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Federal officials on Monday announced $10 billion in awards across all 50 states in the second year of the Rural Health Transformation Fund, grants created by Congress to bolster rural health in response to concerns about Medicaid cuts. Texas received the largest grant for the 2027 fiscal year — almost $282 million —…
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said in an interview that aired Sunday his mass deportation campaign, which helped propel his return to the Oval Office, had gone too far and potentially led to Republicans losing the U.S. House and Senate in the midterm elections. “I think it might be too tough, yeah,” Trump said…
The U.S. Department of Justice is dismissing a lawsuit that tried to force California to set aside the ballots of suspected noncitizen voters, marking the formal end of the Trump administration’s most aggressive effort to control vote counting in the lead-up to the midterm elections. The Justice Department filed a…
WASHINGTON — Voters may have given Democrats control of Congress in the midterm elections, but Republicans will remain in charge of both chambers during the lame-duck session that spans November and December. The relatively brief five-week schedule, which begins Monday, gives GOP leaders a chance to wrap up unfinished…
OMAHA — After months of legal wrangling with city officials, a planned $323 million campus of housing, retail and entertainment venues appears back on track at the former home of Omaha’s storied Civic Auditorium. The roughly eight acres of prime downtown real estate had been cleared for development a decade ago, and…
Last week’s national “blue wave” stayed mostly off on Nebraska’s reliably red shores. The changing tide, however, moved closer. That was not only evident in Democrat Denise Powell’s victory in the 2nd Congressional District, the state’s “Blue Dot,” but also in the vote totals of three closely watched races: for…
LINCOLN — A pros-and-cons discussion about one of Nebraska’s most controversial yet championed economic development tools took center stage at a legislative hearing Friday: Is TIF out of control? What, if any, changes should lawmakers pursue? TIF stands for tax-increment financing, and state Sen. Danielle Conrad of…
OMAHA — An incumbent state senator eyed as the frontrunner for speaker of the Nebraska Legislature has conceded his Omaha-area race in a rematch with his 2022 challenger. State Sen. Brad von Gillern of Elkhorn, in a statement Friday, congratulated state Sen.-elect Cindy Maxwell-Ostdiek of Omaha. Since joining the…
LINCOLN — Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen hasn’t budged on his approach to cap local spending and cover K-12 education costs to alleviate property taxes he’s called for in the past four years. But in 2027, Pillen’s second term begins with a more skeptical, divided Legislature to his ideas than before. Though he is adding a…
LINCOLN — New research from State Auditor Mike Foley into the short-lived executive director of Nebraska’s Public Employees Retirement System showed the director had a tumultuous experience in the agency before he walked off the job. Thomas Pfeifle submitted his resignation to the state retirement board Sept. 21 after…
LINCOLN — Nebraska’s chief information officer, Matthew McCarville, has resigned after serving in the role since 2024. The position is part of Gov. Jim Pillen’s cabinet. The announcement from the Governor’s Office came the day after the general election where voters reelected Pillen to another four years. Pillen…
Powell’s victory in Nebraska's most politically divided and diverse congressional district was part of a historic night for Democrats
LINCOLN — Voters in Nebraska’s capital city widely favored ending off-year elections after 2029 and limiting Lincoln City Council members to two consecutive four-year terms. Lincoln voters saw five city charter amendments on their ballot. Of those, the conservative-led Good Government Lincoln campaign and the blue…
LINCOLN — Voters across Nebraska favored keeping all 48 of the judges who faced up-or-down votes on remaining in office for an additional six years, keeping alive a 16-year streak of no booted jurists. Depending on the county where they live, Nebraska voters saw at least two judges or as many as 15 on their
Nebraska Examiner reporters and student journalists from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and University of Nebraska Omaha captured these moments Tuesday at polling places and candidates’ events.
LINCOLN — Nebraskans chose five new faces for the State Board of Education and University of Nebraska Board of Regents in seven races across the state Tuesday. Conservatives are on the verge of flipping a key seat and shifting the ideologically 4-4 State Board of Education red. The NU Board of Regents is set to shift
Ahead of the midterms, Democrats wargamed dozens of scenarios looking at how President Donald Trump might try to undermine the election, everything from seizing voting machines to falsely declaring a foreign attack. But when the blue tsunami arrived Tuesday night, Trump seemed to let it wash right over him. In a…
OMAHA — A 33-seat Republican supermajority in the Nebraska Legislature will end come 2027 as Democrats and a Democratic-endorsed nonpartisan led in three key districts by Wednesday afternoon. Twenty-five seats were before voters Tuesday, including a special election for a two-year term in the officially nonpartisan…
LINCOLN — Though results were too close to call Tuesday night, U.S. Rep. Mike Flood celebrated a narrow victory in his bid for reelection representing Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District Wednesday morning. Flood said the race was called in his favor moments before a press conference at the Nebraska Republican Party…
FREMONT, Neb. — Former Democratic state Sen. Lynne Walz conceded the governor’s race shortly after 9:30 a.m. Wednesday to Republican Gov. Jim Pillen. Walz, in a statement, said she called Pillen “to congratulate him on a hard-fought campaign and wish him well as he continues to serve Nebraska.” She gave a Republican…
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen won reelection Tuesday in a winding year that gave a Republican gubernatorial candidate their toughest run since the 1990s.
Nebraska Sen. Pete Ricketts declares victory over registered nonpartisan Dan Osborn in the bitter Senate race.
Voters across the country administered a sharp reprimand to President Donald Trump and Republicans who hold majorities in Congress, with Democrats gaining comfortable majorities in the Senate and the House. Several U.S. Senate and House races remained uncalled by The Associated Press as Election Day ended on the East…
LINCOLN — Omaha businessman Scott Petersen won the Nebraska secretary of state race, cinching a new direction for state elections. Petersen, a Republican, garnered 54% of the vote compared to Democrat and small business owner Sarah Slattery’s 40%. The Associated Press called the race Wednesday morning. Petersen will…
Though margins were still slim late Tuesday night, Nebraska voters were on track to reject a pair of ballot measures looking to legalize and regulate online sports betting, according to unofficial results. Initiative Measures 440 and 441 would together amend the Nebraska Constitution and state law, respectively, to…
Voters appeared to agree to cement sex-separate school sports requirements into the Nebraska Constitution with Tuesday’s approval of the Fairness for Girls ballot measure. Initiative Measure 442 had 318,439 yes votes to 160,626 no votes, as of 11:30 p.m. Tuesday, with 69% of the vote counted. The proposal would make…
OMAHA — Republican U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith comfortably won Nebraska’s 3rd Congressional District, while in the 1st District, the race between Republican Rep. Mike Flood and Democrat Chris Backemeyer was too close to call early Wednesday. The AP called the race for Smith about 10 p.m. Smith faced four candidates and, as…
Nebraska’s state senators will remain limited to two consecutive four-year terms after voters rejected a constitutional amendment that would have extended them. Constitutional Amendment 1 was on track to be rejected at the ballot box as of 10 p.m. Tuesday night, with 69,100 yes votes against 290,202 no votes…
Powell will serve two years in the U.S. House. She is the first Latina and first woman to be elected from the 2nd District.
WASHINGTON — Democrats will regain control of the U.S. House early next year, after voters throughout the country rejected the policies that Republicans and President Donald Trump implemented during the last two years. The Associated Press, which States Newsroom looks to for the projected winner of congressional…
WASHINGTON — In a stunning upset, Democrats ousted Republicans and flipped control of the U.S. Senate Tuesday night, effectively establishing a barricade for President Donald Trump’s agenda for the last two years of his term. Democrats will now have the power to block many of Trump’s nominees, both executive and…
America voted. After the Trump administration pressured election officials, after concerns that armed federal agents would deploy to the polls, after fears U.S. Department of Justice election monitors would intimidate voters — ballots were cast by the millions Tuesday, mostly without incident. Across the United…
While much of the national attention on today’s midterm elections has focused on control of Congress, voters across the country will also choose which party controls the levers of state power. Across the states, more than 6,000 legislative seats are up for grabs, leaving the partisan control of numerous chambers…
Polls open for 12 hours at 8 a.m. Central time/7 a.m. Mountain time. Mail-in ballots must be returned by the time polls close.
LINCOLN — Federal officials have approved 28 Nebraska census tracts as “opportunity zones” eligible for a new tax incentive program that starts in January and is intended to boost economic development. The tracts span the state from Scottsbluff to Omaha and include both rural and urban areas. The batch was submitted…
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday, mere hours before Election Day in the midterms that will determine control of Congress, denied the Trump administration’s final attempt to force California to set aside the ballots of 20,000 people it suspects are noncitizens. The decision marked a significant blow to President Donald…
Downstream Missouri River states have worried for decades about receiving an insufficient flow of water from upstream dams. Now they’re worried their share of water could be further diminished by potential pipelines for dry Western states. The concern is the basis of a dispute about the U.S. House version of the…
The U.S. Department of Justice on Monday asked the U.S. Supreme Court to require California to set aside the ballots of suspected noncitizen voters in a last-ditch appeal by the Trump administration to exert control over the state’s vote counting. The request came on the eve of Election Day and as more than 5 million…
LINCOLN — Nebraska’s capital city is preparing for an unprecedented spectacle Saturday. One of Lincoln’s two prestigious National Historic Landmarks — the 125-year-old Fairview mansion built for political heavyweight William Jennings Bryan and his wife, Mary — will be relocated to a different corner of the hospital…
While broadcasters, social media and others who make money during political campaigns back their cash-filled trucks up to the bank, silence is returning. It’s a welcome sound. We may argue over results, laugh at new conspiracy theories and breathe sighs of relief or resignation, but the political advertising avalanche…
LINCOLN — As Nebraskans head to the polls Tuesday, they will vote in some of the most expensive races in state history — and in a year when candidates and statewide ballot measure campaigns have already raised more than $63 million. Campaign finance data available as of Sunday afternoon indicates general election…
LINCOLN — In the final weeks of the race for Nebraska governor, the Republican and Democratic candidates have received some of their largest donations from their respective governors’ associations. The candidates have also received boosts from President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance and Kentucky Gov. Andy…
When the Platte and Missouri rivers surged in March 2019, they didn’t just spill over their banks — they washed out bridges, drowned livestock and submerged one-third of Offutt Air Force Base. Floodwaters covered part of the runway and wrecked high-tech flight simulators, triggering an estimated $650 million military…
LINCOLN — Nebraska lawmakers will likely enter the 2027 session looking to fill a projected budget deficit around $200 million, but a larger problem emerged for the next two-year budget after new economic forecasts dropped Friday. Nebraska’s Economic Forecasting Advisory Board met Friday to update state revenue…
This article was originally published by Votebeat, a nonprofit news organization covering local election administration and voting access. The Justice Department has sent yet another round of letters to state election officials warning them that they could face criminal prosecution for violating federal election laws…
Sen. Pete Ricketts, Dan Osborn, and the other candidates on the ballot have raised more than $25.6 million combined.
GRAND ISLAND, Neb. — A Hall County District Court judge on Friday upheld 24 convictions and a nearly $4,000 fine against a former Nebraska notary for 2024 petitions to legalize and regulate medical cannabis. Hall County District Judge Andrew Butler found that Hall County Judge Alfred Corey III, who presided over a…
LINCOLN — A ballot measure to extend legislative term limits passed 39-10 in the Nebraska Legislature, but the state lawmaker who brought it is less confident the proposal has the momentum to succeed with voters. “I will guarantee if the people across Nebraska knew what I know and what people down here do know, it
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s rallies in Kansas and Iowa this weekend are back on after initial cancellations, States Newsroom confirmed Friday. The Midwest rallies mark the final sprint to Election Day on Nov. 3 — now just four days away — where the GOP is itching to maintain its narrow majority in the U.S.
LINCOLN — The state Attorney General’s Office said the Nebraska Governor’s Office “was not implicated in any criminal wrongdoing” in relation to a $2.5 million bioeconomy no-bid contract the state auditor flagged earlier this year. The Lincoln Police Department said late Thursday it had concluded its investigation…
OMAHA — A community volunteer and the chief operating officer of a company serving people with disabilities are facing off in a special election for the NU Board of Regents in Omaha. One is a former Nebraska first lady while the other is a former UNL student regent. Susanne Shore and Justin Solomon, both of Omaha,
La VISTA — Animal health IV fluids made in Grand Island took home this year’s title of “Coolest Thing Made in Nebraska.” After weeks of buildup and tens of thousands of votes, the winning product, by Nova-Tech Inc., was revealed Thursday during the final hours of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce and Industry…
A mother rejects a box of “liberal cereal.” Dan Osborn delivers 30 seconds of meat-based puns. A rape victim condemns a pardon of her rapist by her former governor. These are just some of the political advertisements that have repeated themselves across airwaves this election cycle, even intruding on one of the…
Powell is trying to be the first Democrat to represent the district in about a decade, while Harding is trying to defend the seat for Republicans
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s rally in Salina, Kansas, on Saturday is canceled, the Kansas Republican Party confirmed to States Newsroom. An appearance scheduled for Sunday in Dubuque, Iowa, was also canceled, the Republican National Committee said in a late Thursday press release. In-person rallies packed…
WASHINGTON — Communities throughout the country have been inundated with television ads and outside spending as politicians try to spur voter turnout in the most competitive U.S. House races in Tuesday’s midterm elections. The focus on a short list of campaigns highlights how much power voters in a small number of…
A federal judge on Wednesday denied a U.S. Department of Justice request that would have forced California to not count the ballots of 20,000 voters the Trump administration alleges are likely noncitizens. The decision sets the case on a course to possibly reach the U.S. Supreme Court within days. In a scathing…
A case of highly pathogenic avian influenza has been detected in a commercial turkey flock of approximately 44,400 birds in Sac County, according to the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship. While the HPAI H5N1 outbreak has been ongoing since February 2022, Iowa has not reported an outbreak of the bird…
This story was originally reported by The 19th. Dolores Huerta, who rose to national prominence as the co-founder of the National Farm Workers Association, and was known for her advocacy for women farmworkers, died on Wednesday. She was 96. Huerta was born in New Mexico but spent most of her life in California’s…
OMAHA — Vaneza Ramos said she felt a sense of peace and vindication upon hearing a jury verdict that awarded her $11.3 million in a case against an insurance company that denied a claim after her husband died of COVID-19. Beyond the dollar value, she and the couple’s 10 children are happy to see their
LINCOLN — State Sen. Stan Clouse of Kearney said he is hoping to bring legislation next year that would officially bring Nebraska’s Head Start programs into state statute amid growing uncertainty about long-term federal support. Clouse introduced Legislative Resolution 472 earlier this year to examine the state’s…
Most of the nation returns to standard time Sunday morning, and Congress could decide as early as next month whether it will be the last time people have to change their clocks. President Donald Trump wants year-round daylight saving time. The U.S. House voted overwhelmingly in July for the change. Lots of Democrats…
WASHINGTON — Tens of millions of Americans have already made their way to the ballot box as early voting is underway in a midterm election that will determine control of the House and the Senate, possibly flipping one or both from Republicans to Democrats. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than 34 million people have…
LINCOLN — The University of Nebraska has convened a 30-member advisory committee to search for the next permanent chancellor of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. NU Executive Vice President and Provost David Jackson, NU’s chief academic officer, announced the formation of the committee in an email to the UNL…
LINCOLN — A founder of an advertising and marketing firm who also does political consulting and a neurosurgeon who is a former student regent are asking for voters’ trust for an open seat on the NU Board of Regents in Lancaster County this fall. Brent Comstock and Dr. Jeremy Hosein, both of Lincoln, are seeking
The U.S. Department of Justice plans to send election monitors to every state ahead of Election Day, expanding a long-standing practice that’s spurred concern this year among Democrats and voting rights advocates because of President Donald Trump’s push to influence elections. The Justice Department for decades has…
LINCOLN — Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen has requested a federal disaster declaration for severe flooding in eight counties in southeast Nebraska that occurred between Sept. 30 and Oct. 6. Pillen had declared a state of emergency after the flooding on Oct. 1. At the time, the order did not specify the counties affected. His…
SPRINGDALE, Pa. — Residents in a small southwestern Pennsylvania town are facing the prospect of a 47-acre data center facility on their doorstep. “Right here behind this fence is where they want to put up the data center, and as you can see, there’s houses right across the street, roughly 100 feet,” said lifelong…
As the political environment has worsened for Republicans, Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District is now viewed as more competitive.
Every year, as part of my job at Voices for Children in Nebraska, I gather the most up-to-date information on thousands of key child wellbeing indicators in the state of Nebraska. To take one example, we produce a map featuring the childcare capacity of all 93 counties in Nebraska. So, for instance, if a county
GRETNA — Voters of Legislative District 36 will choose between a retired U.S. naval officer and a retired manufacturing executive to represent one of the fastest-growing areas of the state. State Sen. Rick Holdcroft, the Republican incumbent with a 28-year military career, wants to resume a quest for a safe haven…
President Donald Trump’s 11th-hour campaign to intervene in California’s vote counting encountered its first resistance from federal courts on Monday, with appellate judges ruling against the effort. A three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled against a U.S. Department of Justice request for a…
Iowa regulators have reinstated the license of a nurse previously sanctioned for alleged drug thefts in four different states. State records indicate the Iowa Board of Nursing first licensed Krystal Bauer of Omaha as a registered nurse in 1993. Board records indicate that in 2003, Bauer was working at an unspecified…
LINCOLN — In a year of twists and turns for some of Nebraska’s highest elected positions, there are no declared write-in candidates for congressional offices or for constitutional officers, the Legislature and state education boards. Under state law, candidates must file a written affidavit and the respective filing…
We interrupt this election season to bring you a seismic, geopolitical event: We have met the enemy … and bought him a gift card. Written in Cyrillic. What’s up with the president’s latest appeasement of Russia’s Vladimir Putin? The capitulation includes a diesel deal that will help fund its war with Ukraine and its…
WASHINGTON — Fewer than 5% of U.S. House races are seen by a top political analysis as truly competitive heading into November’s midterm elections, giving relatively few voters the ability to determine which party controls the chamber for the next two years. The other 414 of 435 House districts are viewed by the…
This year’s statewide ballot measures are written, on average, at a graduate-school reading level, according to a new report. The readability of 2026’s ballot questions — which ask voters to weigh in on issues as varied as abortion, property taxes, voter ID and firearms — varies by state, political data tracking…
Questions from the audience ranged from transgender athletes, government reform, gun control, and division in America.
OMAHA — Omaha is among 14 cities nationwide selected for a Bloomberg Philanthropies program intended to boost creation of local housing — particularly “accessory dwelling units,” known also as granny flats or in-law suites. Participation comes with up to $750,000 in grant funding, but local leaders say a key benefit…
LINCOLN — Nebraskans will have the final say Nov. 3 on whether to legalize and regulate online sports betting as advocates and opponents clash in the final days of the 2026 race. Initiative Measures 440 and 441 would together amend the Nebraska Constitution and state law, respectively, to legalize and regulate online…
Joe Gruters said he believes Republicans still have a path to maintain control of both the U.S. House and Senate
The U.S. Department of Justice is stepping up its legal campaign over the midterm elections, suing Alaska over its U.S. Senate election and appealing a lawsuit against suspected noncitizen voters in California. Election law experts have cast doubt on the strength of the cases, criticizing them as performative. The…
OMAHA — State Sen. Brad von Gillern and Cindy Maxwell-Ostdiek are in a rematch for Douglas County’s Legislative District 4 as both candidates say affordability, taxes and divisiveness ring top of mind for voters. Four years ago, voters in the west-central Douglas County district elected von Gillern of Elkhorn over…
Federal regulators are cracking down on the nonprofits responsible for coordinating organ donations, aiming to begin shutting down substandard groups by early next year. New criteria will score the organizations on donation and transplantation rates and will decertify the bottom tier, meaning their contracts with the…
JD Vance became the first vice president to visit North Platte, campaigning for Sen. Pete Ricketts and Gov. Jim Pillen.
BENNINGTON — It was the crack of dawn when legislative candidate Jess Goldoni opened a listening session at a local cafe, fielding concerns ranging from data centers to technology overreach and tax-burdened startups. To the visitors who showed up at her Friday “coffee hours,” Goldoni underscored her background that…
LINCOLN — The Nebraska Supreme Court on Wednesday said Lincoln must pay the Attorney General’s Office $9,150 in costs after a court fight about three petitioned charter amendments. The high court on Sept. 9, in a 5-2 opinion, agreed with Attorney General Mike Hilgers that city officials needed to place three…
WASHINGTON — The price health insurance companies charge for employer-sponsored plans increased again this year, as did the deductible many people must pay before those plans begin covering most healthcare costs, according to a survey released Thursday by the nonpartisan health organization KFF. The cost of individual…
A federal judge on Wednesday night blocked the Department of Homeland Security from conducting election-related field operations that could sweep up U.S. citizens in nine states. Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, an appointee of President Joe Biden in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, issued a…
National Democrats are suing President Donald Trump, accusing his administration of intimidating election officials and asking a federal court to block him from interfering in the midterm elections. The lawsuit, filed late Tuesday in Washington, D.C., comes as the Trump administration mounts a highly public offensive…
LINCOLN — Amid concerns raised by a Nebraska legislative committee, the state’s director for economic development Wednesday defended her team’s handling of a roughly $235 million grant program aimed at lifting North and South Omaha. The hearing before the Economic Recovery Special Committee featured a question-answer…
LINCOLN — In the politically split District 10, a seat in the Nebraska Legislature is up for grabs with its current representative ineligible for reelection. State Sen. Wendy DeBoer of Bennington is term-limited after serving two consecutive terms representing the district, which encompasses a portion of northwestern…
Since her father was detained and deported, Abigail Lopez struggles to concentrate in class. The 14-year-old attends Stilwell Junior High School in West Des Moines, Iowa. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested her father, Juan Lopez, on his way to work in September. ICE and the Department of Homeland…
State and local government employees report high levels of job satisfaction across the country, but face significant rates of burnout and on-the-job harassment. That’s according to a new national survey of nearly 5,000 public servants across all 50 states released today by The People Lab at Harvard University’s…
Nine states and the District of Columbia lost jobs in the year ending in September, according to a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Hit hard by the Trump administration’s cuts to the federal workforce, the District of Columbia suffered the largest percentage job loss, down 3.5% or 25,800…
Nebraska has the ingredients to build a stronger bioeconomy. The opportunity now is to turn those assets into a focused strategy for growth. Across Nebraska, the biosciences are already at work in human and animal health, agriculture, renewable fuels, biomanufacturing, medical technology and research. The University…
The Iowa Board of Regents has selected Carson Holloway as the new director of the Center for Intellectual Freedom at the University of Iowa, opening a new chapter for the center amid conflict over its development. Board of Regents President Robert Cramer said he appreciated the “time and energy” center interim…
LINCOLN — Nebraska’s four licensed medical cannabis cultivators are pushing for changes to testing, fees and legal protections for healthcare providers as questions loom over when the fledgling program will provide for legal sales. Representatives for the four licensed cultivators sent a joint letter to the Nebraska…
LINCOLN — Among recommendations to increase state funding for Nebraska’s 244 school districts was one adopted Tuesday to increase per-student aid by at least 4% annually. A draft of the 16-page report from Nebraska’s School Financing Review Commission offers 18 recommendations, most of which would tweak the Tax Equity…
HYANNIS, Neb. — With 19 days until Election Day, Dan Osborn sat across from three skeptical voters in a conference room in this blink-and-you-miss-it rural Nebraska town. Osborn, a bearded former union leader and Navy veteran, wants to become the first independent U.S. senator from Nebraska since World War II by…