“Since the legislature has failed to act at this point, I want to give the citizens an opportunity to have their voices heard by their elected representatives.”

By Zach Wendling, Nebraska Examiner

State lawmakers scheduled three eastern Nebraska public forums this weekend to allow the public to weigh in on medical cannabis and proposed state legislation.

State Sens. John Cavanaugh (D) of Omaha, Rick Holdcroft (R) of Bellevue and Ben Hansen (R) of Blair plan to host the series this Saturday in La Vista, Sunday in Omaha and Monday in Lincoln. Attendants will be able to hear updates on the status of medical cannabis legislation, namely Hansen’s Legislative Bill 677, and “share their thoughts.”

The schedule is as follows:

• Saturday, May 3, from 1–3 p.m. at the Carpenters Union Hall in La Vista (10761 Virginia Plaza, La Vista).
• Sunday, May 4, from 1–3 p.m., at the University of Nebraska at Omaha Thompson Alumni Center (8800 Dodge St., Omaha).
• Monday, May 5, from 5–7 p.m., at Southeast Community College (8800 O St., Lincoln).

The hosts plan to accommodate everyone who wishes to speak during the two-hour events.

In November, about 71 percent of Nebraskans legalized medical cannabis with a physician’s recommendation, and 67 percent of Nebraskans voted for a regulatory scheme.

“Since the legislature has failed to act at this point, I want to give the citizens an opportunity to have their voices heard by their elected representatives,” Cavanaugh told the Nebraska Examiner.

Hansen said the town halls are meant to help inform the public about the legislative process and receive feedback, answering questions and hearing concerns.

General Affairs Committee

Hansen’s LB 677 seeks to help the ballot measures build better guardrails, with help from supporters who put the measures on the ballot.

His bill would delay full implementation of the regulatory law to give the new Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission time to craft regulations that, without funding, officials have said is near impossible to get done by the voter-set July 1 deadline or begin licensing by October 1.

LB 677 has stalled in the Legislature’s General Affairs Committee that Holdcroft chairs. Cavanaugh is the vice chair.

Holdcroft, who has said he would support a narrowed LB 677, said he is looking for “back and forth” at the public forums, such as whether to allow smoking or how many dispensaries should be permitted.

At an April 17 meeting of committee members, the committee considered a narrower committee amendment that sought to create a list of qualifying conditions, restrict who can recommend medical cannabis, exclude smoking as permissible for medical cannabis and prohibit sales of natural cannabis flower or bud.

None of the eight committee members tried to attach the amendment to LB 677. Advancing the bill as-is failed along ideological lines, 3–5.

‘A little bit of limbo’

Five days later, Hansen filed an amendment to add post-traumatic stress disorder as a qualifying condition and allow sales of flower and bud, the latter of which is a line in the sand for Hansen. Hansen also filed what is known as a “pull motion” that would advance LB 677, with at least 25 votes in the full 49-member legislative body and start the three-round debate.

The latest Hansen amendment would not allow smoking THC products to be sold.

Hansen said he is “stuck in a little bit of a limbo” trying to figure out the route to go, preferring to go through committee instead of the “little more aggressive maneuver” of a pull motion. He said he feels it would be a “disservice” to Nebraskans if the bill isn’t at least discussed.

“I’m hoping that Sen. Holdcroft, myself and the General Affairs Committee can kind of have a kumbaya moment a little bit here and move something forward that we can both agree on, which I’m assuming we both won’t like,” Hansen said.

Speaker John Arch (R) of La Vista, who sets the daily legislative agenda, declined to say if he would schedule Hansen’s pull motion as those discussions continue.

‘Uphold the voice of the people’

Crista Eggers, executive director of Nebraskans for Medical Marijuana, said her team is “very appreciative” of lawmakers’ efforts to give voters a chance to voice their feelings on the issue.

“While we find it disheartening that Nebraskans are being asked to ‘clarify their vote,’ we hope this final effort makes it clear: Nebraskans support medical cannabis. They knew what they were voting for,” Eggers said. “They now are demanding lawmakers to uphold the voice of the people.”

LB 677 faces a tight timeline and fiscal situation in the waning days of the 2025 legislative session. Debate on the state’s budget bills—with a major hole to still fill—is set to begin May 6. The final budget must pass by May 15.

Lawmakers are set to adjourn for the year on June 9.

Any legislation would require at least 33 votes to become law because lawmakers are seeking to amend laws that voters approved via ballot initiative.

Also co-hosting the public forums are State Sens. Ashlei Spivey of Omaha, John Fredrickson of Omaha, Jane Raybould of Lincoln, Victor Rountree of Bellevue, Margo Juarez of Omaha, Machaela Cavanaugh of Omaha, Megan Hunt of Omaha, Myron Dorn of Adams, Merv Riepe of Ralston, Wendy DeBoer of Omaha, Tom Brandt of Plymouth, George Dungan of Lincoln and Danielle Conrad of Lincoln.

This story was first published by Nebraska Examiner.

Nebraska Senator Requests Investigation Into Spending By Medical Marijuana Ballot Initiative Opponents

Photo courtesy of Philip Steffan.

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The Nebraska men’s tennis team will compete in the NCAA championships for just the third time in program history.

Huskers are NCAA Tourney bound‼️ pic.twitter.com/hSwDpgb6bU

— Nebraska Men’s Tennis (@HuskerMTennis) April 28, 2025

The Huskers had the most conference wins ever in a season this year.

Nebraska will battle Baylor in the first round in Lubbock, Texas, on either Friday or Saturday.

Headed to College Station #WeAreCollegeTennis | #NCAATennis pic.twitter.com/THSZEh8AAT

— ITA (@ITA_Tennis) April 28, 2025

It’s the first time NU has been in the NCAA tournament in 14 years.

The tournament matches begin on Friday across host sites.

Within the stacks of paper held in the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s Archives and Special Collections are thousands of stories. Josh Caster, archives manager at University Libraries, is one of the many staff members helping to bring those stories to the surface.

“If we’re not using this stuff and making connections with people, we’ve basically got a bunch of old paper,” he said. “It’s the people using it that brings it to life.”

Caster, a Husker alumnus, started in Archives and Special Collections as a student before eventually taking on a permanent role. His early experience gave him a good foundation in all aspects of the work and helped him identify a particular interest in reference work, or helping users find the right material for their research.

“I was exposed to the whole gamut of stuff an archivist could do,” Caster said.

Now, Caster gets to work with student workers and, along with Mary Ellen Ducey, university archivist, and other archives staff, pair students with jobs that fit their interests, whether that means the activity or the subject matter. He said it is rewarding to see them grow from student workers to professionals in the field in their own right.

“It’s neat to watch people when they’re freshmen and feeling stuff out and then you can watch them, in real time, gain competencies,” he said. “Eventually sometimes we’ll bring in donors or people interested in certain subjects and it’s nice to be able to be like, ‘You should talk to this student worker.’ They’ll talk about (the subject) with great knowledge and enthusiasm.”

Caster enjoys helping researchers identify which collection holds the answers they are looking for. With so much information at their fingertips, this can be a challenge.

“I’m always looking for the ‘Eureka moment,’” Caster said. “I want people to able to access the great stuff we have. I might not know the answer they’re seeking but I know where to show them to look, so I like connecting those pieces and I like when people walk away with whatever they’re looking for.”

Sometimes successfully finding those answers is a longshot. Recently, for example, a researcher was looking for images of quilts made by a specific quilter. Caster was able to work with them and cross-reference some collections down to the marginalia to find images of the individual quilter’s work.

“It was a needle in a stack of needles,” he said.

Promoting access to this kind of unique material is a passion of Caster’s. The preservation and record keeping and providing access work in tandem to ensure the wealth of information held in the archives is still valuable.

“If people aren’t looking at it, that effort and that great work of everybody that’s been in this department and this library is not being reaped,” Caster said. “I think it’s pretty core to the mission.”

Working with the material has given Caster a great appreciation for university. People might come across a document marking the beginning of a university department or organization or with the signature or an early important figure in university history.

“People will ask, ‘What evidence do you have of the beginnings of the university?’” Caster said. “We have the charter. We’ve got the origin document. There’s heavyweight people who have worked here throughout our history, so it’s cool to know who the real players were.”

Personally, Caster is also interested in some of the environmental history in the collection. Caster enjoys fishing and other outdoor activities outside the office, so he is partial to entries like photos taken by Erwin Barbour, an instrumental figure in the foundation of the Nebraska State Museum, or reports from a biologist working for an early incarnation of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission.

“He’s got old stocking reports for all these lakes I fish at to this day,” he said.

Caster speaks to people sometimes who don’t realize how many hidden treasures the archives hold about their own interests. A farmer might find relevant information about fertilizers and crop yields. Husker football fans might be amazed by a film reel of the Game of the Century or a photograph of Tom Osborne and Willie Nelson surveying Memorial Stadium for Farm Aid.

“I want to be part of that ecosystem that reaches out and says, ‘You want the stuff we have, even it you don’t know it,’” Caster said. “There’s human interest stuff for anyone here.”

Gems from the archive

Nebraska’s Josh Caster handpicked five of his all-time favorite gems from the University Archives and Special Collections. Check out the slideshow below, where the archives manager shares the stories behind each image with his personal touch and fun descriptions.