Nebraska

Nebraskans should be concerned about shifting the oversight of History Nebraska | Nebraska Examiner

Published

2 years ago

February 28, 2024

Nebraskans should be concerned about shifting the oversight of History Nebraska | Nebraska Examiner

Nebraskans should be concerned about Legislative Bill 1169. As written recently by the president of the History Nebraska Board of Trustees, this is a bill intended to “…make History Nebraska a code agency of the State of Nebraska with an Executive Director appointed directly by the Governor. LB 1169 transfers critical responsibilities of the Board of Trustees and reassigns these to the appointed director.”

Read that again, carefully.

Rather than coming to this matter with a political bent, I write today as a member of History Nebraska, also as a major in American history at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (though I didn’t graduate because of the Vietnam War), as a former three-term leader of the Omaha chapter of “Westerners International,” as a four-term director of the Union Pacific Historical Society, as a published author of works relating to Union Pacific history and now as a member of the board of directors of the Union Pacific Museum Association. I am simply a history nut.

State Sen. Steve Erdman, who introduced the bill, states that the former adjutant general of the Nebraska National Guard has testified that Nebraska history is not being property retained, or words to that effect.

Please don’t permit that assertion to influence your thinking. It is important to know that the very same could be said of every single historical institution which has ever been or is now in existence. Every single one. There has never been nor is there today a single such institution which can gather, let alone retain, all of the “history” presented or available to it. Thus, there is always the possibility for allegations that history is not being retained, etc.

Is increasing the authority and influence of the governor and diluting the responsibility of trustees elected by entity membership going to make for better retention of the history of Nebraska?

At present, the state has a sizable presence on the board of trustees. Those people are going to bring state government issues before the board, so any such will be addressed by the board just as they’ve been for many decades.

I can’t see how an appointed executive director armed with authority removed from the board is going to be an improvement.

Will LB 1169 reduce your taxes?

And why would this seemingly minor matter be given priority status when so many other major issues are under consideration?

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Nebraska

Nebraska baseball falls to 16th-ranked Kansas

Published

6 hours ago

April 22, 2026

Press Room

Nebraska baseball falls to 16th-ranked Kansas

LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – The Nebraska baseball team lost to Kansas 9-7 on Tuesday in front of a record crowd at Hoglund Park. The Huskers took an early lead on an RBI single by National Freshman of the Week Drew Grego. After giving up three unanswered runs, Nebraska rallied to go back in front on a 3rd-inning single by Will Jesske. Both Grego and Jesske finished with two hits in the game.

Kansas, however, took control in the middle innings. The Jayhawks got home runs from Tyson Owens and Josh Dykoff in the sixth frame. Both round-trippers came off NU relief pitcher Ty Horn. Kansas added insurance in the 7th inning before a late rally by the Huskers.

Nebraska trimmed a five-run deficit to two, but couldn’t complete the comeback on the road.

The Huskers’ loss is their second to the Jayhawks this season. Nebraska’s record drops to 31-10 overall.

Will Bolt’s team returns to action on Friday at Illinois. Game one is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. in Champaign.

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Nebraska

Nebraska jumps up to No. 2 in college softball Power 10 rankings

Published

18 hours ago

April 21, 2026

Press Room

Softball

April 21, 2026

Nebraska jumps up to No. 2 in college softball Power 10 rankings

April 21, 2026

Check out Michella Chester’s updated college softball Power 10 rankings for the week of April 21, which sees Nebraska rise to No. 2 behind an 11-game win streak.

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Nebraska

Mental health by the numbers in Nebraska

Published

1 day ago

April 21, 2026

Press Room

Mental health by the numbers in Nebraska

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – A deeper look tonight as First Alert 6 continues to dig deeper into the state of mental health care in Nebraska and possible solutions, ever since last week’s two instances involving law enforcement.

A Douglas County sheriff’s deputy was shot responding to a domestic call. Investigators said the suspect, Brian Huggins, had a history of behavioral health issues. Huggins died by suicide.

And then Noemi Guzman, who police say kidnapped a 3-year-old from inside an Omaha Walmart and cut him in the arm and face with a stolen kitchen knife. Omaha police officers shot and killed her before she could strike again.

Guzman had been on a court-ordered mental health treatment plan since last summer for her schizophrenia. According to court records, psychiatrists determined she could live in the community. Remember, this was after she was arrested for setting her father’s house on fire and threatening a priest with a knife.

Monitoring system

We wanted to know who is part of the system monitoring those who may not be following their mental health treatment plan and are a risk to others or themselves. When that happens, the Board of Mental Health will often notify the local sheriff so a warrant can be issued and deputies can track the individual down.

Here are the numbers since 2023:

In 2023, 842 warrants were issued for those not following their treatment plans according to the Board of Mental Health. In 2024, 756. In 2025, 690. So far in 2026, 190.

But out of these 2,500 warrants, 85% of them didn’t have a second warrant, meaning deputies picked them up, got them back into treatment and the individuals continued to thrive after the one hiccup.

But in 15% of these cases, the individuals messed up again and had another warrant issued by the Board of Mental Health. Twenty-five individuals had five or more issued in Douglas County.

Sheriff Hanson said there has to be a better way, a more team approach for this.

One model to explore is the way Nebraska’s problem-solving courts work like drug court and veterans’ treatment court where experts from a variety of stakeholders help individuals who are on the fringes to do everything to make them productive citizens.

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