Nebraska
Nebraska medical marijuana petition dispute will go to trial
LINCOLN, Neb. (WOWT) – The judge overseeing the case on Nebraska’s medical marijuana petitions ruled Friday that the matter will proceed to trial.
In a Zoom hearing Friday morning, Judge Susan Strong overruled the motion to dismiss a cross-claim brought forward by Secretary of State Bob Evnen. She said she was skeptical the cross-claim could stand on its own but would leave questions about standing to the appellate courts.
If passed by voters in November as they stand now, one ballot initiative would allow patients to purchase medical marijuana and the other would allow businesses to sell it.
“We have kind of a burden-shifting situation,” Judge Strong said, noting that good arguments were presented on both sides.
And while an extension was sought for issues that weren’t the subject of the original filing, more allegations have come to light that should allow amending of the filings, the judge said.
Certainly some signatures will be thrown out, she said, such as the ones confirmed to be fraudulent. But there may be other situations where the defendants can prove a sufficient number of signatures were collected legally.
But first, the plaintiff and the Secretary of State have to prove the petitions included many signatures that were wrongly obtained — and that intentional fraud was committed, not just clerical errors. If they can’t prove enough signatures are in question that the ballot initiatives would not have been certified for inclusion on the ballot, then the case stops there.
If they do prove it, then it falls to the defendants to prove they obtained enough legal signatures — that circulators and petitions were genuine — to rightly put the matter on Nebraska’s November ballot.
If both arguments are presented and there’s not clear way to tell whether there was widespread wrongdoing, Judge Strong said the decision will default to assume fraud under the precedent of Barkley v. Pool, a case argued in front of the Nebraska Supreme Court in 1919 over women’s suffrage.
Should the trial move into a second phase, the burden of proof would fall on the defendant to prove that the signatures on the petitions were valid.
That phase likely would be post-election, Judge Strong said.
“That timeline is extremely tight,” she said.
The state’s attorneys said they were supportive of the idea of splitting the case, but the defense said they wanted to talk to their clients about whether to split the case once the formal proposal is filed, so they can see how the state envisions that split.
Regardless, the judge said she is leaning toward doing so, saying that it should benefit the defense as she sees their tasks as daunting.
“I don’t know how you’re going to concentrate on responding to the plaintiff and the Secretary of State at the same time you’re trying to prove genuineness of signatures. I mean, it sounds like an overwhelming task,” she said.
Noting that the deadlines may need to be fluid given the nature and urgency of the case, the judge granted deadlines to move to Monday for disclosure of exhibits and witnesses and Tuesday for deposition notices.
“Everything has to be somewhat fluid so that I give everybody a fair shake here,” she said at the conclusion of Friday’s hearing.
According to the state’s attorneys, Evnen stands by the work done during the petition certification process.
“It’s clear to us, as we say in our brief, that Sec. Evnen intends to use this case kind of in a broader effort to undermine the initiative process. And we don’t say that lightly. We know that is a bold statement,” he said. “But it’s justified here because he’s advancing a position in this case that has never been adopted by a single court in Nebraska and as far as we can tell has never been adopted by a single court in the entire country.”
He said that Evnen wants to “balloon” the theory, saying that any mistakes found on certain signatures collected by a petition circulator should not invalidate all 200 pages of signatures collected by that person. The claim moves the dispute from 17,000 to 100,000 signatures.
“It just makes little sense to us that they would come to the court and say, ‘Judge, as a result of notary malfeasance, we want you to strike the will of 100,000 Nebraskans who validly signed this petition.’”
He said the Nebraska AG’s office is conflating “malfeasance” with “fraud” — that malfeasance is a technicality and the plaintiffs aren’t fulfilling the claim of fraud. He also pointed out that notaries have no interaction with the voter, agreeing that if there’s a bad signature by a voter, it should be stricken.
Zachary Viglianco with the AG’s office said that “serious and significant tangible evidence of fraud” has been uncovered in the investigation, noting that two have been officially charged.
“There have been, since the Secretary’s certification, serious and significant tangible evidence of fraud that was uncovered in a investigation in conjunction with local officials that has cast a cloud of certainty over the validity of the signatures — many of the signatures, thousands of the signatures that have been submitted,” he said.
He said that counter to the defense arguments, the AG’s office has been focused on serious issues with petition validity, not just any mistake for any reason. The crossclaim is focused on serious irregularities, overt fraud, and malfeasance by notaries — criminal activity, not just sloppiness and mistakes.
Evnen has said publicly that he’s not going to take unilateral actions like walking back the certification. Instead, the state is asking the court to look at significant regularities and say whether there are a sufficient number of signatures for the initiatives to legally appear on the ballot.
But Gutman said that Evnen himself would be the one to provide the remedy in the case.
“Secretary of State Bob Evnen is essentially suing himself,” he said.
Defense attorneys said Friday that they hadn’t yet received any notification from the state about which petition pages they allege are fraudulent — that they haven’t been able to examine the evidence. Instead, they said, they were provided a list of all petitions provided from each notary and a general statement saying all are tainted with fraud.
The attorneys from the AG’s office, however, countered that the entirety of those petitions were precisely those in question, and said those files had been sent out. Those files were so big that even the judge commented on how unwieldy they were, stating that her computer only managed to get about 12% through the file over the span of five or six hours.
- Notary Shari Lawlor related to petitions submitted in approximately 45 counties.
- Notary Shannon Coryell related to petitions submitted in approximately 44 counties.
- Notary Patricia Petersen related to petitions submitted in approximately 54 counties.
- Notary Kimberly Bowling-Martin related to petitions submitted in approximately 41 counties.
- Notary Crista Eggers related to petitions submitted in approximately 28 counties.
- Notary Garrett Connely related to petitions submitted in approximately 45 counties.
- Notary Marcie Reed related to petitions in submitted in approximately 31 counties.
- Petitioner Edward Matthews related to petitions submitted in two counties.
- Peititioner Tommy Davis related to petitions submitted in two counties.
- Petitioner Linda Middleton related to petitions submitted in three counties
The state says the evidence allegedly impacts petitions collected in at least 71 of Nebraska’s 93 counties:
Read the documents
—
Get the latest breaking news updates delivered to your inbox. Sign up for 6 News email alerts.
Copyright 2024 WOWT. All rights reserved.
NEBRASKA CITY, Neb. (KOLN) – A piece of Underground Railroad history is reopening on Juneteenth after severe flooding forced it to close seven years ago.
The Mayhew Cabin offered shelter to people escaping slavery before the Civil War. Visitors can now walk through the same doors they did.
Family history connects to cabin
Darryl Hogan, president of the Mayhew Cabin Foundation, shares how his family escaped slavery in 1859.
“There was a slaveholder who held my third great-grandmother and a few other of the escaped slaves who had passed away, and they were going to be sold as property,” Hogan said from Canada. “So it was almost, in either a death sentence or a worse imprisonment than they had already had.”
The Mayhew family and abolitionist John Brown offered strangers a chance for freedom.
“En route, one of the enslaved people was pregnant and gave birth. So they are affectionately known as the 12 who passed through here,” said Doug Kreifels, board treasurer.
Cabin’s history dates to 1855
The Mayhew Cabin is one of Nebraska’s oldest structures, built in 1855 as the home of Allen B. Mayhew and his wife Barbara Ann. Barbara’s brother, John Kagi, lived there briefly as well.
Kagi helped abolitionist John Brown lead the enslaved people from Missouri to the cabin, as they escaped to Canada.
Flood damage closed site for seven years
Kreifels grew up learning about the cabin’s history.
“I remember when I went through that cabin and that cave and what an impact it had on me,” he said.
A flood in 2019 closed the site for seven years.
“And not only did it reach… as high as this overfill. I mean, it came up over the bank and flooded into the museum as well and caused some damage there,” Kreifels said.
Community effort restores cabin
The Mayhew Cabin Foundation restructured its board and used community grants to recruit Butch Bovier, a historical craftsman.
“Collectively, I think we bring a lot of skill sets together and goodwill,” said Robert Nelson, vice president of the board.
“They bring their dreams to me and I make them happen,” Bovier said.
Bovier helped restore the cabin.
“And that was kind of neat because what we did 20 years ago held up very well. In fact, it held up a lot better than we thought,” he said.
The team worked on the cottonwood logs.
“The logs are this wide, you don’t replace it because that much is bad. So we used a modern product to do some of that. In some cases, we just scraped it smooth,” Bovier said.
The team partially restored John Brown’s Cave. The cabin was moved to its current location in the 1930s from its original site. The owner at the time dug a tunnel-like system that leads to the ravine.
“It’s a tool that we use to help educate everyone who might have an interest in understanding what it might have been like for an enslaved person seeking freedom,” Kreifels said.
Volunteers make reopening possible
The Mayhew Cabin and John Brown’s Cave would not be able to open without the hard work of volunteers. For months, volunteers cleaned up the site and helped Bovier fix the cabin logs, cave and roof. One of them is Jason Hein, who moved to Nebraska City from California. Hein was looking for an opportunity to volunteer in the community and stumbled upon a Facebook post asking for extra hands to help at the Mayhew Cabin. His workplace Burr Farms donated machinery and services toward the efforts.
“You know, we don’t want things falling off the map. We want it to be there for future generations,” Hein said.
“And since that weekend, I’ve been out here Saturdays and Sundays every week. If there isn’t a whole bunch of hands trying to get something done, it’s not going to get done,” he said.
Volunteers have been preparing to reopen the site for more than three months.
“So, I mean, we’ve just literally been here, you know, cutting down trees or trimming trees and then people kind of walking by and seeing and asking, hey, what are you up to?” Nelson said.
The cabin will reopen on Juneteenth.
“And, it was just a matter of this is something that we need to do as a community. Let’s just do it and, make the world a little bit better place,” Hogan said.
Lane Trail and ‘Bloody Kansas’
The Mayhew Cabin was part of the Lane Trail on the Underground Railroad. At the time, the Kansas-Nebraska Act was formed and pro-slavery and abolitionists fought to sway the public toward their beliefs, giving it the nickname “Bloody Kansas.” Abolitionists in southeast Nebraska aided these efforts and helped slaves escape on the Lane Trail.
“It’s an incredible building, but it’s kind of the launch. It was seen as the southern terminus of the Army of the North marching into Kansas, but then also kind of the beginning of the Underground Railroad,” Nelson said.
Nelson, a former Omaha World Herald journalist, researched the Lane Trail extensively. He grew up in Falls City, Nebraska and found out his family has a history of aiding abolitionists.
“The successful fight to stop (slavery), based in Nebraska, or by the people who are involved with this Underground Railroad, is the reason the South secedes. They can’t expand anymore. You know, putting up the wall of Kansas really is what starts the Civil War. So that idea that’s that that’s the Civil War before the Civil War, and Nebraska played a big part of it. I think is a story that’s lost,” Nelson said.
Work remains on the site. The nonprofit wants to repair the museum building and other historic buildings on the property.
Juneteenth event details
A Juneteenth event starts at 7 p.m. Friday at the Mayhew Cabin in Nebraska City. People will have the opportunity to hear speeches from Butch Bovier, Robert Nelson and Darryl Hogan. The event is open to the public and free. There is outdoor seating, but people are welcome to bring lawn chairs. Live music will be provided by West Street Wranglers.
Refreshments will be served at the Hidden Falls Cave Event Center. The Mayhew Cabin is located at 2012 4th Corso in Nebraska City. Questions can be directed to Doug Kreifels at (402) 209-4060.
Click here to subscribe to our 10/11 NOW daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.
Copyright 2026 KOLN. All rights reserved.
Nebraska
Nebraska’s governor doesn’t carry a state-issued phone. Critics call it an abuse of state disclosure laws. – Flatwater Free Press
For more than two years, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen did not make or take a single call on his cellphone while on the clock as the state’s chief executive — at least none that there is any record of, according to his office’s top attorney.
After the Flatwater Free Press filed a public records request for call logs from Pillen’s cellphone dating back to September 2023, the governor’s general counsel said no such records exist.
“Governor Pillen does not have a state-issued mobile phone,” the lawyer, Michael J. Donley, said in an email earlier this month — more than four months after Flatwater filed the request.
The revelation marks Pillen’s latest step to shield his communications from public view. He broke with more than 30 years of gubernatorial practice by not releasing a public schedule in March 2023, just two months into his first term. And in August of that year, his office refused to release four of his emails in response to a public records request, citing “executive privilege” — a justification that does not exist in Nebraska’s public records laws.
“I don’t email, I don’t text,” the first-term Republican governor said in response to criticism from Democratic lawmakers over his refusal to release the emails. “Texting when it’s for anything other than logistics, I don’t do.”
His decision not to carry a state-owned cellphone makes him the first governor in at least 20 years not to do so — and, advocates say, amounts to an attempt to circumvent state law.
“It’s absurd to think that simply moving his business to a private cellphone means that none of those records are available to the public,” said Gavin Geis, the director of Common Cause Nebraska, a transparency-in-government watchdog group. “That’s just an abuse of the whole public records process.”
Flatwater sought the records after the online news outlet the Nebraska Examiner reported in January that Pillen had steered the Nebraska Department of Economic Development to award a $2.5 million no-bid emergency contract to a lobbyist who had joined Pillen on state trips to South Korea and Japan.
Flatwater also requested emails between Pillen’s chief of staff, Dave Lopez, and former state economic development officials, including one who told the Examiner that Lopez had provided input on the state’s contract with Julie Bushell, the lobbyist. That portion of Flatwater’s request, which covered an 11-day period last July, also yielded no records, according to the Governor’s Office.
Under Nebraska law, “all records and documents, regardless of physical form, of or belonging to this state” or local governments are a matter of public record — meaning Nebraskans have the right to examine them, with exceptions allowed for investigative police records, personal information, trade secrets and a host of other sensitive documents. The law does not explicitly say whether records from public officials’ personal devices or private email accounts are subject to the law, but prior attorneys general have held for decades that they are.
Pillen’s office repeatedly claimed that Flatwater’s request sought “a record which does not exist” but declined to elaborate. Laura Strimple, a spokeswoman for the governor, said Pillen’s office “is transparent, follows the law, and has diligently responded to the countless public records requests we receive, including several from your outlet.”
“If you choose to publish this non-story, your outlet will have demonstrated once again that it is more interested in political hits and sensationalism than news that matters to hardworking Nebraskans,” Strimple said in an email.
She did not respond to follow-up questions about whether the governor has ever used his phone for state business and whether his office would consider those calls a matter of public record.
Full statement from Gov. Pillen’s spokesperson
After Pillen’s general counsel said records of the governor’s cellphone calls don’t exist, Flatwater sought to understand whether Pillen’s office believes that records of public business stored on private devices are not a matter of public record, an interpretation breaking with decades of precedence. The attorney, Michael J. Donley, said his initial claim “was more limited than how (Flatwater) characterized it,” but did not respond to follow-up questions seeking clarification.
In response to more emails seeking clarity, Pillen’s spokeswoman, Laura Strimple, said:
“If you want a response beyond what we have already told you, then you’ll print in full that:
- Governor Pillen’s administration is transparent, follows the law, and has diligently responded to the countless public records requests we receive, including several from your outlet.
- As we have repeatedly informed you, your public records request asked for a record which does not exist. We have fulfilled the parameters of your request with that answer.
- If you choose to publish this non-story, your outlet will have demonstrated once again that it is more interested in political hits and sensationalism than news that matters to hardworking Nebraskans.”
State law also requires Pillen’s office to maintain a file of all letters it sends denying records requests, and for that file to be made available to any person on request. Donley did not respond to multiple Flatwater requests to review the file, in conflict with the law.
Reporters often use the state’s public records law to find out who government officials are communicating with via phone, email and text.
In 2013, the Omaha World-Herald used call logs obtained under the law to reveal Nebraska’s then-lieutenant governor, Rick Sheehy, had made 2,300 phone calls on his state-issued phone to four women other than his wife, one of whom told the paper she had a four-year affair with Sheehy. He resigned a day after The World-Herald contacted him about its findings.
Such probes have historically not been limited to communications stored on state-owned devices.
In 1997, then-Attorney General Don Stenberg issued an opinion declaring that “public records need not be in the physical possession of an agency to be subject to disclosure under state records acts.”
Lawyers in then-Attorney General Jon Bruning’s office cited Stenberg’s opinion in 2012 when the office determined that members of the Gage County Board of Supervisors were obliged to turn over emails from their private accounts in response to a request from the Beatrice Daily Sun, which sought emails between the board and the county’s medical director, who had resigned.
In 2015, lawyers in then-Attorney General Doug Peterson’s office directed Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert, a Republican, to turn over texts she had sent on her personal phone to City Council members. “It seems to us that the records at issue here are those pertaining solely to the City’s business,” Peterson’s office wrote. “There is no right of privacy for matters that are not private.”
The Nebraska Association of County Officials, a nonprofit that serves and lobbies for all 93 of the state’s counties, tells its members the same. A presentation from the organization’s 2025 annual conference warned that text messages dealing with the public’s business “will be considered a public record.”
A spokeswoman for Mike Hilgers, Nebraska’s current attorney general, declined to say how he advises state agencies on public records stored on private devices. Neither Bruning nor Peterson, both Republicans, returned phone calls seeking comment.
Max Kautsch, a Kansas-based First Amendment rights and open government attorney who also practices law in Nebraska, said Pillen “is gambling that there will be no political consequence from narrowly construing the law.”
“In Nebraska, there is a collective hunch that public officials cannot conduct the public’s business on private devices,” he said. “But the governor wants to push back on what the consensus is on the law. The Legislature should make his obligation clear.”
Courts and attorneys general in other states have largely agreed. A 2014 study from Oklahoma State University found that courts and attorneys general in 18 states had addressed access to public records on private devices. In 15 of those states, authorities held that such records were open to public inspection.
That interpretation isn’t universal. Kentucky’s Supreme Court recently zagged, ruling 4-2 in April that public officials don’t have to disclose records of government business conducted on their private phones.
David Cuillier, director of the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida, called the Kentucky case “an outlier,” not the start of a trend. “At least I hope not — because it’s ludicrous to say that government employees and officials can do government business secretly just by using their own laptop or cellphone or Gmail or Yahoo account,” he said. “That defeats the whole purpose of public records laws.”
In Nebraska, Pillen’s decision to eschew a state-issued phone marks a break with at least two decades of precedent.
Former Republican Govs. Pete Ricketts, who preceded Pillen, and Dave Heineman, who served from 2005 to 2015, confirmed to Flatwater that they had state-owned mobile phones that they used for state business. Heineman, who served as lieutenant governor under Gov. Mike Johanns, said he believed Johanns had one, too.
Johanns, who was governor from 1999 until 2005, did not return emails seeking confirmation. Nor did former Gov. Kay Orr, who served one term as governor starting in 1987.
Former Gov. Ben Nelson said he may have been Nebraska’s first governor to carry a mobile phone after his election in 1990. The technology was in its infancy, and mobile phones were so big that a state trooper carried it for him, he recalled.
The Democrat couldn’t remember ever receiving a public records request for his call logs, he said. He took more heat from reporters over his public appearance schedule — something for which Pillen was criticized in 2023 for not making available to the press, breaking with more than three decades of practice.
Nelson faced a different kind of criticism, he said. He recalled a reporter asking about the frequent weekend hunting trips detailed on his calendar.
“The people of Nebraska — they’re telling me they want less government, so I’ve been trying to give it to them,” Nelson recalled saying.
The room filled with laughter, and the reporter who had asked about the trips looked sheepish, Nelson said.
“But the point is,” he said, “she knew my whereabouts.”
Nebraska
Nebraska Dept. of Agriculture proposes ban on food and beverages containing any amount of THC
LINCOLN, Neb. — A public hearing Thursday drew strong opposition to proposed rules that would label food adulterated and illegal if it contains any amount of THC and its derivatives, potentially decimating Nebraska’s hemp and CBD industry.
The regulations would affect products like gummies, beverages and oral tinctures. Over 490 people wrote in opposition to the new regulations, while only three supported them.
The rule changes stem from an executive order issued by Gov. Jim Pillen in January requiring state agencies to review laws regarding the use of synthetic THC in food and beverages. The order was made to align with federal law coming in November 2026, which bans synthetic THC products and limits total THC concentrations in hemp products to not exceed 0.4 milligrams per container.
The proposed Nebraska rule goes beyond that federal standard.
“I would say it’d be similar other than it does say no THC. It is zero THC,” said Andrew Bish, chief operating officer of Bish Enterprises. “It’s not we are deferring to the federal government standard and aligning with the federal government standard. It is, in fact, a different standard.”
Fifteen speakers testified during the hearing, with many calling for the Department of Agriculture to regulate the industry rather than enforce outright bans.
“I respectfully urge the department to pursue a balanced science-based approach that protects public safety, targets specific problems, strengths and standards where necessary and holds bad actors accountable without unnecessarily eliminating access to products that may Nebraskans find valuable and beneficial,” said Dr. Andrea Holmes, a professor of chemistry at Doane University.
Many who testified were shop owners who said the regulations would result in major business losses and reduced state revenue.
“In 2025, we pay over $1 million in sales tax. We expect to be over $1.3 million in 2026,” one speaker from The Cannabis Factory said. “We’re not opposed to regulation, or oversight, or even additional taxation.”
The Department of Agriculture will review comments and decide if any changes need to be made. If not, the regulations go to the attorney general and the governor for approval.
The regulations include a carve out for the medical cannabis acts, meaning people with medical cannabis cards could get prescriptions that would not be affected by this proposed regulation change.
Click here to subscribe to our 10/11 NOW daily digest and breaking news alerts delivered straight to your email inbox.
Copyright 2026 KOLN. All rights reserved.
-
Wyoming8 minutes ago$1 million Wyoming home sale among the week’s top property transfers
-
Crypto11 minutes agoIreland Targets Crypto Assets in New Strategy to Disrupt Illicit Cash Flows
-
Finance16 minutes agoFinancial adviser warns, ‘stay away from the hype’ of an IPO
-
Fitness23 minutes agoThe Best Fitness Trackers for Your Lifestyle, Workouts, and Goals
-
Movie Reviews31 minutes ago‘Finnegan’s Foursome’ Review: Edward Burns’ Spiky-Quaint Sports Dramedy Is a Tale of Family Therapy Through Golf
-
World41 minutes ago‘X-Men’ Star Famke Janssen Says Marvel ‘Made a Mistake’ By Not Asking Her to Return as Jean Grey in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’
-
Lifestyle1 hour agoJames Burrows, director of classic shows ‘Cheers’ and ‘Friends,’ dies at 85
-
Technology2 hours agoNothing cancels this year’s CMF phone due to RAM prices
