NEBRASKA, (KNOP) – Communities all through Nebraska are contemplating passing ordinances outlawing abortion inside the borders of their communities. The trouble is being spearheaded by a Texan who has been discovering himself spending loads of time in Nebraska.
Mark Lee Dickson is a Director with Proper to Lifetime of East Texas and the founding father of the Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn Initiative. Dickson has personally assisted 51 cities all through the USA which have handed ordinances outlawing abortion inside their metropolis limits.
Sanctuary Cities for the Unborn founder Mark Lee Dickson posing for an image with associates Katherine Cochran and Katie Helm after a pro-life gathering at Catholic Charities workplace in Omaha.(Courtesy)
The Nebraska effort began final 12 months, when the Board Chair of the Village of Hayes Middle reached out to Dickson by means of his web site wanting to see Hayes Middle develop into a “sanctuary metropolis for the unborn.” Dickson traveled from Texas to Nebraska, together with an ordinance, and the Village Board handed the measure in a unanimous vote. Per week later, the Metropolis of Blue Hill adopted. The communities have been the twenty fourth and the twenty fifth within the nation to affix the motion.
Now, residents of communities all through Nebraska are signing petitions to see their cities and villages be part of Hayes Middle and Blue Hill. Communities whose residents have already collected and turned within the petition signatures embody: Arnold, Brady, Curtis, Hershey, Maxwell, Moorefield, Paxton, Stapleton, Sutherland, and Wallace. Communities the place the gathering effort continues to be ongoing embody: Bellevue, Cozad, Gothenburg, and Kearney.
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On August tenth, the Village Board of the Village of Stapleton determined to go forward and cross the ordinance, making their group the third in Nebraska and the 51st within the nation to cross an area ordinance outlawing abortion.
Feeling hesitant about outlawing abortion themselves, the group leaders of Arnold, Curtis, and Paxton all voted for the ordinances to go earlier than their communities on the subsequent election.
Whereas the vast majority of the communities do not need abortion clinics, Dickson says the priority all through Nebraska is the relocation of abortion clinics from states which have already outlawed abortion and the abortion capsule being delivered by mail.
The one group Dickson has in his sights which does have an abortion clinic is Bellevue. Dickson is looking the hassle “Lubbock, Half Two.”
Dickson shared, “In Might 2021 the residents of Lubbock, Texas handed an ordinance outlawing abortion inside their metropolis limits. When the ordinance went into impact on June 1st of final 12 months Deliberate Parenthood, which was committing abortions inside the metropolis limits, complied with the legislation and stopped committing abortions within the Metropolis of Lubbock. I’m assured that, if the same ordinance have been to cross within the Metropolis of Bellevue, it could have the identical outcomes.”
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Professional life volunteers from Texas: Katherine Cochran, Lubbock, TX; Katie Helm, Colorado Metropolis, TX; and Hannah Watt, Jacksonville, TX; take an image with Sutherland resident Brenda Hansen after handing over signatures to outlaw abortion within the Village of Sutherland.(Courtesy)
Dickson continued, “Deliberate Parenthood did sue the Metropolis of Lubbock for outlawing abortion, however Deliberate Parenthood misplaced – which was good not only for the residents of Lubbock but additionally all the unborn kids which might have been killed on the facility.”
A number of volunteers from cities which have already outlawed abortion have been becoming a member of Dickson in his effort to help communities in outlawing abortion all through Nebraska. One volunteer is Katherine Cochran, president emeritus of Raiders Defending Life at Texas Tech College in Lubbock, Texas. Cochran shared, “Lubbock demonstrated a type of gritty, grassroots, value-cherishing activism that waves like a banner within the distance for Nebraskans. Residents of Nebraska can defend harmless life of their communities. If it will possibly occur within the Metropolis of Lubbock, a metropolis whose inhabitants is over 264,000, it will possibly occur within the Metropolis of Bellevue who has a inhabitants of simply over 60,000.”
Dickson says that whereas the residents of Bellevue are intending to gather over 7,800 signatures with their sights towards a particular election in January, this can be a measure which doesn’t should go earlier than the residents of Bellevue.
“50 of the 51 cities which have handed ordinances outlawing abortion have accomplished so by a vote of their Mayor and Metropolis Council. If the Mayor and Metropolis Council of Bellevue need to finish abortion of their metropolis, they’ll select to cross the ordinance themselves when it’s introduced earlier than them.”
One other volunteer serving to Dickson is from Colorado Metropolis, Texas, which was the ninth metropolis to cross an ordinance outlawing abortion. When requested about her expertise in January of 2020, Katie Helm shared, “Whereas Lubbock outlawed abortion by means of a vote of the individuals, my metropolis noticed abortion outlawed by means of a vote of our metropolis council. They did what they have been elected to do and represented us.” Helm continued, “On the time the one metropolis council in our space which had outlawed abortion was the council of a small city of simply over 200 individuals. After our metropolis council of a metropolis of simply over 4,000 individuals outlawed abortion we quickly noticed a neighboring metropolis council of a metropolis of about 30,000 individuals outlaw abortion.”
Helm stated, “It wasn’t an enormous crowd gathering at our metropolis corridor or an enormous identify rolling into city that made the distinction and helped make our metropolis a ‘sanctuary metropolis for the unborn.’ It was one older couple. It was one household with a bunch of children. It was a grandma and a grandpa. It was one onerous working consultant from a pro-life group. It was a mayor keen to burn political and social capital to push for what was proper. It was one little city that cared. Then it was an even bigger city. Nevertheless it began with one dedicated group, and just some households.”
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WOWT-TV in Omaha stories {that a} consultant from CARE says if the signatures are gathered and both town council or the voters approve of the ordinance they might take into account opening a brand new clinic in Omaha.
If town council or residents of Bellevue have been to cross an ordinance outlawing abortion, the measure would go towards a decision which was simply handed by members of the Nebraska Medical Affiliation.
The decision, which was launched by Dr. Maureen Boyle, “Opposes limitations on entry to evidence-based reproductive well being providers together with fertility therapies, contraception, abortion, and neonatal intensive care” and “Opposes the imposition of felony and civil penalties or another retaliatory efforts corresponding to licensure restrictions or revocation towards sufferers, affected person advocates, physicians, different healthcare employees, and well being programs for receiving, helping in, referring sufferers to, or offering reproductive well being providers.”
Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts responded to Nebraska Medical Affiliation’s assertion, saying, “I’m disenchanted the NMA selected to undertake this radical decision, put ahead by a Democratic Get together politician, that advocates for abortion as much as the time of beginning.”
LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – A judge has affirmed the firing of a former captain with the Nebraska State Patrol after he filed suit last year.
Judge Andrew Jacobsen ruled last month that the Nebraska State Patrol had acted appropriately when firing then-Capt. Matthew Sutter on Nov. 11, 2022.
The firing came into legal contention after Sutter filed a lawsuit early last year alleging a toxic workplace and retaliation within the patrol.
In the lawsuit, Sutter’s attorneys list a range of investigations he oversaw following his promotion to captain in 2019. The investigations, which ranged among a reportedly inappropriate relationship, another captain’s alleged bigotry and accusations of misused funds in the Carrier Enforcement Division, largely resulted in critiques of upper management.
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As Sutter pressed for action in each of the investigations, the lawsuit alleges management pressed back, eventually denying Sutter a pay raise and launching an investigation into his conduct. The investigation ended with a serious allegation and led to Sutter’s firing in late 2022.
The Nebraska State Patrol accused then-Capt. Sutter of leaking confidential information to the press on several occasions following his promotion. Sutter’s attorneys argued the information he shared had already been made public when he passed it along, and therefore could not be seen as confidential.
Judge Jacobsen, however, disagreed. Sutter was accused of sharing information related to presidential and vice-presidential visits, a barricaded suspect and the arrival of COVID-19 patients in Nebraska. The judge wrote that Sutter had shared the information with a former journalist with KMTV to “win her affections.”
He cited several text messages containing flirtatious language that were often sent alongside relevant information to the visits, barricaded suspect and COVID-19 patients. Judge Jacobsen wrote, “His actions were unprofessional, bad public relations, and very unbecoming of an officer.” He also found that Sutter had misused the state’s network to share inappropriate memes, look for a new job and play in a celebrity dead pool.
The judge concluded that the Nebraska State Patrol had proper reason to conduct an investigation into then-Capt. Sutter and provided him with due process in its disciplinary action. It’s unclear if Sutter plans to appeal the ruling.
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Sutter’s lawsuit provides details into another lawsuit filed by Capt. Gerry Krolikowski which was settled late last year. Krolikowski alleged similar retaliation after raising the issue of allegedly misused funding in the Carrier Enforcement Division. Krolikowski, who has served with the Nebraska State Patrol since 1984, raised concerns about the division’s funding being used outside its statutory purview.
Krolikowski’s attorneys alleged his concerns went unheard and eventually resulted in the captain’s reassignment to the Process Improvements Division, a department generally viewed as a place to sideline employees who cross management to “shame” them.
A filing in October showed the State of Nebraska had entered into a settlement agreement with Krolikowski over the matter. The amount he’ll receive is unclear, but the settlement will need to be approved by the Nebraska Legislature in its 2025 session.
Additionally, another lawsuit against the Nebraska State Patrol was filed in late December by former captain Kurt Von Minden. His attorneys allege similar acts of retaliation from management after then-Capt. Von Minden investigated reports of troopers using anti-LGBTQ and racist slurs, sexually harassing and assaulting employees, and collaborating with drug dealers.
Von Minden, who’d been with the patrol since 1998 until his resignation in 2023, pushed management to put several disgraced troopers on the Brady Giglio List. The list organizes law enforcement members who’ve been accused of biased or dishonest conduct so attorneys can more easily examine their testimony in criminal convictions.
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Two employees Von Minden investigated eventually resigned from the patrol and went on to new roles at other police stations, according to the lawsuit. His attorneys claim one former sergeant, who allegedly conducted business with a drug dealer, was later hired as the chief for a police department in Iowa.
The lawsuit claims Von Minden pushed for stronger accountability following these investigations and was eventually demoted to sergeant and reassigned to the Liquor Enforcement Division. Von Minden’s attorneys say the move was explicitly retaliatory as it dramatically reduced his oversight and meant he would report to a member of the patrol he had “promoted and mentored.”
Then-Capt. Von Minden resigned from the patrol a short time after his reassignment as he was “unable to tolerate the punitive and retaliatory post-demotion working conditions,” his attorneys wrote. A future court date for Von Minden’s lawsuit has yet to be set.
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The Cowboys are adding another receiving threat with power conference experience.
Jaylen Lloyd, a 5-foot-10, 180-pound Nebraska transfer, announced his commitment to Oklahoma State on Monday. Lloyd was a true sophomore for the Cornhuskers this past season. In his two seasons at Nebraska, he caught 19 passes for 492 yards and three touchdowns.
Lloyd joined Nebraska as a three-star prospect from the 2023 recruiting class. He was a star on the gridiron and the track at Omaha Westside High School. In a high school senior season cut short with injury, Lloyd caught 44 passes for 784 yards and five touchdowns. He was also a six-time Nebraska state champion in track and field, becoming Nebraska’s all-class champion in the long jump and triple jump as a senior while finishing second in the 100 meters and third in the 4×100-meter relay. As a high school junior, he won Class A state titles in the 100 meters, long jump and triple jump and won the long jump as a sophomore.
He won the 2022 National Junior Olympic Championships long jump crown while finishing third in the 100 meters, also winning the national long jump title at the 2022 Nike Outdoor Nationals.
Lloyd played in 10 games with the ‘Huskers as a true freshman in 2023, catching six passes for 237 yards and three touchdowns. He started to come on late that season, scoring his first career touchdown on a 73-yard play against Purdue in late October before catching a 58-yard touchdown against Wisconsin and a 66-yard touchdown against Iowa in consecutive weekends to close out the season.
He played in all 13 of Nebraska’s games this past season, catching 13 passes for 255 yards.
Lloyd becomes the third wide receiver the Cowboys have added from the portal and second over the past couple of days. All three wide receiver portal pledges have come from the power conference level, as Lloyd joins Shamar Rigby (Purdue) and Sam Jackson V (Auburn).
Nebraska Cornhuskers (12-2, 2-1 Big Ten) at Iowa Hawkeyes (10-4, 1-2 Big Ten)
Iowa City, Iowa; Tuesday, 8 p.m. EST
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BOTTOM LINE: Iowa hosts Nebraska after Drew Thelwell scored 25 points in Iowa’s 116-85 loss to the Wisconsin Badgers.
The Hawkeyes are 8-1 in home games. Iowa scores 89.4 points and has outscored opponents by 12.3 points per game.
The Cornhuskers are 2-1 against Big Ten opponents. Nebraska ranks fifth in the Big Ten with 35.0 rebounds per game led by Berke Buyuktuncel averaging 6.8.
Iowa averages 89.4 points, 24.8 more per game than the 64.6 Nebraska allows. Nebraska averages 7.4 made 3-pointers per game this season, 0.3 fewer makes per game than Iowa gives up.
The Hawkeyes and Cornhuskers meet Tuesday for the first time in conference play this season.
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TOP PERFORMERS: Payton Sandfort averages 2.4 made 3-pointers per game for the Hawkeyes, scoring 15.5 points while shooting 32.0% from beyond the arc.
Brice Williams is averaging 18.8 points for the Cornhuskers.
LAST 10 GAMES: Hawkeyes: 6-4, averaging 90.1 points, 29.3 rebounds, 19.1 assists, 8.4 steals and 5.0 blocks per game while shooting 51.7% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 79.6 points per game.
Cornhuskers: 9-1, averaging 76.6 points, 33.8 rebounds, 14.0 assists, 7.7 steals and 2.2 blocks per game while shooting 47.6% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 64.2 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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