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As President Donald Trump refuses to rule out taking extreme action in the midterm elections, voting rights advocates and civil rights leaders are bolstering their voter protection efforts in anticipation of possible federal interference. The focus by activists comes amid uncertainty among advocates and election…
A leading Democratic campaign committee is projecting confidence in U.S. Senate toss-up races four weeks before Election Day, though it has yet to commit resources to the reddest states that have recently entered the Senate map. Senate Majority PAC, which is run by allies of Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of…
President Donald Trump wants to sharply curtail mail ballots. He’s called them “inherently corrupt” and baselessly condemned them as a major source of fraud. But with Republicans falling behind in the polls, the president is now urging his supporters to vote in the midterm elections any way they can, including by…
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — President Donald Trump is the sixth U.S. president to be named an admiral for the largely honorific Great Navy of the State of Nebraska. Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen bestowed the largely honorific title Monday during a midterms rally headlining Trump. It’s not unusual for governors to bestow the honor…
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — Thousands of Nebraskans flocked to Grand Island to see a presidential rally in the city for the first time in 20 years. Plenty more Americans tuned in virtually, and an “unwelcoming committee” protested just about half a mile away. President Donald Trump’s visit — a string of midterm visits to…
While the perception of Republicans seems gloomy ahead of the midterms, thousands came to see and support President Donald Trump at his rally.
LINCOLN — Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley raised concerns over the Nebraska Public Employees Retirement System reportedly paying its departing executive director over $23,000 in salary and benefits for roughly five weeks of unperformed work. In a Tuesday press release, Foley criticized the retirement board’s…
This story was produced by Grist and co-published with the Nebraska Examiner. To really understand what’s going on in the Nebraska Sandhills, Shelly Kelly told me, it’s helpful to see it from the air. From the window of her father’s Bonanza A36, we looked out over the heart of one of the most rural landscapes
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — One of two state lawmakers representing Grand Island in Nebraska’s one-house Legislature praised President Donald Trump for visiting the area Monday. Trump’s rally was at the Nebraska State Fairgrounds in Legislative District 35, represented by state Sen. Dan Quick of Grand Island. The fairgrounds…
Trump vist to Nebraska was just one stop for the president on a midterm campaign blitz to shore up red states.
LINCOLN — The state’s tourism commission has announced its Nebraska Holiday Passport selections for 2026 — two dozen places ranging from a flower farm in Glenvil to the Draw Bar in Valentine. The commission, also known as Visit Nebraska, on Monday said travelers will have from Nov. 13 to Jan. 10 to visit and collect
For years, the psychoactive compound kratom has been sold across much of the United States as an herbal supplement, available in powders, capsules and extracts with few of the restrictions applied to controlled substances. But the market is changing. Products containing a potentially dangerous kratom derivative known…
Nebraskans will remember a few years ago when a state senator made the case on the floor of the Legislature during a debate about school behavior that students were calling themselves “furries,” dressing the part and requesting litter boxes in public school bathrooms. This, the story went, was the result of some…
Jobs across the United States rose by 29,000 in September, a disappointing result as recent growth was also revised down in Friday’s monthly jobs report, the last one before midterm elections. September growth was a large dip from a strong August number that was revised down from 162,000 to 133,000 in the new report…
A court battle that began when conservative-led states sued to block protections for transgender people has ended in a rollback of protections for people with disabilities — a result disability advocates have feared for months. At the end of August, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services joined the handful…
OMAHA — Josh Wigginton and his wife each went to work Friday. One dropped off daughter Nayeli at their childcare center, which transports the 7-year-old to school and back. The other parent picked her up after the work day. It’s a longtime routine that nearly collapsed earlier in the week due to what Wigginton said
LINCOLN — Stored in a secure spot in a Haymarket District satellite office of the Nebraska state treasurer are abandoned safe deposit boxes filled with items that once were treasures to someone. Now the public will have a shot at buying pieces of unclaimed property ranging from a diamond ring, a 1961 Topps No. 2 Roger
I read with interest Jon Cannon’s recent commentary in the Examiner. As noted in his information, Cannon is the director and lobbyist for NACO — the Nebraska Association of County Officials. During my eight years in the Legislature, I cannot recall a single instance in which NACO supported any property‑tax‑relief…
A town of fewer than 1,000 people was shoved into the national spotlight by a bitter Nebraska Senate race between Pete Ricketts and Dan Osborn
LINCOLN — Southeast Nebraska is under a state of emergency following heavy rain and severe flooding as state officials assess damage to potentially apply for federal support. Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen declared the emergency Thursday afternoon while surveying affected areas in northern Lancaster County, as first…
WASHINGTON — This summer, arrests of immigrants in the United States soared to the highest levels since President Donald Trump returned to office. An unprecedented increase in cooperation between local and state law enforcement and federal immigration officers through collaborations known as 287(g) agreements helped…
Kalshi, Polymarket and the Coalition for Prediction Markets have spent at least $3 million this year on lobbying and campaign contributions across the federal and state levels, according to a new report from the government watchdog group OpenSecrets. Prediction market platforms say they are like commodity markets that…
Nearly 100 community-based organizations have lost their federal HIV-prevention grants this week as the Trump administration redirects dollars to state and local health departments. The funding change represents a departure from the decades-old national HIV prevention strategy favored by most public health…
LINCOLN — A special meeting of the Nebraska Public Employees Retirement Board ended with several unanswered questions about the sudden resignation of the agency’s latest executive director, as well as who will replace him. The current executive director of the state Public Employees Retirement System, Thomas Pfeifle…
OMAHA — The Douglas County Board on Thursday announced that it sees no allegations of criminal wrongdoing in a state auditor’s probe of a county program that serves the poor, despite the sheriff’s call for a law enforcement investigation. Sheriff Aaron Hanson said in response that his investigation will go on. He said…
LINCOLN — Following the departure of term-limited state Sen. Rob Clements of Elmwood, Sen. Robert Hallstrom of Syracuse is set to take over the fight to repeal Nebraska’s inheritance tax in the Legislature. Conservative think tank the Platte Institute released a report Wednesday detailing its latest arguments for…
WASHINGTON — U.S. senators departed Capitol Hill on Wednesday night for their campaign break, leaving numerous policy disputes unresolved. The chamber won’t return until Nov. 9 for the five-week lame-duck session, when party leaders will have to decide which bills they want to negotiate during what could be the final…
WASHINGTON — A D.C. Superior Court judge ruled Thursday that prosecutors cannot, for a second time, charge former Olympic canoeist David Hearn with damaging the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool. Judge Todd E. Edelman wrote in his ruling that “the observed damage to the Reflecting Pool was due to a contractor’s ‘rushed…
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate voted to confirm Keith Sonderling as secretary of Labor on Wednesday, marking one of the few Trump administration picks to get through the upper chamber recently after a North Dakota senator put a hold on “any and all” nominees. But the Senate left town late Wednesday for its weeks-long…
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a case challenging a Trump administration policy that threatens millions of immigrants with mandatory and indefinite detention while fighting their court cases. The policy, put into place in July 2025, requires people picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement…
President Donald Trump is scheduled to kick off a month-long blitz of campaign stops with a Thursday rally in deep-red Oklahoma before heading to other states with strong Republican leanings. The first events in the closing stretch of the midterm election campaign suggest his strength with swing voters is limited, as…
Voters in four states will decide housing-related ballot measures in November, providing testing grounds for different strategies to boost affordable homes. The six measures across California, Hawaii, Massachusetts and Rhode Island are the highest number in a single election year in at least two decades, according to…
The U.S. Department of the Treasury released new guidance Thursday for participating states, scholarship-granting organizations and taxpayers as the federal scholarship tax credit program prepares to take effect in January. Created through President Donald Trump’s massive tax and spending law in 2025, the Education…
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Republicans did not gain any support Wednesday from Democrats as they attempted to advance a bill that mashed together two hot-button midterm issues: requiring voter ID in federal elections and limiting stock trading for members of Congress. The Republican-led bill, titled the Stop Insider…
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer indicated Wednesday that should Democrats regain control of the chamber following the elections, they plan to block judicial nominees sent up by President Donald Trump, including for any possible vacancies on the Supreme Court. “Look, the bottom line is, one of…
A federal grand jury indicted 10 noncitizens for unlawfully voting in Minnesota, U.S. Attorney General Todd Blanche said Wednesday, highlighting the administration’s effort to keep election security a top issue, in line with President Donald Trump’s longstanding unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud. The indictments…
LINCOLN — The Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office has scheduled a series of hearings in each of Nebraska’s three congressional districts to let the public weigh in on three ballot measures before the Nov. 3 general election. State law requires the office to host public hearings in each of Nebraska’s three…
Nebraska Supreme Court heard arguments in a lawsuit attempting to disqualify a ballot measure that would cement sex-separate school sports requirements in the state Constitution
I was just reading about a feedlot in Nebraska, near where that state meets Kansas and Colorado. It is set to become the largest in the country, holding in one square mile up to 150,000 head — as many cattle as were driven here in 1886 during the peak of the great drives. After reading
LINCOLN — Nebraska’s highest court heard arguments Wednesday in a Republican National Committee challenge seeking to overturn a state law allowing certain overseas voters to vote. The RNC and two Lancaster County voters, Jack Riggins and Pam Dingman, appealed a lower court’s ruling on their objection to a state law…
President Donald Trump is tapping $20 million in Homeland Security funding to pay for TV ads that heavily feature him ahead of the midterm elections, Democrats said Tuesday as the promos critics call propaganda come under bipartisan attack. The Trump administration recently moved the funds into a U.S. Customs and…
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday granted, for now, the Trump administration’s request to continue rapid third-country deportation of immigrants to countries not their own. The decision will allow the Trump administration to carry out its aggressive deportation method of quickly removing immigrants to one…
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration must spend the $810 million that it said last week it planned to cancel, according to a report released Tuesday by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office. The congressional watchdog’s decision contends the White House budget office doesn’t hold the ability to claw back…
WASHINGTON — Most judges on a federal appeals court seemed inclined during oral arguments Tuesday to allow a federal judge to continue investigating Trump officials for possible criminal contempt-of-court charges for defying a judicial order by sending more than 100 Venezuelan men to a brutal Salvadoran prison last…
WASHINGTON — Former special counsel Jack Smith on Tuesday defended before a U.S. Senate panel his past investigations of President Donald Trump’s possession of classified documents and alleged role in attempts to overturn the 2020 presidential election. Judiciary Committee Republicans repeatedly dissected Smith’s work…
Pillen seems to be pushing for a federal diesel export ban on his own, as members of the federal delegation oppose it or are hesitant.
WASHINGTON — The three news organizations that President Donald Trump barred from entering the White House grounds earlier this month have asked a federal judge to ensure their reporters continue to have access after a temporary restraining order expires in early October. Attorneys for CNN, MS Now and Politico filed…
Colorado is denying claims that it is not providing water owed to Nebraska under the South Platte River Compact. In fact, Colorado claims Nebraska is depriving it of water to which it’s entitled, by allowing wells along a tributary, Lodgepole Creek, and others too close to the Colorado line. Colorado made its…
The stop in Grand Island comes as he begins his midterm campaign blitz to shore up red states as Election Day approaches.
In the early months of 2022, Democrats in Congress came close to passing an appropriations bill that did not include a provision barring federal funding for abortions — maybe the closest it had ever come in more than 40 years. But those who wanted the Hyde Amendment included won the battle in the end. Three
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan measure to overhaul the college sports landscape got a step closer to becoming law Monday after passing the U.S. Senate. The bill — which sailed through on a 77-22 vote — would set a national framework for college athletes’ compensation, provide certain antitrust protections to the NCAA…
The project’s name rings a bell. Its exterior shell and playground area also look familiar to neighbors who live in Beatrice, Nebraska. But the town’s former Stoddard Elementary School underwent a $6.4 million renovation to reopen last week with an entirely new purpose — as Stoddard Place residences. Now instead of…
OMAHA — Republican Gov. Jim Pillen and former Democratic state Sen. Lynne Walz of Fremont each leaned into conservative support from former lawmakers Monday in dueling events for Nebraska governor that also featured the National Rifle Association. Pillen held a smaller gathering at 88 Tactical, a shooting range and…
WASHINGTON — Small businesses will once again challenge President Donald Trump’s tariffs in federal court this week as they continue to feel the squeeze of the administration’s roller coaster policy on import taxes. Spice importer Burlap & Barrel and rare watch importer Collective Horology will argue Wednesday in the…
The challenges and dire threats surrounding the unchecked growth of artificial intelligence appear unlikely to move Congress or President Donald Trump to act as the U.S. Senate enters its last week before the midterms. The rapid emergence of the technology has sparked a host of policy debates, with some warning of an…
Democratic and Republican governors say they will more aggressively push back on federal overreach regardless of which party controls Washington. Earlier this month, the bipartisan National Governors Association for the first time in over a decade updated its internal principles on federalism — the system of power…
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has, once again, infuriated lawmakers from both political parties by using a controversial maneuver to cancel funding previously approved by Congress. The $810 million in the “pocket rescission” would have gone to refugee assistance programs at the Department of Health and Human…
OMAHA — A Douglas County district judge blocked part of an Omaha ordinance to require employers in city limits to pay youth workers the same minimum wage as adults as the legal fight plays out. District Judge Timothy P. Burns on Monday wrote that the Nebraska Attorney General’s Office was likely to succeed in part
The former state employee who sexually abused Jennifer Martin’s son now sits in jail. But Martin sees the employee’s impact every day: Her 17-year-old son is more anxious, quicker to anger. She resents the state of Nebraska for the abuse that happened at the state-run Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center in…
Enough already with “fake news.” We are weary. We are worn out. Prove one way or another or put a lid on the nonsense. Nebraskans, or anyone for that matter, probably don’t have fake news on their “what’s really important” bingo cards. Nevertheless, we’ve been wading through its seriously deep grease for the last…
We are writing in response to former state Sen. John Stinner’s commentary of Sept. 19. When we were sworn into the Legislature in January of 2017, the state was facing a budget crisis. The 17 new senators in our class were told repeatedly, “We are $1 billion short.” In reaction to the forecasted shortfall, we
LINCOLN — A pair of Nebraska mothers appealed a ruling Friday denying their request for a preliminary injunction on a state law banning nurse midwives from assisting in home births. Emily Tvrdy and Amanda Musilek filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court in June challenged the ban, alleging the law violates both their…
LINCOLN — Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services has been selected to receive nearly $1.5 million in federal grants intended to modernize the child welfare system. The funds come in three grants from the Administration for Children and Families, a division of the U.S. Department of Health and Human…
The Czech president Petr Pavel visited Nebraska to highlight the state’s ties and partnership with the Czech Republic.
Voters in nine states will weigh changes to their criminal legal systems and drug policies this fall. The Nov. 3 ballot measures include questions about pretrial release, fentanyl and human trafficking penalties, immigration enforcement, traffic cameras, drug cartels and marijuana regulation. The measures reflect a…
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration Thursday made an emergency appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court to allow for rapid third-country deportations of noncitizens to continue, after an appeals court blocked the policy last week. In a brief, U.S. Solicitor General D. John Sauer asked the high court to temporarily halt the…
LINCOLN — A commission expressed openness Friday to a revised proposal for a sculpture to honor the Nebraska State Capitol’s longtime unofficial feline mascot. Multiple members of the seven-person Nebraska Capitol Environs Commission said they might be able to support the scaled-back idea to honor 11-year-old Cameron…
LINCOLN — After an 18-month search to find a new director for Nebraska’s Public Employees Retirement System, the man selected for the position is resigning at the end of October. NPERS legal counsel Tag Herbek confirmed in an email that Executive Director Thomas Pfeifle resigned effective Oct. 31. The Nebraska Public…
LINCOLN — Gov. Jim Pillen signed a pair of executive orders Thursday aimed at easing cost burdens for Nebraska’s agricultural producers on the same day a like-minded initiative was announced for the 2028 election cycle. The first executive order suspends diesel taxes for vehicles transporting Nebraska seasonally…
OMAHA — The Douglas County sheriff on Thursday announced that he will open an investigation into the practices of a county program designed to help the poor. Sheriff Aaron Hanson said his intent is to ensure that taxpayer dollars have not been criminally spent. The move comes on the heels of a report by the
WASHINGTON — U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Kelly early Thursday issued an order that temporarily blocks President Donald Trump’s ban of three news organizations from the White House. Kelly, in the eight-page order, said that the White House must “immediately return, reinstate, and restore the White House ‘hard…
WASHINGTON — Government investigators Thursday released a report that found the Department of Homeland Security wasted more than $20 million in federal funding in its rapid expansion of immigration detention, including warehouse purchases strongly opposed in numerous U.S. communities. The nonpartisan Government…
One of the biggest fights was over the Iran war; both campaigns declare victory.
OMAHA — In a quest to reduce poverty, Omaha leaders on Thursday launched a citywide parent survey on childcare. Representatives of the state’s most populous city — which, along with Lincoln, was mandated by a 2024 state law to create a Poverty Elimination Action Plan — will use survey findings to help its mayor shape
New federal rules likely will force three dozen states to reduce their annual Medicaid payments to doctors and hospitals by a total of more than $50 billion — potentially shrinking the number of providers willing to see Medicaid patients, according to a new analysis. The analysis in the peer-reviewed Health Affairs…
The Nebraska Senate race between incumbent Ricketts and Osborn has seen tough talk on immigration as they both try to win a ruby red state.
WASHINGTON — A vast and growing network of artificial intelligence-driven Flock cameras could violate constitutional privacy rights, U.S. senators on a Judiciary Committee subcommittee said during a Wednesday hearing. GOP Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, the chair of the Crime and Counterterrorism Subcommittee, said the…
LINCOLN — An effort to create a permanent sculpture honoring the Nebraska State Capitol’s longtime unofficial feline mascot has been scaled back after a commission expressed skepticism last month over the “whimsical” idea. State Sen. Jana Hughes of Seward and former state Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln will again…
WASHINGTON — U.S. District Court Judge Timothy J. Kelly indicated during a Wednesday hearing he may order the Trump administration to reinstate White House press passes for reporters from three news organizations who had their credentials revoked this weekend. Kelly, of the U.S. District Court for the District of…
LINCOLN — Gov. Jim Pillen on Wednesday declared a state of emergency in response to a storm that hit the village of Crofton in Knox County. The storm earlier this month brought exceptionally high winds that damaged public and private property and disrupted utility services. The declaration opens the door to activation…
LINCOLN — Legislative changes this year to annual bumps in Nebraska’s minimum wage mean workers’ increase next year will be 29 cents less than what voters approved in 2022. New data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics released this month indicates a 3.6% annual rise in the Consumer Price Index for goods and…
LINCOLN — Nebraska U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts sent a letter to U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer, urging the Trump administration to push China for more market access for U.S. agricultural products and ensure it upholds existing commitments.
LINCOLN — The top 16 products have been revealed for the 2026 “Coolest Thing Made in Nebraska” competition — ranging from license plates to popcorn and what is billed as the world’s first miniaturized robotic-assisted surgery system. “Nebraska makes some incredible products and the people who make them deserve to be…
Affordability is on nearly everyone’s mind. With homeowners and prospective homeowners looking for every way they can to save on the necessities of life, it is only natural to consider that expense that is itself a perennial topic in Nebraska: how to reduce the property tax burden. But lowering property taxes is not…
This fall, voters in at least nine states will decide whether to cut, cap or raise taxes through ballot measures that will give them a direct hand in steering state tax policy in a conservative or progressive direction. Some states, such as California, will weigh whether to tax — or untax — their wealthiest residents.
More than half of women of reproductive age have seen or heard the false claim that hormones in contraceptives are harmful, and about 4 in 10 have been exposed to the false idea that hormones in contraceptives limit your ability to get pregnant in the future, according to a new survey. The survey by KFF,
Federal officials charged a Utah letter carrier Tuesday with throwing 300 primary ballots in a church parking lot dumpster, an incident that a top U.S. Justice Department official said made the case for stricter regulations of voting. The prosecution of Damon Matai Seei, of Payson, Utah, showed “voting fraud is real,”…
WASHINGTON — Education experts and advocates on Tuesday urged Congress to repeal an incoming national school voucher program over concerns that it will divert critical funds away from public schools to private institutions. U.S. Sen. Mazie Hirono convened a Democratic-led panel to sound the alarm on the sweeping…
LINCOLN — As criticism clouds Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen’s latest appointments to a state advisory board predicting state tax revenues, lawmakers are divided on what influence the most well-known of those newest board members will have. The nine-member Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board will meet Oct. 30 and…
WASHINGTON — A New Hampshire federal judge seemed skeptical during a Tuesday hearing that a civil rights group could continue with a challenge to block President Donald Trump’s second attempt to redefine the constitutional right to birthright citizenship, suggesting that a new lawsuit might be needed. The American…
LINCOLN — Nebraska’s state auditor is criticizing Douglas County’s handling of a program that helps the poor, including what he described as high administrative costs and “problematic” distribution of Dollar General gift cards. State Auditor Mike Foley detailed concerns in a letter released Tuesday to the governing…
An eight-state coalition filed lawsuits Tuesday challenging the Trump administration’s payments to private companies to cancel offshore wind leases, escalating an ongoing legal battle over the government spending billions of dollars to block wind projects. Attorneys general from eight East Coast states are suing the…
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump faces a “big decision” to make a deal with Iran or “annihilate” the country, he told the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday. During a 37-minute speech to his international counterparts including Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, in New York City, Trump asked, “Will a deal…
If you are having thoughts of suicide, call or text 988 to reach the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resources for a list of additional resources. The mistrial in Lindsay Clancy’s murder trial earlier this month places her future in doubt, three years after she killed her three children…
The residents of Peculiar, Missouri, celebrated their victory against a proposed data center on an October night in 2024, after the town’s six-person Board of Aldermen unanimously voted down a proposal to rezone land for a 500-acre data center campus. Peculiar, a town of 3,000 people about 40 minutes southwest of…
Some of the people who showed up for Pete Ricketts' annual steak fry said they’ll vote for him because he shares their conservative values.
Medicaid enrollees from five states and leading medical organizations filed a lawsuit Friday challenging new Medicaid work requirements. The broad tax and spending law that President Donald Trump signed last summer, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, established work, school or community service requirements for…
WASHINGTON — Diesel prices hit a record average of $6.51 a gallon Monday, and some in President Donald Trump’s own party are breaking their support for the ongoing war in Iran that has driven fuel prices to staggering levels in the United States and across the globe. Already House Republicans locked in tight races as
The Trump administration’s top wildlife official issued a directive last week that expands a recent rollback of endangered species protections much further than the feds had told the public. Individuals and industries may kill endangered animals in the course of logging projects, developments and other activities, it…
A federal judge in Pennsylvania on Thursday dismissed a lawsuit challenging changes to the way grants are awarded under a program that provides funding for services such as family planning and reproductive health wellness exams. The National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association and the Family Health…