News & Features | Net Radio

The U.S. has lost more than 2,800 newspapers since 2005, many of them in rural areas. Now some journalists are redoubling their efforts to provide local news and trying new models in a difficult industry.

The Yazidi SarSal is a new year event in the Yazidi culture celebrated in mid-April every year. This event brings the community members together to appreciate their religious beliefs, cultural values and their history.

The priority candidate for president of the University of Nebraska held his first public forum Friday. Dr. Jeffrey Gold answered questions about budget cuts, the university’s relationship with the legislature and getting students from Western Nebraska.

Members of the Nebraska Legislature passed more than 100 bills and paid tribute to departing colleagues on Thursday.

The Nebraska Legislature heard a few new voices in its rotunda thanks to a new youth lobby school. The program focuses on teaching students from diverse backgrounds how to advocate for legislation.

Sen. Lou Ann Linehan’s LB388 would create a digital advertising sales tax and increase taxes on cigarettes, vaping, lottery tickets, cannabis derivatives and games of skill. Sales tax exemptions for candy, soda, storage facilities and veterinary services would also be eliminated. The bill caps the percentage cities and counties can grow their annual budget and reduces school property taxes by 30% directly instead of requiring taxpayers to apply for a 30% tax credit, according to the Governor’s Policy Research Office.

Host Intro: Gov. Jim Pillen said today/Wednesday more needs to be done to lower property taxes. And he said he’ll call a special session to change Nebraska to a winner-take-all electoral college system, if 33 senators say they’ll vote for it.

Thousands of people gathered in southwest Lincoln Wednesday to celebrate Eid al-Fitr, the end of Ramandan and fasting in the Muslim faith. Ousmane Youm is a member of the Islamic Foundation of Lincoln community. In addition to fasting and other spiritual disciplines, Ramadan is about giving back.

Nebraska Legislature Speaker John Arch is taking a wait-and-see attitude about a possible special session to change Nebraska's Electoral College voting system.

Senator Lou Ann Linehan’s bill would appropriate $10 million dollars to scholarship granting organizations, allowing low-income students to apply for grants that can be used at private schools. Linehan’s bill would also sunset legislation passed last year giving up to $25 million dollars of tax credits for donations to scholarship granting organizations.

A Lincoln food pantry has revamped its system that allow people to have a more welcoming experience.

Nebraska schools could be sued for up to a million dollars if a staff member sexually assaults a student, under a proposal that advanced Tuesday in the Legislature. And a bill to increase taxes on home sellers, and reduce them on people who inherit property, also moved ahead.

A University of Nebraska-Lincoln researcher is the first Husker to join the National Academy of Education, which is an organization focused on education research. Susan Sheridan, the director of the Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families and Schools, has decades of research leading to her invitation to the academy.

A proposal to restrict trans athletes in Nebraska's K-12 schools was blocked by a filibuster in the Legislature Friday.

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Education and Human Sciences recognized students in their teaching programs for reaching the halfway point of their degrees. “Nebraska needs teachers. We want teachers. We want to honor teachers," UNL CEHS acting dean Nick Pace said. "We want to honor their work and thank them for having the heart and the hands for this work. It’s never been more important and it’s never probably been more difficult.”

Senator Justin Wayne filed several amendments to his bill regarding punitive damages, including one which would allow an individual to hold political subdivisions or state agencies liable for the sexual assault of a minor by a public employee. The amendment’s language was taken directly from Senator Steve Halloran’s bill, which did not make it out of the Judiciary Committee.

The Nebraska Legislature considered proposals Thursday to improve firefighters' pensions, while a contentious debate on restricting transgender student athletes was set for Friday.

A proposal to change Nebraska’s presidential vote allocation to a winner-take-all system failed in the Nebraska legislature late Wednesday evening. Nebraska is one of two states that awards its electoral votes to Presidential candidates by Congressional District, with the overall state winner receiving an additional two votes. In 2020, President Joe Biden received one electoral vote from Omaha’s 2nd Congressional District, while Donald Trump received the state’s other four votes.

The Legislature’s Executive board condemned Sen. Steve Halloran today/Wednesday for injecting colleagues’ names when he read a rape scene during a debate on obscenity. But some senators said that wasn’t enough.

The amount of students participating in dual enrollment across the state has increased since 2016, according to a new report from the Nebraska Statewide Workforce and Educational Reporting System, or NSWERS. In dual enrollment courses, students can earn college credits while still in high school.