Humanities Desk

A total of 26-hundred acres have burned in Banner and Scotts Bluff counties. Numerous agencies have gathered in the Buffalo Creek Wildlife Management Area. The Banner County Fire Department and Nebraska Game and Parks continue to quench hotspots.

A simple text saying “summit” was sent as the five senators reached the highest peak in Africa. The team returned to the flat ground on Thursday Nebraska time.

Republican Senator Tom Brewer planned the climb before four others asked to tag along. Anna Wishart, Justin Wayne, Dave Murman, and Ben Hansen, two democrats and two republicans, respectively, in the officially nonpartisan legislature. It’s as diverse racially as they are in political philosophy. Brewer is Native American and a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, and Senator Wayne is part African American, while the other three are white.

Brewer said the Nebraska group hiked up the mountain alongside a much more limber group of people, compared to themselves.

Last year two Native American girls in Cody, Nebraska had their hair cut at school without their parents’ permission. That action prompted a First Amendment lawsuit in which the girls’ parents said their family’s religious rights were violated.

Last year two Native American girls in Cody, Nebraska had their hair cut at school without their parents’ permission. That action prompted a First Amendment lawsuit in which the girls’ parents said their family’s religious rights were violated.

Chadron State College became the first school in Nebraska to sponsor an NCAA sanctioned women's wrestling team. Chadron’s Director of Athletics, Joel Smith, did not believe the lack of competing teams was a reason to turn away this new sport. He saw it as an opportunity. Adding a new sport had the advantage of being a good business decision.

CDC stats show that COVID cases are up nearly 20% over the past two weeks in Nebraska. The Cornhusker State is among many northern states seeing increases. Overall, cases are up 18% nationwide

COVID hospitalizations are increasing too. Active hospitalizations increased to 477 statewide on Tuesday, which is nearly 11% of the state's beds. At the same time last week, there were 415.

Chamber of Commerce leaders from the state and nation discussed today (Wednesday) how Nebraska could benefit from the hard infrastructure bill recently passed by Congress. As Will Bauer of Nebraska Public Media News reports, those Chamber leaders believe the state could see projects during the next construction season.

President Joe Biden and CMS announced a COVID-19 vaccine mandate earlier this month for all healthcare workers. The rule applies to institutions receiving
Medicare or Medicaid funding. Hospitals are expected to comply or federal financial support will be revoked. The mandate affects 17 million workers across the country.

Justin Nix is a professor of criminology and criminal justice at UNO and said most states analyze officer-involved shootings by only looking at fatal shootings. He explained why that’s problematic.

“You might actually be drawing conclusions based on the differences in the likelihood of mortality, than in differences in police behavior,” Nix said. “So, to get a more accurate understanding of the behavior, police shootings, we need data on all police shootings, because at the end of the day, I would hope we’d all want to minimize police shootings to the extent possible.”

Since the United States pulled military operations out of Afghanistan and the Taliban took control of the country in late August, 290 refugees have begun the process of relocating to Nebraska, and 191 migrants remain at military bases, but are prepared to depart for the Lincoln-Omaha area.