NEBRASKA HIGH COURT NAMES NEW LEADER OF OFFICE THAT SERVES AS PUBLIC GUARDIAN OF LAST RESORT

LINCOLN- The Nebraska Supreme Court has appointed a new director for the Office of Public Guardian, Marla Fischer. The court chose Fischer to replace Michelle Chafee, who retired. Fischer has served as the deputy director and has over nine years of experience with the Nebraska Judicial Branch.

As the new director, Fischer will be responsible for overseeing guardian and conservator services in the state. The office serves both rural and urban areas of Nebraska. The Office of Public Guardian was established by the legislature in 2014 to provide a public guardian or conservator for someone when there is no other alternative.

This service not only produces advocates for those in need but also provides education, training, and support for volunteer guardians and conservators. They also do recruiting across the state to expand their office. Fischer and her office provide an invaluable service to vulnerable Nebraskans.

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NEBRASKA GOV. PILLEN APPOINTS INAUGURAL MEMBERS TO COMMISSION ON ASIAN AMERICAN AFFAIRS

LINCOLN- Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen recently appointed 13 inaugural members to the state's new Commission on Asian American Affairs. Similar to other state commissions in sentiment, they will focus on "enhancing the cause of Asian American rights." Their duties as advocates for Asian Americans in Nebraska are outlined in Legislative Bill 1300. Members of the commission serve four-year terms and a fourteenth member will be named in the future.

There will be an executive board to oversee operations and ensure that meetings are held quarterly at the least. State Senator Rita Sanders of District 45, the only current Nebraska lawmaker of Asian descent, introduced the legislation last year before it was approved this session. Sanders emphasized the importance of the commission's development to a small but growing population in the state. The members so far are listed below.

• Maureen Brase of Raymond (founder and director of Kokyo Taiko, Nebraska’s only Wadaiko performance group — Japanese style drumming).

• Weysan Dun of Omaha (a former FBI special agent).

• Dr. Deepak M. Gangahar of Elkhorn (a thoracic and cardiovascular surgeon).

• Maorong Jiang of Omaha (director of Creighton University’s Asian World Center).

• Tram Kieu of Lincoln (grants manager for the Cooper Foundation).

• Joanne Li of Omaha (chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Omaha).

• Yunwoo Nam of Lincoln (professor of community and regional planning at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln).

• Arunkumar Pondicherry of Lincoln (president of the India Association of Nebraska Lincoln and member of the Nebraska Library Commission).

• Rebecca (Jueyezi) Reinhardt of Lincoln (cultural program coordinator and Chinese community advocate for the Asian Community and Cultural Center).

• Vickie Sakurada Schaepler of Kearney (Japanese Hall and History Project coordinator for the Legacy of the Plains Museum).

• Ryo Suzuki of Kearney (senior director for strategic marketing and external relations at the University of Nebraska at Kearney’s College of Business and Technology and the Nebraska Safety Center).

• Hiep Vu of Lincoln (associate professor at UNL’s Nebraska Center for Virology).

• Carol Wang of Omaha (executive director of the Metro Omaha Medical Society).

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NU PROPOSES INFLATIONARY TUITION INCREASES TO HELP CLOSE BUDGET DEFICIT

LINCOLN- The University of Nebraska's top financial leader expects to wipe out a deficit from their budget next year through tuition increases and expense cuts connected to inflation. Giving the new university President-elect a clean slate was one of the chief financial officer's main goals. The proposed tuition increase would accumulate $12 million more annually.

These changes will translate to about $135 more annually for 15-credit semesters at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, with students at the Omaha and Kearney campuses seeing slightly smaller increases. Nonresident, international, and graduate students will face larger increases, although they already pay more. These numbers vary across the University of Nebraska's multiple campuses and programs.

The NU Board of Regents voted to increase tuition for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic by 3.5% across the board. The proposal also anticipates raising about $5 million in additional revenue from stabilizing or increasing enrollment. Budget cuts are also a large part of the plan due to inflationary costs. This approach is said to be a good starting point for a problem that requires a long-term solution.

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FORMER SEN. COASH'S MEMOIR CONFRONTS SOMETIMES PAINFUL, BUT OFTEN INSTRUCTIVE SMALL-TOWN BEGINNINGS

LINCOLN- "Running Naked" is an apt title for the recently published memoir of former State Senator Colby Coash, who once ran naked across a theater stage during a performance while he was studying acting at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The 246-page "coming of age memoir" also bares all about growing up in Bassett, a small Nebraska ranching town, as well as the pain of divorce and the farm crisis.

The book also deals with the struggle of whether to stay in rural areas or move to bigger cities, which many young people face in Nebraska. According to Coash, he was once caught in that dilemma. Although Coash was expected to operate his long-time family business in Bassett, Coash said he was restless and rebellious, and sought to run from his family.

Coash did just that, choosing to move to Lincoln and later representing south Lincoln in the Nebraska Legislature in 2008 when he was 33. One of Coash's most famous acts as a legislator was his vote to repeal the death penalty in 2015. "I wrote this book so readers could see the impact of family, legacy, and the small towns that shape our journey," said Coash, "I hope readers, especially Nebraskans, will see the hopefulness in their own story by reading mine."

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PORHUB INTENDS TO BAN NEBRASKA USERS AFTER PASSAGE OF LB1092

LINCOLN- Pornhub, one of the busiest websites for sexually explicit videos, is less than a month away from going dark in Nebraska. The company blames LB1092 for its closure in the state, a bill introduced by Sen. Dave Murman that would require the pornographic site to digitally verify the IDs of people using its site. Pornhub representatives argued that such a requirement would put users' data at risk.

LB1092, passed in April on a 35-3 vote, creates liability for knowingly or intentionally publishing or distributing material harmful to minors on the internet. Murman and other advocates of such age-verification laws argue they are necessary to protect children from exposure to pornography. Aylo, Pornhub's parent company, confirmed that the website would be blocked in Nebraska on July 15th, when the new law goes into effect.

Nebraska would be the latest state where Aylo blocks users based on such laws. Others include Arkansas, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. During debate on the bill, Sen. Carol Blood and other critics warned that the state should not require such websites to collect personal information. She said the requirements puts users at risk of being embarrassed by bad actors or fleeced financially by having their identity stolen.

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ALTEN PILOT PROJECT RESUMES USING NEW, LESS MECHANICAL PROCESS

MEAD- A pilot project to discover how best to remove and dispose of a 14-acre pile of pesticide-laden "wet cake" from the site of the now-notorious AltEn ethanol plants has resumed after a delay that was blamed on equipment breakdowns. Two excavators began work on Monday to mix the wet cake with bentonite so it could be shipped to a landfill outside of Omaha without creating odor or dust issues.

The odor generated by the spent grain had been described as "putrid" by residents near the former plant, which was ordered closed by the state in February of 2021 after the owners failed to comply with orders to properly clean up the piles of wet cake and wastewater left behind. After a nearby landfill stopped accepting the waste grain, it began piling up at the site south of Mead.

The pile grew to cover 14 acres, and is estimated to contain 115,000 tons of waste. Last fall, NewFields, the company hired to clean up the AltEn site, shipped roughly 10,000 tons of spent grain to a landfill near Bennington. Cold weather suspended efforts throughout winter. Officials had hoped to resume the project in early May, but more preparation work was necessary to avoid mechanical breakdowns.

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DUST IN THE WIND: NEBRASKA'S OLDEST OPERATING WIND TURBINES TO BE REMOVED

LINCOLN- The state's oldest continuously operating wind turbines are set to be torn down in July, changing a landmark seen while driving into northeast Lincoln along Interstate 80. According to Lincoln Electric System, the company's two 290-foot-tall turbines have reached the end of their productive runs and need to be removed.

The two wind turbines marked some of the earliest examples of what utility-class wind production in Nebraska might require when they were installed in 1998 and 1999. Scott Benson, an LES representative, said the Lincoln turbines helped LES learn enough wind power to enter its first small contracts for wind farms. "We learned a lot from them," he said.

LES now has contracts for 100 megawatts each of wind power from wind farms in Oklahoma, Kansas, and Nebraska. Combined, the two turbines being torn down generated around 1.3 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 300 average-sized homes in the Lincoln area. One of the turbines was set to be removed after the city had swapped land with the state to build a new prison.

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SCOTTS BLUFF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS EXTEND MORATORIUM ON RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECT PERMITS

SCOTTSBLUFF- On Monday, the Scotts Bluff County Commissioners voted to extend a moratorium on conditional use permits related to renewable energy projects. The moratorium was originally approved on January 16th, and was suggested because of questions raised by the Situla Solar Energy Project.

Although the moratorium had no influence on that project, County Commissioner Charlie Knapper said it helped to shine a light on the lack of concrete regulations in the county's plan. "My goal with this moratorium is to have some basic building blocks in place for the next permit to follow," said Knapper.

The board eventually went on to reject a conditional use permit for the Situla project last month, reaffirming this decision in June and refusing to reconsider the permit for Dunileh Energy, the company behind the project. A motion to extend the moratorium by six months, which Knapper argued would help the board fulfill the purpose of the original moratorium, was approved.

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CITY OF LINCOLN'S CFO TAKES NEW JOB WITH STATE OF NEBRASKA

LINCOLN- In a press release, Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird announced that Lincoln's Chief Financial Officer Lyn Heaton had accepted the position of Director of Innovative Finance at the Nebraska Department of Transportation. Heaton's last day with the city will be July 8th, after which an interim CFO will be announced by the mayor.

Heaton joined the city as CFO in 2022, succeeding Brandon Kauffman who served in the role from 2016 to 2020. "I thank Director Heaton for his outstanding service to the City of Lincoln over the past two years," wrote Gaylor Baird, "His leadership has been instrumental in guiding our award-winning Finance Department with excellence and integrity."

Heaton, according to the release, previously served as CFO of the Nebraska Department of Transportation, deputy state budget administrator, and budget analyst in the Nebraska Department of Administrative Services before his tenure with the city of Lincoln. "I am grateful to have had the opportunity to serve the residents of Lincoln," Heaton said in his own press release.

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U.S. SENATE APPROVES RETURN OF IOWA LAND TO WINNEBAGO TRIBE OF NEBRASKA

WASHINGTON, D.C.- On Thursday, the United States Senate gave final approval to return to the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska over 1,600 acres of land along the Missouri River that the federal government seized decades ago. The legislation, which passed earlier in the U.S. House, now goes to President Biden for his signature.

"This is a truly historic moment for the Winnebago Tribe as lands that were taken from us over 50 years ago will soon be restored to the tribe," said Winnebago Chairwoman Victoria Kitcheyan. The two tracks of land being returned, which previously belonged to Nebraska before the shifting of the Missouri River, were seized by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in the 1970s for a recreation project that never materialized.

The bill that helped to restore the land to the Tribe, titled the Winnebago Land Transfer Act of 2023, was introduced by Iowa Rep. Randy Feenstra and co-sponsored by the entirety of Iowa and Nebraska's Congressional delegations. "The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was wrong to seize this land through eminent domain in the 1970s," wrote U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer in a statement, "It's time to make this right and finally return this land to the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska."

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RENT AID PROGRAM FOR NEEDY NEBRASKANS "ON TRACK," WITH MUCH OF THE $48M STILL AVAILABLE

LINCOLN- A once-controversial rent aid program has, to date, distributed around $11 million to eligible Nebraskans, leaving more than three-quarters of an originally allocated $48 million available following its launch last September. Besides a funding bottleneck at the beginning, administrators of the program are pleased with the rollout of the latest round of pandemic-related Nebraska Emergency Rental Assistance.

"We're pretty happy," said Shannon Harner, executive director of the Nebraska Investment Finance Authority, "The flow of getting funds out continues to speed up. That is also positive." According to Harner, the hiring of extra staff helped get the process to a better pace and allowed for the smoother disbursement of funds.

The funding, having been bucked by former Gov. and current U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, was eventually accepted by Gov. Jim Pillen. By then, certain deadlines had been missed, so much of the original allocation to Nebraska was redirected to other states. State lawmakers had stepped in after Ricketts' refusal of the rental aid, but fell just one vote short of overriding the gubernatorial veto.

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DED IMPLEMENTS 6 REGIONS, ONE NEBRASKA TO HELP SPUR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

LINCOLN- Six Regions, One Nebraska is a new, regional approach to economic development designed to support regional growth by implementing collaborative projects in each of Nebraska's six community college districts, said K.C. Belitz, Director of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development.

The initiative, described as a game changer by Belitz, is being funded by $3 million of unused American Rescue Plan Act dollars, which will be divided evenly among the six regions. "Although we are one state, opportunities and challenges vary throughout the state," said Marc LeBaron, who is set to chair the Southeast Region, "Our approach today of letting each region identify what is the most critical...is truly a unique approach."

Indeed, said LeBaron, what might work in Omaha or Lincoln could very well fail in Scottsbluff, making region-based economic development an exceedingly valuable tool. The new initiative comes with the blessing of both the Nebraska Legislature and Gov. Jim Pillen.

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'EVERYBODY'S GOT TO PLAY': BREAKING DOWN NEBRASKA'S MORE THAN 100 SALES TAX EXEMPTIONS

FREMONT- While Nebraska collects around $2 billion in sales tax per year, another $6.5 billion is left off the table due to more than 100 sales tax exemptions. Governor Pillen says all exemptions are on the table as he attempts to reduce property tax this year, ranging from laundry services and haircuts to agricultural and business inputs. Taxing these inputs has been condemned by some senators across ideological divides. Gov. Pillen's goal is to reduce property tax by eliminating some sales tax exemptions.

The discussion around sales tax revolves around Gov. Pillen's effort to reduce property tax by 40% or $2 billion in his first two years. He has said that he wants to see Nebraska collect less taxes in general. Gov. Pillen hopes to use town halls to rally Nebraskans to press their senators into supporting him. He put pressure on the senators by stating that if one special session fails, he will continue to call them.

Some senators believe that this proposal wouldn't have a huge impact, but others believe that the change would greatly impact lower-income families. Opponent of the bill, State Senator Julie Slama, noted "There’s no guarantee that that money from increased revenue is going to be one-to-one property tax relief." The opposition's main concern is that the change would not reduce taxes, but simply shift the burden to others.

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TAX RELIEF AVAILABLE TO NEBRASKANS FOLLOWING ARBOR DAY TORNADOES, OTHER NATURAL DISASTERS

LINCOLN- The handful of natural disasters that Nebraska suffered this spring could lead to specific property tax relief if a storm destroyed a taxpayer's property. State Tax Commissioner James Kamm announced Friday that he is waiving penalties and interest for late tax returns and payments for those directly impacted by the Arbor Day tornadoes in eastern Nebraska. Kamm pushed the due date from April 25 to September 3.

There are 14 ZIP codes identified by the Nebraska Emergency Management Agency whose inhabitants' penalties and interest will be automatically waived if they file and pay by September 3. This is because the specified areas are most likely to have suffered significant damage. Nebraska's Department of Revenue recognized the obstacles that these natural disasters presented concerning tax responsibilities, and they expressed a desire to help. Additional relief may be provided outside of the identified areas depending on the circumstances.

Property tax relief may be offered for those whose property was destroyed by any natural disaster, but the damage must exceed 20% of the current assessed property value as determined by the county assessor. This was done to lower the value of what's standing after a disaster, resulting in less property tax. State Senator Steve Erdman recalled a story where a woman's house burnt down at the beginning of the year, the day after a property evaluation, and was still taxed on everything evaluated for that year. Sen. Erdman found this inappropriate and brought about change in 2019 with LB 512.

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JUDGE DISMISSES FIREARM GROUP'S LAWSUIT OVER LINCOLN'S BAN OF GUNS ON CITY PROPERTY

LINCOLN- Last week, Lancaster County District Judge Andrew Jacobsen threw out a civil lawsuit brought by the Nebraska Firearms Owners Association against the City of Lincoln. The group of gun owners brought this suit in an attempt to make the city rescind its ban on guns in city-owned areas. The judge agreed with the city in that the group lacked standing to bring a case because a weapons policy has to be challenged through an alleged injury or future injury.

Lincoln's mayor, Leirion Gaylor Baird, voiced the city's pleasure at the dismissal of the case. She stressed the importance of protecting public safety for the entire community while in spaces managed by the city. A case was brought in Douglas County over a similar ban, where it was argued that the group was only suing over potential consequences from a loosely enforced rule.

While some believe that state law protects the right to carry in public, in both cases it was concluded that any injury suffered by the policy change is conjectural and hypothetical. There has also been a lack of substantial evidence that there has been any threat of enforcement toward someone violating the ordinance. The ordinance does prohibit weapons in public places, but it has no penalty or enforcement attached to it.

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DISPUTE OVER OVERLAPPING BROADBAND GRANTS IS NOW HEADING FOR COURT

LINCOLN- While a heavily funded effort to bring high-speed internet to all of Nebraska ensues, a dispute over overlapping grants to expand broadband is being brought to court. The internet provider Pinpoint Communications has sued the Gage County Board for its recent choice to deny the company a permit to lay fiber optic cable. The board rejected the permit because they considered it a waste of tax funds to give another grant to an area that had already received money to implement broadband service.

The Gage County District Court accused the board of overstepping its authority when it denied the permit, which is usually approved without discussion. The overlap of funding involves 11 residences northeast of Beatrice, and potentially $200,000 or so in grants to serve the area. Gage County had previously hired another internet provider, NextLink, to extend broadband to rural and underserved sites through a county program, while Pinpoint obtained a $535,000 grant approved by the Public Service Commission through the state's program.

The lawsuit filed by Pinpoint is just the latest tiff in an ongoing dispute over a hypothetical overbuild of broadband internet. There has been a plethora of recent efforts from state and federal governments to bring high-speed internet to rural areas. Pinpoint holds that the county lacks the authority to reject their permit application.

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RACING AND GAMING COMMISSION'S INTERIM LEADER REFLECTS ON WORK, SEEKS PERMANENT JOB

LINCOLN- It wasn't so long ago that what was then called the Nebraska Racing Commission was a two-person operation that oversaw a horse racing scene that was in decline from its heyday a few decades earlier. The approval of casino gambling by Nebraska voters in 2020, however, signaled a change for the agency.

Since then, the agency has grown considerably, especially after WarHorse Gaming opened its temporary Lincoln casino in September 2022. According to Casey Ricketts, interim director of the Commission, change has been hard, especially the kind that comes swiftly and dramatically.

But, said Ricketts, who is attempting to eliminate the interim tag from her job title and assume the role of executive director of the Racing and Gaming Commission, "We have so much to be proud of. It's about teamwork. It's regrowing and building. There are going to be bumps in the road. It's not going to be smooth sailing all the time."

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PROPOSED BUDGET FOR UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA SYSTEM HAS 'MODEST' TUITION INCREASE AND CLOSES SHORTFALL

LINCOLN- The University of Nebraska System will close its budget shortfall while keeping tuition affordable under a new proposed 2024-2025 budget from interim President Chris Kabourek. The proposed $1.11 billion budget, which is to be presented to the Board of Regents on June 20th, also includes nearly $12 million in permanent cuts and a "modest" tuition increase.

"This is a responsible budget that puts us in a strong position for the year ahead," Kabourek said of his proposal, "We will need to be disciplined in prioritizing our spending, but I'm very pleased that we have built a plan that allows us to make investments that will have a major impact for student, our workforce, and Nebraska's competitiveness."

The budget cuts housed in the proposal will be spread across NU's four campuses and the Office of the President. The tuition increase would equate to a $135 increase per semester, or $1.29 per day for UNL students, $1.14 per day for UNO students, and $1 per day for UNK students. The proposed budget also contains a 3% merit-based salary increase for non-unionized faculty and staff and a $1.5 million expansion of the Presidential Scholars Program.

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RICKETTS, FISCHER CO-SPONSOR LEGISLATION TO REVERSE FEDERAL TITLE IX RULE

WASHINGTON, D.C.- U.S. Sens. Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts announced this week that they would be co-sponsoring a bill to overturn a U.S. Department of Education rule extending Title IX protections to include gender identity. Ricketts said the rule broadens the original intent of Title IX and could be used to punish students for failing to use an individual's preferred pronouns.

"These rules are anti-common sense and anti-science," he argued, "They violate the will of Congress. Congress passed Title IX to protect women." Ricketts also expressed concern over whether the new rule would hurt women's sports and education. "The rewrite threatens the progress and safety of American girls and women in education," he stated.

Ricketts and Fischer join more than 30 other Republican senators in co-sponsoring the Congressional Review Act, a resolution to overturn the Department's new rule. The resolution, if passed, can be vetoed by the president and would need a two-thirds majority in the House and Senate to be overridden. If unsuccessful, the new Title IX rules take effect on August 1st.

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PEREGRINE FALCONS RETURN, HATCH 'NEW GENERATION' ATOP NEBRASKA STATE CAPITOL

LINCOLN- A trio of peregrine falcon chicks, the first to hatch atop the Nebraska State Capitol in eight years, received ankle bands Wednesday that will aid in tracking, research, and conservation. The baby falcons, believed to be two females and one male, hatched just under three weeks ago and are expected to fledge, or attempt to leave their nest, in around three more weeks.

This year's May hatching is the first since a previous peregrine falcon duo raised 23 young atop the Capitol between 2005 and 2020, with the last successful clutch of eggs coming in 2016. A public Facebook group dedicated to Lincoln's peregrine falcon population is seeking to identify the parents of the new trio.

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission offers livestreams of the falcons in their nest atop the Capitol building. "To be up here again after eight years, and then to see a new generation coming up," said Doug Finch, owner of the nonprofit Raptor Conservation Alliance, "that's pretty cool."

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