REP. JEFF FORTENBERRY'S LAWYERS SAY HE IS A VICTIM OF 'POLITICAL PROSECUTION"

LINCOLN — Indicted Rep. Jeff Fortenberry is the victim of a “political prosecution,” lawyers for the Republican lawmaker said.

“This prosecution was brought not because it was material to any investigation. It was brought because (lead prosecutor) Mack Jenkins was offended,” attorney John Littrell told a federal judge.

Jenkins’ fellow prosecutors disputed that claim during a one-hour hearing before U.S. District Judge Stanley Blumenfeld. Lawyers argued a trio of defense motions seeking to dismiss three felony charges against Fortenberry.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Susan Har said that as more evidence was collected amid a five-year investigation into illegal political contributions from a Nigerian billionaire, it got to the point that “you cannot not charge” the Nebraska lawmaker.

“(This case) boils down to you cannot lie to a federal officer,” Har said.

Blumenfeld took the motion to disqualify the prosecutor, as well as others filed by Fortenberry’s lawyers, under advisement.

Fortenberry, who has represented eastern Nebraska’s 1st District since 2005, is charged with three felonies — two counts of making false statements to federal agents and one count of seeking to conceal the source of $30,000 in “conduit” political contributions from a 2016 California fundraiser.

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FREIGHT RAILS TRYING OTHER LOCOMOTIVE FUELS TO CUT EMISSIONS

OMAHA, Neb. — The major freight railroads across North America continue to experiment with alternative locomotive fuels as a way to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

BNSF railroad said that it plans to test out a hydrogen-powered locomotive along its lines, joining Canadian Pacific in experimenting with that technology. Canadian National railroad recently announced plans to test out a battery-powered locomotive to haul freight across Pennsylvania, and Union Pacific has said it would like to try using battery-powered locomotives in some of its railyards once they are more widely available in a few years.

Several other past tests at other railroads have looked at natural gas-powered locomotives and battery-powered options. Using some combination of these new fuel options will be key to helping the railroads achieve their goals to significantly cut their emissions in the coming years.

Both of the major locomotive manufacturers, Wabtec and Caterpillar's Progress Rail unit, are working on developing locomotives that use other fuels.

But the railroads all caution that these are only pilot tests at this stage, and the new technology won't be ready to start replacing the diesel workhorses that have been pulling freight across the continent since World War II for at least several more years.

"This technology could one day be a lower-carbon solution for line-haul service, as it has the potential to reduce carbon emissions and remain cost-competitive," said John Lovenburg, BNSF's vice president of environmental.

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RICKETTS, 4 OTHER GOVERNORS CALL ON DEPT. OF DEFENSE TO SCRAP NATIONAL GUARD VACCINE

LINCOLN- Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts and Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds have joined three other governors in asking the Department of Defense to withdraw its COVID-19 vaccine mandate for National Guard members who have not been called up for federal service.

The letter addressed to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin III, asked Austin to withdraw the mandate for Guard soldiers and airmen in Title 32, or “state active duty” status.

At the direction of President Joe Biden, Austin ordered all service branches on Aug. 24 to set deadlines for all service members to receive the COVID-19 vaccinations.

The deadlines have passed for active-duty members of the Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force, and Space Force, as well as Air National Guard and reserves. December 15th was the deadline for active-duty Army soldiers.

The active-duty branches have all achieved vaccination rates of 95% or higher, and only a small percentage have refused the vaccine.

Guard officials say 94% of Nebraska Air National Guard airmen have fully complied with the vaccination order (with 1% more having received the first of two doses). In the Iowa Air National Guard, 91% of airmen have complied.

In both states, all Air National Guard members who haven’t gotten the vaccine have requested exemptions on religious or medical grounds.

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OPS WORKERS SAY 'EPIC' STAFF SHORTAGE JEOPARDIZES STUDENT SAFETY AND LEARNING

OMAHA - Four Omaha Public Schools staff members stood before the school board and said they are worried about the safety of their students.

Already facing what one teacher described as an “epic” staff shortage, the staff members said student behavior problems have increased, leaving teachers to break up fights and deal with bullying and other student behaviors that should be handled by a counselor or a social worker.

"When teachers say, ‘I don’t feel safe at work, nor do I feel those children are safe,’ I take that very seriously,” science teacher Michelle Settlemyer told the school board. “As should you.”

Only four staff members spoke at the meeting last month but their co-workers sat behind them and wore red in solidarity, seemingly demonstrating that they spoke for everybody.

Their words are in line with what the Nebraska State Education Association found in a recently released survey of its members: Student behavior problems are on the rise across the state. Teacher stress is up. And staffing shortages are compounding the problem.

Staff absences and unfilled positions cause an unpredictable rotation of instructors who are having to teach subjects they are not certified to teach. Class sizes have also increased due to staff shortages. This has led to large numbers of students being put into a room, or even the cafeteria, with one or two adults.

It is not difficult to see how staff shortages can negatively impact the students they are trying to serve.

The World-Herald was granted an interview with Chief Talent Officer Cecil Hicks, Student and Community Services Chief Officer Lisa Utterback, and Chief Strategy Officer Fateama Fulmore.

Fulmore said that despite seeing teachers have a difficult time, she does not see them as ready to quit; they are looking for resources and support.

“What you saw at the board meeting that night is what we do as educators,” Fulmore said. “We advocate for our children. We advocate for what we need to be best for our children.”

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ACLU OF NEBRASKA CALLS ON STATE SENATORS TO MAKE CRIMINAL JUSTICE REFORMS

LINCOLN - The ACLU of Nebraska called on state senators to make "meaningful smart justice reforms" in a new report released earlier this week.

The "Statehouse-to-Prison Pipeline" is an analysis of the state's criminal justice system and the actions taken by the legislature over the last five years since the ACLU's last report.

"Although this report identifies areas of progress," the report said, "too many concerns noted five years ago have either worsened or remained largely unchanged."

The new analysis came as a result of the Department of Correctional Services facing a staffing shortage while state leaders have talked of building a new state prison.

"The ACLU is driven by extremist policies that focus on letting criminals out of prison rather than ensuring Nebraskans are safe," Gov. Pete Ricketts said in a statement. "My focus as Governor of Nebraska is to protect public safety, not kowtow to out of touch liberal agendas."

The Nebraska Department of Correctional Services Director, Scott Frakes, cited that it would be more cost-effective to build a new $230 million prison than it would be to renovate the aging state penitentiary.

The ACLU, however, would prefer the state's leaders to instead combat the issues and policies that have led to the overpopulation of the prisons and the subsequent disproportional staff-to-inmate ratio.

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PROPOSED NEBRASKA MINE MIGHT PRODUCE MORE RARE ELEMENTS

OMAHA - The company working to build a mine in southeast Nebraska to extract a rare element used to make steel lighter and stronger said that it may also be able to produce some of the key ingredients needed to make the powerful magnets used in electric vehicles and other high-tech products.

NioCorp Developments released a new report shows those rare earth elements are present throughout the deposit it plans to mine if it can raise roughly $1 billion to build the project about 80 miles (128.75 kilometers) south of Omaha near the town of Elk Creek.

NioCorp plans to mine and produce other elements such as niobium, scandium, and titanium in an effort to make their project more attractive to investors. A several month-long analysis will be needed to determine if the company can economically produce the rare earth elements, however.

“If our rare-earth content is found to be high enough to economically justify extraction of individual rare earths as a byproduct of our planned niobium, scandium, and titanium production, the Elk Creek project could ultimately emerge as a U.S. producer of the magnetic rare earths,” NioCorp CEO Mark Smith said.

Analyst David Abraham believes that NioCorp will benefit if it can expand its ability to produce, but it is all contingent upon whether it is cost-effective or not.

“There’s a lot of minerals in the ore body,” said Abraham, who runs the Technology, Rare and Electronics Materials Center. “The question is what is actually economically feasible to recover and realistic to process.”

Currently, there is only one American mine that produces rare earths which is found in California. The U.S. imports all the niobium and scandium, and all the titanium and rare earths that manufacturers rely on now.

“Without getting too far ahead of ourselves I think there is some real economic potential here and boy, it sure would be nice to make some of this stuff in the United States along with the niobium, scandium, and titanium,” NioCorp’s Chief Operations Officer Scott Honan said.

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FORMER GOVERNOR DAVE HEINEMAN ANNOUNCED HE WILL NOT RUN FOR GOVERNOR IN 2022

LINCOLN — Former Gov. Dave Heineman, saying that spending time with his family is a higher priority right now, announced that he won't seek a return to the state's highest office.

Heineman, the longest-serving governor in state history, would have been the presumptive favorite in the Republican primary, but political observers said that at age 73, he might have lacked the "fire in the belly" for a contested primary in today's harsh and divisive political atmosphere.

"The landscape in the Republican Party just now is not particularly pleasant," said University of Nebraska-Lincoln political science professor John Hibbing.

Heineman, he said, likely believed he could raise enough money and win the primary, "but needing to negotiate that path amidst the sharp elbows of (current Gov. Pete) Ricketts, of fierce Trump supporters, and of those candidates already in the Republican primary race probably is not the most enticing of prospects."

Heineman's decision leaves Falls City businessman Charles W. Herbster and University of Nebraska Regent Jim Pillen as the front-runners for the GOP nomination. GOP contributors who had been sitting on the sideline will now be asked to donate to them, or others running, which includes State Sen. Brett Lindstrom and former State Sen. Theresa Thibodeau, both of Omaha.

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FORMER OPS BOARD MEMBER ANNOUNCES CANDIDACY FOR NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE

LINCOLN - Two more candidates recently announced campaigns for seats in the Nebraska Legislature.

Lou Ann Goding, a former Omaha School Board member, said she will challenge incumbent State Sen. Wendy DeBoer in northwest Omaha’s District 10.

Goding describes herself as a "pro-family, pro-jobs, pro-education Republican. She plans on working on behalf of her constituents to lower property taxes and advocate for "strong, accountable public schools."

“In the Nebraska Legislature I’ll fight to make sure every student has a chance to be a productive and successful citizen, and for policies that will strengthen families,” Goding said in a press release.

In this press release, she announced that she has the support of Governor Pete Ricketts, U.S. Senator Deb Fischer, and U.S. Representative Don Bacon in her attempt to beat out the Democrat incumbent, DeBoer.

DeBoer recognizes reelection will be more difficult after the boundaries for political districts were redrawn earlier this year.

In the Panhandle, Gering businessman Brian Hardin announced that he will seek to replace the term-limited Senator John Stinner in District 48. Scotts Bluff, Kimball, and Banner Counties are located inside the district.

“I’m conservative and believe smaller government is better government,” Hardin, a Republican, said in a press release. “My priorities include job creation and economic growth.”

Hardin previously worked as a consultant in strategic planning, training insurance brokers, and advising state and local officials about changes caused by the Affordable Care Act.

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ESTIMATES ON NEBRASKA CASINO REVENUE 'ARE ALL OVER THE PLACE'

LINCOLN — New industry estimates show that casino gambling could give Nebraskans significantly more property tax relief than advocates touted during last year’s successful campaign to legalize expanded gambling.

One source put the amount at about $63 million annually from casinos planned at the state’s six existing horse racetracks. Another projects it at closer to $82 million for those casinos — or as much as $98 million if two more track/casino combinations were built.

All three figures top the $45.5 million that supporters estimated casino legalization would add to the state’s Property Tax Credit Fund each year.

Nebraska became the newest state to legalize casinos last year, when voters passed a trio of ballot initiatives. The measures included a constitutional amendment allowing casino gambling at licensed horse racetracks and laws regulating the casinos and earmarking tax revenue for property tax relief.

Under those laws, the casinos are to pay a 20% tax on gross gambling revenue.

The state’s long-standing Property Tax Credit Fund, which offsets a portion of property tax bills, will get 70% of those taxes. The fund will provide $300 million worth of credits this fiscal year, using money collected from sales, income and other taxes.

Lance Morgan, president, and CEO of Ho-Chunk Inc., the economic development arm of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska, said the revenue estimate used during the campaign focused primarily on the Omaha, Lincoln and South Sioux City areas. He said newer projections put the revenue closer to $450 million, bringing the property tax relief portion to about $63 million.

Sean Boyd, president of Global Gaming Nebraska, estimated that casinos at the six current tracks could produce almost $583 million in revenue and almost $82 million for property tax relief. Adding casinos to potential tracks in North Platte and Gering would push revenue to about $698 million and the property tax money to about $98 million.

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COULD NEW NUCLEAR TECHNOLOGIES HELP NEBRASKA UTILITIES REDUCE CARBON EMISSIONS?

LINCOLN - Nebraska’s two largest utilities are closely watching the development of a new generation of smaller, simpler, and purportedly safer nuclear reactors to see how they might fit into plans for more carbon-free electricity.

Representatives of the Nebraska Public Power District and the Omaha Public Power District were among those attending an October seminar in Lincoln on “advanced” nuclear power, where advocates said new technologies will ensure that nuclear power is a player in America’s energy future.

“The next generation of advanced nuclear technology is something we’re following pretty closely,” said Tom Kent, president, and CEO of NPPD, which operates one of the 55 nuclear power plants in the U.S.

Kent is confident that nuclear power, whether it be extending the life of existing reactors or using new generation reactors, is going to be part of reducing carbon emissions.

OPPD has called the new nuclear technologies "intriguing."

Tim Uehling, a senior director in the decommissioning of the nuclear station at Fort Calhoun, said that nuclear technologies could become options to aid the process of OPPD achieving its goal of a net-zero carbon footprint by 2050 if they are commercially viable.

Last week, NPPD’s board also adopted a goal to reach net-zero carbon emissions by 2050.

Even if new nuclear technologies allow power districts to reach this goal in a commercially viable way, there are still controversies regarding the disposal of spent fuel and low-level radioactive waste. Nebraska had to pay a $146 million court judgment after it refused to license a proposed low-level radioactive waste repository in Boyd County.

Advocates of nuclear power claim that a new generation of nuclear power would be cooled differently and safer as a result. They also note that the state gets roughly 24% of its total electricity from NPPD's Cooper Nuclear Station, which provides about 600 jobs.

Much of the work of advocates is centered on improving the public perception and connotation of nuclear energy, but a few polls indicate that support for it is rising and that younger people are more receptive to it than older generations.

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NEBRASKA ATTORNEY GENERAL DOUG PETERSON WON'T SEEK REELECTION IN 2022

LINCOLN - Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson won't seek reelection in 2022, according to a note he wrote to family and friends that was obtained by the Journal Star this past weekend.

Peterson, a Republican who previously was assistant state attorney general, was first elected in 2014 and ran uncontested in 2018.

As the Attorney General, Peterson made a name for himself by opposing several Obama administration policies.

Texas, Kansas, and Louisiana first filed a federal lawsuit in October of 2015 that combatted a section of the Affordable Care Act that required states to pay a portion of the Health Insurance Providers Fee to help fund the health insurance. Nebraska and Wisconsin followed later.

Nebraska would again join several states in suing the federal government when they sought to end the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program in 2018. This program prevented undocumented, immigrant children from being deported.

Peterson joined other states in a lawsuit more recently that examined the integrity of the 2020 presidential electoral process. He has also been very active in his opposition to vaccine mandates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Last month, Peterson joined a bipartisan group of state attorney generals investigation of Instagram regarding their efforts to focus their marketing on children and young adults.

"In the last seven years it has been a unique privilege to serve our state as Attorney General," Peterson said in the note. "I have had the opportunity to work with some great people on issues that truly matter."

Sen. Mike Hilgers of Lincoln, who is the speaker of the Legislature, is among the likely Republican candidates to run for attorney general in 2022. Hilgers ran unsuccessfully in the 2014 attorney general Republican primary.

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NEBRASKA'S COVID CASES, HOSPITALIZATIONS AND DEATHS HIGHEST SINCE BEFORE VACCINES

LINCOLN- Nebraska's COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations, and deaths all hit their highest point in nearly a year last week with the delta surge showing no signs of abating.

As of Dec. 16th, 611 Nebraskans statewide were hospitalized with COVID, the highest figure since Dec. 15, 2020, according to a World-Herald analysis of federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data. That was a time before vaccines were available.

Nebraska posted 7,008 new cases of COVID-19, the first time weekly cases have surpassed 7,000 since the first week of January. Nebraska also reported 80 COVID-related deaths last week, the highest since the second week of January.

Nebraska's case rate put it at No. 19 among a group of mostly Northeastern and Midwestern states experiencing the fall surge. Four states now have called in their National Guards to help staff hospitals or nursing homes.

In Nebraska, the delta surge began in June, just as Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts lifted the COVID-19 state of emergency.

Ricketts again urged vaccination as the best available tool to reduce the likelihood of severe illness and hospitalization, noting that more than 90% of Nebraskans over age 65 have been vaccinated. "I encourage Nebraskans to consult their doctor about vaccination, especially those at higher risk from the virus due to age or medical condition," he said in his statement.

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SPEAKER MIKE HILGERS ANNOUNCES RUN FOR NEBRASKA ATTORNEY GENERAL

LINCOLN — State Sen. Mike Hilgers of Lincoln made it official that he will be a Republican candidate for attorney general.

The announcement, which had been anticipated, comes after current Attorney General Doug Peterson’s recent announcement that he will not seek a third term.

Hilgers, a 43-year-old lawyer who represents a district in northwest Lincoln, has run for attorney general previously. That was in 2014 when Peterson, a fellow Republican, won the GOP primary to replace then-Attorney General Jon Bruning.

“This is a match of my skill sets,” Hilgers told The World-Herald of the attorney general’s post. He said that a lot of the “battles” over issues like federal government overreach are fought by states attorneys in court.

Hilgers now serves as speaker of the Legislature, the top leadership position in the State Legislature. As a lawmaker, he has supported further restrictions on abortion rights and won the passage of a bill to expedite the construction of the South Beltway, a freeway south of Lincoln.

He first ran for the Legislature in 2012, losing to incumbent State Sen. Ken Haar. Hilgers ran again for an open seat in the Legislature in 2016 and won. He was reelected in 2020. Hilgers is barred from running for his seat again due to term limits.

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NEBRASKA TAX COLLECTIONS BEAT PROJECTIONS BY $40 MILLION IN NOVEMBER

LINCOLN- Nebraska collected more state tax revenue than expected last month, according to a report released earlier this week.

The state Department of Revenue reported net tax receipts of $546 million, which is 7.7% higher than the forecast of $506 million for the month.

The state reported higher-than-expected revenues from net individual, sales-and-use and miscellaneous taxes. Net corporate income tax revenue also was above forecast.

Nebraska has collected $2.349 billion so far in the current fiscal year, which began July 1. That's 1.7% higher than the forecast of $2.31 billion at this point in the year.

The comparisons are based on projections set by the Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board in October.

Thus far, projections have been beaten nearly every month.

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NEBRASKA UNEMPLOYMENT DROPS AGAIN TO LOWEST IN RECORDED U.S. HISTORY

LINCOLN - Nebraska's unemployment rate dropped once again to the lowest level on record in November, beating the previous national record it set the prior month, according to labor statistics released Friday. The State Department of Labor reported a seasonally adjusted unemployment rate of 1.8% last month, down from 1.9% in October. No other state has seen its rate drop below 2% since data collection began in 1976.

The average rate is even lower in Nebraska's largest cities. The Omaha area reported an unemployment rate of 1.5%, while the Lincoln area had a 1.1% rate and Grand Island recorded 1.2%. Nebraska has struggled with a chronic worker shortage even before the pandemic, a trend that has driven up wages and made it difficult for employers to hire and expand. Prominent business groups in the state have identified the lack of employees as their top concern.

Nebraska and other rural states typically have unemployment rates lower than the national average for a combination of reasons, including fewer people per job, more jobs with ties to agriculture and food production that are considered essential, and policies that discourage unemployment.

Some groups have argued that the unemployment rate is an incomplete picture of the state's economic health because it doesn't count people who have stopped looking for work.

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MANY NEBRASKA TEACHERS ARE STRESSED, OVERWORKED AND WANT TO QUIT, SURVEY FINDS

LINCOLN - Teachers across Nebraska are burned out, working more hours and losing crucial planning time amid workforce shortages and a rise in mental health concerns in schools. Those are some of the findings of a Nebraska State Education Association survey of more than 3,000 teachers released Thursday, and officials say solutions are needed now.

"This is a crisis," said NSEA President Jenni Benson.

The teachers union sent the survey earlier this school year to about 18,000 of its members, and about 17% responded, answering questions regarding personal stress, student mental health and staff shortages. Nearly two-thirds of respondents said they were more stressed than last year, while 57% said they are working more compared with last year.

The survey painted a stark picture of staff shortages across the state, too, as schools struggle to fill vacant positions and find substitute teachers during the still-ongoing pandemic that has decimated the labor market.

With a limited number of subs, teachers have been forced to drop planning time to cover classes. Three-fourths said they have had to cover for colleagues, while 60% disagreed that their district is providing them with the planning time necessary to do their job.

Eighty-four percent of respondents said they've witnessed a rise in behavioral and mental health issues among students this school year, while 64% also expressed concerns about their own mental well-being.

Among the more than 4,300 comments gathered as part of the survey, one teacher put it bluntly: "This year feels worse than last year."

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EYEBROWS RAISE WHEN JIM PILLEN SAYS NEBRASKA ROADS 'NOT THAT BAD' DURING DEBATE

LINCOLN — Is it a political gaffe to describe the condition of Nebraska roads and broadband coverage as “not that bad?”

That question sparked debate in some political circles after Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Pillen offered that comment during a debate last weekend. He was responding to a question on what Nebraska should do with the $2.5 billion it expects to receive from the infrastructure bill recently signed into law by President Joe Biden.

During the Nebraska Farm Bureau’s political forum, Pillen and five other GOP candidates for governor were asked how they would use the money coming to Nebraska to help farmers, ranchers, and rural communities.

Pillen, who is a member of the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, responded that while there were “great opportunities” for spending on roads and broadband internet service, federal spending was “out of whack.” He described the infrastructure bill in three words: “big, government, socialism.”

“Could we use some money for roads and broadband? Maybe, but not today; they’re not that bad,” Pillen said. “We need to wait until the conservatives get back in charge, and then we give money and use it correctly.”

Some, including Pillen’s chief opponent, Charles Herbster, seized on the comment, saying it was a mistake to describe Nebraska’s highway system and broadband coverage as “not that bad.” The comment was compared to a political gaffe in 1988 when then-Sen. David Karnes said Nebraska needed “fewer farmers.” The remark led to Karnes’ defeat and a victory by Democrat Bob Kerrey.

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TWO NEBRASKA TOWNS HAVE APPROVED LOCAL ABORTION BANS. DOES IT MATTER?

LINCOLN — While the debate over the right to abortion rages on the national stage and advocates prepare for battle at the state level, dozens of local governments have passed ordinances seeking to outlaw abortion locally, including two in Nebraska.

The city of Blue Hill (population roughly 900) and the village of Hayes Center (home to about 200) passed ordinances in April. Two more — the city of Curtis and the village of Dunning — have taken initial votes on their own.

These motions in Nebraska appear to be inspired by the arguments taking place in Mississippi, as they have requested the Supreme Court overrule the landmark Roe v. Wade and Planned Parenthood v. Casey decisions.

It remains to be seen how the local ordinances will fit into the bigger picture of potentially major state legislation in the coming year.

None of the Nebraska jurisdictions that have enacted abortion bans have abortion providers within them, and none are positioned within counties that have abortion clinics.

As of 2017, 97% of Nebraska’s 93 counties had no clinics that provided abortions, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a public policy institute that supports abortion rights.

If the Supreme Court were to overturn Roe v. Wade, constitutional law professors still do not see an obvious avenue for enforcement of the local ordinances.

The two Nebraska ordinances vary in their details, but both hope to outlaw abortion locally and "aiding or abetting" abortion. They refer to abortion as "a murderous act of violence" and assert that “abortion providers and their enablers should be regarded as murderers and treated and ostracized as such.”

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HOSPITALS IN LINCOLN, ELSEWHERE TWEAKING VACCINE MANDATES AFTER COURT RULING

LINCOLN — A court ruling that blocked implementation of a federal COVID-19 vaccine mandate for health care workers in Nebraska and nine other states has some hospitals rethinking their own vaccine mandates.

A federal judge in Missouri temporarily suspended an emergency rule on November 29th that would require health workers at facilities covered by Medicare and Medicaid to at least get one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by Monday, December 13th.

While the ruling does not bar health care facilities from enacting their own vaccine mandate, the two health systems that serve the Lincoln area are backing off those mandates somewhat.

St. Elizabeth and Nebraska Heart Hospital in Lincoln, both of which are owned by CHI Health, hospitals in Omaha, and in many other cities, said they are pushing back the date for compliance at least a month.

"In light of the changing legal landscape in federal courts, including the recent nationwide injunction on the CMS rule, we are suspending the (Dec. 6) deadline for compliance until at least January," Jeanette Wojtalewicz, interim president and CEO of CHI Health, said in a statement.

She went on to say that unvaccinated employees without an exemption will be allowed to keep working for this extended period, but must wear masks and submit regular COVID-19 tests.

Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson filed a lawsuit to suspend the vaccine mandate for health workers. The lawsuit, compounded with the already understaffed hospitals and health care facilities, has led many to reconsider their internal vaccine mandates.

"It all boils down to workforce," said Andy Hale, vice president of advocacy for the Nebraska Hospital Association.

The workforce issue was prevalent prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, especially in rural areas. The problem would likely get worse with a vaccine mandate in effect.

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'TAKING AFFORDABLE HOUSING TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL': LINCOLN NONPROFIT WILL HELP COORDINATE, SUBSIDIZE CITY'S EFFORTS

LINCOLN — Call it a city-based co-op, a borrowed concept from Nebraska's agricultural roots to pool resources to get the job done.

The job, in this case, is increasing affordable housing in Lincoln by 5,000 units in the next decade, and city officials believe an important mechanism for getting there is a nonprofit financial institution called Community Development Resources.

Community Development Resources, which was created in the 1980s to benefit traditionally underserved small-business owners, will broaden its mission to include affordable housing, Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird announced.

In their effort to do so, they must first fill the financial gap developers face to build affordable houses. They plan to organize banking, business, philanthropic, and government efforts to cover the amount needed.

The irreconcilable margin between the high cost of construction while offering low rent or affordable housing requires contribution from developers.

“We are eager to change the math and achieve a bottom-line goal that benefits everyone — more high-quality homes that families can afford making neighborhoods more stable and our community more successful,” Gaylor Baird said.

By expanding Community Development Resources, they are able to meet both of the top priorities established in the city's Affordable Housing Coordinated Action Plan: creating strategic partnerships and developing a pool of funding to help developers.

The nonprofit hopes to raise $10 million, which would allow its assets to grow to $50 million. Most of this money would be used for affordable housing development, offering grants or low-interest loans.

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