Humanities Desk | Net Radio

A legislative proposal to give all Nebraska counties the option to conduct elections entirely by mail was discussed Wednesday/this afternoon. Currently, only counties with populations under 10,000 can apply to the Secretary of State to mail ballots to all registered voters. In the last general election, 11 of the state’s 67 eligible counties did just that. In most counties, voters must request an absentee ballot to vote by mail.

Congressman Mike Flood was greeted with a relatively hostile crowd at his town hall in Columbus Tuesday evening. Flood represents Nebraska’s First Congressional District, which includes Columbus, Lincoln and Norfolk. Attendees booed references to President Donald Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency. The biggest applause of the night came when Flood expressed his support for funding Ukraine.

Nebraska universities would be able to pay athletes name, image and likeness compensation directly under a bill heard Monday afternoon in a legislative committee. Last year, former college athletes brought a case against the NCAA claiming that it unfairly restricted them from profiting from NIL. The NCAA agreed to a nearly $3 billion settlement, allowing universities to pay current and former athletes the money they may have missed out on. But current Nebraska law prohibits universities from directly paying NIL compensation to athletes.

The Legislature’s Revenue Committee considered proposals to end taxes on tips and overtime pay. During a hearing Friday afternoon, Sen. Danielle Conrad said she introduced the bills to show her support for working families. She acknowledged opposition to the policies from both left and right-leaning think tanks, but she said the policies have majority support from both parties according to polling.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Eighteen-year-old Joe Burgess ran for a seat on his county board and won. Burgess represents 3,000 people in District 5 of York County from his dorm room at UNL.

Two recently opened music venues are hoping to change the narrative that Omaha is flyover country for traveling bands. The Astro in La Vista, and the Steelhouse Omaha were created to help fill a void that Omaha had when it came to upper-midsized venues.

Friends and family gathered inside Ralston Arena to remember the life of fallen State Trooper Kyle McAcy on Thursday. McAcy died while on duty last Monday, Feb. 17. He was struck by a snowplow while helping people involved in a traffic crash on Interstate-80.

Federal efforts to roll back diversity, equity and inclusion, or D-E-I has affected the way schools teach Black History Month. It’s putting additional pressure on educators, who are finding themselves in the middle of the conversation.

All Nebraska public and private school students could have free lunches under a proposal heard Tuesday evening at the state capitol. Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh’s Hunger-Free Schools Act would require schools to offer free lunches to students regardless of their federal free or reduced lunch eligibility. The state would reimburse schools to offset the cost of the new requirement.

University of Nebraska Board of Regents policies outlining diversity initiatives in hiring, admissions and scholarships are on the chopping block. This comes after the U.S. Department of Education required schools to stop diversity policies or risk losing federal funding.

Nebraska lawmakers heard a proposal Monday to require the Ten Commandments be displayed in public schools. Sen. Dave Murman’s bill would apply to both public and private schools and mandate the commandments be posted in every elementary school classroom and middle and high school buildings. He said the requirement would educate students on the nation’s foundational values.

UNL researchers surveyed local journalists across the state to see how much local news is being produced statewide.