HASTINGS, Neb. (KSNB) -Early voting began Monday for Nebraska’s May primary elections, with voters casting ballots at county election offices.

Any registered voter in Nebraska can now vote for candidates to advance to the general election. Voters must have an application on file requesting to vote early, whether by mail or in person.

Nebraska allows voters to register with the Republican, Democratic, Libertarian and Legal Marijuana Now parties or as a nonpartisan.

Voters who complete early voting must meet voter ID requirements. A Nebraska state ID, a driver’s license or a college ID will meet those requirements.

Ramona Thomas, Adams County clerk, said voters need to know their party registration before voting.

“Nebraska is a closed primary so you are voting for the party in which you are registered under,” Thomas said. “If you do have a question on what you are registered under you can go to Nebraska check and put in your data and it will say what you are currently registered as.”

May 1 is the last day to register to vote in person at county election offices.

Click here to subscribe to our KSNB Local4 daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.

Copyright 2026 KSNB. All rights reserved.

Nebraska’s medical cannabis commission continued to face emotional testimony from patients and advocates frustrated with what they describe as a slow and restrictive rollout of the state’s program on Monday.

“The question is, is your empathy real? Do you even care?” said Tiffany Tex Gustafson, a medical cannabis advocate.

Patients and industry representatives argued that the four-member commission has not moved quickly enough to meet demand. Troy Burgess, a cannabis cultivator, urged officials to accelerate their work.

“I implore you because of the patients behind me, let’s move the ball forward,” Burgess said. “I feel like we’re delayed or stalled.”

The commission has taken steps to build out the program. It has launched a website, begun hiring staff and is preparing to expand operations after lawmakers approved legislation providing funding and fee-setting authority.

Commission Chair Lorelle Mueting said the agency recently hired an administrative specialist, who is expected to begin work April 20.

The commission is seeking changes to its legal representation, which is currently handled by Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers, who has been critical of medical cannabis.

“This motion is in no way to be considered a negative reflection on the legal services and provided to the commission so far by the Attorney General’s office,” Commissioner J. Michael Coffey said. “My problem is, I think we’re subject to the appearances and impropriety and the appearances of conflict.”

The commission has also awarded four licenses to cannabis cultivators, with planting expected to begin in the coming weeks.

Still, several key components of the program remain unfinished. The commission has yet to establish licensing processes for manufacturers and retailers.

And since no health care practitioners are recommending marijuana yet, there are technically no patients in the state. Lawmakers recently declined to pass protections for health care providers who recommend cannabis, and current commission rules do not allow recommendations from out-of-state practitioners.

Lawmakers and cannabis advocates alike have questioned the legality of that rule, but it has not been challenged in court yet.

As a result, it is unclear when patients in Nebraska will be able to access the program.

“When will this program actually be accessible to the people who need it?” said Crista Eggers of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana. “In the last six months, this commission has awarded just four licenses at that pace, with approximately 18 more individual licenses that could be given out; we could be two years in the future before this program actually can start.”

Mueting said she expects the recommendation process to be in place once the program is finalized later this year and said she didn’t have a comment on further action the commission would take to ensure practitioners feel legally safe recommending medical cannabis.

“We’re not in that position yet,” Mueting said. “If we get everything up and running and nobody’s coming in the doors, then do we need to look at what’s going on? Probably. There’s absolutely nobody on this commission that wants this to fail.”

`;
}

function refreshWeatherIframe(containerId) {
var iframeId = ‘weather-iframe-‘ + containerId;
var iframe = document.getElementById(iframeId);
if (iframe && iframe.src) {
var originalSrc = iframe.src;
iframe.src = originalSrc + (originalSrc.indexOf(‘?’) > -1 ? ‘&’ : ‘?’) + ‘t=” + Date.now();
}
}

function initializeWeatherBox(container) {
var containerId = container.getAttribute(“data-container-id’);
var isWeatherBoxV2 = containerId === ‘home-weather-v2’;

function switchWeatherTab(tabName, clickedElement) {
container.querySelectorAll(‘[data-tab-id]’).forEach(function(tab) {
tab.classList.remove(‘open’);
tab.setAttribute(‘aria-selected’, ‘false’);
});

clickedElement.classList.add(‘open’);
clickedElement.setAttribute(‘aria-selected’, ‘true’);

container.querySelectorAll(‘[data-content-id]’).forEach(function(content) {
content.style.display = ‘none’;
content.setAttribute(‘hidden’, ‘true’);
});

var targetContent = container.querySelector(‘[data-content-id=”‘ + tabName + ‘”]’);
if (targetContent) {
targetContent.style.display = ‘block’;
targetContent.removeAttribute(‘hidden’);
}
}

function loadWeatherData() {
// If weather data is already being loaded, wait for it
if (window.weatherDataPromise) {
window.weatherDataPromise.then(function(data) {
if (data && data.data) {
var weatherContainer = container.closest(‘.weather-box-container’);
if (weatherContainer) {
weatherContainer.style.display = ‘flex’;
updateCurrentWeather(data.data);
updateForecastTabs(data.data);
updateWeatherAlertsBar(data.data);
}
}
});
return;
}

var location = { zip: window.DEFAULT_ZIPCODE };

try {
var storedLocations = localStorage.getItem(‘hrst.zip.history’);
if (storedLocations) {
var locations = JSON.parse(storedLocations);
if (locations && locations.length > 0) {
location = locations[0];
}
}
} catch (e) {}

var apiUrl = (window.DEWY_HOSTNAME || ”) + ‘/api/v1/weather/full/’ + location.zip;

if (window.fetch) {
window.weatherDataPromise = fetch(apiUrl)
.then(function(response) { return response.json(); })
.then(function(data) {
if (data && data.data) {
var article = container.closest(‘.article–wrapper’);
var weatherContainer = container.closest(‘.weather-box-container’);
if (weatherContainer) {
weatherContainer.style.display = ‘flex’;
updateCurrentWeather(data.data);
updateForecastTabs(data.data);
updateWeatherAlertsBar(data.data);
}
return data;
}
})
.catch(function(error) {
console.error(‘Error loading weather:’, error);
// Reset to unknown background on error
updateWeatherBackground(‘unknown’);
});
}
}

function updateWeatherAlertsBar(weatherData) {
var weatherWatchHeader = container.querySelector(‘.weather-watch-header’);
if (!weatherWatchHeader) return;

var weatherWatchText = weatherWatchHeader.querySelector(‘.weather-watch-text’);
var weatherWatchLink = weatherWatchHeader.querySelector(‘.weather-watch-link’);

if (weatherData.alerts_count > 0) {
weatherWatchHeader.className=”weather-watch-header has-alerts”;
if (weatherWatchText) {
weatherWatchText.textContent = `Weather Alerts (${weatherData.alerts_count})`;
}
if (weatherWatchLink) {
if (!weatherWatchLink.getAttribute(‘data-initial-href’)) {
weatherWatchLink.setAttribute(‘data-initial-href’, weatherWatchLink.getAttribute(‘href’));
weatherWatchLink.setAttribute(‘data-initial-onclick’, weatherWatchLink.getAttribute(‘onclick’) || ”);
}
weatherWatchLink.setAttribute(‘href’, “https://www.ketv.com/alerts”);
weatherWatchLink.setAttribute(‘onclick’, “return handleWeatherLinkClick(event, ‘click_alerts’, ‘click’, ‘sidelist-weather’, “https://www.ketv.com/alerts”);”);
}
} else {
weatherWatchHeader.className=”weather-watch-header”;
if (weatherWatchText) {
weatherWatchText.textContent = containerId === ‘home-weather-v2’ ? ‘Watch Latest Forecast’ : ‘Latest Forecast’;
}
if (weatherWatchLink) {
var initialHref = weatherWatchLink.getAttribute(‘data-initial-href’);
var initialOnclick = weatherWatchLink.getAttribute(‘data-initial-onclick’);
if (initialHref) {
weatherWatchLink.setAttribute(‘href’, initialHref);
}
if (initialOnclick) {
weatherWatchLink.setAttribute(‘onclick’, initialOnclick);
}
}
}
}

function updateCurrentWeather(weatherData) {
if (weatherData.current) {
var tempValue = weatherData.current.temp_f || ”;
var skyValue = weatherData.current.sky || ”;
var feelsLikeValue = weatherData.current.feels_like_f || weatherData.current.temp_f || ”;

var tempEl = container.querySelector(‘.weather-grid–current-temp-value’);
if (tempEl) {
tempEl.textContent = tempValue;
tempEl.setAttribute(‘aria-label’, tempValue + ‘ degrees Fahrenheit’);
}

var iconEl = container.querySelector(‘.weather-grid–current-icon’);
if (iconEl && weatherData.current.icon_name) {
iconEl.className=”weather-grid–current-icon weather-current-icon icon icon-weather-” + weatherData.current.icon_name;
}

var skyEl = container.querySelector(‘.weather-grid–sky’);
if (skyEl) {
skyEl.textContent = skyValue;
skyEl.setAttribute(‘aria-label’, ‘Current condition: ‘ + skyValue);
}

var feelsEl = container.querySelector(‘.weather-grid–feels’);
if (feelsEl) {
feelsEl.textContent = feelsLikeValue + ‘°F’;
feelsEl.setAttribute(‘aria-label’, feelsLikeValue + ‘ degrees Fahrenheit’);
}

var weatherContainer = container.querySelector(‘.weather-temp-container’);
if (weatherContainer) {
var summary = ‘Current temperature ‘ + tempValue + ‘ degrees Fahrenheit, ‘ +
skyValue + ‘, feels like ‘ + feelsLikeValue + ‘ degrees’;
weatherContainer.setAttribute(‘aria-label’, summary);
}

updateWeatherBackground(weatherData.current.icon_name);
}
}

function updateWeatherBackground(iconName) {
try {
var bgPath = weatherImages.backgrounds[iconName] || weatherImages.backgrounds.unknown;
container.style.backgroundImage=”url(” + bgPath + ‘)’;
} catch (e) {
console.log(‘Error updating weather background:’, e);
}
}

function updateForecastTabs(weatherData) {
var visibleItems = isWeatherBoxV2 ? 6 : 5;

if (weatherData.hourly) {
var hourlyContainer = container.querySelector(‘.weather-hourly-forecast’);
if (hourlyContainer) {
var html=””;
var maxHours = Math.min(visibleItems, weatherData.hourly.length);

for (var i = 0; i 0 ? currentIndex – 1 : tabs.length – 1;
tabs[prevIndex].focus();
break;
case ‘ArrowRight’:
e.preventDefault();
var nextIndex = currentIndex