Nebraska Update

There were rainbows, floats, and music during the Capitol City’s First Annual Pride Parade Saturday

Will Brown was brutally dragged through Omaha’s streets in 1919 and then murdered by a white mob for an alleged rape he didn’t’ commit. On eve of Juneteenth, city, county and civil rights leaders unveiled a historical marker in front of a crowd of around 500 people telling the gruesome story of his death.

A meeting of the Coordinating Council for the Learning Community of Douglas and Sarpy Counties provided an opportunity for supporters and opponents to discuss critical race theory

Members of Nebraska agencies get in an airplane with knowledge of where possible wildfire could begin. Maps of lightning strikes guide the fire finders. They look for early signs of fire and direct local fire departments to the location of the fire before it gets out of control.

The Nebraska Board of Education released draft accreditation rules in April that could reduce the number of school librarians in the state.

For the first time in more than twenty years the historic Carillon bells of First Plymouth Congregational Church in Lincoln have fallen silent.

Nebraska Public Media News has more on the bells and the woman who plays them.

Lincoln and Lancaster County will let their last pandemic-related directed health measure expire at midnight on Friday, the latest milestone in a rapid return to normal.
The expiring directed health measure means there will be no conditions related to gatherings, regardless of size or location and no event plans will be required for events with more than 500 people.

Gov. Pete Ricketts has appointed Tax Commissioner Tony Fulton to the Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission

Norfolk-based draftsman Roger Brummels says the impact of decreasing futures isn’t being felt quite yet. For Brummels, that means better prices will follow in the next 30-60 days.
Brummels 0:14 “It will bring people back…for most contractors.”
Lumber prices had hit all times highs this past spring because of shortages in supply. For some consumers, that meant paying 40-thousand more dollars to build a home. With low interest rates, the high prices didn’t stymie building.

A new report argues the Midwest is much more welcoming to certain types of immigrants than stereotypes -- or political rhetoric -- suggests.

Heartland Forward, an Arkansas-based think tank, says demographic shifts will soon turn the heartland, which the organization defines as the 20 states between the Rockies and the Appalachians, into a truly global place with a mix of cultures.

“Some might refer to it as a flyover country,” Heartland’s CEO Ross DeVol said, “but if it were a separate country it would be the third largest economy in the world.”