OMAHA, Neb. (Nebraska Examiner) – Top leaders of the nation’s oldest and largest Latino civil rights group made a rare visit to Nebraska this week to meet with business and civic officials as they seek to strengthen a local presence and forge new opportunities for Latinos and immigrants.

“We see it as the new frontier and growth opportunity for LULAC and Nebraska and the Heartland,” said David Cruz, senior advisor and national communications director for the Washington D.C.-based League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC).

Cruz said the trip marks the first to a state chapter for president Roman Palomares since he was elected to his post July 1, a sign he said recognizes Nebraska’s “strategic importance” for the country’s fastest-growing economic and labor demographic.

The two were joined by Hector Flores, past president and senior advisor to the LULAC president.

Used like a piñata

State LULAC director Elsa Aranda of Lincoln said a key meeting was held with Bryan Slone, president of the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce & Industry. The hope, she said, is to develop a pilot program that better taps the immigrant workforce to address the state’s labor shortage, and perhaps spread that model nationally.

“Immigration is being used like a piñata right now politically,” said Flores. He said LULAC is interested in ensuring that rights of immigrant workers are respected and in demonstrating how their contributions can contribute to local economies.

The group on Friday toured Metropolitan Community College’s 100,000-square-foot Automotive Training Center, which opened in late 2021 to prepare students for high-paying careers in the auto industry.

Palomares said he was impressed with the operation. He foresees LULAC working with Metro, whose student population is 18% Latino, to help build upon programming and perhaps bring successful models to other LULAC sites.

“My big deal is growing the youth and opportunities for young adults,” said Palomares.

While not a new presence in Nebraska, the LULAC advocacy organization, which has 535 councils and 145,000 members nationwide, has recently started to become more active locally.

It identifies as nonpartisan. But after their Omaha meetings, the LULAC team headed to Nevada, where members of the organization’s PAC executive board and others planned Saturday to announce their endorsement of Kamala Harris for president.

The political arm of the nearly century-old LULAC, formed in 1929 to protect rights of Americans of Mexican descent, says it marks the organization’s first endorsement of any president.

Attention to Nebraska

Within the last year, the national LULAC sent out media releases drawing attention to Nebraska events, including a fatal shooting of two Hispanic men by off-duty Omaha police officers and the Omaha City Council’s decision to overlook “three highly educated, successful Latino candidates” to fill a vacant seat and instead appoint a white male to represent the council district with the highest concentration of Latinos.

The national group also called out the Nebraska Chamber for not inviting LULAC to an earlier event regarding the state’s immigrant workforce.

Palomares said it was the same general subjects that prompted the visit: underrepresentation of Latinos in elected positions, police relations and immigration.

He said much work is ahead, but that he felt “well received” by those he met, including Slone, a few Omaha City Council members, a deputy Omaha police chief, Douglas County Commissioner Roger Garcia, State Sen. Tony Vargas of Omaha.

Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Cate Folsom for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com. Follow Nebraska Examiner on Facebook and X.

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The defense of gold at Tokyo falls one win short.

Team USA women’s volleyball was swept by Italy in the final of the Paris Olympics Sunday: 25-18, 25-20, 25-17. That is the first Olympic medal of any color for the Italian squad. For the Americans, this marks the fifth-consecutive Summer Games with a medal.

As for how the former Nebraska players fared in the gold medal match, Justine Wong-Orantes was again everywhere on the floor at libero. She posted a match-high 15 digs.

At outside hitter, Jordan Larson had her best performance in a few matches, notching five kills on .400 hitting, adding six digs. Kelsey Robinson Cook did not land a kill in two swings but added a pair of digs to the cause.

Former Huskers Larson, Robinson Cook, and Wong-Orantes have all won multiple Olympic medals. This is Larson’s fourth medal, Robinson Cook’s third, and the second for Wong-Oratnes. Larson ties Ana Fernández (Cuba) and Inna Ryskal (USSR) with four Olympic indoor volleyball medals.

Watch a replay of the USA-Italymatch on Peacock.

Stay up to date on all things Huskers by bookmarking Nebraska Cornhuskers On SI, following HuskerMax on X, and visiting HuskerMax.com daily.

OMAHA, NE — A Valley volunteer football coach and former NFL player was sentenced this week in a Nebraska federal court for coercion and enticement of a minor.

Nicholas Murphy, 44, pleaded guilty and was sentenced on Thursday to 57 months in federal prison with a 10-year term of supervised release, Department of Justice officials say. Murphy will also pay a $20,000 fine and restitution to the victim.

Video in the player above includes previous reporting on the case.

Officials say Murphy began a relationship with a 17-year-old who was a dancer at a dance studio in Omaha. Murphy and his wife were co-owners of the studio, ABC15 previously reported.

In October 2021, Murphy traveled with the teen from Nebraska to Tuscon, Arizona, where Murphy had sex with the minor in his hotel room.

ABC15 previously reported that Murphy was entering a not-guilty plea, but he ultimately pleaded guilty to persuading and enticing a minor to travel in interstate commerce to engage in sex.

After Murphy was indicted in September 2023, Scottsdale Unified School District sent a letter to families stating that he would not be returning to campus, where he was a volunteer coach for the freshman football team at Desert Mountain High School.