Humanities Desk

Two Nebraska state senators reflected on the state’s redistricting process on Tuesday at a University of Nebraska-Lincoln webinar, and they say it was the most partisan process they’ve seen in the legislature. As Will Bauer of Nebraska Public Media News reports, Senators Wendy DeBoer and Matt Williams are still happy with how it turned out.

On the 80th anniversary of the surprise Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the unidentified remains of 33 U.S. service members are being reinterred in a solemn military ceremony in Honolulu, Hawaii. It signals the wind down for a team of forensic anthropologists at Offutt Air Force Base whose work has helped positively identify more than 90-percent of the previously unknown crew who died on the U.S.S. Oklahoma.

A few hundred people packed into a Kearney conference center on Sunday to listen. What they heard was, for the most part, standard conservative answers on policy issues – ranging from rural broadband to reworking the state’s tax system.

Global Gaming Nebraska is an affiliate of the Chickasaw Nation. They expect decisions on its applications for two casinos to be handed down in approximately six months and could complete construction as soon as late 2023.

According to the health department, only one of the six people were vaccinated. The Nebraska Public Health Lab later confirmed the variant. Nebraska’s acting state epidemiologist Matt Donahue said the identification of omicron reinforces the urgency for Nebraskans to get vaccinated.

As of Tuesday, 555 Nebraskans were hospitalized with COVID-19. That’s an increase of 42 from one week ago. These numbers are similar to those seen one year ago – right before the pandemic reached its peak in the state.

The difference between now and then is what else is going on in these hospitals. One year ago, elective surgeries weren’t happening and most were just focused on COVID. But, now, regular activities have resumed, and that’s strained hospitals..

Terry Uding works in utilities for Lyons, a town of about 800 people roughly 75 miles north of Omaha. Its tap water has recently turned a dark brown color at times. Uding said it's because of an old filtration system that needs replacing. Lyons is experiencing the pitfalls of supply chain delays and is working with a contractor to replace its filtration system.

Headed into Thanksgiving weekend, COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations are on the climb in Nebraska. According to the state’s dashboard, COVID hospitalizations reached 513 Tuesday. That’s nearly 12% of the state’s beds. Hospitals, as a whole, remain strained but some pressure has subsided. Around 20% of both regular adult beds and ICUs are available statewide. ICUs had dropped to single digits last week.

The Executive Director of the Nebraska Commission on Latino-Americans will retire on Dec. 31, 2021 after 11 years of service.

After a drawn-out battle in federal court, a church in Walthill, Nebraska, may soon be able to build a church in the village's business district. The Light of the World Church, with the backing of the U.S. government, claimed the village board discriminated against a religious organization when it rejected its request for a change in zoning.