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Nebraska state senators discussed increasing their pay and taxing certain services Friday.

Under a bill from Sen. Merv Riepe, juveniles could be detained as young as 11 years old and charged as an adult as young as 12. That’s two years younger than current law allows. The bill also expands the list of crimes that make juveniles eligible for detention. Riepe said he introduced the bill to protect youth and promote community safety.

The Nebraska Legislature on Thursday considered proposals dealing with taxes, transgender athletes, and license plates.

A Nebraska legislative committee heard a proposal to repeal the mandate for fluoride in water supplies, and senators advanced a proposal to schedule school bond elections on a more regular schedule.

A constitutional amendment to end inheritance taxes in Nebraska was discussed in the Legislature Wednesday afternoon. Nebraska is one of five states that has inheritance taxes, and the only state where it is collected exclusively at the county level. Sen. Bob Hallstrom, who introduced the amendment, said the change would help the state be more competitive.

The U.S. Department of Education announced mass layoffs on Tuesday, cutting almost half of the department’s employees. Nebraska State Education Association officials even if they aren’t immediate, changes at the federal level can trickle down to the state education system.

The Nebraska Legislature Tuesday advanced bills requiring schools notify parents of the books their children check out. And lawmakers advanced conflicting bills requiring year-round standard or daylight saving time.

A bill that would allocate funding for cybersecurity protections in schools was discussed in The Nebraska Legislature’s Education Committee Tuesday. The bill — known as the HACKER Act — would also create a state cybersecurity team.

For the first time ever, Omaha won the Summit League Conference Tournament, defeating the University of St. Thomas Sunday. That means the Mavericks will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in school history.

100,000 acres of land burned by wildfires is typically the marker of a bad fire year in Nebraska. We’re already at 30,000 acres burned this year, and we’re not even through March. After a stretch of warm, windy and even record-breaking weather, Nebraska Public Media’s Jackie Ourada asked State Forester John Erixson about Nebraska’s fire outlook for 2025.

Earlier this month, the lives of thousands of employees for the United States Agency for International Development or USAID were disrupted when the Trump administration announced it was dismantling the foreign aid agency. Nebraska Public Media caught up with a Nebraska woman who is a former long-time USAID employee and whose husband still works for the agency.

Nebraska legislators heard a proposal to legalize online sports betting Monday, and a committee advanced winner-take-all Electoral College voting to the full Legislature for debate.

Nebraska could rejoin the Midwest Interstate Passenger Rail Compact under a bill discussed in the Legislature. The compact is made up of appointed government officials from eight member states that advocate for passenger rail projects and funding. Nebraska first joined the group in 2001 but left in 2018 due to concerns with the cost of membership and limited returns.

A group of Elkhorn residents are hoping to start an orchestra program in the local school district. They plan to speak to the Elkhorn Public Schools Board of Education Monday night.

The Nebraska Department of Education provided an update at Friday's State Board of Education meeting that national conversations have not yet impacted the state education department. NDE Commissioner Brian Maher also spoke about the state of mental health training funds that failed to be approved last month.

Some future teachers are left wondering about their fate as education students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The program that would have trained dozens of teachers lost its federal grant due to national spending cuts.

Some future teachers are left wondering about their fate as education students at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. The program that would have trained dozens of teachers lost its federal grant due to national spending cuts.

The Nebraska Legislature got more bad news about the state budget Thursday, even as they gave final approval to a series of bills.

Two bills introduced in the Nebraska legislature propose changes to the paid sick leave and minimum wage increase ballot initiatives passed by Nebraskans. If passed, these bills would restrict which Nebraskans can take advantage of their benefits.

Where parents can surrender their infants without facing legal consequences would expand under a bill heard at the Nebraska Legislature Thursday. Currently, the Nebraska Safe Haven Law allows parents to drop off infants younger than 90 days old to staff at any hospital, fire station or police station monitored 24 hours a day.