Nebraska
Morrill Hall reopening to public March 15
The University of Nebraska State Museum and Mueller Planetarium will reopen to the public on March 15.
The 97-year-old Morrill Hall has been closed since Oct. 2 for extensive renovations to improve accessibility and better protect its exhibits and research specimens. The renovation was made possible with the passage of Legislative Bill 384, which created a building renewal fund to address a backlog of improvements and deferred maintenance to University of Nebraska facilities. The museum received $9.3 million from the fund to support the largest renovation project in its history.
Accessibility improvements include widened doorways, along with bathroom and classroom updates to ensure that museum facilities comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act; a new admissions desk installed at the recommended height; and a sink and water supply in the lactation room.
Renovations will also improve the building’s energy efficiency and stabilize its relative humidity and temperature, both of which are essential to preserve specimens on display for future generations. Those improvements include a new heating, ventilation and air conditioning system; new windows; LED lighting installed throughout the facility; and dual-flush toilets to conserve water.
Susan Weller, museum director, said existing memberships will be extended to account for the closure time. She said the museum staff is “grateful for the patience and trust” of members and stakeholders.
“Our newly renovated classrooms will help us fulfill our mission to promote discovery of our natural world and world cultures, and also allow us to provide additional services to our members and others,” Weller said.
Registration is now open for the museum’s new spring break and expanded summer camp offerings. Its education department continued providing virtual learning programs to schools during the closure.
The reopened facility will include new exhibits and updated signage, content and features for existing ones.
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The “Science of Saving Species” will focus on why animals and other life become endangered and the science behind preventing extinction.
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“Elizabeth H. Dolan: Rediscovering a Nebraska Artist” will showcase Dolan’s work and lifelong connection to Morrill Hall.
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An exhibit of the new David Easterla collection of ice age mammals will be featured on the second floor of Morrill Hall.
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Later this spring, the National Geographic Photo Ark exhibit, featuring the work of Nebraska-based wildlife photographer Joel Sartore, will make Morrill Hall its permanent home. More information is forthcoming.
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This summer, Morrill Hall’s third floor will reopen to showcase the new exhibit “TreeHouses: Look Who’s Living in the Trees,” where guests will be able to explore and seek out the abundant wildlife in trees.
The future of data centers in Nebraska took center stage at a North Omaha town hall Thursday evening.
The event was hosted by State Sens. Terrell McKinney and Ashlei Spivey, who alongside Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh sponsored a bill in the Nebraska Legislature that looked to help regulate data centers.
Parts of their bill were adopted and passed in LB1010, which requires reports on annual power usage, water usage and ownership.
“Having this passed in a package showed a lot of bipartisan work,” Spivey told a crowd of attendees at Nelson Mandela Elementary School.
The proposed regulations were shaped in part by Bold Nebraska, an advocacy group focused on eminent domain and clean energy. Jane Kleeb, chair of the Nebraska Democratic Party and founder of Bold Nebraska, said before the bill passed there were “zero laws on the books” to address a boom in data centers.
“If one is coming into the community, we wanted to make sure that there were some basic transparency things in place,” Kleeb said.
Political discussions around data centers heated up in recent months following reporting by the Flatwater Free Press that showed Google is considering a data center in Nebraska that could require more than three times the amount of power the entire city of Lincoln uses at peak demand in the summer.
The Nebraska Legislature recently passed another bill, LB1261, that allows private developers to build and own power plants to serve a large industrial customer, including data centers. That bill was proposed by the governor’s office and celebrated by Gov. Jim Pillen.
“Our state is once again taking a bold and strategic step – one that will create an environment that attracts business and multibillion dollar investment, while legally preserving Nebraska’s unique and consumer-friendly public power model,” Pillen said at the time.
At Thursday’s town hall, McKinney called LB1261 “the bogeyman bill.”
“It’s a bill that the governor pushed through the legislature to allow for data centers to create their own power,” McKinney said. “It’s a bill that I stood on the floor and said this is going to harm our communities.”
LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – Hundreds of people are without power in southeast Nebraska after a severe storm passed through Thursday morning.
The Lincoln Electric System outage map showed 115 customers without power across the city at 11:36 a.m.
Norris Public Power District’s outage map also shows 45 customers affected by the storm. As of 11:36 a.m., there were nine active outages.
According to the Nebraska Public Power District outage map, 657 customers were affected by the storm. Most of the affected customers were near Plattsmouth in southeast Nebraska. As of 11:37 a.m., 27 customers remain without power.
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Mandatory evacuations have been ordered near Crawford, including Fort Robinson State Park, as the South Fork Fire continues to spread in western Nebraska.
According to the City of Crawford, evacuations are currently underway for an area north of Crawford that includes the area south of Dodd Road, west of Dodd Road, and FF Street.
Fort Robinson has also been evacuated.
The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission said Fort Robinson State Park and Peterson Wildlife Management Area have been temporarily closed due to the fire.
The fire has burned approximately 9,000 acres and is currently 0% contained, according to the U.S. Forest Service.
Nebraska Game and Parks said the park and the WMA will remain closed until further notice to support firefighting operations and protect public safety.
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