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Should Nebraskans crack down on state leaders changing voter-approved laws?

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Should Nebraskans crack down on state leaders changing voter-approved laws?


LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN) – In recent years, Nebraskans have signed their names and later voted on numerous petition drives, allowing the people to enact new laws and change old ones without going through the Unicameral.

It’s all part of the ballot initiative and referendum process, giving the state’s voters the power to create, amend or repeal laws and ensure the people get a say when the Legislature can’t find consensus.

But after addressing topics like minimum wage, paid sick leave, school choice vouchers and medical marijuana, all laws that have since been targeted, altered or otherwise undone by state leaders, sponsors of the Respect Nebraska Voters ballot initiative hope to step in and tip the scales in the people’s favor.

“I worked tirelessly on both minimum wage and paid sick leave,” ballot sponsor Dawn Essink said. “All of us that spent so many volunteer hours on both of those campaigns were devastated when we saw how the Legislature chose to dilute both of those campaigns.”

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Essink and her fellow Respect Nebraska Voters ballot sponsor Jo Giles, who also worked on the paid sick leave campaign, say voters are feeling “disenfranchised” by the changes to laws that weren’t what people intended.

“They see something that they voted for like paid sick leave that they cared so deeply about … and then to see lawmakers take that away from 140,000 Nebraskans, it’s really just maddening,” Giles said.

If passed, the new initiative would require a larger majority of state senators to undo or change any law that voters have passed, from two-thirds of the Legislature to a four-fifths supermajority. That’s 40 of Nebraska’s 49 total senators.

The initiative also aims to strengthen protections for the initiative and referendum processes, again requiring a four-fifths vote to pass any future law that alters those processes.

“It’s hard enough to pass a ballot initiative in Nebraska,” Giles said. “It’s a huge threshold just for us to get something on the ballot and to get something passed, we think it should be a high threshold for lawmakers as well.”

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After the initiative was filed with the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office, Sen. Danielle Conrad said while she’s all for officials respecting the will of voters, right now her and her colleagues have more questions than answers.

She said the processes already built into the constitution can still be used to ensure Nebraskans get a say, without needing to change the rules.

“The remedy is very clear and already available to us: we should run a referendum and tell the Legislature that we the people don’t appreciate their cynical meddling,” Conrad said. “That is a more precise existing strategy that we should fully utilize before just jumping in to amend the constitution, which may have some unintended consequences.”

She adds that a more straightforward way to deal with a “meddling Legislature” or any elected official altering what the people wanted, is to simply vote them out and replace them with politicians who listen to Nebraskans.

“We shouldn’t really be quibbling about how the Legislature can meddle with the will of the people,” Conrad said, “we should be utilizing our voice and every tool we already have available to effectuate and facilitate the will of the people.”

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But Giles and Essink say that the other constitutional processes aren’t working well enough to represent voters, or Nebraska wouldn’t be seeing changes to laws that the electorate is so upset about.

“We’ve tried over and over on these issues before we’ve even brought them to the people to vote on,” Giles said. “Putting this in the constitution would allow and protect direct democracy for Nebraskans.”

Conrad also worries that enacting this initiative could make it harder to fix technical flaws in voter-enacted laws, or create unnecessary barriers to ones that require further implementation from the Legislature after being passed, such as the 2022 Voter ID ballot initiative.

Furthermore, she said the measure could even spark competing initiatives like the dueling abortion ballot measures in 2024, with alternatives that restrict the initiative process.

And while Conrad believes Supreme Court case law is ”murky at best” in regards to the single subject rule, she’s unsure whether this initiative would violate it and be the target of a lawsuit.

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But Giles said she doesn’t think the initiative violates the single subject law, saying it’s a single constitutional amendment focused on increasing that vote threshold for anything relating to ballot initiatives.

Her and Essink also say they aren’t currently working with any state senators on the initiative, as they want the focus to be a grassroots effort focused on Nebraska voters.

“We normally don’t reach out to the Legislators, we reach out to everyday Nebraskans,” Essink said. “We want Nebraskans voices to be heard and for that to be respected.”

But Conrad said a little input from Nebraska leaders wouldn’t hurt.

“The groups that have launched this effort, again while well intentioned, have done so without coordination with state leaders like myself who are fighting hard every day to protect the will of the people,” she said.

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The campaign will officially launch in January, when volunteers plan to begin gathering signatures.

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Nebraska cops respond to gunfire at store and find a dog accidentally shot someone

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Nebraska cops respond to gunfire at store and find a dog accidentally shot someone


Police in Nebraska were called to a convenience store after reports of gunfire — only to find a dog accidentally shot a person with a shotgun.

Officers with the Scottsbluff Police Department were called to Short Stop, a gas station and convenience store, after receiving a report that someone had been shot with a BB gun just after noon on Saturday, KNOP News 2 reported.

However, while on their way to the scene, police were informed that the incident actually involved a shotgun.

At the store, police found a truck with damage consistent with a shotgun blast to the passenger side door.

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The driver of the truck had pulled into the parking lot to shop, but a dog in the back seat of their vehicle moved from one side of the car to the other — and managed to cause the loaded shotgun to discharge.

Police in Nebraska were called to a report of a shooting, only to find that a dog accidentally triggered a loaded shotgun
Police in Nebraska were called to a report of a shooting, only to find that a dog accidentally triggered a loaded shotgun (Google Maps)

The shotgun fired off into the passenger side panel of the car. A pellet also struck a woman who was stopped at a nearby traffic light and had her right arm dangling out of the car’s open window.

The pellet from the shotgun struck her in the upper arm, police said.

The woman’s injury was not believed to be life-threatening. She was taken to a nearby hospital by a family member.

It is against the law in Nebraska to travel with a loaded shotgun in a vehicle, according to the report.

The incident is being investigated by the Scottsbluff Police Department.

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Nebraska State Track (5/23): KMAland lands 23 state medals on final day in Omaha

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Nebraska State Track (5/23): KMAland lands 23 state medals on final day in Omaha


(KMAland) — Twelve girls and 11 boys KMAland athletes/events were state medalists on Saturday at the final day of action at the Nebraska State Track & Field Championships in Omaha at Burke Stadium.

Check out the area rundown below and full results linked here. 

BOYS CLASS C 

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Seven KMAland athletes won state medals in Class C with Johnson-Brock’s Calvin Benham (discus throw) and Deacon Bernadt (300 hurdles), Palmyra’s Gannon Hubbard (1600), Owen Ramaekers (1600) and Leyton Mapson (100) and Falls City’s Tanner Jackson (pole vault) all taking individual medals. The Palmyra 4×100 meter relay team also snagged a medal.

Check out the area rundown below.

10. Johnson-Brock (18.33 points)

•5th Place: Calvin Benham, discus throw (162-07)

•7th Place: Deacon Bernadt, 300 hurdles (40.61)

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18. Palmyra (14 points)

•5th Place: Gannon Hubbard, 1600 meters (4:28.92)

•7th Place: 4×100 meter relay (43.71) & Owen Ramaekers, 1600 meters (4:29.68)

•8th Place: Leyton Mapson, 100 meters (11.28)

•10th Place: 4×400 meter relay (3:29.08)

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•17th Place: Tyler Jensen, pole vault (12-00.00) & Grady Vasa, 800 meters (2:01.68)

23. Falls City (11 points)

•6th Place: Tanner Jackson, pole vault (13-06.00)

•9th Place: Caleb Offner, discus (158-11)

34. Johnson County Central (5 points)

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•12th Place: Trevin Huskey, 1600 meters (4:35.69)

Louisville (0 points)

•10th Place: Keegan Witte, 800 meters (2:00.34)

•11th Place: 4×400 meter relay (3:29.29)

•24th Place: Lincoln Heins, 800 meters (2:06.83)

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BOYS CLASS D 

Humboldt-TRS had another solid Saturday with Kameon Dettmann taking second in the 800, and Emmett Glathar finishing in fourth place in the discus. Weeping Water added a pair of medals with Tucker Bickford taking sixth in the 800 and their 4×400 finishing in seventh.

Check out the area rundown below.

13. Weeping Water (15 points)

•6th Place: Tucker Bickford, 800 meters (2:01.40)

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•7th Place: 4×400 meter relay (3:32.92)

16. Humboldt-TRS (13 points)

•2nd Place: Kameon Dettmann, 800 meters (1:58.70)

•4th Place: Emmett Glathar, discus (161-01)

•12th Place: 4×400 meter relay (3:35.78)

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•15th Place: Axton Wamsley, 800 meters (2:05.58)

36. Falls City Sacred Heart (5 points)

•15th Place: Brenden Lemerond, 1600 meters (4:50.68)

•16th Place: Bo Fletcher, 1600 meters (4:51.67)

54. Lourdes Central Catholic (1 point)

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•9th Place: Justus Kreifels, discus (145-06)

GIRLS CLASS C 

Conestoga’s Abigail Harvey led the area with wins in the 800 and 200 wheelchair events while Harley Lubben of Johnson County Central was third in the shot put. Other medalists included JCC’s Molly Webber (100 & 200), Palmyra’s Alaena Hopkins (shot put), the Palmyra 4×400 and Ayla Garrett of Conestoga (triple jump).

Check out the area rundown below.

12. Johnson County Central (22 points)

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•3rd Place: Harley Lubben, shot put (40-02.25)

•5th Place: Molly Weber, 100 meters (12.37) & 200 meters (25.52)

29. Palmyra (5 points)

•6th Place: Alaena Hopkins, shot put (39-03.25)

•7th Place: 4×400 meter relay (4:04.31)

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•15th Place: Hailey Hengtgen, 1600 meters (5:40.25)

•18th Place: Kylie Badertscher, 800 meters (2:26.73)

35. Conestoga (3 points)

•1st Place: Abigail Harvey, 800 wheelchair (3:24.73) & 200 wheelchair (50.14)

•6th Place: Ayla Garrett, triple jump (36-02.00)

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•11th Place: Chloe Bergmeyer, triple jump (35-00.25)

•21st Place: Ayla Garrett, 300 hurdles (50.45)

Johnson-Brock 

•20th Place: Rylie Beethe, 300 hurdles (50.01)

•23rd Place: Leighton Edwards, 800 meters (2:29.12)

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Falls City

•22nd Place: Jennifer Sweeney, 1600 meters (6:19.21)

GIRLS CLASS D 

Humboldt-TRS’ Lillian Bowen led the area with a runner-up in the 800 while Lourdes Central Catholic’s Lily Madison ended up third in the triple jump. The Knights were fourth in the 4×100, and Brooklyn Borer added a fifth-place finish in the 100 hurdles for LCC.

Check out the area rundown below.

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11. Lourdes Central Catholic (20 points)

•3rd Place: Lily Madison, triple jump (36-05.75)

•4th Place: 4×100 meter relay (50.89)

•5th Place: Brooklyn Borer, 100 hurdles (15.84)

•12th Place: Harper Rutt, triple jump (33-11.00) & Brooklyn Borer, 300 hurdles (49.18)

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14. Humboldt-TRS (16 points)

•2nd Place: Lillian Bowen, 800 meters (2:23.47)

•14th Place: Grayson Sherman, 1600 meters (5:44.33)2

34. Weeping Water (4 points)

•11th Place: Kallie Brack, 1600 meters (5:38.16)

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Falls City Sacred Heart (0 points)

•15th Place: Hallie Jones, shot put (34-07.25)

Thank you for reading kmaland.com

At KMA, we attempt to be accurate in our reporting. If you see a typo or mistake in a story, please contact us by emailing kmaradio@kmaland.com.





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Nebraska softball beats Oklahoma State in NCAA Super Regional; Heads to Women’s College World Series

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Nebraska softball beats Oklahoma State in NCAA Super Regional; Heads to Women’s College World Series


LINCOLN, Neb. (KOLN/WOWT) – Nebraska defeated Oklahoma State a second time at the NCAA Super Regional on Saturday, 9-1.

Because of their victory, the Huskers will head to the Women’s College World Series. This is the Husker’s first trip to the event since 2013.

The Women’s College World Series is set to take place between May 28 to June 5 at Devon Park in Oklahoma City, OK.

Copyright 2026 KOLN. All rights reserved.

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