STATE ASKS JUDGE TO KEEP COUNTY REQUIREMENTS FOR PETITIONS IN PLACE

LINCOLN- Lawyers representing the state asked a federal judge to throw out a lawsuit challenging Nebraska’s requirements for qualifying ballot initiatives, saying that doing so would “drastically change” the initiative process in the state.

The lawsuit, filed earlier this month by Crista Eggers, a statewide campaign coordinator for Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana’s pair of petitions now being circulated, asserts the requirements for gathering signatures are unconstitutional.

Nebraska’s state constitution requires petitions to obtain the signature of 5% of voters in 38 of the state’s 93 counties, which Eggers’ lawsuit alleges violates the equal protection and due process clauses of the 14th Amendment, and violates the First Amendment rights of voters.

Replying on behalf of Evnen, the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office said the signature-gathering requirement was integral to the initiative process in the state, and that doing away with it would effectively cut rural Nebraskans out of the qualification process.

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EARLY VOTING HAS BEGUN IN NEBRASKA'S FIRST DISTRICT SPECIAL ELECTION

OMAHA — Nebraska voters can start casting in-person early ballots as of May 31st for the June 28 special election, which will determine who will finish the final six months of former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry’s term, following his resignation in March.

Voters in all of Butler, Cass, Colfax, Cuming, Dodge, Lancaster, Madison, Platte, Seward, and Stanton Counties, as well as voters in parts of Polk and Sarpy Counties, make up Nebraska's 1st Congressional District.

The candidates running to replace Fortenberry are State Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk, a Republican and former speaker of the Legislature, and State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, a Democrat.

According to the Nebraska Secretary of State's Office, already-requested early voting ballots will be sent out Tuesday by county election officials.

June 17 is the last day to request a ballot by mail for the special election.

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KEVIN MCCARTHY WILL HEADLINE EVENT IN LINCOLN FOR MIKE FLOOD

LINCOLN - House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy will headline a fundraising luncheon for 1st District GOP congressional candidate Mike Flood at the Country Club of Lincoln on Friday.

The $100-per-person event will include "sponsorship level" donations up to $5,800.

McCarthy will likely become Speaker of the House if Republicans gain majority control following the November elections.

Although, the California Republican has been scrutinized lately for his refusal to cooperate with subpoenas to appear before the House special committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

McCarthy had been in contact with former President Donald Trump during the day's events.

"For House Republican leaders to agree to participate in this political stunt would change the House forever," McCarthy wrote in a recent op-ed for the Wall Street Journal shared with Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio, who also declined to honor a subpoena to appear before the special committee.

Flood is facing off against Democratic candidate Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln in a June 28 special election to fill the last six months of former Republican Rep. Jeff Fortenberry after he resigned from the House due to his conviction on charges of lying to federal officials about illegal foreign campaign contributions.

Flood and Pansing Brooks will meet again in November in a rematch for election to a new two-year term, beginning in January.

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LINCOLN FIRE UNION BACKS FLOOD OVER PANSING BROOKS IN SPECIAL ELECTION

LINCOLN- State Sen. Mike Flood picked up a union endorsement that gives him new foot soldiers in the door-to-door push to turn out his voters in the June 28 special election that will decide who finishes out the term of former U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry.

The Lincoln Fire Fighters Association endorsed Flood, a former speaker of the Legislature from Norfolk.

The roughly 300-member union picked Flood, a Republican, over his opponent, State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, a Democrat. Union president Adam Schrunk said 1st District voters have two good choices in June but said Flood was “the best.”

“We put politicians through a fairly involved process so that when we attach our name to them, we can be sure they’ll be the advocates for public safety that they say they will,” Schrunk said. “He’s proven to be that kind of elected official already.”

Pansing Brooks said she was disappointed by the union’s choice but said she will still “be their champion in Congress, just as I have in the Nebraska Legislature.”

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COMPLAINTS SURFACE OVER NEBRASKA VOTER I.D. PETITION CIRCULATORS

LINCOLN- Secretary of State says it's not uncommon to receive complaints on petitions where signatures are being sought. Although the complaint received earlier this week from Senator Carol Blood is a first.

“The complaint has been that the signature collector has claimed to be a state employee that’s not a complaint we have heard before,” said Secretary of State Bob Evnen.

When the secretary of state receives complaints, they forward them to the petition organizers where they can address them.

“There were two separate complaints, based on what I know. We are investigating, but we believe it’s an extremely isolated incident right now,” said Senator Julie Slama, the spokeswoman for Citizens for Voter I.D.

Carol Blood does not believe the incident is isolated saying, “Emails and messages through social media claim that this has happened all over the state. So we know its not a one or two-time incident we know its happening when they are going door to door."

Senator Carol Blood says she likes when Nebraska voters get to vote on what's important to them but the way this is getting done isn’t the right way.

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TIMING AND ABORTION DECISION COULD INFLUENCE JUNE 28 HOUSE RACE BETWEEN FLOOD, PANSING BROOKS

PLATTSMOUTH- A third of Nebraska gets no summer break from voting this year. The state set a June 28 special election to fill the 1st Congressional District’s open House seat.

Nebraska must select someone to finish the last six months of former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry’s term. He resigned in March after a federal jury convicted him of three felonies.

Two former state senators are in the running to replace him — Republican Mike Flood, a former Speaker of the Legislature from Norfolk, and Democrat Patty Pansing Brooks, a lawmaker from Lincoln.

Both candidates agree that motivating voters to turn out for the special election, just a month after the primary, is one of the most difficult aspects of running. Typically they would expect a breather from political campaigning.

"The critical issue right now is getting people out, recognizing they’re all exhausted,” Pansing Brooks said.

Flood said he intends to focus on "kitchen table issues" like trying to slow the inflationary pressures on food and fuel costs by cutting federal spending.

Pansing Brooks said she wants to curb inflation, too. But she’s seen a change in what voters emphasize since the leak of a potential Supreme Court ruling that could overturn Roe vs. Wade.

Flood advocates outlawing abortion in Nebraska and voted for a late-term abortion ban. Pansing Brooks backs abortion rights and helped to filibuster a bill that Flood co-sponsored to ban abortion if the Supreme Court acts.

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NEBRASKA GOP BLASTED FOR ATTACKING DEMOCRATIC CANDIDATE OVER GUN BILL VOTE AFTER SCHOOL SHOOTING

LINCOLN- Jane Kleeb, Chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party, blasted Nebraska Republicans for sending out an email within hours of the Texas elementary school shooting that attacked Democratic gubernatorial candidate Carol Blood over a gun bill vote.

“Their subject line was ‘Carol Blood wants us defenseless,’” party Chair Jane Kleeb said in a tweet. “You mean like the kids and their teacher that was killed? Totally disgusting.”

Blood called the email “hateful and meant to generate fear” and said it was “not an appropriate response” to the killing of 19 children and two adults at a school in Uvalde, Texas.

Blood then spoke on opponent Jim Pillen saying, “Mr. Pillen who claims he will not participate in dirty campaigning continues to show us with his silence he will only keep his head down and pretend that his silence does not make him complicit".

Taylor Gage, the state GOP executive director, said the email was a planned communication “and obviously not a response” to the shooting. He said the party’s actual response was a tweet sent out Wednesday morning that said: “Grieving and praying for everyone impacted by the shooting.”

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OMAHA CITY COUNCIL APPROVES NEARLY $11 MILLION FOR NEW AMBULANCES AND EMERGENCY VEHICLES

OMAHA- Through a nearly $10.98 million purchase agreement unanimously approved by the Omaha City Council this week, 11 new emergency vehicles and seven ambulances will be purchased beginning this year.

The purchases are a part of a plan developed by Fire Chief Dan Olsen that looks to replace the Omaha Fire Department’s entire fleet of emergency vehicles over the next eight years.

By the end of 2024, 18 new vehicles will be purchased for nearly $10.98 million to be paid from the Capital Improvement Program, the City Capital Improvement Fund and the Contingent Liability Fund.

The equipment includes seven ambulances, five pumper trucks, four ladder trucks, one hazmat vehicle and one rescue pumper.

OFD expects to purchase a total of 54 new vehicles through 2029, completely replacing the current fleet. The total cost of the eight-year replacement program is $29.35 million. Those additional purchases will require City Council approval.

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DAVE PTAK OUT AS HASTINGS CITY ADMINISTRATOR, SEARCH FOR REPLACEMENT STARTS

HASTINGS- The City of Hastings is searching for a new city administrator.

Mayor Corey Stutte says Dave Ptak no longer works for the city. Ptak had served as city administrator since 2019 and was city attorney before that. A city email from April 11 said Ptak was going on leave for an unspecified personnel issue.

Stutte said he couldn’t comment on any details because it was a personnel matter.

Manager of Hastings Utilities Kevin Johnson has been acting as city administrator since Ptak went on leave and will continue in that role until a new administrator is hired. Stutte says the city will engage with a recruiter in the hiring process and expects it to take two-three months to make a hire.

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SENATOR, FORMER LAWMAKER SAY SOME VOTER ID PETITION CIRCULATORS CLAIM TO BE STATE EMPLOYEES

LINCOLN- Some petition circulators seeking signatures for a voter ID initiative are falsely claiming they are state employees, a current and a former state senator said earlier this week.

Impersonating someone else to gain something of value — in this case, payment for collecting a petition signature - is a misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail or a $1,000 fine. The crime would rise to a felony if repeated more than twice.

State Sen. Julie Slama, the director of Citizens for Voter ID, which is seeking to place a voter identification initiative on the November ballot, said in a text that her organization is looking into the complaints.

If they proved to be true, Slama said, it would result in “corrective action up to and including termination of the circulators.”

The voter ID initiative is using a company, Vanguard Field Strategies of Kansas City, Missouri, to collect signatures using paid circulators.

One came from former State Sen. Shelley Kiel, who lives in the Dundee area of Omaha. Kiel said a young woman came to her door and began the conversation by claiming, “I’m from the State of Nebraska,” and asking Kiel to sign the vote ID petition.

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CENTRAL CITY CELEBRATES ITS NEW $27M HOSPITAL

CENTRAL CITY- A larger operating room, a cafeteria, and more spacious patient rooms are some of the advantages the new health care facility in Central City will offer Merrick County residents.

Officials marked the completion of the new Merrick Medical Center, located on the west side of Central City on May 25th.

The new facility, part of Bryan Health, will open June 13. The $27 million structure totals 51,307 square feet, and replaces the current Merrick Medical Center, which was built in 1959.

Health care has changed a lot in that time, said Patrick Avila, the facility’s chief executive officer, including how staff focuses on patients, how a patient moves through a facility and in the type of equipment hospitals use.

The focus of Merrick Medical Center and Bryan Health “is to keep health care local,” Avila said. “So we want to do as much as we can here for our community.”

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NEBRASKA POLITICAL LEADERS CALL FOR SEMI-AUTOMATIC GUN BANAND CREATE TASK FORCE TO REVIEW STATE PRACTICES

LINCOLN- Nebraska political leaders called for everything from a semi-automatic weapons ban to the restoration of prayer in schools after this week's shooting at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas.

Republican gubernatorial candidate Jim Pillen called for action on “unaddressed mental health and school safety challenges” and promised to work with current Gov. Pete Ricketts, law enforcement and the Legislature to keep children safe in their classrooms.

State Sen. Carol Blood, the Democratic gubernatorial candidate, called for federal action on gun laws, rather than a patchwork of state laws. She said there are changes most Americans can agree upon that would improve safety without taking away guns from responsible gun owners.

Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha, who was among the leaders in blocking permitless concealed carry this year, said Nebraska needs laws to regulate and restrict the sale of semi-automatic weapons.

Nebraska education leaders announced they are forming a task force to review best practices and identify ways that classrooms throughout the state can have access to the highest standard of safety possible.

State Education Commissioner Matt Blomstedt said he expects that proposed legislation could come from the task force, although the scope of the group and its work is still being finalized. The task force was prompted by Senator Lynne Walz and leaders have already convened to begin the work.

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PROSECUTORS URGE JUDGE TO REJECT APPEAL BY FORMER REP. JEFF FORTENBERRY

LINCOLN- Federal prosecutors urged a judge this week to reject the latest appeal by former U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, saying that it “largely raises previously rejected” arguments and raises claims that are improper.

A month ago, Fortenberry’s lawyers asked that the congressman’s convictions following a seven-day trial be thrown out, arguing that his false statements were not “material” to the overall federal investigation into illegal “conduit” political contributions.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Central District of California, in their response brief, said two FBI agents testified “extensively” during the trial about how Fortenberry’s false statements impacted their investigation.

Fortenberry, who was convicted of three felonies, faces up to five years in prison on each of the counts. He would be the only person caught up in the investigation, called “Operation Titan’s Grip,” who would serve time in behind bars if he is sentenced to prison.

A special election has been set for June 28 to fill the vacancy. That is the same day that Fortenberry is scheduled to be sentenced in Los Angeles.

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SHORTAGE OF EXAMINERS MEANS CLOSURE, CUTBACKS AT NEBRASKA DMV'S

LINCOLN- Due to a shortage of driver examiners at the Nebraska Department of Motor Vehicles, about 30 DMV offices across the state, mostly in rural areas, have closed temporarily or seen hours cut back. The closures have prompted frustration and disappointment and have forced customers to drive to other counties to take tests.

The state employee’s union thinks the problem is low pay, and the Nebraska Association of Public Employees recently asked the state to renegotiate the starting wage for driver's license examiners, which is now $16.48 an hour.

Rhonda Lahm, the director of DMV, said it’s more complicated than just salary.

To deal with the staff shortages, Lahm said the DMV has tried to maintain normal hours at its five-day-a-week locations, which are in larger counties like Douglas and Lancaster. Closing of rural offices, she said, is rotated so there is some availability of the tests.

According to the DMV website, no driving tests were scheduled in Antelope, Knox and Cedar Counties during the months of April and May.

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TRANSITION FROM PRIVATIZATION OF OMAHA-AREA CHILD WELFARE GOING SMOOTHLY

OMAHA — Only a few back-office details remain before Nebraska wraps up its last contract with a private agency to oversee the care of abused and neglected children in the Omaha area.

Nebraska's previous contract with the Kansas-based Saint Francis Ministries finishes June 30. The date signifies both the end of the contract and the conclusion of Nebraska's 12-year experiment with having private entities manage child welfare cases.

The transition back to the Department of Health and Human Services' management of child welfare cases has reportedly gone smoothly. Sen. John Arch, who chairs the Legislature's Health and Human Services Committee and an investigative committee looking into the Saint Francis contact, said he has been hearing good reports.

Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, who led the push for the legislative investigation, said she has not received any update about the transition but considers that a good sign when it comes to HHS.

“No news is usually good news,” she said, contrasting the silence to the flood of calls, emails, and other contacts about problems during the contract.

All of the cases handled by Saint Francis made the switch been Jan. 1 and the end of March, but some of the problems that plagued the private contractor will take time to correct.

“We haven’t seen any kind of miraculous turnaround in the cases,” said Monika Gross, director of the state Foster Care Review Office. “I guess the good news is there’s nothing horrible, but there’s still significant struggles going on.”

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ELEVEN INDICTED IN NEBRASKA IN SCHEME TO DEFUND FEDERAL COVID-19 AID PROGRAM

LINCOLN- Eleven people were indicted this week by a federal grand jury in Nebraska in a scheme to fraudulently claim $7.6 million in benefits from the federal Payroll Protection Program (PPP) and Economic Injury Disaster Loans program.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Omaha said in a press release that one of those indicted, Ramel Thompson, had coached the others on how to file fraudulent applications on behalf of 14 businesses.

None of the businesses had the employees claimed on the applications, the indictment alleged, and none of the money was used for expenses allowed under the programs, such as payroll, rent, utilities and mortgage interest.

The 11 were charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering.

In addition to Thompson, those indicted were: Carl Estwick, Jackie Harper, Tarysh G. Hogue, Richard L. Kelly, Lenfield Kendrick, Henry T. Lewis, Trevor A. McNeil, Michael A. Perkins, Michael A. Perkins Jr. and Shawn Prater.

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NEBRASKA UNEMPLOYMENT RATE HITS ALL-TIME LOW FOR SECOND STRAIGHT MONTH

LINCOLN - Nebraska’s latest unemployment rate of 1.9% represented an all-time low for the second straight month, and that April level remains tied for the lowest reached by any state in history according to the report released Friday, May 20.

The State Department of Labor's preliminary and seasonally adjusted report showed the April rate decreasing from the March 2022 rate of 2.0%.

Utah is the only other state to drop to such a level, tying Nebraska at the 1.9% record low, state officials said.

The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for the county was 3.6% in April. That figure is unchanged from the month before and down 2.4% from the 6.0% in April the year prior.

Additionally, Nebraska's State Labor Department announced the preliminary employment for April reached an all-time high of 1.04 million people working.

“The number of employed workers in the labor force has been at historically high levels since July of 2021,” Labor Commissioner John Albin said. “The Omaha metro reached a record high employment level at nearly half a million in April, and the Lincoln metro has seen record highs for two straight months.”

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STATE AUDIT FINDS MILLIONS IN DOLLARS OF MISTAKEN PAYMENTS BY DOUGLAS COUNTY TREASURER

LINCOLN — A new state audit says the Douglas County Treasurer’s Office has wrongly calculated the amount of tax revenue due to several local taxing entities, overpaying the Omaha Public Schools by nearly $6 million but underpaying the Elkhorn School District by $4 million.

Douglas County and the City of Omaha were also among those losing out on millions in tax revenue, said the audit, released earlier this week.

Instead of paying property taxes, the Omaha Public Power District pays “in-lieu” of tax payments based on 5% of its annual revenue from electric sales. Last year, that amounted to $26 million, which was then distributed to the county, cities and school districts in the county.

Douglas County Treasurer John Ewing, when contacted Monday, May 20, said the method for calculating the in-lieu-of tax distribution has remained the same since the 1960s. The office had continue its practice following a review in 2019 that included consultation with the State Auditor's Office.

“This is not a case of money being misappropriated, it’s really a case of a mistaken interpretation of the state statute that had continued up until this year’s distribution,” Ewing said.

He added that it will likely be a decision among the various taxing entities, along with the County Treasurer's Office, on how to reconcile the under- and overpayments from the past several years. Ewing said he has spoken with several of the entities involved and doesn't expect a lawsuit.

“Everyone makes mistakes,” he said, adding. “It’s a mistake versus a knowing, wrong distribution.”

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LACK OF CONSERVATIVE BUY-IN, TIME HELPED DOOM NEBRASKA PRISON REFORM EFFORTS

LINCOLN - The prison reform movement that has helped send U.S. inmate numbers plummeting was born in deep-red Texas, offering a new criminal justice vision that appealed to both Republicans and Democrats, liberals and conservatives.

In the new “justice reinvestment” model, prisons aren’t simply warehouses where inmates are kept as long as possible before being released to offend again. Instead, they are places of rehabilitation and redemption that can help make communities safer while saving money, too.

Nebraska, home to the nation's fastest-growing and most-overcrowded prison system, failed to pass a justice reinvestment proposal in the last month of the Legislative session amid bitterness and distrust.

Gov. Pete Ricketts initially welcomed the initiative and was an active participant in it, but ultimately referred to the proposed reductions in criminal penalties as "soft on crime."

Nearly every Democrat voted to advance Legislative Bill 920 while only a third of Republicans did. Ricketts' comments in a recent interview reflected the Republican Legislators' sentiment, saying he found the entire justice reinvestment model "flawed from the get-go," and "backwards."

State Sen. Steve Lathrop, the Democratic lawmaker from Omaha who partnered with Ricketts to bring justice reinvestment into Nebraska, said it’s the governor’s thinking that’s flawed.

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LINCOLN REFUSES TO RELEASE BODY-CAM FOOTAGE FROM 2020 PROTESTS, SHIELDED BY VAGUE STATE LAW

LINCOLN - Even after the city settled a federal lawsuit with a protester who was injured during racial justice protests in May 2020, the last pending litigation related to the demonstrations, Lincoln will not release body-worn camera footage from officers who policed the demonstrations.

The state denied the Journal Star's public record request for body-worn camera footage from the 2020 demonstrations under the state's open records statute. Law enforcement agencies are allowed to withhold records they deem "investigatory" in nature.

Elise Poole was struck by a rubber bullet during the 2020 demonstrations following George Floyd's murder in Minneapolis at the hands of police. The newspaper sought four nights' footage from the incident after the city's $497,500 settlement with Poole.

Body-worn camera footage is considered public record, but due to the aforementioned investigatory exception, "state law effectively prohibits disclosure of all body-worn camera footage to the public," said Max Kautsch, an attorney who focuses on First Amendment rights cases in Kansas and Nebraska.

City Attorney Yohance Christie said the requested footage "includes a time period where litigation is currently pending," adding that there are "other claims that are pending" from the same time period.

Lincoln Police Capt. Todd Kocian, a department spokesman, said the decision of whether to release the footage would be up to Chief Teresa Ewins. He added that "it's not likely to be released in the near future."

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