, president of the Nebraska Farmers Union, describing Dierks as "one of the most influential and respected state senators" in the Legislature in the last 35-plus years. "He argued things from a moral and ethical and policy perspective, so he raised the level of debate on a lot of discussions."

Former U.S. Sen. and Nebraska Gov. Bob Kerrey and current Sen. Deb Fischer offered similar praise.

"Cap was a man whose faith and love of Nebraska combined with the virtue of caring about the opinions of everyone made him a model of what public service is at its best," Kerrey posted in a tribute on Facebook. "I trusted and loved this man completely. Young Nebraskans: Remember him. Be like him. You cannot do better."

Fischer, a former state senator who served alongside Dierks, said she got to know Dierks while advocating for Nebraska's schools.

"He was a champion in the Nebraska Legislature for our state’s children and our state’s school districts. ... He was always a gentleman, sincere and honest in every relationship, and he had the deep respect of all who knew him."

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NEBRASKA JOINTS SUIT AGAINST BIDEN OVER REVERSAL OF TRUMP-ERA ABORTION REFERRAL BAN

COLUMBUS, OHIO — Ohio’s top lawyer filed suit against the Biden administration seeking to restore a Trump-era ban on abortion referrals by family planning clinics that President Joe Biden reversed earlier this month.

The action filed by Republican Attorney General Dave Yost in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati was joined by 11 other states, including Nebraska.

At issue are new federal regulations set by the Department of Health and Human Services that take the Title X federal family planning program back to the way it ran under the Obama administration when clinics were able to refer women seeking abortions to a provider.

The two rules Yost wants reinstated were passed in 2019. One required federally funded family-planning clinics to be physically and financially independent of abortion clinics. The other required them to refrain from referring patients for abortions.

He said both rules were intended as firewalls between clinics' family planning services, which can receive taxpayer funding, and their abortion services, which cannot.

"You can’t 'follow the money when all the money is dumped into one pot and mixed together,” Yost said in a statement. “Federal law prohibits taxpayer funding of abortion — and that law means nothing if the federal money isn’t kept separate.”

States joining the challenge are Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and West Virginia. Not all states participate in Title X.

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KEY PLAYER IN FORTENBERRY INDICTMENT RESIGNS AS PRESIDENT OF CHRISTIAN GROUP

LINCOLN- A key figure in the indictment of U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry for allegedly lying to federal investigators has resigned his position with a Washington, D.C.-based Christian group.

Toufic Baaklini, who resigned last week, had served as president and a board member for several years for In Defense of Christians, an organization that fights persecution of Christians in the Middle East.

Baaklini told federal investigators that in January 2016, he was given $30,000 by Gilbert Chagoury, a Nigerian billionaire now living in Paris, for distribution as political contributions to Fortenberry. Baaklini said he gave the money to a California man who was hosting a fundraiser for Fortenberry at a Los Angeles restaurant. A group of people — with five of the donors having the last name Ayoub — were recruited to eventually donate the money.

Fortenberry ran into Baaklini in Washington sometime after the fundraiser, according to federal court documents, and asked him something to the effect of: “Do you think anything was wrong with the fundraiser?”

Baaklini replied by falsely saying “no” and then asked why. Fortenberry reportedly responded, “because it all came from the same family.”

Baaklini, who was born in Lebanon, had given campaign donations to more than a dozen Republican candidates for office in recent years, according to federal campaign reports.

In Defense of Christians, in a news release Sunday, thanked Baaklini for his service, adding that any campaign contributions made by, or through, Baaklini were in his "personal capacity."

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DON WALTON: PATTY PANSING BROOKS PREPARING BID FOR FORTENBERRY HOUSE SEAT

LINCOLN - Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks is gearing up for her next challenge.

The Lincoln state senator, who will be term-limited out of the Legislature at the end of next year, will announce soon that she will seek the 2022 Democratic nomination for Republican Rep. Jeff Fortenberry's 1st District House seat.

Fortenberry, who has pleaded not guilty, is facing trial in Los Angeles on federal charges that he lied to the FBI and concealed information about illegal campaign contributions that he accepted from foreign sources in 2016. Although a trial date has been set for Dec. 14, it is possible that it may be delayed.

There are many unanswered questions regarding the 2022 congressional race. We know that Fortenberry will be challenged by Democrats if he decides to seek reelection, but it is unknown whether another Republican would contend for the position as well. It is also yet to be seen whether Senator Pansing Brooks or any other Democrat could compete with the incumbent in a district that has been strictly Republican for quite some time.

Some of the state senators who will have finished their two terms at the end of next year are the hardest working and most impartial legislators. However, there are not many legislators who would want to run for another, more demanding, elected office after serving two terms.

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COULD NEBRASKA LAWMAKERS PASS A TEXAS-STYLE ABORTION BAN?

LINCOLN- On either side of the abortion debate, all eyes are on the judicial fate of Texas’ new abortion law, the most restrictive in the country.

Nebraska lawmakers who have sponsored legislation limiting abortion expect anti-abortion proposals again next year, and so does a lawmaker who has proposed legislation to increase access. But the shape those proposals take may be determined by what happens in the courts.

The Texas law, which went into effect in September, bans abortions once the cardiac activity is detected. That usually falls at about six weeks, before some women know that they’re pregnant. While courts have blocked other states’ attempts at similar restrictions, this law differs by putting enforcement in the hands of private citizens. A federal appeals court allowed the restrictions to remain in place for a third time in the last several weeks alone.

If a Texas-style law were implemented in Nebraska, it would ban a majority of the abortions that are currently performed in the state. A report from the State Department of Health and Human Services showed that about 85% of abortions in Nebraska in 2020 happened at an estimated gestation of six weeks or later. In 2019, that percentage was about 71%.

Abortion rights advocates’ concern that Nebraska may follow in the footsteps of Texas is not unfounded: Gov. Pete Ricketts, who opposes abortion, has lauded the law and hinted that Nebraska lawmakers might use it as a model.

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NEBRASKA TAX COLLECTIONS CONTINUE TO ROLL IN ABOVE PROJECTIONS

LINCOLN — Nebraska tax revenues continued flowing in at a higher-than-expected pace during the first quarter of the fiscal year.

The Nebraska Department of Revenue released a report showing that the state netted $155.9 million more than predicted for July through September. The state netted $100.8 million more than predicted for September alone.

Gov. Pete Ricketts said the report supports efforts to add to the tax reductions passed in the last few years.

“Nebraska’s tax receipts continue to grow beyond our expectations as a result of our state’s booming economy,” he said. “Strong receipts are setting us up to deliver even more tax relief for the hardworking people of Nebraska.”

The unexpected revenue is enough to wipe out a projected $101 million shortfall — and then some — for the two-year budget period that started July 1. The shortfall appeared after the amount needed for Nebraska’s newest property tax relief program was factored into the state’s financial status.

Record tax revenues for the fiscal year just ended required the state to transfer $548 million a year into the program, under which property owners get income tax credits to offset a portion of their school property taxes. State law determines the amount of the credits based on the growth of tax revenue.

The $548 million transfer meant that property owners would get credits equal to about a quarter of their school property taxes when they file their 2021 income taxes. But it also reduced the amount of tax revenue available for the state budget.

The monthly report of tax receipts showed that net revenues exceeded expectations in each month of the current fiscal year, with actual net revenues topping expectations by 19.2% in September.

Lydia Brasch, a Revenue Department spokeswoman, credited the state’s strong economy for the tax revenue growth.

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NEBRASKA MEDICINE TURNING AWAY TRANSFERS FROM OTHER HOSPITALS IS A 'GUT PUNCH'

OMAHA— Nebraska Medicine's Chief Operating Officer Cory Shaw calls it a "gut punch" to have to turn transfers away.

"Patients that are currently in a hospital bed and other hospitals who might otherwise need a transfer in normal times — we're going through a process that, one, we have a bed and, two, we can do something for that patient beyond what they are getting locally," Shaw said.

It's something they've been doing the past eight weeks due to a variety of factors.

"It's really a combination of two things. With ICU beds, it's really just beds but it starts with the staff. If you don't have adequate staff, you can't open every single bed you have available to you," Shaw said.

UNMC's Nursing College Dean Juliann Sebastian says enrollment in their nursing program is robust, but hospitals still face staffing shortages due to sheer demand.

"Demand is really increasing, so this is not a question of people not being interested in nursing and not enrolling in nursing, but demand is outstripping supply," Sebastian said.

Since hospitals are facing a huge need, Nebraska Methodist College's Deb Carlson says there is an urgency to educate as many nurses as possible.

"We're now seeing that they are wanting to hire students as juniors to lock them in, so when they graduate, they have them in that position. Seeing more of that, of HR having to be more aggressive," Carlson said.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, Shaw says it's difficult to forecast what the future could hold.

"It's hurtful to know we're not able to do everything we historically or typical can do," Shaw said. "We understand we are in the middle of a pandemic, and 50 patients at Nebraska Medical Center and state-wide, roughly 400 patients in a hospital bed that wouldn't otherwise be there. That's consuming a great deal of capacity."

Nebraska Medicine has telehealth options for anyone looking for care. The overwhelming number of hospitalized COVID patients in the ICU are unvaccinated.

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SEWARD SCHOOL BOARD MEMBER TO SEEK SEAT IN NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE

LINCOLN — Jana Hughes, a Seward school board member, and lifelong Seward County resident, has become the latest person to declare their candidacy for the Nebraska Legislature.

Hughes announced this week that she will seek the District 24 seat being vacated by State Sen. Mark Kolterman of Seward. He is barred by term limits from running for reelection.

The newly redrawn district encompasses Seward, York, and Polk Counties, along with the western portion of Butler County.

Hughes grew up on a family farm and married into the family that owns Hughes Brothers, a manufacturing business and major employer in Seward. A registered Republican, she lists the district’s top challenges as lowering property taxes, strengthening small businesses, supporting schools, and being a strong voice for agriculture.

The Nebraska Legislature is officially nonpartisan, meaning that members appear on the ballot and serve without regard to party registration. Political parties are not part of the legislative structure, as they are in other states.

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UNION PACIFIC AND ITS UNIONS SUE EACH OTHER OVER VACCINATION

OMAHA- Union Pacific and its labor unions are suing each other to determine whether the railroad has the authority to require its employees to get vaccinated against the coronavirus.

The unions argue that the railroad should have negotiated with them before announcing it would require all employees to get the shots. The railroad contends in its own lawsuit that it believes it has the authority to require the vaccine under its existing contracts because it can set standards for when employees are fit for duty.

Union Pacific announced this month that it would require all employees to be vaccinated by Dec. 8 to comply with an executive order President Joe Biden issued requiring all federal contractors to have their employees vaccinated. The railroad is also offering its union employees a $300 bonus if they get the shots. Nonunion employees at the railroad are being offered a half day of vacation if they get vaccinated.

On the same day the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division, or SMART-TD, union filed its lawsuit against the railroad, Union Pacific filed its own lawsuit against SMART-TD and two other unions that objected to the vaccination mandate to force the issue.

“This action is necessary to prevent any disruption of the national rail network and to avoid any impact on America’s supply chain, as it continues to recover from the pandemic,” Union Pacific spokeswoman Kristen South said in a statement.

Vaccine mandates from governments and other businesses have generated resistance in various workplaces.

The railroad told employees that they would be medically disqualified under their contracts rather than fired if they didn’t get the shots. But the unions said Union Pacific was unfairly changing the conditions of their employment without bargaining over it as required.

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NEBRASKA COVID-19 DASHBOARD WILL DISAPPEAR AGAIN

LINCOLN- Gov. Pete Ricketts announced this week that Nebraska's statewide COVID-19 dashboard will be disappearing again.

Ricketts said the seven-day average of COVID-19 patients has dropped below 10% of total hospitalizations in the state, the threshold he set for reinstating the daily dashboard. Therefore, the state will return to providing only weekly COVID-19 statistics, and local health districts will no longer be allowed to report county-specific statistics for counties with fewer than 20,000 people.

Also because of the drop in patients, Ricketts announced he was rescinding a directed health measure that suspended many elective surgeries at the state's hospitals.

It's unclear how many hospitals will resume doing elective surgeries right away.

Bryan Health suspended any elective surgeries that required an overnight stay before Ricketts issued his DHM in late August. Officials there could not be reached for comment.

A spokesman for Nebraska Medicine in Omaha said it would not be reinstating the suspended elective surgeries at this time.

As of October 21st, COVID-19 patients were occupying 8% of regular adult hospital beds statewide but 25% of intensive-care beds.

In many areas of the state, however, COVID-19 patients still make up more than 10% of patients. The hospitals in North Platte both have 16% of their beds occupied with COVID-19 patients, and the percentages are 15% in Columbus, 14% in Grand Island and 11% in Lincoln, according to the state dashboard.

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POLITICAL INSIDERS SPLIT ON POTENTIAL FALLOUT FROM FORTENBERRY INDICTMENT

LINCOLN- Republicans in Nebraska rushed to defend U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry this week as the congressman was indicted for lying to FBI investigators.

Meanwhile, the chair of the Democratic Party in the state said that Fortenberry was a “crook and a liar” and deserves to be replaced.

Observers, however, were split on the impact of the federal grand jury’s indictment on the congressman’s political future.

Fortenberry, who was first elected to represent Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District in 2004, said in a video shot before the indictment was released that the allegations, linked to a federal investigation into illegal campaign contributions from a Nigerian-born billionaire, were untrue and a betrayal after he had cooperated with an FBI probe.

“In America, we are fortunate our legal system abides by the ‘innocent until proven guilty’ mantra and this applies to Rep. Fortenberry as well,” Rep. Don Bacon, a Republican, said in a statement. “The man I know is a good-hearted man and not someone I would attribute these accusations to.”

More than one official said they had a hard time believing the allegations.

"I do have a very difficult time believing the allegations. It would be very out of character for him," said J.L. Spray, a Lincoln attorney and GOP national committeeman.

"Jeff is a man of integrity," said Mark Fahleson, a former chair of the Nebraska Republican Party. He said Fortenberry's only crime was using long words that few people understand.

But Jane Kleeb, who chairs the Nebraska Democratic Party, said Fortenberry had violated the trust of voters, and that Democrats should “win this seat back for the people.”

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RICKETTS, NEBRASKA SCHOOL BOARD GROUP OBJECT TO CALL FOR FEDERAL THREAT INTERVENTION

LINCOLN- The Nebraska Association of School Boards and Gov. Pete Ricketts said this week that they disagree that federal assistance is needed to stop threats and acts of violence against school officials.

Ricketts urged members of the Nebraska State Board of Education to "push back" against what he called "overreach" that threatens the First Amendment rights of parents.

On his monthly radio call-in show and again at an afternoon news conference, Ricketts called the Department of Justice action an “absolute outrageous abuse of federal power.”

“This will have a huge chilling effect, and it’s meant to, to browbeat those parents into not going to school board meetings,” he said. “It’s just beyond the pale. We don’t live in the old Soviet Union here.”

The Nebraska association said it had no part in drafting the letter sent by the National School Boards Association to the Biden administration requesting help from federal law enforcement.

The Sept. 29 letter has drawn criticism from conservatives who feel that it equates parents upset over mask policies and critical race theory with terrorists.

"We did not approve of the letter and had no role in its drafting," the Nebraska group said.

The national group, in its letter, asked for the Department of Justice, the FBI, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Secret Service to investigate and prevent threats and acts of violence against school officials.

The letter cites several incidents at school board meetings nationally.

On Oct. 4, U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland directed the FBI and U.S. Attorney's Offices to meet with federal, state, tribal, territorial, and local law enforcement leaders to discuss strategies for addressing such incidents.

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