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Nebraska’s three Catholic bishops are urging state and local lawmakers to act carefully on illegal immigration or risk causing a backlash of discrimination and intimidation. In a joint statement, the bishops from Omaha, Lincoln and Grand Island say state efforts aimed at unscrupulous employers are appropriate. But overall, they say, the state has limited authority to address illegal immigration and cities have an even narrower scope. “State or local community actions that exceed jurisdictional boundaries invite actionable claims on constitutional, and perhaps other, legal grounds,’’ the statement says. “We have a greater concern that these actions could become a basis...

OMAHA, Neb. -- No charges will be filed against the Omaha shop owner who shot and killed two people in his business Tuesday night because he fired in self-defense, said Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine. Kleine said Andre McKesson, the owner of Midwest Grillz and Jewelry at 62nd Street and Ames Avenue, fired after 14 or 15 shots. Kleine said police told him McKesson got into an argument with Willie Wakefield, 29, and Marcel Davis, 16. At one point, Wakefield allegedly fired two shots in the direction of McKennon. Kleine said McKesson returned fire, killing Davis and Wakefield and wounding...

LINCOLN — City officials across Nebraska were reviewing their options Wednesday in light of an attorney general's opinion that said state law trumps local ordinances banning the carrying of concealed weapons. Lynn Rex, executive director of the League of Nebraska Municipalities, said one possibility might be to seek legislation yet this year. "We are still in the process of assessing the opinion," she said. Rex said the opinion will be a major concern for the communities that have set tighter restrictions on where holders of permits may carry concealed handguns. She said the state law would not have passed had...

Education professionals sometimes call them English Language Learners, and increased numbers of ELL students in Nebraska is among the highest in the nation, according to Education Week magazine’s latest edition.  The number of ELL students in the state grew by more than 200 percent between 2000-2005. Only 12 other states reached or exceeded that level. Those numbers compare with a nationwide increase of just 57 percent during the same period. With a total enrollment of 8,588 students, for example, the Grand Island school district includes 2,300 ELL, the Grand Island Independent reported. The Education Week nationwide study, reported in a...

Randolph Elementary School parents and guardians received messages Thursday about a 10-year-old boy who showed off a broken BB gun on his way home from school Wednesday afternoon. According to police, the boy showed the gun to three other students. The students told their parents, who reported the incident to the school. School officials then told police. Capt. Jim Davidsaver said officers contacted the boy at his home Thursday, recovered the BB gun, cited him for disturbing the peace and referred him to the Lancaster County Attorney’s Office. According to an e-mail sent to parents, the school has taken disciplinary...

Two deputies investigated the sighting of unidentified flying objects in the sky south of Brady Nov. 21, according to Lincoln County Sheriff Jerome Kramer. Although both deputies and the man who called to report the lights dancing in the sky observed them for more than 15 minutes, they could offer no explanation about what they were. “One deputy, who has an extensive amount of military experience and has witnessed a lot of military maneuvers first hand, said he’d never seen anything like them,” Kramer said. “They could not explain what they were.” A man who lives near Jeffrey Lake reported...

The Nebraska Humane Society is offering "good citizen" classes for pit bulls to allow owners to comply with Omaha's new muzzle law. The Omaha ordinance, which takes effect in January, requires all pit bulls in the city to be muzzled in public unless they pass a canine "good citizen" test, KETV in Omaha, reported Thursday. "They have to be able to put up with distractions, loud noise, somebody running and they have to be allowed to walk on a loose leash," trainer Cathy Guinane said of the "good citizen" test.

The children gather around “Miss Danielle” Buehner. “Good morning. Buenos dias," she welcomes the preschoolers. “Buenos dias, Miss Danielle,” they chime. In this class of 3-, 4- and 5-year-olds, the children come to learn social skills and practice their numbers, colors and thinking skills. They also come to learn a second language — Spanish. Of the 14 students enrolled in Irving Recreation Center’s dual language preschool, two live in Spanish-speaking homes, two have a bilingual parent, and another with Latino ethnicity was adopted into an Anglo home. All the rest are English-speaking youngsters whose previous exposure to the Spanish language...

I am calling on Southwest Nebraskans to attend the March for Life in Washington D.C. Residents of Red Willow, Hitchcock and Dundy Counties, please respond. I am searching charter bus companies for the trip. Appreciate suggestions or assistance. Motel accommodations likely unavailable, because of “messiah’s” inauguration… Have your sleeping bag and warm clothes prepared. Pray for favorable weather. Consider Obama’s FOCA Administration will be taking the levers of power… This year’s March for Life MUST break records.

U.S. attorneys had a conundrum on their hands -- they had the evidence to prove a convicted felon was in possession of a gun, but they couldn’t prove the gun was a gun. What [they] had on their hands was an American double-action revolver that was manufactured between 1880 and 1941. The problem is that federal code states that the weapon is not a firearm unless it was manufactured after 1896....

Another child has been left at an Omaha hospital under the state's unique safe haven law. A 5-year-old boy from Douglas County was left by his mother about 9 p.m. Thursday at Immanuel Medical Center in Omaha, said Todd Landry, director of children and family services for the State Department of Health and Human Services. The child is the 35th to be dropped off at a hospital or, in one case, a police station by a parent or guardian wanting to make use of the law. Earlier Thursday, a brother and sister from Douglas County were taken to Methodist Hospital...

Published Friday November 7, 2008 Breaking News: Obama wins electoral vote in Nebraska BY ROBYNN TYSVER WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER Barack Obama made history today in Nebraska. Click to Enlarge Barack Obama The Democratic presidential candidate claimed an electoral vote in the Omaha-based 2nd Congressional District — the first time in more than four decades a Democrat won any of Nebraska’s electoral votes. The Omaha World-Herald is calling the race after Obama won 8,434 out of 15,039 early votes that arrived too late to be included in Tuesday’s results. They were counted today by Douglas County election officials. Those ballots give...

Initiative 424 would amend the Nebraska state constitution to ban state and local governments, along with the University, from showing preferential treatment based on race, sex, national origin and ethnicity. The initiative passed!!!! Yes 389,372 58% No 287,233 42% In Colorado, (Amendment 46) the count is too close to call right now: 50% No--49% Yes with about 70% of the votes tabulated. Ward Connerly chalks up another state (maybe two)!!! There a malcontents in Nebraska who have promised to challenge the law in court. They're current argument are the proceedures used to collect signatures.

LINCOLN, Neb. - Safety concerns have forced University of Nebraska-Lincoln officials to cancel plans for William Ayers to speak on campus. Ayers, who founded a group in the late 1960s that claimed responsibility for bombing several government buildings, was to speak Nov. 15. But officials said Friday the university's threat assessment group received e-mails and phone calls over the last day or two that identified safety issues. When asked about details of the concerns, including if they contained threats against Ayers, University spokeswoman Meg Lauerman declined to comment further. "We don't discuss the specifics of any threat assessment on campus,"...

Like many workers at the meatpacking plant here, Raul Garcia, a Mexican-American, has watched with some discomfort as hundreds of Somali immigrants have moved to town in the past couple of years, many of them to fill jobs once held by Latino workers taken away in immigration raids. Garcia has been particularly troubled by the Somalis' demand that they be allowed special breaks for prayers that are obligatory for devout Muslims. The breaks, he said, would inconvenience everyone else. "The Latino is very humble," said Garcia, 73, who has worked at the plant, owned by JBS U.S.A. Inc., since 1994....

Hey, all you people who planned on voting for McCain/Palin. Give up, now! You have no chance of winning because Barack Obama is going to swamp your ticket so badly that even solidly Republican Nebraska has now become a battleground state. Or at least the split electoral district centered around Omaha. That is the not so hidden message of this Washington Post article written by Peter Slevin: In early September, even as it was shifting resources out of other traditionally Republican states to key electoral battlegrounds, Sen. Barack Obama's campaign sent 15 paid staffers to Nebraska, a state that has...

OMAHA, Neb. — Officials at a meatpacking plant in Grand Island fired at least 86 workers Friday after they walked off the job amid a dispute over prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the company said. However, a Muslim leader and one of the fired workers disputed the plant's numbers, saying 150 people had lost their jobs at the JBS Swift & Co. facility, which employs about 2,500 people, not including management. About a fifth of them are Muslim. JBS Swift spokeswoman Tamara Smid, who confirmed 86 firings late Friday, said the action was taken against employees who...

Gary Oden knew for weeks that the plant in this village where he has spent the last 19 years helping build Vise-Grip pliers, one of Nebraska's most famous products, would be shutting down. But he still wasn't completely prepared for the meeting at 5:30 Wednesday morning. He and the rest of the 330 employees at the plant were officially told the bad news, the kind that has stung workers in upper Midwestern states for years but is relatively uncommon in Nebraska: The plant is shutting down. Most of the work is moving to China. "It's a kick in the head,"...

OMAHA, Neb. - Nebraska's new "safe-haven" law allowing parents to abandon unwanted children at hospitals with no questions asked is unique in a significant way: It goes beyond babies and potentially permits the abandonment of anyone under 19. While lawmakers may not have intended it, the month-old law raises the possibility that frustrated parents could drop off misbehaving teens or even severely disabled older children with impunity. "Whether the kid is disabled or unruly or just being a hormonal teenager, the state is saying: 'Hey, we have a really easy option for you,'" said Adam Pertman, executive director of a...

A possible tornado has struck the Litle (spelling from site?) Sioux Scout Camp in Iowa. Very large response is being reported by media. Large number of injuries.

Lincoln, NE (LifeNews.com) -- A Nebraska Planned Parenthood has settled a lawsuit filed by a Nebraska woman after a botched abortion that resulted in the perforating of her uterus and a severe loss of blood. According to doctors who treated the woman after the failed abortion, the procedure could have taken her life. After the botched abortion, physicians had to perform an emergency hysterectomy on her and she is now unable to have children.

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Jack Mildren, a former lieutenant governor and the first quarterback in the University of Oklahoma's vaunted wishbone offense, died on Thursday, his brother said. He was 58. Mildren, who had been undergoing treatment for stomach cancer, died at Integris Baptist Medical Center, spokeswoman Brooke Cayot confirmed. Mildren was diagnosed two years ago with cancer but had continued to serve as a vice chairman for Arvest Bank and host a daily sports radio show on WKY 930-AM. Legislators at the state Capitol observed a moment of silence for the former lieutenant governor, who walked the halls there in...

LINCOLN, Neb. (Legal Newsline)-Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning's failure to pursue cases on behalf illegal immigrants has cost the Cornhusker State federal funding aimed at fighting discrimination, an official said Monday. Ann Hobbs, executive director of the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission, told Legal Newsline the commission has essentially lost $240,000 in annual funding it received for investigating discrimination complaints-all because of the attorney general's stance against illegal immigration. "Whenever people's personal opinions begin to trump state and federal law you can almost guarantee you're going to have a big mess," she said in a telephone interview.

High-profile Democrats stump in state By Mike Wereschagin and Salena Zito TRIBUNE-REVIEW To hear Sen. Dick Durbin tell it, Nebraska -- a state that gave nearly 66 percent of its vote to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney in 2004 -- will become a swing state in November if Illinois Sen. Barack Obama wins the Democratic nomination.

Got Bo? Nebraska does. It says so right here, across the chest of all these bright-red T-shirts in the Nebraska bookstore. For just $14.99, one can be yours. Bo Pelini -- they're crazy about him here, just nutso for the new Nebraska coach, the king of the whole state. Because that's what he is, really. King. And at this very nanosecond, the king is sitting on his throne, a big chair in this big office on the second floor of big Memorial Stadium. Yes, here sits the man who will make Nebraska a college football power again -- or so...

LINCOLN, Neb. -- A 10-year-old girl has died, just a day after her wish to see her father was granted. Jayci Yaeger's imprisoned father, Jason, went to her bedside Wednesday -- a visit federal authorities allowed only after being deluged with letters and phone calls from across the nation.

Child tells Omaha police how she used marijuana BY TODD COOPER WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER The girl sat down, told investigators she smokes pot and, using a pen, demonstrated how she does it — just like her mom. The girl is 4. Now, her mother, Lisa Schuchard, 25, is facing a felony child abuse charge — and a hearing on her parental rights — on allegations that she taught, and encouraged, her daughter to smoke marijuana. Schuchard has pleaded not guilty and is in the Douglas County Jail. Her attorney, Douglas County Assistant Public Defender Doug Johnson, said he couldn't comment...

>Nebraska State Senator DiAnna Schimek's 20-year legislative career is nearly over. She feels victimized, no doubt, by the voter-enacted term limits that make this her final year in power. Still, Senator Schimek hopes to go out with her boots on, firing one final shotgun blast to maim or kill the initiative process she has long abhorred. You see, it was only through the voter initiative that Nebraskans passed term limits . . . three times. Yup. It took three petition drives and three votes of the people. Of course, term limits passed overwhelmingly each time. But a charmed third initiative...

Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney will be endorsed by Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman, CNN has learned. "In his campaign for the presidency, Mitt Romney has outlined the clearest vision to move our country forward,” Heineman says in a statement provided to CNN by the Romney campaign....

Omaha (KPTM) - Omaha Police Chief Thomas Warren says that today's shooting was "done by one shooter, and one shooter only". In a Wednesday night press conference, Chief Warren said that the first shooting victim was found shot to death on the second floor of Von Maur. Several victims were found shot to death in the customer service area of Von Maur on the third floor. The shooter, 19 year-old Robert Hawkins, was found in the store with a self-inflicted gunshot wound. Warren says Hawkins was found with a SKS Assault rifle. Among the dead are 5 unidentified females, 3...

Calculating the Risks in Pakistan A small group of U.S. military experts and intelligence officials convened in Washington for a classified war game last year, exploring strategies for securing Pakistan's nuclear arsenal if the country's political institutions and military safeguards began to fall apart. The secret exercise — conducted without official sponsorship from any government agency, apparently due to the sensitivity of its subject — was one of several such games the U.S. government has conducted in recent years examining various options and scenarios for Pakistan's nuclear weapons: How many troops might be required for a military intervention in...

An elderly man was found near an escalator in the store, and police said a young black man was being sought as the suspected shooter. Early indications were that as many as five people may be injured. Colby Barak told KETV NewsWatch 7 that she was on lockdown inside Westroads Mall. She said she was doing Christmas shopping at Younkers, and an announcement was made that no one would be allowed to leave. Just before 2 p.m., Barrett said, another announcement was made that shoppers could leave but would not be allowed back in. Dozens of police and sheriff's cars...

LINCOLN, Neb. -- Bo Pelini is the new coach at Nebraska, leaving the defensive coordinator post at LSU for a job many Cornhusker fans thought he should have been given four years ago. Interim athletic director and former coach Tom Osborne announced Pelini's hiring Sunday, after introducing him to the players. "We need a head coach with strong defensive credentials and great leadership," Osborne said. "We were also looking for someone who can inspire confidence and get players to play with great effort. "And, of course, we also wanted our new head coach to understand our traditions, including the importance...

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/news/story?id=3135858

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) - The Lincoln Journal Star reports that LSU defensive coordinator Bo Pelini interviewed for the Nebraska coaching job today. And a University of Buffalo official says that school's coach, Turner Gill, is going to talk with interim athletic director Tom Osborne soon. Pelini was defensive coordinator at Nebraska in 2003. The Journal Star, citing an unidentified source, reported that Osborne spoke with Pelini in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, this afternoon. Buffalo spokesman Paul Vecchio (VEK-ee-OH) tells The Associated Press that Osborne has been given permission to speak with Gill. Vecchio says he didn't know when the two would...

A source close to Nebraska coach Bill Callahan has confirmed that Callahan was fired Saturday morning at a meeting with interim athletic director Tom Osborne. A news conference will be held in Lincoln at 10:30 ET. Joe Schad is a college football reporter for ESPN.

Republican Jon Bruning ended his U.S. Senate campaign on Tuesday night, deferring to and endorsing the candidate many consider a prohibitive front-runner, former governor and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns. Nebraska’s attorney general ended his five-month campaign after raising more than $1 million for his bid to succeed outgoing Republican Chuck Hagel, money Bruning said he will sit on to possibly use in a future run. “If I do my job, political opportunities will come,’’ said Bruning, who is serving his second term as attorney general. “The timing wasn’t with me this time, but I’m confident the time will come...

LINCOLN, Neb. — A Christian student group's latest attempt to show middle school students how fun the group could be was too much for school administrators to swallow. snip

On August 10, 2007, two bus loads of National Guard soldiers arrived back in Kearney, Nebraska, after being in Iraq for a little over a year. The town of Kearney went all out (for a small town) to welcome them back. There was a parade (including all the town's fire trucks), the town was decorated, and, in general, they showed these soldiers a heartfelt welcome home, and a big thanks for doing their job. You won't see this on TV as most of the media wants us to believe there is no support. They, as usual, are dead wrong. Click...

Senate Republicans dodged a bullet Wednesday, as popular former Democratic Sen. Bob Kerrey has decided not to run for the seat of retiring Sen. Chuck Hagel (R-Neb.) In a statement, Kerrey said he’ll remain as president of The New School in New York. “I have decided I will not leave The New School to become a candidate for the United States Senate in Nebraska,” Kerrey said. “The reason is simple enough: For my family and me, now is not the time for me to re-enter politics as a candidate.”

Lincoln (KPTM) - University of Nebraska Athletic Director Steve Pederson has been asked to resign his post. The University of Nebraska Chancellor's office tells KPTM FOX 42 News that Chancellor Harvey Perlman has asked Pederson to step down. A source close to the program tells KPTM FOX 42 News that Tom Osborne may be named interim Athletic Director. Sources also tell us that Dave Remington, a former NU offensive lineman, will be named to the football coaching staff. In Monday afternoon's press conference, Perlman said that no interim Athletic Director has been named at this point. Perlman says that former...

LINCOLN, Neb. - On a day players from Nebraska's greatest era returned to Memorial Stadium to be honored, the Cornhuskers suffered their worst home loss in almost 50 years. ADVERTISEMENT With Tom Osborne and the rest of the undefeated 1997 team that won a share of the national championship watching, Oklahoma State handed Nebraska a 45-14 loss Saturday, the largest rout of the Huskers at home since Missouri's 31-0 shutout in 1958. This embarrassment came after a 41-6 loss at Missouri last week. The Cowboys (4-3, 2-1 Big 12), who had lost 20 straight games in Lincoln since 1960, scored...

Monday afternoon former Secretary of Agriculture, Mike Johanns, told KETV NewsWatch 7 he has plans to hit the campaign trail again. The former Nebraska governor landed at Eppley Airfield on Monday, five days after he resigned from the head of the USDA. Johanns announced his resignation in Washington on Thursday. He was appointed by President George W. Bush in December 2004 and tood office the following month. Johanns said he's happy to be back home. "It's always good to be back in Nebraska, and we've got a long list of things to do in the next week two weeks, but...

(09-20) 17:30 PDT Lincoln, Neb. (AP) -- A legislator who filed a lawsuit against God has gotten something he might not have expected: a response. One of two court filings from "God" came Wednesday under otherworldly circumstances, according to John Friend, clerk of the Douglas County District Court in Omaha. "This one miraculously appeared on the counter. It just all of a sudden was here — poof!" Friend said. State Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha sued God last week, seeking a permanent injunction against the Almighty for making terroristic threats, inspiring fear and causing "widespread death, destruction and terrorization of...

Nebraska Democratic State Senator Ernie Chambers has decided to go straight to the top in an effort to stop natural disasters from befalling the world. Chambers filed a lawsuit against God in Douglas County Court Friday afternoon, KPTM Fox 42 reported. Click here for more from KPTM Fox 42 in Omaha. The suit asks for a "permanent injunction ordering Defendant to cease certain harmful activities and the making of terroristic threats." The lawsuit identifies the plaintiff as, "the duly elected and serving State Senator from the 11th Legislative District in Omaha, Nebraska." Chambers also cites that the, "defendant directly and...

Major US Catholic University Caught Deceiving Diocese: Diocese Losing Patience Vice-chancellor of archdiocese states, "there's a Catholic ethos in this town that rightly smells a rat" By Meg Jalsevac OMAHA, September 11, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Just a few weeks ago, LifeSiteNews and several online blogs reported on Creighton University's shameful invitation, and then hasty 'disinvitation' of ardently pro-abortion and pro-euthanasia speaker, Ann Lamott.  According to several recent news reports, the hasty 'statement' published on the University website to announce the cancellation has not appeased the powers that be at the Catholic Archdiocese of Omaha. The official Creighton statement announcing the...

Matthew O'Brien grew up in Oshkosh, Neb., population 762, and the self-proclaimed, "Goose Hunting Capital of Nebraska." The local hospital has exactly 10 beds. The newspaper publishes once a week. The nearest major airport is 220 miles away in Denver. "The middle of nowhere," says O'Brien, 22. Maybe that's why O'Brien enlisted in the Army in 2004 and became a paratrooper -- 82nd Airborne, 2nd Battalion of the 508th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Delta Company. He did a tour of duty in Iraq three years ago and was deployed to Afghanistan in February. Afghanistan is where he lost the vision in...

It is the kind of embarrassment that any school would want to avoid: an esteemed board member who has given generously of his time and money gets caught in a headline-grabbing scandal. And in the case of the New School in Greenwich Village, it turned out to have some national resonance: Norman Hsu, a major Democratic donor active in Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s presidential campaign and a New School trustee, was found to be a fugitive who had skipped out after a felony theft conviction in California 15 years ago. Compounding matters, he failed to show up for a court...

WASHINGTON - Chuck Hagel will announce Monday that he is retiring from the U.S. Senate and will not run for president next year, people close to the Nebraska Republican said Friday. Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel plans to leave the Senate after two terms as a Republican Party maverick, people close to him say.Hagel plans to announce that "he will not run for re-election and that he does not intend to be a candidate for any office in 2008," said one person, who asked not to be named. Hagel has scheduled a press conference for 10 a.m. Monday at the Omaha...

by Steven ErteltLifeNews.com EditorAugust 27, 2007 Omaha, NE (LifeNews.com) -- Now that Creighton University has rescinded the offer to pro-abortion author Anne Lamott to speak at the Catholic college, a group of churches in Omaha are banding together to organize an event. The university had said Lamott's views on assisted suicide and abortion were out of step with the church.Creighton canceled the planned speech after the Catholic school received significant outcry from pro-life advocates. Lamott's appearance was slated for September 19 at the Jesuit university but now she will speak at the Holland Performing Arts Center that day instead.The Fremont...