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Gov. Pete Ricketts rejects Legislature’s call to apply for $120 million in rental aid
Gov. Pete Ricketts again swatted down the notion of getting $120 million in federal rental and utility aid for Nebraska, as he vetoed a bill Tuesday that the Legislature had passed calling on him to apply for the money. In a letter to the Legislature, the governor said accepting the second round of Emergency Rental […]
A growing ACLU Nebraska sees change in top spots
A civil rights attorney who led a Lincoln human rights agency and earlier was a prison librarian has been named the new legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Nebraska. Mostly recently, Mindy Rush Chipman led the Lincoln Commission on Human Rights, a city agency that works to prevent and respond to illegal […]
$17 million downtown Omaha construction project spotlights new home for Jesuits
A $17 million downtown Omaha construction project will feature a new building that houses local Jesuits, many of whom work at Creighton University, and hosts visiting scholars from around the world. The Jesuit Residence at Creighton University, poised to open in fall 2023, is expected to make the Jesuit community more visible and available to […]
Chamber’s urban core team nods to affordable housing needs as it urges ‘big’ landscape shifts
It’s happening increasingly in the City of Omaha’s core: Aging housing is wiped out to make way for newer, trendier — and pricier — apartments. Such efforts, while signaling a healthy appetite for urban living, have provoked objections from renters and community advocates decrying the loss of dwellings within financial reach of many working-class people. […]
Nebraska Legislature to explore expanded abortion ban
LINCOLN – A rarely employed “pull motion” in the Nebraska Legislature on Friday revived an impassioned debate on abortion. Lawmakers Friday voted 28-13 to bring Legislative Bill 933 to a full floor discussion after the bill had failed to advance from the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee. Introduced by State Sen. Joni Albrecht of Thurston, LB 933 […]
Fight is still on for Nebraska’s shot at millions of dollars in federal rent and utility aid
LINCOLN — The Legislature’s push to collect at least part of $120 million in federal rental aid that Congress set aside for Nebraska — and that Gov. Pete Ricketts rejected — remains very much alive. That’s the word Thursday, a day after 26 state lawmakers passed a bill that would force the governor to apply for […]
Nebraska lawmakers hone in on who gets $1 billion in federal pandemic recovery funds
LINCOLN — The Nebraska Legislature moved closer Wednesday to distributing more than $1 billion in federal pandemic recovery funds — and boosted the bounty headed to such efforts as mental health services and bonuses to attract nurses. State lawmakers, following a daylong hearing, tweaked the Appropriations Committee’s spending proposal for the state’s allotment of federal […]
Nebraska lawmakers wrangle, then act on spending plans touching both rural and urban turf
LINCOLN — Nebraska lawmakers on Tuesday dived into emotional debate reflecting rural vs. urban interests and, after hours-long wrangling, advanced two separate proposals that would fund projects across the state. On a 39-4 vote, the Legislature moved to a second round of discussion a plan to transfer about $513 million from the state’s “rainy day” […]
State audit reports nearly $278,000 went wrongfully to public retirees who already had died
Nearly $278,000 from the Nebraska Public Employees Retirement Systems was wrongfully sent to 11 people — before authorities figured out those people were no longer alive. One woman had been dead for seven years. That’s 83 months of benefit payments worth $105,250, according to an audit released this week by the State Auditor of Public […]
Lively debate expected in the Legislature over divvying up federal recovery funds
LINCOLN — An Omaha equestrian group could get a half-million dollars to help host an international horse jumping event in Omaha. The Nebraska Crime Commission would get nearly $48 million to train that “next generation of law enforcement officers.” North and South Omaha would get at least $200 million to boost some of the most […]
Lawmakers continue the push to make Gov. Pete Ricketts apply for emergency rent aid for Nebraskans
LINCOLN — A bill that attempts to force Gov. Pete Ricketts’ hand in applying for $120 million in emergency federal rental assistance is one step closer to being approved. The Nebraska Legislature advanced the measure to the final vote Wednesday on a voice vote. Ricketts has been adamant that the state should not apply for […]
San Francisco-based Unison chooses transforming downtown Omaha for office site
A San Francisco-based company on Wednesday will open new offices overlooking Omaha’s Gene Leahy Mall — bringing a pioneering fintech product and an anticipated hundreds of jobs to a transforming downtown. Unison, which specializes in home equity agreements, has leased about half of the ninth floor in the newly renovated, 15-story Landmark Center at 13th […]