DEB FISCHER: 'NEBRASKA'S IN A REALLY GOOD POSITION' WITH HER IN U.S. SENATE

LINCOLN- U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer brought her reelection campaign to a small, crowded room on the first floor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's city campus union this month, meeting in a town hall-style format with a few dozen students who attended the Oct. 9 gathering of UNL's College Republicans.

Fischer was stopped in her tracks by one question in particular: "If you could pass any one policy in the next term, what would it be?" Senator Fischer settled on an answer: "Paid family leave."

It was perhaps a surprising response from a GOP lawmaker in Nebraska, where efforts to codify sick leave are most associated with liberals. Fischer's remarks to the students mirrored her pitch to Nebraska voters at large.

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THOUSANDS OF LINCOLN STUDENTS WILL GET PREVIEW OF ELECTIONS NEXT WEEK

LINCOLN- Come next week, thousands of Lincoln students as young as 9 years old will head to the polls in the biennial mock election for students just days before the nation's general election. Students throughout Lincoln Public Schools in grades four through 12 will take part in the Student Vote on Oct. 30, allowing students to weigh in on the upcoming political questions and learn about civic duty before they're even of voting age.

Ahead of the vote, students and teachers across the district will discuss the various types of elected positions, how voting works and the importance of using their voices. Older students in middle and high school also will dive into the real-life issues at hand.

Through the mock election, students will be able to register their choices in the presidential race, both U.S. Senate races, the District 1 House of Representatives race and voice their opinions on the ballot measure to provide employees in the state with paid sick leave.

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OUT OF THE BLUE: LEFT-LEANING DARK MONEY GROUP LAUNCHES NEBRASKA NEWSPAPER AS ELECTION NEARS

LINCOLN- To Brad Dechant, the copy of the Nebraska Independent that landed in his mailbox last month looked like any other newspaper. Then, Dechant started reading the lead story, “a fluff piece on Harris and Walz,” as he put it. “I was like ‘OK, this doesn’t even seem like reporting,’” the central Omaha resident said. “They put a lot of effort into pretending to not be political mailers. I kind of thought that was odd.” 

Just four months after launching, the publication has become one of the most widely circulated newspapers in the state — delivering “hard-hitting independent news” to more than 100,000 Nebraskans, according to its editor. 

But to media observers, the publication is a glaring example of “pink slime journalism” – information produced by partisan operations posing as traditional news outlets. The practice, employed by both the left and the right, has drawn concern from researchers who say it muddies an already murky media ecosystem. 

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GOV. PILLEN, ABORTION-RIGHTS CAMPAIGN CLASH OVER ECTOPIC PREGNANCIES, MISCARRIAGES AND ABORTION

LINCOLN- Gov. Jim Pillen spent Tuesday seeking to explain how Nebraska physicians should care for ectopic pregnancies and miscarriages while wading into the waters of competing abortion-related ballot measures. Pillen did not directly refer to either ballot measure at a news conference with four medical providers, Lt. Gov. Joe Kelly, and the state chief medical officer. State law prohibits elected officials from directly using state resources for campaigning. Pillen held his press conference in the governor’s hearing room at the State Capitol.

The group made clear they were speaking against a “political agenda for abortion.” They said they were seeking to fight “misinformation” about ectopic pregnancies or miscarriages, but declined to specify where they had heard the “misinformation” other than “in media” and “on TV.” Ads promoting the abortion rights ballot issue offered by Protect Our Rights feature doctors who say Nebraska patients struggle to get certain types of care for nonviable pregnancies or in emergencies.

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MEDICAL CANNABIS SPONSORS QUESTION ETHICS OF ONGOING INVESTIGATIONS INTO NEBRASKA PETITIONS

LINCOLN- Allegations of witness tampering surfaced this week as the latest wrinkle in the ongoing lawsuit and investigations against Nebraska’s two medical cannabis petitions.

The Nebraska Attorney General’s Office, defending Secretary of State Bob Evnen in the lawsuit while also pursuing a separate challenge to the petitions, denied any wrongdoing at a Friday hearing with Lancaster County District Court Judge Susan Strong. At that pretrial hearing, Judge Strong heard arguments on the allegation and ruled no ethical violations took place. Strong officially divided the trial into two phases if necessary, with the first trial phase beginning Oct. 29, one week before the November election.

Sydney Hayes, an attorney for the sponsors, had asked Strong to delay the trial due to “roadblocks” in receiving evidence from the Attorney General’s Office, whose civil attorneys are defending Evnen from Kuehn’s lawsuit. Kuehn is challenging his own set of at least 17,000 signatures on both petitions, while Evnen is challenging at least 49,000 signatures on each of the campaign’s measures.

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NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE, DISTRICT 31: MILLARD RACE IS THE STATE'S MOST EXPENSIVE

OMAHA- If you’re following the money this election season in the Nebraska Legislature, take a look at District 31 in southwest Omaha. Through the Oct. 1 reporting period, incumbent Kathleen Kauth and her challenger, Mary Ann Folchert, had collectively raked in more than $491,000 in campaign contributions to win the nonpartisan seat representing the Millard area. They had already spent more than $381,000.

Kauth might seem to have an edge in the district, where registered Republicans outnumber Democrats 46% to 27%, with 26% registered as nonpartisan. However, Democrat Rick Kolowski held the seat from 2013 to 2021 and general elections in District 31 have traditionally been tight. “I wouldn’t count either of them out,” said Paul Landow, an emeritus political science professor at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

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NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE, DISTRICT 15: FIREFIGHTER, BUSINESSWOMAN VIE TO REPLACE SEN. LYNNE WALZ

FREMONT- A businesswoman who says she has the credentials to promote growth is vying against a firefighter supported by several firefighter groups and labor unions in the District 15 race for Nebraska Legislature. The two Republican candidates, Roxie Kracl and Dave Wordekemper, are vying to replace State Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont, who is barred by term limits from running again.

Kracl is president of the Credit Bureau Services in Fremont, a credit and collections company that provides programs for Nebraska businesses. She is a former chair of the Dodge County Republican Party and endorsed by the Nebraska Farm Bureau, U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts, Fremont Mayor Joey Spellerberg, and former Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman.

Wordekemper, a Fremont firefighter, is the eastern vice president for the Nebraska Professional Fire Fighters Association, the AFL-CIO affiliated union representing more than 1,300 Nebraska fire fighters and emergency medical personnel. Wordekemper was formerly president of the Fremont Fire Fighters Local 1015.

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NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE, DISTRICT 7: TWO VIE TO REPRESENT MAJORITY LATINO DISTRICT

LINCOLN- The race for downtown and South Omaha's Legislative District 7 seat pits a proud son of Mexican immigrants against an equally proud candidate from the area. The first is Dunixi Guereca, who won the most votes in the four-way primary election. The second is Tim Pendrell, who claimed second place in May. They are competing to replace State Sen. Tony Vargas, who is term-limited and barred from seeking reelection.

Guereca is the executive director of Stand For Schools, an organization supporting public schools. He previously worked as a union organizer for the Service Employees International Union. Pendrell, who grew up in South Omaha, works as a legislative aide to Sen. Mike McDonnell of Omaha. He was previously executive director of Nebraska City Tourism and Commerce and a grant administrator for the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services.

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NEBRASKA LEGISLATURE, DISTRICT 3: TWO AIR FORCE VETERANS VYING FOR SARPY COUNTY SEAT

BELLEVUE- Two Air Force veterans are vying to replace State Sen. Carol Blood representing Sarpy County's legislative District 3. Republican Felix Ungerman and Democrat Victor Rountree will face off in the general election. In the May primary election, Ungerman received 53.1% of the vote in the primary election, while Rountree received 46.9%.

Ungerman worked as an electronic warfare officer in the Air Force. He also worked under President George W. Bush from 2002 to 2005 as part of the White House Advance Team and as an officer managing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance aircraft. Rountree joined the Air Force in 1980 and was first assigned to Moody Air Force Base in Georgia. Assignments after that took him to the United Kingdom, Washington D.C., Germany, North Dakota, and New Mexico. He served primarily as a comptroller, culminating in his role a comptroller squadron and wing staff superintendent.

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BREAKING DOWN PETITION SIGNATURES FOR NEBRASKA 2024 BALLOT MEASURES

LINCOLN- When Nebraskans cast their votes this fall on six ballot measures, it will come after a historic year of petitioning that included gathering more than 700,000 valid signatures seeking ballot access. It’s been a contentious year for Nebraska petition campaigns, including what will be a first-in-the-nation decision on dueling abortion-related measures, multiple legal challenges, numerous allegations of fraud or deception, and legislation that nullified an already certified referendum before supporters mounted a second campaign to oppose a new law.

As of Oct. 7 filings, the 2024 petition cycle is also one of the most expensive, with more than $20 million raised and $14 million spent among campaigns for or against specific measures. Five campaigns submitted hundreds of thousands of signatures to the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office this summer in a constitutional process described by the Nebraska Supreme Court last month as “precious.”

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ADVOCATE TOUTS BENEFITS OF ADDING 'GREEN AMENDMENT' TO STATE CONSTITUTIONS

LINCOLN- At the recent Nebraska Youth Climate Summit, about 200 high school and college students were told that it’s time for Nebraska to consider adopting a “Green Amendment” to its state constitution to ensure a clean environment during a time of climate change. A draft proposal, tailored for Nebraska in hopes of mollifying expected opposition from farm groups, is posted on the website of the Green Amendments for the Generations website.

"It is a tool for people to protect themselves and the environment they live in,” said Sheridan Macy, an Omaha native and recent law school graduate. Macy was one of the featured speakers at the recent Nebraska Youth Climate Summit, which was launched in 2016 as a way to educate young people about environmental issues and empower them to do something about public policies. Ken Winston of Interfaith Power and Light said that gathering sufficient signatures to put such an amendment before Nebraska voters would be expensive.

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AFTER TUMULTUOUS UPBRINGING IN NEBRASKA, NEW STATE IT HEAD HIRED TO 'BE A CHANGE AGENT'

LINCOLN- Long before Nebraska's governor picked him to transform one of the state's most anonymous agencies, Matthew McCarville was already here, but on a path that seemed headed elsewhere. McCarville, the 38-year-old whom Gov. Jim Pillen tabbed in April to lead the state's technology department, first arrived in Nebraska when he was 2 years old after spending his earliest years in Miami. McCarville has been through multiple hardships including being moved around the country between parents and guardians often during childhood, losing family members prematurely, and surviving cancer while attending college at Creighton University.

Now, armed with an education forged out of his upbringing here, McCarville is back in Nebraska following stints leading IT departments at public institutions in Florida and Colorado. "I was hired to come in and be a change agent," McCarville said in an interview in the fourth-floor conference room of the unmarked downtown Lincoln building that houses the office he now leads. McCarville may be among Pillen's chief allies in the governor's quest to "(run) state government like a business."

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FILET OR FAKE? PROPOSED RULES ON LAB-GROWN MEAT WOULD HELP NEBRASKA SHOPPERS KNOW

OMAHA- Meat-like products manufactured from animal cells, plants, or bugs would have to be labeled as imitations and displayed separately from traditional meat in Nebraska stores, according to draft food regulations up for a public hearing this month. The regulations, proposed by the Nebraska Department of Agriculture at Gov. Jim Pillen’s direction, aim for what are referred to as manufactured, cultivated, or cultured protein food products.

Under the proposed Nebraska rules, if a food processor or food establishment failed to comply with labeling requirements, it could be found to have misbranded or falsely advertised the food. In those cases, the Nebraska Department of Agriculture would have the authority to stop them from selling the products.

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WINDSTREAM AGREES TO MAKE $1M UPGRADES AS NEBRASKA DISMISSES 911 OUTAGE COMPLAINT

LINCOLN- One of the telecommunications providers responsible for a string of 911 outages in Nebraska over the last year has agreed to make more than $1 million worth of upgrades to its infrastructure and network, settling with state regulators who in turn agreed to dismiss a complaint they had filed against the company. Windstream, the Arkansas-based provider responsible for three 911 service outages in Nebraska between September 2023 and January, will avoid paying millions of dollars in fines or having its carrier designation revoked as a result of the settlement, which regulators unanimously approved Wednesday morning.

The settlement comes more than a year after a water leak at the provider's downtown Lincoln data center kicked off a chain of events that eventually led to 911 working either sporadically or not at all in Southeast Nebraska for several hours between Sept. 2 and 3 of 2023. That outage, along with two shorter disruptions in November and January, prompted an investigation that led to the State 911 Department filing a formal complaint in July against Windstream with the Public Service Commission, the state regulatory body that oversees numerous industries, including the telecommunications industry and the 911 department.

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COTTAGE-HEAVY RENTAL NEIGHBORHOOD ADDS DIFFERENT APPROACH TO TACKLING NEBRASKA HOUSING SHORTAGE

OMAHA- Sprouting along a fast-growing Elkhorn area corridor is a collection of what will be 327 market-rate residences with amenities including a clubhouse, pickleball courts, and a dog park. The former 40 acres of farmland is to be occupied largely by 109 stand-alone cottages. Also on the site, called Aerie Blue Sage, will be duplexes with garages, townhomes with private rooftop decks and a cluster of low-rise apartment buildings.

Developer Joe Slosburg says that while different for Nebraska, the build-to-rent “modern neighborhood” that his company will own and maintain represents a trend that’s been ramping up in other places. Slosburg is part of an Omaha-area family that has been active in commercial real estate for more than a century. He and his father, David, launched the separate Spruce Capital entity about five years ago and this is its first Omaha project.

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SUMMER FOOD AID PROGRAM GOV. JIM PILLEN AT FIRST SNUBBED IS DEEMED A 'SUCCESS'

LINCOLN- A federally funded summer food aid program for low-income youths, which Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen initially rejected but later accepted, wrapped up with greater-than-anticipated participation. “Lots of families we’ve talked to are saying they were able to stretch their dollars longer, buy healthier foods because of these benefits,” said Eric Savaiano, food and nutrition access for nonprofit Nebraska Appleseed. “We’re really proud of our state for getting it up and going.”

Early on, state officials estimated that 175,000 students, or 80,000 households, would be eligible to receive grocery assistance through the Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) program. According to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, the initiative across the state served 199,272 students or 121,855 families. The effort, administered by DHHS in partnership with the Nebraska Department of Education, is designed by the federal government to provide access to nutritious food during the summer when school is out.

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AVERAGE ACT SCORE DIPS SLIGHTLY AGAIN, BUT STUDENTS OUTPERFORM MOST PEER STATES

OMAHA – Nebraska's average ACT score has declined to 19.1, a slight drop from 19.2 in 2023, 19.4 in 2022, and 20.0 in 2021. This downward trend mirrors the national average, which fell from 19.5 to 19.4 over the same period. Despite the decrease, Nebraska's average remains among the highest in the nation, with only Montana (19.5) and Wisconsin (19.4) scoring higher.

All Nebraska public school juniors are required to take the ACT as part of the Nebraska Student-Centered Assessment System. Overall, 95% of Nebraska's public and private school graduates participated in the exam, according to state education officials.

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GOV. JIM PILLEN APPROVES CASEY RICKETTS TO LEAD RACING AND GAMING COMMISSION

LINCOLN- Gov. Jim Pillen on Wednesday approved the selection of Casey Ricketts to lead the agency that regulates casino gambling and horse racing in the state. Ricketts, one of four finalists for the executive director job, had been serving as interim director of the agency. Members of the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission voted unanimously last week to submit her name to the governor for consideration.

Last January, the commission appointed Ricketts interim director after former Director Tom Sage announced his retirement. While serving as interim director, Ricketts also held the job of director of compliance, a role she has been in since 2022. Before that, she worked as a deputy sheriff within the commission and served in the Nebraska Department of Revenue and the Dawson County Sheriff’s Office.

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AFTER 22 MONTH SEARCH, NEBRASKA GOV. JIM PILLEN TABS NEW BEHAVIORAL HEALTH DIRECTOR

LINCOLN- Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen picked a new director Tuesday to lead the Behavioral Health division within the state's Department of Health and Human Services, filling a vacancy that had been open since Pillen took office nearly two years ago. Pillen tabbed Dr. Thomas Janousek, who has been the deputy director of clinical excellence within HHS's Behavioral Health division since October 2022, to lead the division, the governor's office announced Tuesday.

Janousek, a former neuropsychologist at Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln who previously served as the vice president of quality and compliance at Burrell Behavioral Health in Missouri, will take over the division on Monday. Janousek earned his doctorate in psychology from the Forest Institute of Professional Psychology, which closed its campuses in Springfield and St. Louis, Missouri, amid financial difficulties in 2015, the year Janousek earned his doctorate.

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LAWMAKERS PROPOSE 2025 LEGISLATION TO FIX 'MISSING YEAR' OF PROPERTY TAX RELIEF

LINCOLN- A group of state lawmakers is rallying support for potential 2025 legislation aimed at plugging a ‘hole’ left in this tax year by a last-minute compromise during a summer special session focused on property tax relief. State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard is among the coalition’s leading voices. Though term-limited, he drafted legislation to address the “error” he first called out after the special session: a “missing year” of tax relief, because there will be no income tax credits next year for the property taxes paid in 2024.

Erdman and fellow term-limited State Sens. Justin Wayne of Omaha and Steve Halloran of Hastings were the only three lawmakers to oppose Legislative Bill 34 in this summer’s special session. All three sought more substantive policies. Erdman called the proposal he and five other lawmakers unveiled Thursday “a starting point.”

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