PATTERN OF ALLEGED STAFF SEX ABUSE AT NEBRASKA’S YOUTH DETENTION CENTER EMERGES IN COURT

KEARNEY - At least two staff members at the juvenile treatment center in Kearney have resigned, another is on leave, and a fourth faces a criminal charge in connection with allegations of inappropriate sexual contact with teenagers in state custody. Two of the cases involve months-old allegations, revealed in recent court proceedings. They have sparked concerns about a potential “systemic problem” at the center and prompted the Douglas County Public Defender’s Office to start reviewing its cases involving clients housed at the center.

The recent court filings and proceedings have referenced at least four current or former Kearney staff members in connection with incidents involving three teens at the center. In a statement, the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, which operates the state’s youth centers, said it takes every allegation seriously and investigates every claim of abuse.

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NEBRASKA'S 2ND CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT DRAWS NEARLY $2 MILLION IN LATEST FUNDRAISING QUARTER

OMAHA - Candidates in the race to replace Rep. Don Bacon in Congress drew nearly $2 million in fundraising over the past three months, according to the most recent Federal Election Commission filings.

Republican Brinker Harding led the crowded field, raising $561,527 in the third quarter of 2025, which began July 1 and ended Sept. 30. Harding, vice president of the Omaha City Council, announced the total on social media, saying, "We will use your contributions effectively and efficiently to get our message out and keep CD2 Red."

Former state lawmaker Brett Lindstrom, also a Republican, raised $286,958 in the third quarter. His PAC, Conservative Cornhuskers, also brought in $123,980. 

Denise Powell was the leading Democrat, raising $311,490. Powell, the founder of a political action committee, raised major money in the year's second quarter. She brought in about $430,000 and leads all candidates in total fundraising. Kishla Askins had the second-highest total among Democrats. The Navy veteran and former federal official with the Department of Veterans Affairs raised $250,865. James Leuschen, a former Capitol Hill staffer who focused on economic policy, raised $219,369. Leuschen is the newest candidate in the race. He launched his campaign in mid-September. 

State Sen. John Cavanaugh of Omaha raised $192,153 to go with the roughly $130,000 he raised in the year's second quarter. Douglas County District Court Clerk Crystal Rhoades raised $50,710. 

The election for Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District will be in November 2026, and the race will be among the most closely watched in the country. Bacon won the seat in tight races, and election tracking services are predicting a flip from red to blue. The seat will be a key factor in who controls Congress for two years. 

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COLORADO SAYS NEBRASKA CAN’T MAKE IT SUPPLY MORE SOUTH PLATTE WATER

KEARNEY - Nebraska has no power under the South Platte River Compact to make Colorado send more upstream river water its way, Colorado officials told the U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday. Centennial State leaders, filing their official response to Nebraska’s July 16 interstate lawsuit tied to its 1894 Perkins County Canal revival, mostly argue that claims Colorado is violating the 1923 accord are premature at best. But they declare in several places in their 42-page response that the compact neither requires Colorado to always ensure a minimum spring and summer South Platte flow at the Nebraska line nor allows room to argue that Colorado must curtail Front Range surface water or groundwater use to do so.

“Nebraska has no right to interfere with Colorado's uses in the Upper Section,” meaning stretches of the river west of Colorado’s Logan-Washington county line, said the response filed by state Attorney General Philip J. Weiser.

“Further, if Nebraska’s concerns include any Upper Section plans for (water) development, Colorado has the right to fully develop the Upper Section.” Nebraska’s lawsuit in the nation’s highest court — which has direct jurisdiction over disputes between states — was filed 3½ years after then-Gov. Pete Ricketts announced the Cornhusker State would invoke its compact right to revive and finish the Perkins canal.

Pioneers in Perkins County, which split off from Keith County in 1887, dug 16 of an intended 65 miles of canal in Sedgwick County, Colorado, before exhausted finances forced them to abandon the effort. Efforts by Keith County business leaders to revive the canal after World War I — this time bypassing their southern neighbor — helped preserve Nebraska’s right to finish the job in the compact ratified by Congress in 1926.

But Nebraska made no moves to follow up on the idea until a pair of short-lived 1980s explorations. One of them, by the North Platte-based Twin Platte Natural Resources District, is echoed in the current revival plan.

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OSBORN NARROWS FUNDRAISING GAP WITH RICKETTS IN NEBRASKA U.S. SENATE RACE

LINCOLN —  Former nonpartisan Omaha labor leader Dan Osborn is closing the fundraising gap against Nebraska Republican U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts in Osborn’s second bid for a Senate seat.

Osborn raised $1.09 million in his latest campaign funding haul, while Ricketts raised $884,011 for his campaign and brought in an additional $486,128 through a separate joint fundraising committee — the Pete Ricketts Victory Fund, according to federal fundraising reports. That brings the former two-term governor’s combined war chest to $1.37 million in the third quarter, which runs from July through September.

Ricketts still has more cash on hand than Osborn, with $1.19 million compared to Osborn’s $502,000. But Osborn’s latest fundraising numbers indicate he is again raising enough to mount a serious challenge to a sitting senator. He outraised Republican U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer in the 2024 race, in which he raised $14 million and lost by about six percentage points.

The Ricketts campaign criticized Osborn’s latest fundraising numbers, saying he received a donation from a campaign committee associated with Massachusetts Democra›tic U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and from a political action committee affiliated with former Montana Democratic Sen. Jon Tester as examples of Osborn’s Democratic Party “connections.” 

Warren for Senate, Inc. gave Osborn $2,000, the max a campaign committee can give to another candidate per primary race and per general election. Tester’s Treasure State PAC gave him $5,000. 

The Osborn campaign says more than 17,000 donors gave to the former Omaha labor leader in the third quarter, with an average contribution of $43.46. Osborn has said that he wouldn’t caucus with either party. 

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NEBRASKA SECRETARY OF STATE WANTS TO HAND OVER VOTER DATA TO FEDS, BUT SAYS LAWSUIT BLOCKS IT

LINCOLN –  Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen last week weighed in on the latest request from the U.S. Department of Justice for the state’s voter registration data — showing a willingness to fulfill the request.

Federal officials have asked states for detailed information from their voter rolls, including names, dates of birth, driver’s license numbers and the last four digits of voters’ Social Security numbers, saying they want the information to ensure accurate voter registrations. Democratic-led states and some led by Republicans have declined or are pushing back against federal efforts to gather the data over state laws protecting data and privacy concerns.  Critics have questioned the safety and potential national security risks of letting any administration consolidate such voter data in one place.

In a Sept. 29 interview with KFAB, Evnen, after seeking guidance from Attorney General Mike Hilgers, said he was “fine” with handing over the voter data because the state’s maintenance practices are “complete and proper.” 

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NEBRASKA GOV. JIM PILLEN ‘OPEN’ TO MID-DECADE REDISTRICTING

LINCOLN – Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, like a number of governors nationally, says he would be open to redrawing the state’s congressional maps in the middle of the decade.

The governor said so during an Examiner interview as White House talk of Nebraska redistricting has cooled — for now.  Pillen’s embrace of the idea appears less bullish than his pushes to alter how the state awards its Electoral College votes for president. “I’m open to all kinds of conversations,” Pillen said. “Obviously, a couple of states have done redistricting. It was done before I became governor, so that was off my radar … I’ve just not paid attention to how all that works.”

Nebraska, like other states, typically redistricts once a decade after the U.S. Census has finished providing population estimates. The Legislature is tasked with drawing congressional and legislative maps.

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$2.19 BILLION ‘PROJECT HEALTH’ TAKES KEY LEAP FORWARD WITH NU VOTE

OMAHA — About $1.22 billion was unlocked Friday to begin the most visible phase yet of Project Health, an Omaha hospital and training complex described as the largest and most ambitious undertaking in University of Nebraska history.

The NU Board of Regents, in approving an “intermediate design review,” gave its green light to construction of the core and shell of a skyline-changing structure on about 7.5 acres of the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s midtown Omaha campus.

NU President Dr. Jeffrey Gold, a former UNMC chancellor, said this phase keeps the project within the overall $2.19 billion price tag to be covered by public and private sources. Officials have said that funds won’t be committed unless they’re secured. 

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NEBRASKA DEPARTMENT OF REVENUE LAYS OFF 11 STATE WORKERS, TO CLOSE SCOTTSBLUFF OFFICE

LINCOLN — Nebraska’s Department of Revenue laid off 11 employees Monday and moved to shutter a satellite office, a state official and the head of the state’s largest public employees union confirmed.

Six Department of Revenue employees were laid off in Lincoln, while at least five workers were laid off in Scottsbluff, the western Nebraska city where the department will close its satellite office, according to the Nebraska Association of Public Employees.

The cuts amount to about 2.7% of the Department of Revenue’s workforce, which included 409 employees as of July. The move marks the largest and latest round of state layoffs in recent weeks, said Justin Hubly, the union’s executive director, who said the state had also laid off two Military Department employees and at least four workers at the Office of the Chief Information Officer in the past two months.

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OWH OPINION: STATE SEN. KATHLEEN KAUTH: HERE'S NEBRASKA'S SECRET WEAPON FOR CUTTING COSTS AND CREATING JOBS

“Uncertainty.” It’s the number one complaint I hear about from Nebraska business owners, whether it’s because of supply chain interruptions, global trade changes, or rising costs for goods and materials. There’s good news though: There’s a solution hiding in plain sight called a Foreign Trade Zone, where U.S. businesses can import goods without immediately paying customs duties or tariffs.

Nebraska is home to two of them — and while too few businesses make use of them now, innovators and entrepreneurs across the state are invited to leverage them for more flexibility, lower upfront costs, and streamlined operations. If Foreign Trade Zones, or FTZs, sound too good to be true, don’t worry: They’re real, and they work.

FTZs are secure, designated areas near U.S. ports of entry — including airports — that are legally considered to be outside of U.S. Customs territory. That means companies can import foreign goods and store, process, or manufacture them without being responsible for tariffs or duties right away. 

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FORMER PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN HEADS TO NEBRASKA

LINCOLN — Former President Joe Biden is coming to Nebraska next month for the Democratic state party’s top annual fundraising event, held this year in Omaha. It will be one of the few public appearances for Biden since he dropped out of the 2024 presidential election amid concerns from party leaders over his electability following a debate performance against then-former President Donald Trump.

Biden in 2010 visited Nebraska to campaign for then-Democratic congressional nominee Tom White while Biden was vice president. He also visited the state in 2017 and 2019. He never visited Nebraska during his presidency, breaking a streak of presidents appearing in the state. But he did visit neighboring Council Bluffs during his 2020 campaign. Biden will be joined at the Nebraska Democratic event by Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear, who has been discussed as a potential presidential candidate. The Democrats announced Beshear’s participation earlier this year. This continues the trend of prominent Democratic figures making their way to the heartland – particularly Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, where it is likely the open seat will decide which party controls the U.S. House for the next two years. 

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NEBRASKA'S FIRST MEDICAL CANNABIS CULTIVATORS OFFERED LICENSES AS LEGAL THREATS LOOM

LINCOLN — The Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission offered the state’s first medical cannabis cultivator licenses Tuesday, nearly a week after the voter-set deadline of Oct. 1.

Commissioners unanimously offered the first two of up to four cultivator licenses, a move challenging the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office, which had threatened to sue the commission if it did so. The first license offerings went to Nancy Laughlin-Wagner of Omaha, on behalf of the Midwest Cultivators Group LLC, and to Patrick Thomas of Raymond. Applicants have five business days to accept the license.

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GRAND ISLAND-PRODUCED COMBINE SERIES EMERGES AS 2025 'COOLEST THING MADE IN NEBRASKA'

OMAHA —  Grand Island produced the coolest thing made in Nebraska this year, so says the fourth annual manufacturing contest organized by the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry. 

More than 40,000 votes were cast across multiple rounds that led to Monday’s reveal of the 2025 winner of the “Coolest Thing Made in Nebraska” competition: the AF Series Combines, produced in the Case IH plant in Grand Island. 

Case IH representatives called the AF series their company’s most powerful machines, able to cover more acres in less time with the power and efficiency to handle any crop conditions. Designed, engineered and built by farmers, the combines were said to be packed with the latest in automation and harvesting technology.

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SENATE CONFIRMS LESLEY WOODS AS US ATTORNEY FOR NEBRASKA

LINCOLN - The Senate on Tuesday confirmed Lesley Woods as the next U.S. attorney for the District of Nebraska, along with a group of 15 other U.S. attorneys. The vote, on a group of nominees, was 51-47. 

In a news release, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said despite having bipartisan support and being favorably reported out of the Judiciary Committee, the U.S. attorney nominees languished on the Senate floor due to a blanket hold Democrats placed on all 93 U.S. attorneys earlier this year. 

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PILLEN APPOINTS DOUG HOHBEIN AS NEW NEBRASKA FIRE MARSHAL

LINCOLN — Gov. Jim Pillen announced Tuesday that he appointed Doug Hohbein as Nebraska’s new State Fire Marshal.

Hohbein, who was previously assistant state fire marshal, has served in an interim leadership role since former Fire Marshal Scott Cordes resigned in March to become city administrator in Norfolk. Hohbein has worked for the agency since 1985 and holds a degree in fire protection technology from Southeast Community College.  

“Doug has served impressively while in the interim role, and he is committed to ensuring public safety when it comes to issues like fire prevention, inspection, investigation, education, training, enforcement of codes and more,” Pillen said in a statement. “I appreciate his willingness to continue serving the state.”

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NEBRASKA AG SUES OPPD, TARGETS NORTH OMAHA POWER PLANT CHANGES AND ‘NET-ZERO’ PLAN

LINCOLN — Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers sued the Omaha Public Power District on Thursday, seeking to stop a plan to retire three of five power-producing units at the utility’s North Omaha Station and switch the other two coal-fired units to natural gas. 

The 46-page lawsuit, filed in Douglas County District Court, seeks to stop the changes planned for the North Omaha Station, as well as prevent OPPD from pursuing any policy that prioritizes considerations other than price or reliability, including “environmental justice.” Residents had fought to get OPPD to modify the plant, citing health concerns. 

Hilgers said data doesn’t support the assertion that the plant harms neighbors’ health. In a midday announcement, he said he wants to focus the publicly owned utility on what he says state law requires: reliability and affordability. He said OPPD’s plan for the North Omaha plant would retire 240 megawatts of electricity production as OPPD sees skyrocketing increases in demand. Though the local power district’s plan says moving forward is contingent on opening new power-generation facilities this year, Hilgers said the changes wouldn’t add power capacity and would only help OPPD “tread water.”

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NEBRASKA STATE EDUCATION ASSOCIATION LAYS OUT GOALS FOR 2026 LEGISLATIVE SESSION

HASTINGS - The Nebraska State Education Association (NSEA) president Tim Royers is laying the groundwork now for what the group would like to accomplish in next year’s legislative session. The 2025 Nebraska legislative session was a roller coaster for educators. From budget cuts for universities to released time for religious instruction and the idea of placing the Ten Commandments in classrooms, the NSEA had a lot on its plate.

The union sent out a survey to its members in order to learn more about what they want the group to focus on in the upcoming legislative session. “We’ve got about 7-8,000 comments that we need to go through,” Royers said. “But there’s certainly a few priorities that have already stuck out.” Royers shared that one of the top priorities of NSEA members is paid family sick leave. The policy was a part of LB 440 in the 2025 session. It would add a 0.35% payroll fee. That money could be used to establish a fund that would then allow educators to take up to six weeks of paid leave.

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BIOFUELS LEADERS: IOWA CEDES ITS ETHANOL ‘CROWN’ TO NEBRASKA WITH CO2 PIPELINE START

DES MOINES — Iowa biofuels and corn experts congratulated Nebraska for its first shipments of carbon dioxide on the Tallgrass Trailblazer pipeline, but said Wednesday that the development means Iowa is no longer king at turning corn into ethanol.

Monte Shaw, the executive director of Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, said now that Nebraska has a functioning CO2 pipeline, ethanol plants in the state can take advantage of lucrative tax credits from the federal government and sell into the ultra-low carbon ethanol market.

“Iowa has worn the crown,” Shaw said at a new conference Wednesday. “We have been the world’s best place to turn corn into ethanol, and we’ve held that crown for 25 years. Last week, we got knocked off.”

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FEDS SAY NEBRASKA’S GDP GREW BY 5.2% IN Q2 AFTER SHRINKING TO START YEAR

LINCOLN — After having the biggest gross domestic product loss among states at the start of this year, Nebraska tied for the sixth-highest GDP gains during the second quarter. 

The latest report from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis shared that Nebraska’s GDP rose roughly 5.2% in April, May, and June. The real GDP nationally rose 3.8%, following a slower growth of 0.5% in the first quarter. GDP represents the total market value of goods and services produced during a specific time period.

“This report points to the underlying strength of Nebraska’s economy — one driven by agriculture, value-added processes, biofuels, manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, and other key components,” Gov. Jim Pillen said in a statement. 

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PILLEN ASKS FOR, RECEIVES RESIGNATIONS OF TWO LIQUOR & MEDICAL CANNABIS COMMISSIONERS; MEDICAL CANNABIS DEADLINE WILL BE MISSED

LINCOLN- Two of Nebraska’s three Liquor Control Commissioners resigned Monday after Gov. Jim Pillen called them and asked them to do so, the commission’s former chairman said, adding to a tumultuous period for the state agency after its former executive director was indicted last week.

Bruce Bailey, the former chairman who had served on the commission for more than a decade, and Commissioner Kim Lowe both resigned Monday morning after Pillen “personally called” each of them and sought their resignations, Bailey said Monday. Pillen also rejected a set of proposed liquor-control rule changes that were advanced under a former director of the state Liquor Control Commission—who now faces federal corruption charges tied to two Lincoln strip clubs. Among the changes Pillen nixed was language that would have removed prohibitions on customers touching employees at establishments that serve liquor, by no longer classifying such contact (e.g. kissing or touching breasts, buttocks, genitals) as a “disturbance."

The departures of the commissioners leaves the commission, which regulates the sale of alcohol in Nebraska and helps regulate the sale of medical cannabis, without a quorum and unable to function

The Medical Cannabis Commission will subsequently miss the October 1st licensing deadline in the wake of the resignations.

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FORMER SPECIAL EDUCATION TEACHER JOINS RACE FOR LD2 SEAT

LINCOLN - A former special education teacher from Lincoln will run for a seat in Nebraska's Legislature next year representing Cass County and a slice of eastern Lancaster County — including the east Lincoln neighborhood she grew up in.

Caitlin Knutson, a Democrat, is the third candidate to enter the race to replace Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood, a Republican banker who will be term-limited in 2026.

A Lincoln native who holds master's degrees in education and special education from Creighton and the University of Nebraska-Omaha, Knutson is a former educator who taught high school in Omaha and system-involved youths in the Hastings area before she and her husband returned to Lincoln following the COVID-19 pandemic.

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