LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska has received a $250,000 grant to create a space law network.
Matt Schaefer is co-director of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln law school’s space, cyber and telecommunications law program, and he says the NASA grant allows the new Space Law Network to fund legal internships at NASA as well as bring students from all over the U.S. to numerous national conferences, where they’ll hear from leading scholars.
Elsbeth Magilton is executive director of the law school program, and she says the Space Law Network’s key objective “is to implement a system to support, educate and provide opportunities to law students across the country interested in space law and policy.”
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska Medical Center College of Public Health is promoting a new farm safety website.
The “Telling the Story” site, at www.tellingthestoryproject.org , features firsthand accounts by farmers who have been injured or lost family members to agriculture-related incidents. The site’s debut coincided with National Farm Safety Week, held Sept. 16-22.
Ellen Duysen is coordinator and outreach specialist for the Central States Center for Agricultural Safety and Health at the college and is also one of five team members involved with the new site. She says research indicates farmers are more open to safety messages after reading about a traumatic farm incident.
One of the stories told is that of Leon Sheets, of Ionia, Iowa, who was engulfed in a flash fire at his swine finishing building in 2014, burning 20 percent of his body. He now promotes farm safety.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The outgoing head of Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services says she’s pleased with the agency’s efforts to streamline its services for vulnerable and low-income people and confident more improvements are on the way.
Courtney Phillips made the comments Wednesday as she prepares for a new job as executive commissioner of the Texas Health and Human Services Commission.
Gov. Pete Ricketts appointed Phillips to the Nebraska agency in 2015 after a nationwide search. She previously served as deputy secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals.
Phillips said she’s particularly proud of her department’s efforts to reduce public wait times for state benefits, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, commonly known as food stamps.
Lawmakers and public-benefit recipients had previously criticized the state’s system for enrolling in public benefits, known as ACCESS Nebraska, and the department later settled a federal lawsuit filed by an advocacy group. Average wait times to speak with a customer service representative have since fallen from 24 minutes to less than 5 minutes, according to the department.
“We’re constantly trying to make sure the services we provide create the results we’re looking for,” Phillips said.
The department also reduced the average turnaround time for nursing licenses, from an average of 96 to 37 days, in the face of a statewide nursing shortage.
The department has also faced criticism, however, after state auditors questioned more than $26 million in spending on child welfare services. Department officials acknowledged that some areas needed correcting, but disputed other findings in the auditor’s report.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska could take new steps to address violence against Native American women if two state lawmakers have their way.
Sens. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln and Tom Brewer of Gordon announced plans Wednesday to introduce a bill in next year’s session.
The proposal would require the Nebraska State Patrol to join forces with Indian tribes, the U.S. Justice Department and the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs to examine the problem and brainstorm solutions.
The bill was partly inspired by the unsolved 2016 murder of Sherry Wounded Foot, who was found unconscious behind an abandoned building in Whiteclay, near South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.
Activists plan to visit Whiteclay on Saturday, the one-year anniversary of a Nebraska Supreme Court’s ruling that prevented the town’s maligned beer stores from reopening.
Mid-Plains United will be kicking off its 2018-19 Campaign announced Tom Willnerd, Mid-Plains United Way Board President. This is the twenty-fourth year that First National Bank will help us kick off our campaign with a Chili Cook-Off, said Willnerd. This is one of only two fundraisers that we hold to support 15 area non-profit organizations that serve North Platte and the surrounding areas.
Local business will be cooking up their favorite chili recipes to share with the community. There will be voting tickets for everyone to vote for best chili and best-decorated booth. The team with the best chili will get an award and bragging rights. You will receive four voting tickets and try as much chili as you would like for only $6, additional voting tickets can be purchased. We would like to invite the public to join us on October 5th from 11:30-1:30vPM at the Platte River Mall.
All proceeds will benefit the Mid-Plains United Way.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The Nebraska State College System trustees intend this coming Sunday and Monday to interview the four finalists to be the next system chancellor.
Chancellor Stan Carpenter is retiring after 18 years of service to the system, which has campuses in Chadron, Peru and Wayne.
Among the four is state Sen. John Kuehn, a veterinarian who represents District 38 in the Legislature. He teaches biology at Hastings College.
The other three are Thomas Chesney, president of Brookhaven College in Farmers Branch, Texas; Rusty Monhollon, who is assistant commissioner for academic affairs, Missouri Department of Higher Education; and Paul Turman, who is system vice president for academic affairs for the South Dakota Board of Regents.
File ImageLINCOLN, Neb. – Hunters have until Sept. 28 to apply for a 2019 mountain lion permit. Up to 640 permits will be issued via lottery by the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, which has received 435 applications as of Sept. 23.
Hunting will be allowed only in the Pine Ridge Unit of northwestern Nebraska, which has an established population that can sustain a harvest. Hunters may apply for a permit in either of two subunits: the South Subunit (south of U.S. Hwy. 20) or the North Subunit (north of U.S. Hwy. 20). A person may not submit more than one application per calendar year for a mountain lion permit.
A drawing will allocate as many as 320 permits to each subunit, and only Nebraska residents can receive permits. As of Sept. 23, Game and Parks has accepted 242 applications in the South Subunit and 193 in the North Subunit.
Public land will be open to hunting in the South Subunit, but public land will be closed to hunting in the North Subunit. Landowners in the North Subunit are encouraged to apply in that area, and applicants who have not arranged opportunities to hunt on private land in the North Subunit are encouraged to apply in the South Subunit.
Mail applications must be received in Game and Parks’ Lincoln headquarters by 5 p.m. and online applications must be received by 11:59 p.m. CT on Sept. 28. Visit OutdoorNebraska.org to apply online or download an application at outdoornebraska.gov/mountainlionhunting. A $15 nonrefundable application fee must be submitted with each application.
Up to eight mountain lions may be harvested in 2019, with up to four of those being females. In each of the two subunits, once four mountain lions, or two females, have been harvested in that subunit, the season in that subunit will close.
Dogs may not be used during the mountain lion season, which will run Jan. 1 through Feb. 28, 2019. If the limits and/or sub-limits have not been reached in a subunit by Feb. 28, an auxiliary season, allowing the use of dogs, will occur.
A harvest will allow the mountain lion population to remain resilient and healthy, while halting growth or moderately reducing the population size. This will reduce the population density in the Pine Ridge to one similar to that of other states that allow mountain lion hunting.
To read more mountain lion hunting regulations, go to outdoornebraska.gov/mountainlionhunting.
NORTH PLATTE, Neb. — The Lake Ogallala angler access area located in the northwest corner of the lake will be closed starting Monday, Sept. 24 to undergo restoration.
The restoration project will address the existing shoreline protection structures and eroding sidewalks.
The project is slated to be complete next summer. Once finished, the project will complement the new 125-foot floating fishing bridge that was installed in 2017, along with enhancing Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) amenities and angler access to the area.
Anglers wishing to utilize the area will still have access to the floating bridge from the north stairwell until early 2019.
The Keith County Visitor’s Committee, Central Nebraska Public Power and Irrigation District, and the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission provided funding for this project.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts has rejected a rule change that would’ve adjusted the passing threshold of an exam required for admission into the state’s teacher colleges.
The Lincoln Journal Star reports that Ricketts is concerned that the change to the Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators proficiency exam would reduce standards for teachers in Nebraska. But education advocates say the adjustment would eliminate a barrier for good candidates and help increase the state’s teaching workforce.
Ricketts says state Department of Education officials will work to revise the rule to increase the teaching workforce and maintain high teacher quality.
College students must pass the exam in order to be accepted into the state’s teacher education programs. The proficiency test measures academic skills in reading, writing and math.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska has received a $250,000 grant to create a space law network.
