Humanities Desk

The tradition of harvesting an evergreen for the official Christmas tree of Omaha is almost one-hundred years old. It’s a trek that used to start across the country, but has transitioned to a more local journey.

Northern Nebraska’s Santee Sioux Reservation is still without safe drinking water after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a no-drink order in 2019. But in recent weeks, some progress has been made. The Santee Sioux tribal council voted to pursue funding for a pipeline bringing clean water from South Dakota in September, but several bureaucratic and financial hurdles need to be cleared before safe drinking water becomes a reality in Santee once more.

Hundreds of high school band, orchestra and choir students from across Nebraska came together last week to perform at All-State in Lincoln. This year, almost 750 students made one of the four groups.

Eric Ramos, the man accused of killing a fellow inmate at the Tecumseh State Correctional Institution in 2017, is back in court after his initial 2018 trial ended in a mistrial. Opening statements for Ramos’ second trial began Wednesday afternoon at the Saline County Courthouse in Wilber, Nebraska. The State of Nebraska charged Eric Ramos with first degree murder, use of a weapon and tampering with evidence in the death of Michael Galindo during a 2017 riot at the state prison in Tecumseh.

Homeschool numbers increased all over the country at the start of the pandemic. Studies show many states have sustained that uptick. But Nebraska has a different story.

“We felt as though silence would be better than making an attempt at words that might fall short," Rev. Sarah Rentzel Jones, who works at Countryside Community Church on the Tri-Faith campus, said. A church, synagogue and mosque sit on the Tri-Faith campus. The three communities are trying to support each other through the impact of the Israel-Hamas war.

Before Abigail, no one had ever competed in wheelchair cross country in the history of the state. At least not according to the Nebraska School Activities Association. But this fall, Abigail competed in four races alongside other junior high runners, each a little more than one mile long. She says her teammates have helped inspire her to not give up when she’s tired.

Election integrity experts, including Nebraska’s Deputy Secretary of State for Elections, Wayne Bena, testified at a U.S. Senate hearing about threats to election administration Wednesday. Senate Committee on Rules and Administration Ranking Member Deb Fischer of Nebraska said she hoped to find solutions to problems facing election officials and volunteer poll workers.

The Nebraska Department of Education announced a $2 million commitment to Nebraska Growing Readers, which will distribute books to early childhood centers across the state. Mary Jo Pankoke is the CEO of the Nebraska Children and Families Foundation which is partnering with the state. She said one of the goals of the program is to address book deserts. The book distribution began at Educare Indian Hill in Omaha, and will expand to 18 other sites statewide.

The Nebraska Economic Forecasting Advisory Board increased its projections for state tax revenue in the upcoming year, but the board is less optimistic about fiscal year 2025. The board now projects Nebraska will collect $6.445 billion dollars in state tax revenue between July 2023 and June 2024. That represents an increase of nearly $8 million dollars from the previous projection set in April 2023.