Nebraska
Nebraska Supreme Court rules state agencies can charge 'special' fees to review document requests • Nebraska Examiner
LINCOLN — The Nebraska Supreme Court ruled Friday that state agencies can impose a “special services charge” to review public records requests.
The 23-page ruling tends to affirm a $44,103 charge to a nonprofit news site, The Flatwater Free Press, to fulfill its request for public documents related to nitrate contamination of the state’s groundwater.
Flatwater maintained that the charge was excessive and not allowed by state public records law, an argument that Lancaster County District Judge Ryan Post agreed with.
‘Voluminous requests could be disruptive’
But the state appealed, and the Supreme Court ruled Friday that state public records laws recognized that “voluminous (records) requests could be disruptive to the public body.”
A “special service charge,” the court ruled, is allowed to cover the “existing salary or pay obligation” of state agencies’ employees after the first four hours of “searching, identifying, physically redacting, or copying.”
“However sympathetic we might be to (Flatwater’s) policy arguments,” the ruling stated, state law allows such fees to be charged.
Case ordered back to lower court
The court ordered the case back to Lancaster County District Court to determine whether the $44,103 fee conforms with the “special” fee allowance.
In a post Friday morning, Flatwater’s executive editor, Matthew Hansen, called the ruling “a blow to Nebraska’s public records law, a law written to protect media outlets like ours and Nebraskans like yourselves from the secrecy of those who hold power.”
“This clears the way for the State of Nebraska to charge us an ungodly amount of money to gain access to public records related to the state’s growing nitrate-in-groundwater problem,” Hansen wrote.
The case grew out of a public records request by Flatwater to the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy for emails and other documents containing the words “nitrate,” “fertilizer” and “nutrient.”
Series on nitrate contamination
The news site has produced a series of stories on nitrate contamination of the state’s groundwater — and the adverse health effects — based on public records it has been able to obtain.
Included was a story concerning contamination near hog barns operated by the family of Gov. Jim Pillen, a story the governor said should be discounted because the author was from “communist China” — a comment that sparked a firestorm of calls for an apology.
Other news media, including the Nebraska Examiner, also use information gleaned from record requests for reporting.
Initially, NDEE told Flatwater that fulfilling its records request would cost $2,000.
That led Flatwater to narrow its request, but also generated a new estimate from NDEE that it would require 927 hours of staff time at a cost of $44,103 to provide the records. Flatwater sued, calling the fee excessive and not allowed.
A key argument was whether a state agency, under the law, had a right to “review” records before they are released to determine if they are indeed public records and whether any portion needed to be redacted as not public.
The Supreme Court, in its ruling, said that such a “review” is allowed.
Hansen, the Flatwater editor, said he expects the fight over this issue will continue at the Nebraska Legislature, which has the power to change state law.
Overall, he called it “a blow to the 10 words” that are etched into the north face of the State Capitol: “The Salvation of the State is Watchfulness in the Citizen.”
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Nebraska
4.1-magnitude earthquake hits south-central Nebraska
People across Nebraska and Kansas reported feeling an earthquake Sunday afternoon.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, a quake measuring 4.1 on the Richter Scale struck around 1 p.m. about 3 miles east of the Webster County village of Cowles, which is in south-central Nebraska near the Kansas border.
A quake of that magnitude is considered “light” and not likely to cause damage.
But the USGS received dozens of reports from people who said they felt the quake, some as far away as Omaha and Manhattan, Kansas. Numerous people took to social media to report feeling the quake.
Two aftershocks of 2.6 magnitude later occurred near the original quake site, one about 90 minutes after the initial quake and one later Sunday night.
Earthquakes are relatively rare in Nebraska, but the state does usually record one or two minor ones per year. The last time Nebraska recorded a quake of a magnitude 4 or above was in December 2023, also in Webster County.
Nebraska
Nebraska Lottery results: See winning numbers for Powerball, Pick 3 on March 2, 2026
The results are in for the Nebraska Lottery’s draw games on Monday, March 2, 2026.
Here’s a look at winning numbers for each game on March 2.
Winning Powerball numbers from March 2 drawing
02-17-18-38-62, Powerball: 20, Power Play: 2
Check Powerball payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Powerball Double Play numbers from March 2 drawing
21-28-58-65-67, Powerball: 25
Check Powerball Double Play payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 3 numbers from March 2 drawing
7-5-8
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Pick 5 numbers from March 2 drawing
03-08-09-17-25
Check Pick 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning 2 By 2 numbers from March 2 drawing
Red Balls: 14-26, White Balls: 17-18
Check 2 By 2 payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning MyDay numbers from March 2 drawing
Month: 05, Day: 03, Year: 23
Check MyDay payouts and previous drawings here.
Winning Millionaire for Life numbers from March 2 drawing
28-41-42-50-55, Bonus: 02
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
When are the Nebraska Lottery drawings held?
- Powerball: 9:59 p.m. CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Mega Millions: 10 p.m. CT on Tuesday and Friday.
- Pick 3, 5: By 10 p.m. CT daily.
- Lucky For Life: 9:38 p.m. CT daily.
- 2 By 2: By 10 p.m. CT daily.
- MyDaY: By 10 p.m. CT daily.
- Lotto America: 9:15 p.m CT Monday, Wednesday and Saturday.
- Millionaire for Life: 10:15 p.m. CT daily.
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by a USA Today editor. You can send feedback using this form.
Nebraska
NioCorp to start work on its minerals mine in southeast Nebraska
NioCorp announced Monday that it plans to start work on its critical minerals mine in southeast Nebraska.
The project, which the company is calling its mine portal project, will involve building a main entrance to the Elk Creek underground mine and will serve as the primary access point for personnel, equipment, and materials for the underground mining operations. It also will include excavating bedrock, drilling and blasting to establish the twin mine ramps, on-site access road construction, and construction of on-site supporting infrastructure.
The project, which will cost nearly $45 million, is set to get underway before the end of the month. It marks the first time Colorado-based NioCorp will actually start any significant work on the main mine, from which the company hopes to extract niobium, scandium, titanium and other minerals.
“Given the size of this excavation work, the portal project really marks the beginning of a major pre-construction activity at the Elk Creek Project site and is an important step toward preparing for underground development,” Scott Honan, the company’s president and chief operating officer, said in a release.
Mark A. Smith, Niocorp’s chairman and CEO, called the project, “a significant milestone.”
Niocorp has spent more than 15 years trying to develop the mine on land in Johnson County, about 65 miles southeast of Lincoln.
The company still needs to raise a significant amount of money to make the $1.2 billion mine a reality, though. In December, NioCorp said it had raised about $360 million, or a little more than a quarter of the total cost. It is still waiting for approval of a $780 million debt financing application from the Export-Import Bank of the United States.
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