Nebraska Update

With the 20th Anniversary of the September 11th terror attacks coming up. Nebraska Public Media News reporter William Padmore spoke with members of Nebraska’s Islamic community about what it was like growing up in the “9/11 era” of American history. Norhan Basma is a 22-year-old first-generation American and her father, Hesham is 56 and originally from Cairo, Egypt

The 7-day average for cases dropped from more than 800 cases per day last week to just under 700 cases early this week. This does not mean cases are headed down for good, and they very well could climb again. As of now, however, CDC stats look promising.

Data from the Nebraska Dept. of Health and Human Services shows another 5-thousand cases this past week. That’s a little more than what the CDC has, but roughly shows a similar trend in cases.

As Nebraska and most other states continue to fight off the delta variant of COVID-19, they’re also shifting their attention to a new threat, known as the Mu variant, which hasn’t officially made it to Nebraska yet.
Dr. Mark Rupp is the chief of the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Division of Infectious Diseases and says the variant is making inroads.

Immigrants, refugees, and asylees are sometimes thought to be very resilient people. And they are.. they’ve overcome abuse, trauma, and tragedy in their lives, but they still need help processing the trauma. The Center for Legal Immigration Assistance in Lincoln helps immigrants who are victims of crime apply for visas, and heal their mental health wounds.

The Nebraska Legislature's Redistricting Committee began discussing maps Tuesday, without reaching the subject of congressional and legislative districts

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, many of us became more familiar with epidemiology and the researchers who try to track and prevent virus outbreaks. We've heard of uses like contact tracing, but that's more after the fact of spreading the virus. A newer method involves looking underground. When a person is COVID-positive, they can shed the virus through their stool. A new key to tracking and possibly predicting COVID-19 case outbreaks may lie in our sewer systems.

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Chancellor Ronnie Green spoke with the school’s student body government earlier this week, after reported sexual assaults on campus last week.

Patrick Baker is the external vice president for UNL’s student government and said the university is looking into adding two sexual assault victim advocates.

Baker said the university is working on turning the Neihardt Residential Hall into more offices, specifically for the Women's Center and victim advocates.

The Nebraska State Board of Education voted Friday to postpone further development of controversial health education standards.

The team will investigate cases where an officer uses force and ‘serious bodily injury or death’ occurs. Members of the Sarpy County Attorney’s Office, Sarpy County Sheriff’s Department, and the Papillion, Bellevue, and La Vista Police Departments make up the unit.

Governor Pete Ricketts said kids are at no more risk from COVID-19 than they are from the flu and shouldn’t be required to mask up for protection in schools. Local children’s doctor says otherwise.