Nebraska Update

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.

Nebraska Attorney General Doug Peterson joined his counterpart from Illinois in urging Congress to enact military justice reform

Meaghan Stout was 16 years old when she first learned she was being paid less than a man.

She was the head hostess at Round the Bend Steakhouse, in Ashland, Nebraska, training a younger employee. The two were bantering about some of the more frustrating parts of the job when he mentioned his pay.

"The only reason why I'm still here is because I make $11 an hour." he said, according to Stout,. She said she didn't believe it. "No you don't," she replied. "Yeah, I do," he said.

Armed with that information, Stout asked for a raise and got it.

Speaking to the owner of the restaurant, she found out that the kitchen manager had given raises to the male workers, but not to the women.

Even after getting the raise, Stout said she was mad at the kitchen manager for giving her co-worker that raise so early in his time on the job. The new employee had a fraction of her experience, but was compensated more because he was friends with the kitchen manager.

“It was kind of depressing to only be barely in high school and finding out really quickly that things like that actually happen,” Stout said.

Now 23, Stout has left that job behind, but the experience has made her more willing to ask how much people are compensated for the work that they do.

Stout’s experience is reflected in federal data, academic research and the lives of many Nebraska women. According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Nebraska women make about 80 cents for every dollar a man makes.. This pay disparity, known as the wage gap, persists after decades of women fully participating in the labor force – and even 50 years after women were guaranteed equal access to education after the passage of Title IX.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disrupt America’s relationship to work, gender differences in pay stubbornly remain.

On Veteran’s Day, Nebraskans are paying homage to all our veterans, including Mexican-Americans in the Panhandle. Three new monuments with some 600 names engraved in stone will be revealed in Scottsbluff.

A tentative agreement with the union representing Nebraska prison security personnel calls for raising base pay by 40 percent.

According to the CDC, cases are up nearly 40 percent statewide in the past two weeks. The 7-day average stands at more than 800 cases per day. Two weeks ago, about 580 Nebraskans tested positive each day.

More than 10 percent of hospital beds in the state are filled with a COVID patient. At latest check, state data shows 415 beds are occupied. Hospitalizations have hovered at or around that mark since late October.

Supporters say increase would help struggling workers; critics say other changes could help more

Nearly 50 years after Congress passed Title IX to protect students from sexual discrimination, outcries about sexual violence at the University of Nebraska Lincoln are still present. Also looming: Ten women are suing the school as part of two lawsuits. They allege the university’s Title IX office mishandled their reports of sexual misconduct.

A groundbreaking 1995 lawsuit demanding girls softball in Minden set a gender equity precedent nationally. A mother and her daughter sued in federal to include girl's softball and force improvement of facilities and treatment of girl athletes.

Health Director Dr. Linsay Huse told Douglas County Commissioners there has been an increase in new cases and hospitalizations are creeping back up, similar to the ups and downs the state has seen several times during the pandemic. Douglas County’s positivity rate has also jumped about a percentage point since last week, to 9.6%. Dr. Huse said she’s keeping an eye on other parts of the world too.