Nebraska Update

The White House is asking Gov. Ricketts to help promote a federal program offering reduced internet costs

A new virtual reality art exhibit at KANEKO in Omaha gives viewers a front-row seat to the immigration crisis at the U-S, Mexico border. KANEKO is one of the few places in the world right now where you can see the exhibit after numerous sold-out international tours. Nebraska Public Media’s Jackie Ourada has more on the Oscar award-winning Carne y Arena exhibit that shows what many people endure as they try to find the “American dream.”

Thirteen years after the federal government last raised the federal minimum wage, a ballot initiative in Nebraska aims to raise Nebraska’s minimum to $15 per hour by 2026. “I think Nebraska's graduated scale is fairly conservative and will be easy to hit,” said Mike Draper, who owns Raygun, a clothing and design store in Omaha.

High input costs have pushed up food prices at grocery stores. But local farmers have been able to keep prices more stable, and that’s attracting new customers.

The Omaha FBI office will be holding a Diversity Agent Recruitment event on August 3 to hire new agents, especially from diverse applicants

Every two years the Nebraska Hall of Fame Commission selects a prominent person whose residence in the state contributed to their greatness and place in history. This year nominees, put forward by members of the public, include the controversial civil rights leader Malcolm X, a famed baseball pitcher, a Pulitizer Prize-winning composer, and a pioneer in promoting women’s sports. Public hearings on the candidates begin this evening in Lincoln.

The Nebraska Medical Association is asking its members for their input on abortion restrictions that may be proposed in the Legislature.

Agriculture companies are increasingly paying farmers to capture carbon. But some say the newly budding carbon marketplace isn’t enough to fight climate change.

Can someone’s behavior be an indicator that the person may carry out a mass shooting? That is the focus of a document published by the University of Nebraska’s National Counterterrorism, Innovation, Technology, and Education Center. In it, they connected federally recognized behaviors indicating someone may be planning violence to the shooter behind the mass killing in Buffalo, New York earlier this year. Nebraska Public Media’s William Padmore spoke with the author of the document Clara Braun and Center Director Dr. Gina Ligon.

The U.S. Congress passed the “Keep Kids Fed Act,” which returns the school lunch program to an income-based system. The act passed just days before the universal free lunch program was scheduled to end June 30.

VanLear was shocked and panicked to hear the news.

“Crap, I got to reach out [and] figure out the budget,” she said.

Who qualifies?

Penny VanLear works two jobs. One at H&R Block where she’s been for 12 years. The other at the City of Lincoln’s Treasury office.

VanLear said they didn’t have to worry about paying for lunches before the pandemic.

“We were still qualifying for free at that point, with the four kids,” VanLear said.

Adam, 19, has since graduated and goes to Southeast Community College in Lincoln.

Now with three dependents instead of four, VanLear is put into a different income bracket. She fears her three kids won’t qualify for free lunches.