An animal rights group is calling for staff terminations and a federal investigation in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Meat Animal Research Center in Clay Center near Hastings.

Vertical farms stack rows of plants on top of each other. These indoor farms control the lighting, water and temperature to create ideal conditions to grow fresh produce year-round close to customers. But the industry relies on artificial lighting and has a large carbon footprint.

Nebraska Medicine has been postponing elective surgeries since the start of January’s omicron surge. Corey Shaw is the chief operating officer at the hospital. Shaw said more staff availability and a decreasing number of COVID patients in the hospital is allowing them to free up doctors and nurses for more elective and specialty surgeries.

COVID relief money was supposed to be a lifeline for small towns recovering from the pandemic. Some found it a challenge to accept. Communities in Nebraska collectively turned down more than half a million dollars.

Nebraska legislative committees held hearings Thursday on building a new prison and listing party affiliations of legislative candidates on the ballot.

Six candidates running for state governor spoke on stage at the Lincoln Cornhusker Marriott Hotel to talk about their business priorities in the Nebraska Chamber Gubernatorial Candidates Forum.

A legislative committee heard a proposal to allow voters to recall governors and state senators, and debate continued on limiting school property tax increases.

Lincoln-Lancaster County Health department reports a dip in Covid-19 cases and local positivity rate, but the risk dial will remain in red this week.

Nebraska homeowners impacted by the coronavirus pandemic can now apply for assistance. Gov. Pete Ricketts announced Tuesday the Nebraska Homeowner Assistance Fund, using nearly 50 million dollars in funds provided by the federal government.

It has 77 students already signed up for its creative arts courses. 52 seniors and 25 juniors for the next school year have applied for the two-hour per day early career opportunity. LPS said it will choose 50 names at random for each grade.