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 is now a leader to land Aiden Manutai. Here is the latest.
The Nebraska Cornhuskers aren’t exactly done in the 2025 cycle as they have been searching for some flip targets. After actively searching, the Huskers may have found another one.
That guy is Aiden Manutai. Manutai is a Kahuku High School defensive back from Kahuku, Hawaii. He plays safety and is a listed four-star from ESPN. Manutai is committed to the California Golden Bears.
Manutai has been a target for the Cornhuskers for a bit of time and started to trend towards the Cornhuskers earlier this month. Manutai was originally interested in Nebraska along with five other schools before committing to the Bears.
Manutai did not make a trip to Lincoln this weekend, which is a good sign for the Golden Bears. However, the Cornhuskers are in a good spot despite this visit not happening. The Huskers made their first bowl game in years which is a positive sign for any recruit.
Manutai is also one of many recruits who were influenced by the addition of Dawson Merritt, who recently flipped from Alabama to Nebraska. Will Manutai be the next flip for the Big Red?
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Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.
It was an unseasonably nice afternoon in Memorial Stadium. And no, I’m not talking about temperatures in the high 50s for the final home game. In his second game as offensive coordinator, Dana Holgorsen’s offense exploded for arguably the Nebraska offense’s best game under Matt Rhule. Dylan Raiola played his best game, throwing for over 290 yards with no sacks and no turnovers. For the first time all season, I’d say the Huskers played well in all three phases of the game, and that was enough to send them bowling this December.
The story of this game was the Huskers offense. Emmett Johnson became Nebraska’s second 100-yard running back of the Matt Rhule era, joining Anthony Grant last season against Louisiana Tech. The Huskers had just two of their runs “stuffed” (a run for 0 or fewer yards) on their way to their second-best rushing output this season.
I was struck by the blocking effort in this game. Jahmal Banks held his block on the edge until Dante Dowdell crossed the goal line. Linemen were pulling and still blocking ten yards downfield, helping players fight for extra yards. That type of extra effort made this a special night for the offense.
The Husker’s offense also dominated the control of the ball. The Nebraska offense was built on methodical drives. Even if you remove Nebraska’s two explosive plays, the Huskers offense still managed an EPA of 3.88. This was the first game all season where Nebraska’s non-explosive plays went for a positive EPA.
Special teams was also a big positive for the Huskers in this game. Nebraska’s special teams performed 12.5 points better than Wisconsin’s this game. This was just the second time this season that Nebraska’s special teams unit was a net positive (Ohio State, 2.86 EPA). John Hohl’s 14 points were the most by a kicker in the Matt Rhule era.
The defense still had its concerning moments this game. Wisconsin performed in the 90th percentile or better in many offensive statistics, including its seven explosive plays. These big plays are a cause for concern against Iowa, as the Wisconsin offense is one of the worst teams in the country in generating explosive plays, at just 5.8%. The Nebraska defense was stout on crucial plays, allowing just a 30% 3rd-down success rate and a 33% red zone success rate.
Going into this game, Nebraska lost nine straight games after winning number five and ten consecutive games to Wisconsin. Many people on social media want to make fun of Nebraska fans for storming the field after getting to bowl eligibility. I’m happy these people can enjoy their laughs while they can. The Matt Rhule rebuild is running on schedule, and we all know what year three looks like for him.
Through 11 games, the Nebraska skill position group is the youngest in college football. The extra practice to build chemistry with each other and get more practice reps running Holgorsen’s offense is invaluable. The 2024 seniors won much less than most in Lincoln would’ve liked. But as they walked off the field for the final time, they put Nebraska football on a new trajectory.
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Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, subscribing to HuskerMax on YouTube, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.
Nebraska and Wisconsin Volleyball have played a total of six sets against each other this season, all of which have been won by the Huskers. Seniors, Merritt Beason, Leyla Blackwell, Lindsay Krause, Kennadi Orr and Lexi Rodriguez were all celebrated for their contributions to the program after tonight’s win.
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