(Picture credit Tom Dierks)

The city of Lincoln and its Commission on Human Rights are being sued by two Christian counselors over its conversion therapy ban on minors.

Tom Dierks, a former candidate for state legislature, and a John Doe filed suit Tuesday that alleges the ban “violates their First Amendment rights to provide purely talk therapy desired by their clients to align their sexual orientation or gender identity with their faith-based or other personal goals.”

Violations of Lincoln’s conversion therapy ban incur $100 fines “for each act of unlawful sexual orientation or gender identity change effort.”

The Supreme Court has previously found a similar statute unconstitutional in Colorado, which has triggered questions about the validity of Lincoln’s ordinance. A city spokesperson told The Plains Sentinel last spring that it was weighing legal options.

“The City Attorney’s Office is aware of the Supreme Court ruling overturning a conversion therapy ban in Colorado, at this time the City Attorney’s Office is reviewing what that ruling means for the City of Lincoln’s Ordinance banning conversion therapy,” a spokesperson for the city said.

In April, The Plains Sentinel spoke with Matthew Heffron, a senior legal counsel with the Thomas More Society and the lawyer who filed the lawsuit on behalf of Dierks and Doe.

“It’s now dead in the water,” Heffron said. “To the extent that the Colorado law is unconstitutional, the Lincoln ordinance is unconstitutional as well.”

“When it’s unconstitutional, then there’s nothing they can do with that. If you try and enforce it against someone, then that person would challenge it based on this Chiles case,” he added.

Heffron said both the Colorado and Lincoln measures were “clearly” drafted off the same general template. “There’s very little difference between the two,” he said. “Just a few minor words.”

ACLU Nebraska, which supported the ordinance, said that Colorado’s ruling “could prevent the enforcement of any city or state prohibitions that mirror Colorado’s.”

Heffron said the lawsuit was necessary because the city of Lincoln continued to ignore requests for clarity about whether they planned to continue enforcing the ordinance.

— John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.

On Monday, as Donald Trump came to Grand Island with a pitch to rescue struggling Nebraska Republicans, Mexican-born Jose Ortega-Romero’s reckless driving was all over social media after he allegedly killed 70-year-old Omahan Christopher Szalkowski on Sunday.

The Nebraska State Patrol drove Ortega-Romero to the Sarpy County lockup on behalf of federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

In June, Mexican illegal immigrant Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez put us on the national map with a plot to use drones to kill Donald Trump, an effort that was busted before its co-conspirators could strike and then splashed across the nation’s newspapers and TV networks.

Alvarez is awaiting trial.

In February another illegal immigrant, Eswin Mejia, was sentenced to a couple decades in prison for the particularly odious auto-assisted killing of Iowa’s Sarah Root, a 2016 crime committed while the Honduran was street racing while drunk. That episode, which included nearly a decade as an ICE fugitive, sparked part of the first legislation Trump signed as president – Sarah’s Law. The law requires federal immigration authorities to take custody of illegal immigrants who are arrested for offenses that cause death or serious bodily injury.

Mejia is somewhere in the Nebraska prison system, hoping to get out in about a decade when he will be sent back to Central America.

The events have left many in Nebraska outraged, some just embarrassed. All of us are saddened by the needless death. Immigrants here from countries as far away as Syria, Ukraine and Somalia as well as those from our American neighbors, share those feelings, along with fear that angry Americans will blame them. For the most part, we don’t.

Still Nebraskans voted for Trump based largely on his promise to fix the illegal immigration problem. The deadly crash between a likely illegally-driven truck and a Porsche revealed in bloody detail how much work there is yet to do on his promise to deport those who don’t belong here. Senator Pete Ricketts brought up the crash at the rally as an example.

Omaha journalists reacted strangely to deadly Omaha illegal immigrant news coming up under the national spotlight.

WOWT’s incoherent “investigation” of Senator Ricketts’ comments droned on for four minutes and never really said whether or not the deadly pickup driver was in the U.S. illegally. A follow-up Instagram video several minutes long only added to the confusion. For some reason the fact that officials don’t know when or where Ortega-Romero entered the country, a legally irrelevant detail that remains unknown in many deportation cases, was, somehow, a big deal. The whole exercise looked like an effort to come up with a Ricketts gotcha.

The Omaha World-Herald, which issued a minute by minute summary of the Trump rally, wrote four paragraphs on the mom of a Grand Island girl murdered by an illegal immigrant who joined Trump on stage. The coverage didn’t mention that the killer was, you know, an immigrant of dubious provenance.

Coverage of the car accident that took an Omaha grandfather’s life was similar.

KETV gave us “ICE issued a detainer based on Ortega-Romero’s immigration status,” but never tells readers what that is. KMTV likewise says “ICE has issued a detainer,” but doesn’t report why.

The Omaha World-Herald uses the same dodge, “Ortega-Romero produced a photo identification issued by the Mexican consulate. As a result, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement issued a detainer on Ortega-Romero.” At least they say Mexico.

The more left-leaning Nebraska Examiner didn’t cover it. The Flatwater Free Press mentioned it in a newsletter blurb where the truck is the one who ran the red light and the truck is the one who killed someone, person’s immigration status unsaid. Flatwater cared to say when they joined with The New York Times to reveal Governor Jim Pillen’s curious business relationship with illegal immigrants. Nevermind its connection to the president’s most controversial and dearly-held priority while he is literally making national news visiting our once safely red state.

KFAB and WOWT did manage to use the word “illegally” but only in reference to the way Sarah’s Law works and only at the tail end of their stories. Neither directly leveled with readers of their online coverage by simply saying Ortega-Romero came here illegally.

As a guy who has worked in mainstream media for 30 years, I get what is going on. There is great pressure from national media groups like the Society of Professional Journalists, an outfit that preaches journalists should couch their coverage to avoid “harm” and the Associated Press that enforces a style guide requiring pillowy soft euphemism for favored groups.

But you don’t work for them. You work for us. You want us to subscribe, read, listen and watch.

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Nebraska news outlets, present company excepted, have put the fear of immigrants before the outrage and values of Nebraskans, treating the immigration status of convicted and accused criminals alike as something only to be spoken of in a hushed tone deep into their coverage, something we have to suss out. Instead of using blunt words like illegal, they mostly dance around it.

Here’s what I want from the Nebraska media that I voraciously consume. Level with me. Give me the facts straight. Treat us like Nebraskans are decent enough people that you don’t have to softpeddle things to stop us from hating immigrants. Don’t put your values and concerns above ours.

Like most Nebraskans, I love immigrants. I believe our state needs them and badly. I just want immigrants to follow the law. If they don’t or they didn’t, I want them gone.

— David Mastio is a Papillion resident and a former National Columnist for The Kansas City Star and Deputy Editorial Page Editor of USA TODAY.

(Picture credit Matt Johnson)

The America First Party gained ballot access this year after a petition drive that used paid circulators, and it has placed candidates on the November ballot under its name.

Since then, there have been some questions about the party’s finances. The party is not registered with the Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission (NADC), and it does not have to register until it raises or spends more than $5,000 on candidates or a ballot question. Money left over from the petition drive to form the party counts toward that line.

The party’s candidates, however, have been left largely to fend for themselves.

“They haven’t completed the website yet. They’re kind of, you know, shoestringing this thing,” said Chuck Conboy, the party’s candidate for U.S. Senate. “You know, with Brett running for governor, they’re putting a lot of money into that, and I’m just kinda running my own quiet campaign.”

Lindstrom said he has not seen that money.

“I’m unaware of all the background money — I just have my own situation,” he said at an Omaha event in September. “Nothing’s come so far.”

Asked about Conboy’s claim, he said he had never met him.

“I haven’t seen it,” Lindstrom said. “I talked to both Working People’s Party and America First, and my deal was I just wanted — because of the petition situation — I wanted to use it as a vehicle, and that’s it. So I have not seen any money come from anybody.”

And while Conboy says the website has yet to be completed, there is currently a website for the America First Party at americafirstne.com. Lindstrom, however, says that it is a fake.

“That website is actually fake—that America First website, if you Google it. It was created by the other side … The Working People’s Party side,” Lindstrom said.

Lindstrom’s own campaign committee is a separate matter. Lindstrom for Nebraska registered with NADC and was required to file a first general-election campaign statement by Monday, October 5, covering contributions and spending from June 17 through September 29.

NADC confirmed Thursday morning that the statement had not been filed. Missing the deadline carries a late fee of $50 a day, capped at $1,500, and the Commission can also assess a civil penalty of up to $5,000.

The missing statement and the party’s lack of a filing drew a response from Nebraska GOP chair Mary Jane Truemper.

“Blundering Brett Lindstrom has failed four times to make the ballot and now can’t even meet a filing deadline,” Truemper said, “while the America First Party apparently hasn’t raised enough money to even be required to report to the NADC.”

Following initial reporting by The Plains Sentinel, Lindstrom’s campaign filed its disclosure showing it had raised just over $12,000 and spend less than $50. The filings reveal $10,000 of the money raised was given by American Structures, a company owned by Lindstrom’s running mate Michael Picard.

Lindstrom’s filing is notably missing money spent or raised for his failed attempt at getting on the gubernatorial ballot as an Independent. David Hunter, the deputy director of the NADC, told The Plains Sentinel that they will ask Lindstrom to update his filing.

“Our policy is that virtually all candidate expenses towards the goal of being elected are considered campaign expenditures and would be subject to reporting,” Hunter said. “We have had a few candidates and committees lately that are unaware certain expenses like that should be reported as campaign expenditures so we may need to better publicize that these types of expenses would qualify. I imagine that the Lindstrom campaign will report them when we let them know.”

Lindstrom could not be reached for comment on the story.

Could America First Split the Vote?

Many on the right are concerned about a potential split with Lindstrom running as a third party candidate—and Democratic challenger Lynne Walz confirmed as much to The Plains Sentinel.

“I think a lot of it [support] will be pulled from Pillen, and I think it’s gonna positively affect our campaign,” Walz said.

Walz, who worked with Lindstrom while in the Legislature, described his last-minute jump into the race as “a little too late.”

“I’ve been doing this for the last three months,” Walz said. “I’ve been, you know, traveling across the state, meeting with as many people as I can, raising funds, and it is now October, and a little too late.”

America First Party chairman John Cartier suggested the GOP was focusing on America First because they saw the party as a threat.

“The Nebraska Republican Party spent how much money on lawyers trying to keep America First off the ballot? And then they lost,” Cartier said. “Now they’re spending their time putting out graphics telling everyone we’re a ‘sham of a party’ that can’t raise a dime. If we’re so irrelevant, why did they fight so hard to keep Nebraskans from having the option to vote for us?”

The only candidate with the America First Party to file an NADC report this week was Secretary of State candidate Bob Krist. Krist reported raising $1,500 total, $500 of which was from himself.

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Conboy, who is polling at 1% in his race against Republican Senator Pete Ricketts and Independent Dan Osborn, had a positive outlook on low-dollar campaigns and their ability to compete.

“So far, so good. Kind of a low key campaign philosophy. My opponents are killing each other—spending many millions of dollars. It’s insane. I might be the last man standing.”

— Matt Johnson is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel.

(Picture credit Barb Cooksley)

Commonsense shouldn’t take an act of Congress, but when it does, you can expect Senator Fischer to take the lead.

I should know: In 2023, my family lost ninety percent of our summer range, as well as tons of silage, corn, and distillers’ grain in the Cooksley Complex Fire.

As if the exhaustion of fighting fires was not enough on its own, we also experienced then what so many other U.S. producers go through each year: Loads of paperwork and months of red tape that come with applying for government disaster relief—a headache that inevitably slows recovery rather than aiding it.

It’s a painful reminder that most politicians in Washington D.C. don’t craft bills or take votes while thinking about the realities ranchers face while recovering from wildfires. Because the reality is that our cattle cannot wait to eat until a federal agency has sorted our paperwork.

That’s one of the reasons we’re grateful to have a U.S. Senator like Deb Fischer, who understands the cattle business from the inside and can fight for commonsense reforms to recovery programs aimed at helping producers keep feeding, fueling, and clothing the world.

After all: The last thing producers need when rebuilding—especially after watching the land they’ve stewarded for a lifetime burn in front of their very eyes—is to hold their breath and hope the government pulls through.

Our neighbors and friends experienced that firsthand earlier this year. The Morrill, Cottonwood, Ashby, and Minor fires together burned more than 800,000 acres. The Morrill Fire alone scorched over 640,000 acres, making it the largest wildfire in Nebraska history.

What followed, though, wouldn’t surprise anyone who has lived for long here in Nebraska. Our community showed up without being asked. They shared equipment, hauled feed, and offered both a helping hand and an encouraging word when they were needed most.

But a catastrophe of that size and scale demanded more than any one town or village could provide alone.

And Senator Deb Fischer stepped up to that challenge without hesitation.

Before the ash had fully settled, Sen. Fischer was on the ground with us. She flew over the damage alongside leaders from the Trump Administration, met with first responders, and listened directly to producers about what we needed to rebuild.

Most importantly, she took what she learned here in Nebraska back to the Capitol and turned it into real action.

The best example is the Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) Improvement Act, which she had introduced to address long-standing problems for producers devastated by natural disasters.

Historically, the ECP provided funds on a reimbursement basis, forcing farmers and ranchers to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars out-of-pocket for things like fence reconstruction and land cleanup before seeing a single dime of federal relief.

In the wake of a disaster of this size and scale, waiting months for reimbursement would have caused recovery to stretch on for years.

Sen. Fischer’s law changed that by cutting bureaucratic red tape and allowing producers to receive cost-sharing payments in advance—empowering producers across Nebraska to get back up and running quicker than any of us had imagined at the start of this crisis.

Combined with federal disaster designations that unlocked emergency loans and support for public infrastructure, this legislation is already delivering practical help to real people trying to rebuild.

It will not erase the losses, but it will shorten the journey back to operational, productive farms and ranches.

Despite terrifying losses and serious threats to our rural economy, Sen. Fischer—alongside her partners in the Nebraska delegation, federal agencies, and our state government—delivered for Nebraska.

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So, on behalf of all those hurt by the wildfires and helped by Sen. Fischer’s leadership: Thank you.

Nebraska needs public servants who fight for the good of the communities they serve and advocate for good, old-fashioned commonsense.

And Senator Deb Fischer has done exactly that when it’s mattered most.

— Barb Cooksley is a past president of the Nebraska Cattlemen.

(Picture credit Matt Johnson)

OMAHA — Gov. Jim Pillen spoke on Wednesday to members of the Omaha Jewish community, the latest in a series of candidate forums hosted by the Henry Monsky Lodge and the Jewish Community Relations Council. The forum also fell on the third anniversary of the Hamas-led attacks on the Nova music festival and nearby kibbutz communities in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.

Remembering October 7

Pillen told the group about a trade and solidarity mission he took around a year earlier, where he was able to visit the Nova site and a kibbutz about a mile from the Gaza Strip. Pillen said that the area, even then, was not close to being habitable again.

“Out of 1,000 people, roughly 450 people were murdered that morning, 12 or 13 minutes after the bombing started,” Pillen said. “Seeing what took place was really, really hard to comprehend.”

Pillen said that he had been shown early footage of the attacks while attending a meeting with other governors around 30 days after the attacks took place.

“That footage was so difficult,” Pillen said. “There were a couple, three, that had to excuse themselves from the room. It was unspeakable, unspeakable what that video showed.”

Fighting Antisemitism

Pillen also discussed efforts in the legislature to fight antisemitism.

Earlier this year, Sen. Brian Hardin of Gering introduced a bill (LB538) that would have required school boards and postsecondary institutions to address antisemitism in their discrimination policies using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition. It was passed over on select file and indefinitely postponed on April 17, 2026.

“It takes extraordinary leadership to bring people together, and sometimes to get 33 out of 49 to come together can really be an act,” Pillen said. “You would think something like that would be really simple, but we weren’t quite there.”

Pillen later signed Executive Order 26-14 on May 29, 2026, directing public schools and colleges to enact many of the same goals of the bill, including adopting the IHRA definition and to report and teach on antisemitism.

“It was simply an executive order to say, ‘Look, this is not going to be tolerated in our school system,’” Pillen said. “We’re not going to allow anybody to spew any hatred towards anybody, and especially the Jewish community.”

Church and State

One guest, who said that she works for Omaha Public Schools by day and volunteers at the Jewish Community Center, asked Pillen about the separation of church and state.

“One of the things that the Jewish community is always worried about is the combination of church and state in our public schools, and I think one of the things we want to ask you is to please help us keep religion out of the public schools,” she said.

Another guest cited proposals to post the Ten Commandments — “not exactly the Ten Commandments as we received them at Sinai” — and to replace academic counselors with chaplains. Pillen said that he was unaware of these proposals.

“There are 49 senators that have one heck of a lot of ideas. They don’t check with me on all those ideas, just saying,” Pillen said. “One thing I do have is an ink pen, and I don’t think we’ve ever lost a veto yet. We have a veto team. We have relationships. So the things you’re talking about, I’ve never heard of.”

The guest also asked Pillen about comments on chapters of Turning Point USA’s “Club America” being established in every high school across the state, including whether tax dollars would be used. Pillen said that he had met Charlie Kirk multiple times, and that he supports the clubs only as a means of civic debate.

“I’m a supporter of it to have civic debate. That’s all. Civic debate,” Pillen said. “And no, not a penny of tax dollars. Not a penny.”

Negative Ads and Transgender Rights

The Plains Sentinel asked Pillen about recent ads from his opponent, Lynne Walz, including one captioned “Governor Pillen profits, we pay the price.” The ad cites a $2.5 million no-bid contract to Global Sustainability Developers and its president, Julie Bushell. State Auditor Mike Foley said the award “smacks of favoritism,” and Lincoln police have been investigating the contract since March 2026.

“We’ve done several no-bid contracts—one’s with a blind lady that nobody’s wanted to talk about,” Pillen said. “We’ve got a $307 million dollar return for Nebraskans, and we’re getting stuff out. It’s silly season when people want to talk politics, I could care less. It’s not my problem. It’s their problem.”

Pillen also said that he stands behind his own ads, including one that criticizes Walz’s vote against the Let Them Grow Act in 2023.

“Everything that’s being said about my opponent, I own it. It’s the truth,” Pillen said. “If you want boys in girls’ locker rooms, vote for Lynne Walz. If you want boys playing in girls’ sports, vote for Lynne Walz. If you want your children to have sex-mutilating surgeries, vote for Lynne Walz.”

Pillen then elaborated, stating that he has no problem with transgender people, but the decision to transition should be made as an adult. He told of a meeting he had with a transgender woman named Josephine.

“She told me her story, when she got injured as a young boy, when she became a woman,” Pillen said. “I said, ‘Look, I love you like any other Nebraskan. I just believe they should do it like you did—make a decision to become transgender when you’re older, not when you’re a kid.’ Because the history’s pretty clear. Most young kids are getting messed up, and they have extraordinary regrets.”

Final Campaign Pitch

With Election Day a few weeks away, Pillen listed what he called the work of the last four years: kids, taxes, agriculture, and values. He said the state now funds community colleges at $350 million a year, that the state income tax on Social Security was repealed in 2023, and that the top income-tax rate falls to 3.99% in January.

On the projected shortfall, he said the state has a spending problem, not a budget problem.

“All of us in business, if we have less revenue, to stay in business, we cut spending,” Pillen said. “So we don’t have a budget problem. We’ve had a spending problem. We’re decreasing spend in the state a billion dollars. Nobody’s had the courage to even think about it, much less do it.”

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He also pointed to the state’s AAA rating, which he said Nebraska had never held before and has now held for two years.

“You can say, ‘Pillen, you’re a knothead. I don’t believe what you said.’ Well, triple-A credit’s your proof in the pudding,” Pillen said.

Election Day is Nov. 3.

— Matt Johnson is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel.

(Picture credit John Gage)

Lincoln State Senator Beau Ballard called on the city of Lincoln to return money collected from sales taxes from residents in the three-mile extraterritorial jurisdiction (ETJ) outside of city limits.

Ballard said in a Monday release that his office “received evidence that the City of Lincoln has been collecting its city sales tax from residents of its extraterritorial jurisdiction” and called for the money to be returned.

“Families in the ETJ don't get to vote in city elections, but we now have evidence from constituents that the City has been collecting city sales and occupation taxes from residents of the ETJ,” he said. “We don't yet know how long this has been going on or how much has been collected, but we believe the amount likely is substantial. And if the City had no legal authority to take it, even one dollar is too much.”

Ballard told The Plains Sentinel that he had been contacted by residents from the ETJ, who said they are being charged taxes by the city of Lincoln for items they buy online or construction projects. He said while it is impossible to know the scope of taxes collected by the city in ETJ, it is almost certainly “millions” of dollars.

Ballard said there is currently no way for ETJ residents to appeal to the city over taxes collected by Lincoln.

Lincoln Republicans have argued that the members of the city’s ETJ should be able to vote in city elections because they are regulated by the city. Ballard brought a bill last year to give them the right to vote in Lincoln elections.

Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird has previously claimed the city does not tax members of the ETJ.

“One of the initiatives allows people who don’t live in Lincoln and don’t pay city taxes to vote in our city elections,” Gaylor Baird said in a statement on Facebook in July.

Ballard called on the city to be transparent and “make it right” with residents.

“The City should open its books, do a full and fast accounting, and send refunds to everyone in the ETJ who paid a tax they never owed,” he said. “But taxpayers shouldn't have to wait on City Hall. That's why I'm bringing legislation to right this wrong and return the money to the people it belongs to.”

In response to Ballard, the city said it did not have the tools necessary to conduct an audit.

“Sales taxes are collected and administered by the Nebraska Department of Revenue, not the City of Lincoln. The City does not receive or retain the business tax returns that would be necessary to conduct the audit described by Senator Ballard today,” a spokesperson for the city said. “If a business believes sales tax was collected in error, the Nebraska Department of Revenue has an established process to review the matter and issue a refund when appropriate.”

The Nebraska Department of Revenue did not respond to a request for comment.

Introducing Legislation

Ballard said he plans to introduce legislation next session to address the issue.

The bill will include a requirement that the city conduct a 20-year audit and return any money within that period, give taxpayers in the ETJ interest on any money the city collected, conduct a quarterly reconciliation of its books for any future refunds, and allow the attorney general to force the city to comply with the measures.

“This City has a pattern of dragging its feet on basic duties, including recently refusing to avoid its constitutional responsibility to put charter amendments before voters,” he said. “Given the City's disregard of its duties, it may take a penalty to get the City to stop taxing people it has no right to tax.”

Charter Amendment Fight Continues

Ballard’s announcement comes as Lincoln is set to vote on five different charter amendments this November. Three amendments were initially proposed by the group Good Government Lincoln.

The amendments include putting two term limits on city council members, allow residents of Lincoln’s extraterritorial zoning jurisdiction to vote in city elections, and realign city elections to coincide with state and federal elections in hopes of increasing voter turnout.

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The city has introduced two of its own proposals including a term limits amendment that would allow for three terms instead of two and another amendment to move elections to align with state and federal elections but would allow current officials to serve until 2030, allowing the mayor to serve a three-and-a-half year term instead of a one-and-a-half year term under Good Government Lincoln’s proposal.

— John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.

(Picture credits Matt Johnson)

OMAHA — As Election Day approaches, and with early voting already underway in Nebraska, groups across the political spectrum are working to get out the vote. This week brought a sharp focus on faith communities in Omaha from both ends of that spectrum.

On Monday evening, Lord of Hosts, a conservative and politically engaged church in Millard, held a two-hour event titled “Vote Your Values,” featuring local candidates, voter guides, and speakers who cited Scripture to encourage attendees to show their faith at the ballot box.

Then on Tuesday morning, the Interfaith Alliance, a progressive group formed in 1994 to counter conservative groups such as the Christian Coalition, launched a cross-country bus tour titled “The Vote Is Sacred,” starting at the Tri-Faith Commons in Omaha.

Wielding Scripture in Political Battle

Lord of Hosts was started in 1997 by Hank Kunneman and his wife, Brenda, both of whom opened Monday night’s event. Hank Kunneman has been regularly featured and criticized by left-leaning watchdog groups such as Right Wing Watch for sermons that use Scripture to make political points.

Hank Kunneman’s opening remarks cited 1 Timothy 4:1–3, in which the Apostle Paul describes “doctrines of demons” spread through hypocritical human teachers whose consciences are “seared.” Kunneman related the verse to current culture-war issues.

“You talk to Christians today, and they will defend the right to kill a baby in the womb and argue whether it’s a child or not,” Kunneman said. “They will fight for the drag queen to keep reading to the kids in school, and pedophilia and pornography to be checked out by a seven-year-old.”

In turn, Brenda Kunneman cited Isaiah 5:20, which warns, “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil.”

“Where good is evil, evil’s good, and killing murderers is wrong, but killing innocent babies is now somehow right,” she said. “Wake up, America. The great unsinkable ship Titanic has hit an iceberg, and taking on water and sinking fast.”

The keynote address was given by Rick Green, a former Texas state representative, co-host of The WallBuilders Show, and co-founder of Patriot Academy.

Green sees America’s 250th anniversary as an inflection point, and he argued that another stretch of liberty depends on George Mason’s “frequent recurrence to fundamental principles.”

“What he’s saying is, if we want that freedom, if we want to pass it to our children and our grandchildren, then we have to have a frequent recurrence to the principles that actually gave us that freedom in the first place,” Green said.

Green drew on quotations from Founding Fathers such as Benjamin Rush, who wrote in a letter to John Adams, “By renouncing the Bible, philosophers swing from their moorings upon all moral subjects. ... It is the only correct map of the human heart that ever has been published.”

“Now think about what that line means: when you renounce the Bible, you swing from your moorings,” Green said. “So now you’re not anchored to anything. You actually get so deceived, you don’t know what a woman is. You get so deceived you think men can have babies. Oh, yeah. I mean, we’re at that point.”

Green also cited the revivalist Charles Finney, a leading figure of the Second Great Awakening:

“If Satan rules in our halls of legislation, the pulpit is responsible for it. If our politics become so corrupt that the very foundations of our government are ready to fall away, the pulpit is responsible for it.”

Green applied the idea practically, invoking the Declaration of Independence’s call to “alter or abolish” any government that becomes destructive of the rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

“We don’t have to take up arms against our government or any of that,” Green said. “We don’t need bullets for a revolution—we need ballots. We need to be voting as the church, and we can ‘alter or abolish.’ So that’s what we’re going to do. That’s what the Declaration tells us to do.”

Green closed by addressing reasons Christians choose not to vote, first among them having to choose “the lesser of two evils.”

“Unless Jesus Christ is on the ballot, you will vote for the lesser of two evils,” Green said. “There is none righteous. No, not one. We are all flawed jars of clay. I have yet to find a candidate I agree with 100%.”

Terri Blackburn, political liaison for Lord of Hosts, later encouraged members not only to vote, but to attend public meetings, reach out to elected officials, and learn how to join local boards, task forces, and committees.

“‘Our Constitution was made for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other,’” Blackburn said, quoting John Adams. “When I read that quote, to me, that says that our government, our Constitution, was made with the intent of Christians being involved and being a part of it. I think it’s time for the body of Christ to stop being reactive, to be proactive, and start taking our seat at the table.”

The Sanctity of the Right to Vote

“The Vote Is Sacred” bus tour the following morning was a dramatic contrast from the left to the conservative event at Lord of Hosts. It was held on the grounds of the Tri-Faith Commons, which include Countryside Community Church (United Church of Christ), Temple Israel, and the American Muslim Institute.

Rev. Dr. Jenny Shultz-Thomas, senior minister of Countryside Community Church, spoke about what she called the “miracle” of the location:

“We are standing on sacred ground. Indigenous peoples farmed this land, lived here, cultivated what we have now. It was a former Jewish golf course, because we know there’s been discrimination living in the bones of this country for too long. And so now we are gathered with a mosque, a synagogue, and a Christian church. Who thought this would happen?”

The event featured speakers from several faiths, all urging people to exercise the right to vote.

Unlike the Lord of Hosts event, there were no recitations of Scripture and no references to the Founding Fathers. Speakers instead invoked figures from the civil rights movement of the 1960s, including John Lewis and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Our tour is ‘The Vote Is Sacred.’ It is rooted in the late Rep. John Lewis, who was one of the great saints of democracy in our country,” said Interfaith Alliance CEO Rev. Paul Brandeis Raushenbush. “Rep. John Lewis, who was also a Baptist minister, knew what it took to get votes for everyone, especially Black Americans. We’re in a moment when people are trying to take away the rights of people. They’re trying to intimidate us. They’re trying to gerrymander us. They’re trying to say that the vote doesn’t matter.”

The Plains Sentinel asked Raushenbush to elaborate on how the right to vote might be suppressed today.

“We’re listening to what is being said by the [Trump] administration,” Raushenbush said. “The President hasn’t ruled out sending—you know, all of this is illegal—but the president hasn’t ruled out sending armed guards. Kash Patel in a statement said he might send the FBI. There’s been talk of sending ICE. So we’re just listening to what they’re saying, and what we don’t want is people to feel intimidated.”

Intimidation at the polls was a recurring theme. Rev. Thomas L. Bowen, general secretary of the Progressive National Baptist Convention, told The Plains Sentinel some of his concerns.

“There are people who are scared to vote, particularly if they have injustice involved, particularly if their immigrant status has a question mark, or even if they’re wondering what would happen if they tried to go out to vote,” Bowen said. “I think that people are nervous that their mail-in ballots will not be accepted, but I think that’s having the opposite effect, as encouraging people to get out to vote early.”

Scott Barker, bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska, said American voters were seeing something akin to the 1960s.

“Sixty years ago, in a moment of change and division every bit as great as this one, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, ‘So long as I do not firmly and irrevocably possess the right to vote, I do not possess myself. I cannot make up my mind. It is made up for me,’” Barker stated.

Rev. Shultz-Thomas described the right to vote as “our power” and “our fight to push back against empire, the resistance that is seeking to destroy and dehumanize the voter.”

The Plains Sentinel asked her to elaborate.

“Not only is the vote being suppressed, the voter, right, is being dehumanized. If you are registered to vote, there’s language that’s confusing. They’re mailing letters that tell you to vote in different places or using ambiguous language. They are checking IDs. They’re making people register off of an ICE detainee list, an immigrant list. They’re using those same lists to deny people the right to vote who are citizens of this country and who have every right to vote.”

Faith on the Campaign Trail

The injection of faith into politics is nothing new, but it does appear to be making a resurgence for both Democrats and Republicans as the midterm elections approach.

Lynne Walz, the Democratic candidate for governor of Nebraska, frequently mentions her faith on the stump.

“My parents were very, very faithful people,” Walz said at an Omaha event last week. “They taught me two things. Number one is to love and trust God—and I have to tell you guys, I have to do that a lot right now. The other thing is that I need to honor God by loving my neighbor.”

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Speaking at an event in Fremont, Gov. Jim Pillen made a point of telling Christians to engage in the political process.

“Talk to people we go to church with,” Pillen said. “It is okay to talk about voting on the church steps. That is, we’ve been duped on this separation of church and state stuff. We have to make sure that we get out and vote.”

— Matt Johnson is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel.

“Down the road there’s a grocery store … with dignity for all, that’s our battle cry,” he sang as a small crowd cheered and clapped on a grassy field that may soon host a 25,000-square-foot Christian grocery store and more. Its presence will indeed give some dignity back to neighborhoods where residents have long felt abandoned.

Who knew that the siren song of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s plan for government grocery stores would find Omaha in tune with the city that never sleeps. Even more surprising is the fact that Republicans are paying the fiddler.

Perhaps Ewing was in a singing mood that morning because of the $1.5 million state grant that Republican Governor Jim Pillen’s administration had given the non-profit opening the store in the heart of the city’s black community.

Commenting on similar situations where Trump-supporting politicians had backed a newly muscular government approach once anathema to Republicans, traditional conservative talk radio host Erick Erickson said that “If you support socialism, apparently Donald Trump is your guy.” Pillen, too, it seems, though in an agricultural state like Nebraska, government help is never far.

If in Mamdani’s short time in office he has injected one idea into the national public policy discussion, it is what he calls the “urgent” need for government to get in the grocery business.

“Mamdani has certainly given this sort of thing a level of national visibility that wasn’t there before he ran for New York City mayor,” University of Nebraska at Lincoln Professor Kevin Smith told me in an email, though he thinks the private-public partnership in Omaha is different than what Mamdani proposes.

For Mayor Ewing’s part, he sees the problem as something older than most of the people in North Omaha. “The issue (of a grocery store) is important to the community because it addresses a food dessert that has existed for over 50 years,” he said in a request for comment.

North Omaha is not alone in doing something about old problems. Mr. Mamdani’s impact is literally all over – and it is coming allegro. You can feel the beat.

Last week President Trump’s USDA closed applications for a $20 million round of the Local and Regional Healthy Food Financing Partnerships Program set to back everything from Mamdani-style government grocers to co-ops and government-backed non-profit and private-public commercial setups.

This month, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker announced $26 million through what he dubbed the Illinois Grocery Initiative: $21 million for new stores in food deserts, $4.5 million “Grocery Rescue” to reopen stores closed in the last year, and $750,000 for equipment upgrades.

In Minnesota, Minneapolis set aside $200,000 in the 2026 budget to study a plan for city-owned grocery.

Across the border in Wisconsin, Madison’s long-delayed Maurer’s Urban Market got an opening date of October 5 after years of delay and several million dollars in city support.

In Atlanta, construction is underway for a second location of Azalea Fresh Market after over $8 million in government grants and loans for the first location.

Maybe one reason Mr. Mamdani’s melody seems to have conquered the top 40 is that it isn’t Mr. Mamdani’s tune at all. Most recently, it was Barack Obama’s and even then it was more classic rock than pop. As part of First Lady Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” health campaign, his administration launched a planned $400 million program of public-private partnerships to put government-funded, but not government-run grocery stores all over the country. So far over 1,000 projects were funded, including during both Trump administrations where the program, passed by Congress as part of the 2014 Farm Bill, continues.

The results of that effort are coming in from all over the country where stores are closing in disarray or bungled efforts never open at all. That’s perhaps why, in some unexpected quarters, there’s a note of skepticism appearing even as others rush to jump on Mamdani or Obama’s or whoever’s bandwagon this is.

Out on the left coast they’re starting to sound more conservative than Nebraska. This year Seattle’s Democratic Socialist Mayor Katie Wilson, who did allocate $1.7 million to subsidize independent grocers with security, repairs, technical assistance, and market studies, dropped earlier pinko talk of municipal supermarkets.

In San Francisco, the city council that has never found a left-wing idea it won’t adopt, abandoned an all-too-typical West Coast plan for a new tax on vacant grocery store fronts to fund a city agency to reopen them. Their California counter-cultural idea instead? Deregulate – end the need for conditional use permits for grocery stores and find other red tape and fees to cut.

“The tactics may change. The mission doesn’t,” said San Francisco Supervisor Bilal Mahmood. That’s true. Former California Gov.Ronald Reagan turned over in his grave and smiled. Even he hears that tune.

There’s certainly reason to be skeptical of the Mamdani overture. In 2024 when ProPublica published an analysis of data from 18 states where the federal program funded grocery stores under President Biden, they found that nearly half the government-backed stores had already closed or never opened at all. Some didn’t last a year.

The ProPublica people could rock on because the examples keep coming.

Down Interstate 29, not too far from our fair state, in Kansas City, Missouri, the latest fiasco looms. “The shelves at the Blue Parkway Sun Fresh grocery store have barely had food on them for months,” The Kansas City Star reported last week.

“You can’t get two of nothing,” shopper Phyliss Strozier told her local paper.

The store is rumored to be closing soon and is owned by the same non-profit that closed another Sun Fresh in 2025 after receiving nearly $20 million in government funds.

Such stories are common. Only a few weeks ago, seven Save A Lot stores operated by Yellow Banana in Chicago closed after $13.5 million in public subsidies were lavished on six of them. The stores failed just two years into a promised 10-year operating agreement with the city.

That’s surely some information that hopeful North Omaha residents and more government skeptical Nebraskans who are paying the bill would like to know. Unfortunately when KETV, WOWT, the Nebraska Examiner, the Flatwater Free Press and the Omaha Reader covered the news earlier this month, not one reporter was skeptical enough to ask, is this gonna work?

Mayor Ewing said that he believes in the project’s prospects. It combines “public, private, philanthropic approaches with an established nonprofit organization,” he said “The Heart Ministry Center has been extremely successful in creating business opportunities in Omaha.”

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Professor Smith, the University of Nebraska professor, says that the impact of Mamdani’s ideas and such grocery stores in Nebraska, “partly depends on how well this project does. If it succeeds it might encourage thinking about similar sorts of projects, if it fails it might encourage cogitation in the opposite direction.”

We’ll see if North Omaha can break the recent curse on such efforts. Anyway, Smith says dryly, all this socialism stuff won’t matter much to Nebraska in the long run. “I’m unaware of anything pointing to this motivating people to have a wholesale rethink about government.”

In bright blue New York, too, Mamdani turns out to be less of a singer-songwriter and more of a cover band. Republican Mayor Fiorello La Guardia was among the first to open government grocery stores before World War II. What about those? Well, some are still selling food to New Yorker’s today. Maybe Republicans make better socialists. At least Democratic Mayor Ewing and North Omaha can hope.

— David Mastio is a Papillion resident and a former National Columnist for The Kansas City Star and Deputy Editorial Page Editor of USA TODAY.

OMAHA — Whitney Hansen is running for the Douglas County Board of Commissioners in District 2. She is also a “creator” on OnlyFans, a digital app that touts its ability to turn ordinary people into paid pornstars.

Hansen’s connection with the site went viral Monday after online conservative influencers posted explicit photos of her content on Twitter. The initial post by the account Libs of TikTok included a message, purporting to be from Hansen, saying she’d “love to fantasize and play with younger girls.”

The message prompted Juanita Broaddrick, who was allegedly raped by former President Bill Clinton, to question whether Hansen was a “pedophile.”

Haile Mcanally, the communications director for the Nebraska Republican Party, called Hansen “just your typical candidate” from the Nebraska Democratic Party.

Hansen is running unopposed in the general election after defeating incumbent James Cavanaugh in the Democratic primary this spring.

She has worked as a public school English teacher for the past six years in Omaha Public Schools and Millard Public Schools. She is currently a “fee clerk” with the National Park Service.

Hansen responded to the initial posts about her explicit photos, saying that she was “the victim of revenge porn.”

“If you see these posts, I ask that you report them. I am working on getting the pages with my private intimate content taken down as we speak, but these things take time. In the meantime, please do not engage beyond reporting them,” she said. “I’ll have more cohesive thoughts another day — about betrayal and long games and the state of our world. About people knowing exactly what to say in my personal context to make me specifically look as bad as possible.”

Hansen had posted many of her explicit photos on public threads on Reddit, which linked back to her OnlyFans account. She has since deleted her account.

Anti-Fatphobic, Pro-Palestine Activist

In addition to her online showmanship, Hansen is an avid activist for many left-wing causes. A member of the LGBTQ+ community, she uses the pronouns “she/they” and identifies as a “polyamorous leftist.”

Her social media pages reveals she has helped lead protests, including “Dykes Against ICE” and a “Gaza Hunger Strike.” The goal of the later was to raise $10,000 or get Congressman Don Bacon to change his stance towards the Palestinian conflict.

Hansen said of the hunger strike, which lasted several days, “This was the most difficult protest I’ve ver participated in, and yet it was just a drop in the bucket in terms of what people in Gaza are experiencing right now.”

At an anti-ICE protest, Hansen accused white liberals of not being hardcore enough in their tactics.

“To inspire STRUCTURAL change, we HAVE to do more. Protests have to be disruptive. People, particularly those with white privilege, have to be prepared to get arrested,” she said. “And yet, how did onlookers respond? What was the response from white liberals? Screaming at us to call us back, yelling at us to get out of the streets, etc… If you personally cannot get arrested (you’re a person of color, you’re a single parent, you’re undocumented, etc.), I absolutely understand that. But don’t you dare stand in the way of the people who are willing to take risks for the cause.”

“It’s time for white liberals in Omaha to get real,” she added.

Some of Hansen’s activism is more light-hearted, including events to support and promote fat people, including a “fat babes pool party.” Hansen said the goal of the event is “to combat the rising fatphobia in our society.”

“My goal was to help local fat folks meet people they relate to in a stress-free, joy-filled environment,” she said.

Democratic Support

In her race for county commissioner, Hansen has been endorsed by the Nebraska Democratic Party, Reject AIPAC from City Council to Congress, Women Who Run Nebraska, and State Senator Megan Hunt.

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In turn, Hansen has issued a slew of endorsements to progressive Democrats in Omaha, including NU Board of Regents candidate Justin Solomon as well as Christy Knorr and Nate Ostdiek, who are running for the Unicameral.

Hansen said her values in her campaign for the Douglas County Board include ending the Palestinian “genocide,” supporting Black Lives Matter and holding “the Douglas County Sheriff's office responsible for the unjust treatment of Black and brown people,” and opposing “bills that target transgender Nebraskans.”

For local priorities as commissioner, she pointed to “community engagement” and events she has put on including “a valentine-making party to send some extra love to children who are affected by ICE.” Hansen said she also wants to also support the local economy, particularly businesses affected by street car construction; expand access to mental health care and youth service programs; and bring down Omaha’s STI rates.

Hansen, Hunt, Women Who Run, and the Nebraska Democratic Party did not immediately respond for comment on the story.

— John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.

(Picture credit CBS 13)

GRAND ISLAND — President Donald Trump was well-received in Grand Island Monday evening for a brief Nebraska visit to rally support for down-ticket Republicans. Trump’s appearance in Nebraska’s 3rd District follows recent visits to Iowa, Texas, and Oklahoma, as the President stumps for Republican allies in what, by all indications, is a tough midterm season for the GOP.

Nonetheless, the prospect of Air Force One touching down in central Nebraska was enough to turn the rally into an all-day event for the thousands gathered at the Nebraska State Fairgrounds. By noon, the entry line had already stretched from the front doors of the Pinnacle Bank Expo Center to the fairgrounds’ southern entrance.

Estimates ranged from slightly over 3,000 supporters to around 5,000. At the time of Trump’s appearance, there was standing room only within the building and a healthy number of supporters outside, with event staff scrambling to accommodate the better-than-expected turnout. Trump’s appearance also drew quite a few demonstrators to the nearby sidewalks.

Nebraska Candidates Stump Pre-Trump

The evening’s festivities kicked off shortly after 4:30 pm, with State Senator Tanya Storer delivering an invocation and fellow State Senator Bob Andersen leading the Pledge of Allegiance.

Angela Eberspacher, a Republican candidate to succeed Kirk Penner on the State Board of Education, asked the crowd to join her in singing the National Anthem. Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers then took the stage to deliver the first speech, where he recapped his office’s wins in multiple suits against Biden-era policies.

Hilgers set a theme the following Nebraska speakers would heartily pick up: fighting for the next generation. Hilgers cited his desire to preserve freedom and opportunity for his young daughter as a reason he joined the political fray.

More people continued to enter as Congressman Adrian Smith took the stage for a few short remarks – while his district played host to the event, he appears to be far safer in his re-election bid than NE-01 incumbent Mike Flood and NE-02 newcomer Brinker Harding.

Smith praised the tax cuts of the One Big Beautiful Bill as a help to young people trying to get ahead, as well as the upstart Trump Accounts for 2026 babies. He then introduced Governor Jim Pillen, who spoke for about 25 minutes.

Pillen’s first large applause line came as he praised Nebraskans for being a people about faith, family, and hard work:

“And we’re okay to talk about God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

He drew similar applause as he implored Nebraskans to “take time to brag” about the state’s strength, specifically its families, its mothers, and its stance on “boys are boys and girls are girls.”

Pillen also urged Republicans to stay on the team amidst economic concerns, pointing out that in spite of the state’s present budgetary shortfall, Nebraska has been AAA credit rated the past two years, for the first time in its history.

His most cheered line, however, came when he took aim at his chief opponent, Democratic nominee Lynne Walz.

“America does not need another Governor Walz,” he said.

During his speech, Pillen officially declared President Trump an Admiral of Nebraska, a power technically his as commander in chief of Nebraska’s Navy, Trump becoming one of many presidents to receive the honor.

U.S. Senator Pete Ricketts followed Pillen, and stuck to major points he’s made on the campaign trail, including his oft-repeated opening line:

“Folks, the D.C. Democrats have lost their minds.”

He decried Senate Democrats’ consistent nays on Voter I.D., the House’s Farm Bill, Customs and Border Patrol Funding, and the National Defense Authorization Act. He then turned to castigating his opponent, Independent Dan Osborn, as a dishonest candidate – pointing to Osborn’s large coastal donors and the frequent audio leaks in which he appears to contradict his public positions.

“They want a Senator from New York and California, and they know they can buy Dan Osborn.”

Ricketts closed with another one of his common lines, imploring Republicans to vote 10 times.

“Not the Democrat way 10 times,” he said. “You all make the commitment to get 9 other people.”

Trump Late, Trump Long

Air Force One touched down in Grand Island at approximately 5:50pm, a few minutes after Ricketts had ended his speech. It wasn’t until nearly 6:30pm that President Trump stepped out from behind the curtain to his customary tune of “God Bless the U.S.A.”

While he was late to the stage, the crowd received what they’d waited for, as the President proceeded to speak in his typical episodic style for 90 minutes, welcoming a great deal of people to join him at the podium.

“I love Nebraska,” he said when the applause had first died down. “I like you, and you like me, and that’s how it is.”

He opened by praising the Nebraska delegation and their effectiveness at securing federal dollars for the state, including an awkwardly received joke about flooding in Nebraska, with Omaha and Lincoln having seen flash flooding the previous week.

Trump was also the first person to mention two problem words for GOP candidates entering the midterms – “Iran” and “affordability” – two subjects he tackled relatively early on.

“By the way, we’re kicking Iran’s ass, you do know that right?” he said, praising the Naval blockade and the recent resurgence of oil leaving the Strait of Hormuz.

“We knocked out their navy, we knocked out their air force, we knocked out their leadership… we knocked out their radar, we knocked out their anti-aircraft,” he said. “It’s gonna end very soon.”

He mentioned the Administration’s successful apprehension of Nicolas Maduro in Venezuela and subsequent oil deal with his successor. Trump also stood by his frustration with the term “affordability.”

“I’m in office [for] one day, and one of the fake news people looks at me – he’s standing right back there… looked me in the eyes and said ‘affordability.’ I said, ‘what do you mean by that?’ And he said ‘Sir, affordability.’”

“And they try to pin it on me… that’s the first time I ever heard the word.”

Trump pointed to eggs as a Biden-era “affordability” problem that he feels he was dishonestly criticized for. He lamented that some Republicans have attempted to split the baby on the term rather than confront it.

He also stuck by his most controversial proposal of recent weeks: the “Trump Dividend” promise of $5,000 to every American adult if the GOP wins the House and Senate. The audience received the news without a hint of disapproval.

“If the Republicans win, you will each have $5,000 in your pocket,” he said to massive cheers.

He progressed to highlighting the hallmarks of his administration, with each strength receiving its own digression, per his custom – no illegal immigration, low violent crime, low poverty, high employment, record exports and stocks, and TrumpRX.

Trump next took aim at Lynne Walz.

“Lynne Walz supported raising your property taxes by billions and billions of dollars, voted to give food stamps to drug dealers, and hates the second amendment… she’s a disaster, just like her uncle, or whatever the hell he is,” he said referring to Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, a distant cousin of Lynne Walz’s husband.

He invited Pillen back to the microphone to lead a rendition of the “U-S-A” chant. Trump then gave quick endorsement of Hilgers, Smith, and Flood, inviting the latter two up to praise the estate tax waiver for family farms.

He then spent a good deal of time on Dan Osborn.

“Right here in Nebraska, the Dumb-o-crats are running a radical left lunatic, he’s a lunatic named Dan Osborn,” he said. “Osborn wants to pack the Supreme Court with 23 judges, with radical justices all, and trample all over your second amendment… he supports giving your social security money to illegal aliens.”

Ricketts took the podium once again to stress the importance of immigration enforcement in light of the recent death of Omaha grandfather Christopher Szalkowski in a car accident allegedly caused by Jose Ortega-Romero, an illegal alien.

Jacqueline Medina was also present – she being a former Grand Island resident who had previously joined Trump for the State of the Union Address. Medina’s daughter, Lizabeth, had been murdered in her home by an illegal alien in 2023. She asked voters to remember her daughter’s name when voting.

Reactions to Rally

The two biggest moments of the night had to do with red dye diesel and an off-color comment about the Iran war. Trump signed an executive order live which waived the off-road vehicle requirement to purchase red dye diesel fuel, the tax-free type of diesel generally used only for farm equipment and other large machines.

The prospect of on-road red dye diesel raised questions as to what penalties drivers might face upon inspection once the waiver expires – a notable concern of outgoing GOP Congressman Thomas Massie. Zach Lahn, Iowa’s GOP gubernatorial nominee, took to social media to defend the waiver after some speculated it would actively hurt farmers by raising the demand for red dye diesel.

Additionally, multiple elected officials and journalists took to social media as Trump discussed the economic hurt caused by repeated military actions in Iran.

“It’s a small price to pay for keeping the world safe, keeping the country safe. They could take out a city. Let them take out Los Angeles, let them take out San Francisco. This is a very small price to pay,” he said.

There was widespread applause along with many sideways glances, as it appeared Trump had stated that he wouldn’t mind losing a west coast city in exchange for ending the war in Iran. California Governor Gavin Newsom, along with the mayors of Los Angeles and San Diego, interpreted his comments as such. Others, such as TMZ, interpreted Trump to simply be worrying that Iran would target a major city should it develop that capability.

Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb reacted strongly via Twitter.

“No American president should talk about American cities being wiped out as a rally applause line, and no one who calls himself a patriot should stand next to him while he does it. Ricketts and Pillen did,” she said. “Nebraskans voters [sic] across party lines are over Trump’s con-job. We need leaders who will actually fight for us.”

Ricketts’ and Pillen’s opponents chose not to react with hostility to the president’s comments. In a statement, the Osborn camp pitched itself as aligned with the Trump Administration on rural priorities.

“President Trump announced his support for Right to Repair, one of Dan Osborn’s core policies, and expanding access to red-dyed diesel, an important step to help Nebraskan farmers. Dan is glad to have Trump’s support in his fight for these policies against corrupt billionaires like Pete Ricketts, who takes money from John Deere and puts their profits over our farmers” they said.

Similarly, Walz focused fire on her opponent rather than the commander-in-chief.

“Jim Pillen promised to cut property taxes by 40%, then admitted he hadn’t cut them at all. Instead, he pushed a 36% sales tax hike on everything we buy while cutting his own taxes by $1 million,” she said in a statement. “Pillen had a chance today to tell Nebraskans what he’s done for them. Instead, he was busy handing out honors to his Washington friends.”

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Steve, a rally goer from Grand Island, told The Plains Sentinel the issue he most desired to hear about was election integrity – an issue Trump made the centerpiece of his closing pitch for the Republican ticket.

“I will pass the SAVE America Act to defend our sacred American elections. We’ll get it done,” he said. “The only reason the Democrats won’t approve is because they want to cheat and they do cheat… it’s a disgrace.”

And despite high gas prices, Steve said he still supports Trump’s economic record.

“You don’t hear about all the results,” Steve said. “Poverty level is down to the lowest it’s been in a long time. Middle class family income is up. A lot of things are positive. That doesn’t mean we agree with everything that he’s done, or the manner in which he does it.”

— Lewis Thune is a College Fix writing fellow with The Plains Sentinel.

(Picture credit Douglas County Sheriff’s Office)

The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office (DCSO) announced on Sunday that it had arrested Jose Ortega-Romero, 32, for allegedly driving through a red light and killing a 70-year-old Omaha man identified as Christopher Szalkowski.

The office said that it discovered during the crash investigation that Ortega-Romero is not a U.S. citizen.

“Ortega-Romero lacked United States identification and presented Deputies with photo I.D. issued by the country of Mexico’s consulate,” DCSO said in a statement. “Hanson contacted local leadership at the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and made them aware of ORTEGA-ROMERO’s booking. As a result of that notification, I.C.E. issued a detainer on ORTEGA-ROMERO due to his illegal status in the United States.”

DSCO said that following Ortega-Romero “posting bond,” ICE plans on taking custody of him.

The illegal alien is facing a charge of motor vehicle homicide.

— John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.

Editor’s Note: The Plains Sentinel has opened a tip line for current and former students and faculty of the University of Nebraska to discuss their experiences and the learning environment across the university system. Send confidential tips to plainssentinel@protonmail.com

In May, faculty at the University of Nebraska at Kearney (UNK) told The Plains Sentinel that multiple former faculty members had been forced by the university to sign non-disclosure agreements (NDAs) as the university attempted to push out unaligned faculty in favor of new “DEI” hires.

At the time, the university said in a statement that “UNK does not use nondisclosure agreements.” The Plains Sentinel promptly made a public records request for all nondisclosure agreements “between the University of Nebraska at Kearney and any former faculty member or administrator.”

Three months later, UNK returned over a dozen voluntary retirement and separation agreements that contained non-disclosure clauses signed by former university members. The agreements show that UNK spent around one million dollars on retirement and separation contracts from September 2022 to February 2025 that included the non-disclosure clauses.

Contract Redactions

Contracts from UNK contained significant redactions, a fact that the university legal team highlighted as a reason for the delay in handing over the information. “The University has withheld through redaction personal information regarding personnel other than salary or routine directory information pursuant to the Nebraska Public Records Act,” Molly McCleery, the associate general counsel for the University of Nebraska, told The Plains Sentinel.

Contracts included both “non-disparagement” clauses and “confidentiality” clauses.

“[Redacted] shall not make, in any manner or at any time, any negative or disparaging comments or statements regarding the University of Nebraska System, its various universities including the University of Nebraska at Kearney, or any of their past or current Board of Regents, administrative officers, deans, employees, agents, students, colleges, departments, divisions, programs or services.”

The confidentiality parts of the agreement barred former faculty members from disclosing the existence of the agreement publicly. Current and former members of the university told The Plains Sentinel that while the agreements were titled either “voluntary separation agreement,” “separation agreement,” or “voluntary retirement agreement,” there was an understanding between both the university and the signers of the agreement that both parties were signing an NDA.

McCleery said that “all faculty sign a confidentiality statement,” and included a copy of the university-wide confidentiality agreement. The university-wide agreement is a standard “confidentiality statement” that bans employees from releasing confidential information such as “budget, financial, personnel, payroll or procurement information,” and differs from the dozen separation and retirement agreements that the university also handed over that included payments in exchange for silence from former faculty.

NDA Signers Speak Out

Using alternative documentation, The Plains Sentinel was able to uncover the identities of nearly all the signers of the NDAs despite retractions by the university. The Plains Sentinel reached out to multiple former faculty members, who had signed the agreements, to ask about why the university had made them sign one.

One signer told The Plains Sentinel that they believe the university is using the agreements to cover up illegal activity.

“The only possible reason you can have for doing this is they are doing illegal sh*t,” a former faculty member told The Plains Sentinel. “What would count as a legitimate reason for a public university to make a professor sign such a thing? I can’t think of anything.”

The signer added that they believe the agreements were antithetical to the spirit of a public university.

“It should be illegal for a public university to have a professor sign these things. I mean – it’s a public university. It’s run on your tax dollars. What are they trying to hide? They’ve got to be trying to hide something if they are having you sign these things.”

The Plains Sentinel spoke with faculty members, who said that many of the NDAs were signed by former members of the campus the university had wronged, silenced, and quickly shipped off campus.

Multiple signers of the NDAs told The Plains Sentinel that they want the university to lift their NDA so they can speak out. Earlier this spring, Board of Regents Chair Paul Kenney told The Plains Sentinel he believes UNK officials should waive NDAs if former faculty are aware of illegal activities the university is engaged in.

“Sure, if they’ve got evidence,” Kenney said. “You’ve got to be able to justify, than be a shadow.”

UNK Responds

The Plains Sentinel reached out to UNK to ask why they had said they did not use NDAs when their own lawyers had given over a dozen documents containing non-disclosure agreements. A spokesperson for the university said it was because the agreements were really a “Voluntary Separation Agreement” and not NDAs.

“UNK does not use nondisclosure agreements. Voluntary separation agreements conform to employment law, must be mutually agreed upon, and the confidentiality clauses pertain only to the specific, mutually agreed upon, terms of the agreement.”

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Signers of the voluntary separation/retirement agreements told The Plains Sentinel it was clear to them that they had signed an NDA and that the university has made it clear that they will go after them if they break the confidentiality clause.

One signer of an agreement disagreed said the university is intentionally using the agreements to hide information from the public.

“What do these faculty members know that the administration doesn’t want the people of the state of Nebraska to know?”

— John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.

(Picture credit Douglas County Board of Commissioners)

OMAHA — The Douglas County Board of Commissioners will take action in next Tuesday’s meeting regarding a resolution responding to Nebraska Auditor of Public Accounts Mike Foley’s analysis and criticisms of its general assistance program for poor residents.

Two weeks ago, Foley told The Plains Sentinel that the program was “a debacle” after an audit of the multi-million-dollar effort raised myriad concerns over where recipients were actually spending their taxpayer-funded assistance.

“I think this program is an assault on the property taxpayers of Douglas County,” Foley said. “It costs the county taxpayers 74 cents to give away a dollar, and much of that dollar is being wasted on alcohol, tobacco, candy, toys, and so forth.”

Evidently, Douglas County disagrees – the resolution notes that currently available audit information “finds no evidence or allegations of criminal wrongdoing.” Furthermore, it notes that it has successfully reduced the cost to direct aid to 50 cents per dollar.

In comparison, the federal government’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program had nearly 94% of its spending go directly towards households, while federal and state administrative costs made up the remaining 6%.

The main source of concern is the program’s means of assistance: in the past four years, it has given nearly 26,000 dollar store gift cards to poor residents.

Oversight for gift card usage is notably poor – Foley stated his office had to attain records from the dollar stores themselves to find how the cards were being spent, and worse yet, there is no way to verify who used them.

“Their records are abysmal,” Foley said.

Foley’s office investigated 100 gift cards with identified red flags, and found that 24% of funds were used for non-qualifying and unapproved purchases – including tobacco and alcohol products. Such purchases were not merely prohibited but supposed to be impossible.

“The County utilized Dollar General gift cards at a time when Dollar General did not sell tobacco or alcohol products,” the Douglas County resolution reads. “But because Dollar General cannot enforce point-of-sale item restrictions, the County and General Assistance Department are transitioning away from Dollar General to contract with a vendor capable of restricting purchases exclusively to approved items.”

It is unclear whether they have found that vendor – shortly after the initial report, General Assistance director Melissa Sewick told The Plains Sentinel that Walmart had emerged as a candidate capable of said restrictions but was “unable or unwilling” to accommodate.

Foley’s report recommended the county take extra steps to verify program eligibility by corroborating with state benefit systems. The county’s resolution observes that such a step has become increasingly difficult to take:

“Douglas County has progressively lost access to state and public data systems used to independently verify applicant income and program participation.”

The resolution states it would welcome renewed collaboration with the state and affirms its “unwavering commitment” to maintaining safety-net services and “strong support” of the General Assistance Department.

The resolution has been sponsored by all seven commissioners and will likely be adopted in Tuesday’s meeting.

— Lewis Thune is a College Fix writing fellow with The Plains Sentinel.

(Picture credit Matt Johnson)

OMAHA — Elected officials and business leaders converged Thursday afternoon on the site of the world’s first Mattel Wonder Indoor Water Park in Bellevue, getting a first look at interior renderings of the facility as well as a tour inside the park, which is still under construction.

The roughly 100,000-square-foot facility sits at the crossroads of Highways 75 and 34 and will anchor the future Bellevue Bay Entertainment District, which will encompass about 35 acres of commercial space surrounding the park.

“It represents the kind of destination we have been working to create for Bellevue,” said Bellevue Mayor Rusty Hike. “A place that attracts families, brings visitors into the community, supports new businesses, and gives people more reasons to stay, spend time and money, and come back.”

Several elected officials were present, including members of the Bellevue City Council, Sarpy County Commissioner Angi Burmeister, Ralston Mayor Donald Groesser, and state Sen. Victor Rountree, whose district includes part of Bellevue.

“I’m excited about the water park because it will afford a lot of us to have ‘staycations,’” Rountree told The Plains Sentinel. “We’ll have great economic development, and I think it’s only fitting with Bellevue being Nebraska’s oldest city and first city, that we have something that’s monumental like this that will represent, will draw, it will produce, and make us trendsetters for the rest of Nebraska.”

Congressman Mike Flood related the new park to two “Nirvana” experiences for a young family from Norfolk, namely Peony Park in Omaha and Adventureland in Ankeny, Iowa. Flood said that he hopes the park will become a similar draw for families in the future.

“There’s a ranch family in Valentine that’s going to make this their annual family vacation,” Flood said. “Those parents are going to get their kids to behave year-round, because they’re going to threaten them that they don’t get to come to the Wonder Water Park unless they behave.”

The indoor park will have a retractable roof and will be open year-round, a feature Flood said would be of particular interest to families during winter months, including those stationed at Offutt Air Force Base.

“To all the airmen that serve at Offutt, think about what they’re going to experience with their children in a place where their spouse said, ‘We’re not gonna do anything in the winter. It’s too dang cold up here.’ Now they’ve got this.”

Rendered interior images of the park, revealed during the event, showed attractions built around Mattel brands, including a Barbie activity pool and FlowRider surf simulator and a Hot Wheels “Challenge Accepted” multi-slide tower. Other features included a Fisher-Price water-play structure and a lazy river themed around Mattel Games, including UNO and Rock ’Em Sock ’Em Robots.

The project has been in development since 2023, with plans to open in late 2027.

— Matt Johnson is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel.

(Picture credit News Channel Nebraska)

RED CLOUD — Independent Senate candidate Dan Osborn brought his 93-county tour to Red Cloud on Thursday evening two weeks after the Omaha World Herald released an audio clip of Osborn mocking “Billy Bob in f—king Red Cloud, Nebraska who lives next to the f—king Trump store.”

National and local Republicans widely condemned Osborn for the profanity-ridden comment, while some observers – including the notable democratic socialist streamer Hasan Piker – praised him.

Prior to Thursday evening, Osborn had appeared on CNN with Dana Bash and painted the comments as a poor representation of his platform, as well as explaining his intent in saying them. He maintained the apologetic tone before a room of around seventy in the Red Cloud Community Center gym.

“I don’t have mastery over the English language as if I went to Yale Law School, but I do regret those words, and for that I apologize to the people of Red Cloud – they should have never been said. I don’t feel that way,” he said.

Mixed Reaction From Crowd

Osborn made no mention of those who had castigated or praised him for his ‘Billy Bob’ comment, quickly moving to a few opening remarks about the war in Iran. He then yielded to questions from the audience, who alternatively pressed and defended him for the comments.

One woman asked why he chose to demean Red Cloud in particular for his caricature.

“There is no Trump store here, it’s actually in Arapahoe – so it was inaccurate from the beginning. But I said those words, again, because I talk to a lot of people who are frustrated… and so that comes from a place of I’m just as frustrated,” he said. “I should have chosen my words, definitely, better. I apologize for that.”

Another questioner appeared to caution the crowd against taking offense.

“I think all of us have the advantage that we don’t have someone following us around with a secret mic trying to get a recording so they can put on TV something out of context,” she said.

“You’re right, I have people following me everywhere I go, sticking cameras in my face, trying to agitate me to get me to say something,” Osborn responded. “They take snippets of what I say a lot of times, put $10 million behind it, take them all together, and turn them into a mountain.”

He did clarify that he was not saying that had happened in the case of his Red Cloud remarks.

“But a lot of what I say, they take snippets.”

Osborn Responds on Other Issues

Another attendee asked him his stance on the Second Amendment in light of reporting on his current and prior Senate campaigns, which the attendee noted included support for red flag laws, expanded background checks, bump stock bans, and an openness to 5-year mental health evaluations for assault-style weapons, as first reported by The Plains Sentinel.

“The majority of that isn’t true, being taken out of context. The one thing that was true is I said I would always defer to law enforcement when it comes to firearms,” he said.

He did add that he presently favors the “cool off” restriction in Maine, which imposes a mandatory 72-hour waiting period between purchasing a gun and taking possession of it.

“The cool off period makes sense to me. I mean, 60% of veteran suicides is done by handgun. It’s not about keeping guns from people, it’s about making sure that when somebody’s in an emotional state, they can’t just go buy a handgun and kill themselves in the parking lot, which happened to a friend of mine this last year.”

A landowner questioned him regarding property taxes, which Osborn responded were broadly a state issue, but on the topic, expressed his hope that those in Nebraska agriculture could see some relief in light of the Trump Administration rescheduling hemp.

“At the risk of sounding like a crazy person, Nebraska could be leading the charge,” he said. “The plant itself is drought-resistant, pest-resistant, pulls heavy metals and nitrogen out of the soils so our farmers can rotate it in as a cash crop, it doesn’t need to be subsidized… this is something in the future that I’m going to advocate for.”

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“And sorry for those of you who like to smoke it, but this isn’t the kind you roll up and smoke and watch movies, this is the industrial kind. Nebraska should be first on this.”

A woman who identified herself as a local public school employee approached the microphone to ask about Osborn’s pitch to younger voters.

“We have seniors that will be 18 before the election, how can I go about telling them that you’re the right choice to make?”

Osborn pointed to his refusal to accept defense contractor and corporate PAC money in addition to money from AIPAC and AI companies.

“That is how we get corruption out of our politics, is we get that money out of politics” he said.

The forty-minute event closed with a question about how Osborn would attack monopolistic industrial giants. He committed to introducing legislation to reduce or eliminate the 45z tax credit for ethanol plants, which drew a few mutters from the audience. He also repeated his longstanding promise to push for FTC and DOJ investigations and prosecutions of meat packing companies like Tyson.

When no more audience members volunteered another question, he concluded the event with the same apology he had opened with.

“I do apologize again for my words… I need to be mindful of what I say and how I say it,” he said, praising Red Cloud and similar towns for their response to the previous day’s extreme weather.

“When a storm rolls through or a flood rolls through, everybody’s out there with a chainsaw helping each other… in Omaha, you don’t get much of that. Just people honking at each other stuck in traffic.”

— Lewis Thune is a College Fix writing fellow with The Plains Sentinel.

(Picture credit NACIQI)

University of Nebraska College of Law Dean Richard Moberly weighed in on Trump administration efforts to take away federal recognition from the American Bar Association (ABA) accreditation of law schools.

Last week, an advisory committee under the direction of the U.S. Department of Education, known as the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality (NACIQI), convened to debate whether to renew recognition of the Council of the ABA Section of Legal Education and Admissions to the Bar.

The ABA’s Council is the sole national accreditor of American law schools, and repealing its federal recognition would create a potential opening for additional national accreditors.

The ABA’s Council has come under scrutiny from conservatives in recent years over accusations that it has pushed left-wing ideology in law schools in its accreditation requirements. Critics point to the recently repealed ABA Section 206, which required “concrete actions” by law schools to promote “diversity and inclusion” among the student body, faculty and staff.

Another standard required law schools to “provide education to law students on bias, cross-cultural competency, and racism.”

The Council’s policies have caused conservatives to question the value of the ABA in accrediting law schools. Rachel Morrison, a scholar at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, argued during testimony that the government should not recognize the ABA’s monopoly in accrediting.

“The ABA serves as ‘a monopoly accreditor’ but it is not a neutral arbiter that should be privileged as the government-backed gatekeeper for legal education,” Morrison said. “While claiming to represent legal professionals, the ABA promotes progressive and partisan causes and disdains the conservative views and religious beliefs of many students and attorneys.”

Ilya Shapiro, a leading conservative legal scholar with the Manhattan Institute, agreed in his written testimony. Shapiro argued the ABA’s standards have led to “lower admissions standards” at some schools and “racial preferences.”

“Standard 303(c), for example, still compels every law school to provide education on ‘bias, cross-cultural competency, and racism.’ The Council’s own Standards Committee now concedes that this rule fails to build the intended skills, imposes a particular curricular input without measuring results, conflicts with some state laws, and creates unjustified burdens,” he added.

Opponents of taking away federal recognition from the ABA’s Council included members of the ABA’s Council, liberal advocacy groups, and law school officials, including Moberly.

In a video shared with The Plains Sentinel, Moberly defended the ABA in front of the NACIQI, asking the panel to “re-recommend” the ABA’s Council. His comments avoided the DEI controversy that had sparked the fight and instead focused on what he said were the benefits of ABA Council being given the authority to accredit law schools.

"The Council is recognized as a reliable authority on legal education,” Moberly said, arguing “portability” across state lines was necessary for law degrees. “Not just any accreditor will work. It matters that the Council consists of lawyers and experts in legal education.”

“The Council has consistently shown over the years that it understands the unique mission of legal education and the training of lawyers to not just represent clients but also to uphold and advance our American system of justice,” he added.

Moberly went on to argue that the Council did not force law schools into a “one-size-fits-all box.”

“It has created standards that have allowed for different missions while also demanding rigor and transparency.”

Moberly said as a dean he has, in the past, “chafed at some of the reporting requirements,” but said he believed the Council was “responsive” to criticism. “In my 10 years as dean, I’ve always found the Council and its staff to be professionally responsive, willing to take and act upon feedback, and thoughtful in its approach,” he said.

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The ABA, ahead of the accreditation fight, repealed its “diversity and inclusion” requirement for hiring and student body composition. It is currently looking at whether to modify its “cross-cultural competency, and racism” education requirement.

Following the hearing by the NACIQI, panel members split 8-8 on whether to renew recognition for the ABA’s Council and informed the U.S. Department of Education that it could not reach a consensus on what its recommendation would be.

The split vote means the Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent will make the final decision.

— John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.

(Picture credit Matt Johnson)

OMAHA — Lynne Walz spoke Wednesday afternoon to members of Omaha’s Jewish community at a candidate forum hosted by the Henry Monsky Lodge and the Jewish Community Relations Council. She took questions on gun policy, abortion, gambling, medical marijuana, and recent attack ads.

Walz Responds to Recent Attack Ads

As Election Day approaches, the airwaves are filled with political ads, many of them targeting political opponents on the other side. In one ad paid for by the Pillen campaign, Walz appears next to Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh beside Cavanaugh’s 2023 vow to “burn the session to the ground” over the Let Them Grow Act.

The Plains Sentinel asked Walz for her thoughts on the current wave of negative ads and how her campaign might respond.

“It’s kind of ugly,” Walz said. “I am just trying really hard to focus on my campaign and keep our campaign positive. I think one of the most important things a leader can do is be a good role model for the rest of the state. And when you practice dishonesty and name-calling, that’s not a good leader.”

One guest asked whether Walz would try to balance the state budget by raising property taxes. Walz pointed to another apparent attack ad on the topic.

“The last thing I want to do is raise property taxes,” Walz said. “I know the commercial says that I’m all about raising taxes, and I can’t wait to do it, but believe me, as an average Nebraskan, that’s not something I really want to do.”

Marijuana, Gambling, and Abortion

A guest asked about implementing medical marijuana, which voters approved by ballot initiative in 2024. Walz said she would act on “day one.”

“I’m going to uphold the will of the people,” Walz said. “Day one, there will be an executive order making sure that people can access medical marijuana with a prescription. And if the people on that commission can’t get it done, then we’ll get rid of them, and we’ll find people who will get it done.”

Another guest asked Walz her view on gambling.

“I’m not a proponent, but I’m also not a proponent of controlling people, because I can’t,” Walz said. “The people who want to gamble are going to go across the river and gamble. I cannot stop that.”

A guest also asked about ballot initiatives 440 and 441, which would legalize sports betting in Nebraska, and whether the measures would help balance the state budget. Walz was skeptical.

“I think that we can be more creative on how we bring money into our state,” Walz said. “I would hope that we don’t have to just depend on gambling money to save our state. For crying out loud.”

Another guest asked about Walz’s stance on abortion. Walz indicated she would uphold the constitutional amendment approved as Initiative 434 in 2024, which prohibits elective abortions after the first trimester.

“I think that it really is between a woman, their family, and their doctor,” Walz said. “The people voted for a 12-week ban, and I will uphold what the people voted for on that issue. … I know it takes a ballot initiative to change this now.”

Gun Control

Early Wednesday morning, a shooting outside Burke High School left one student injured. The incident, which remains under investigation, prompted a guest to ask Walz about her voting record on gun control.

Walz discussed the School Safety Infrastructure Act, which she worked on with former Sen. Tom Brewer to provide funding and grants for schools to “harden their security.” She also cited her brother, an avid gun owner, who she said supports background checks before a firearm purchase.

“I think it’s important that people have to go through the process and that there’s background checks and we know that people are mentally capable of handling or having a gun,” Walz said.

On to November

The group seemed largely supportive of Walz. One guest treated President Trump’s planned visit to Grand Island on October 5 as a reason for optimism.

“The person, who I will not name, that sits in the Oval Office, they’re scared because they’re bringing that person here for Ricketts and for Pillen. So, that shows they are scared,” the guest said.

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Another guest told Walz that most people in the room would vote for her as an “anti-Pillen vote,” but suggested she work harder to draw a contrast with her Republican opponent.

Election Day is November 3.

— Matt Johnson is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel.

(Picture credit Lewis Thune)

FREMONT — After the city’s human resources department removed the application of volunteer firefighter Andrew Coates over an unaccredited high school diploma, the Fremont city council sided with Coates Tuesday night, changing the city’s accreditation provision for employees.

Among a vast turnout from citizens of Fremont and the surrounding area was Coates’ father Seth, who had raised the issue with the city council multiple times prior to WOWT’s initial reporting that drew national attention to Coates’ case.

The 22-year-old Andrew Coates had come highly recommended for a paid position as a Fremont firefighter, but having graduated from homeschool and not a state-accredited school, was deemed unfit per city policy. However, subsequent investigation into the matter showed the city’s policy made no mention of accreditation prior to Coates’ application, and was added only after his application was rejected.

Councilwoman Sally Ganem attempted to clear the air on what exactly had taken place on the city of Fremont’s side, questioning City Administrator Jody Sanders as to where the change –accreditation as a hard-and-fast standard – took place.

“It really was not a change in policy, it was a clarification of an existing policy” Sanders said.

Ganem asked who decides policy, with Sanders answering the city council. Ganem then asked whether, after the administrative insertion of that explicit accreditation requirement, the acting officials had notified the mayor, who chairs the city council.

“I honestly don’t remember,” Sanders said.

Ganem turned to Mayor Dev Srookam, who said he was never notified.

Speaking with the Plains Sentinel afterward, Ganem confirmed that as the city’s initial language made no mention of accreditation, the city council didn’t necessarily have to change city policy in order for administrators to correct their oversight.

“They should be able to correct that, because if we step in, we’re starting to micromanage, and that’s not what our job is. Our job is to represent taxpayers, but our job is mostly to be an overseer,” Ganem said. “We approve the policies, we don’t always execute the policies.”

Ganem and board president Lori Lathrop pointed to the threat of litigation and the subsequent entry of lawyers into the situation as a major hang-up in righting the situation without the council having to force the administrators’ hand.

The Plains Sentinel has reached out to Jennifer McDuffee, the city’s HR director for comment.

“I was hoping the department would be able to self-correct,” Ganem said. “In this case it didn’t happen – and they couldn’t really just meet and discuss, that’s what’s unfortunate, when the lawyers start getting involved.”

“When the word litigation is mentioned, we’re done,” Lathrop said.

The council did vote unanimously to alter city policy, now explicitly considering graduates of non-accredited institutions, which include many Nebraska private schools in addition to homeschools. As such, Coates will be eligible for consideration the next time a firefighter position is open.

The council’s decision to act on the matter did little to quell public anger.

Public Voices Frustration

Multiple council members spoke prior to public comments, expressing their regrets that the case generated such alarm and explaining the council’s role in the matter.

“This turned into a homeschooling issue. It really isn’t,” said Paul Von Behren, explaining that the city had erroneously used educational accreditation as a deciding factor in its potential liability for negligent hiring – disregarding the fact that Coates had all the hallmarks of an excellent hire.

“We just need to move on, acknowledge that we were trying to make a legal liability judgment call based on education, and that that’s only part of the picture. So this resolution is simply about broadening out that criteria,” he said. “I do apologize for this becoming a distraction, but it needed to take some time to resolve and work through the system.”

Councilman Mark Jensen said he was happy the issue came to a head, as other localities had similar standards that they have begun to change in light of Fremont’s situation. He said, however, that he was discouraged at the threatening correspondence that accompanied such attention, and was ready to resolve the issue.

Other council members would praise homeschooling and thank all those involved with the impending change. Public comment was then opened, and Cedar Bluffs Fire Chief Chris Lichtenburg was first to speak. He praised Coates’ record as a volunteer firefighter in Cedar Bluffs, but lamented that the council’s vote could not fully rectify the situation for Andrew.

“A vote tonight will not fix what has already been taken away from him in a previous hiring process,” he said.

Scott Preston, who had appeared before the council in the preceding months to speak on the matter, echoed some council members’ stated frustration at much of the national attention, but expressed equal frustration with the council members themselves.

“I know that some of what has been said has been downright vile, I completely disavow people who would name call or make threats in the name of this issue,” he said. “But forgive me if I’m not very sympathetic about the volume of calls and emails. That’s the price of five months of inaction.”

It’s a price, he said, that probably didn’t compare to the Coates family’s repeated requests, petitions, appeals, and legal costs. He further challenged the stated reasoning behind the added accreditation standard, namely legal liability:

“Did any of you ask for, or did they provide case law to substantiate the existence of that liability? I suspect not. Liability often comes from hiring people with DUIs to drive for you, or hiring people with violent pasts to work with the elderly. They don’t come from hiring graduates from non-accredited high schools.”

He challenged the city’s legal representation to find any single case where such a hire appeared in such a lawsuit, then cited the pending litigation from the American Center for Law and Justice.

“Based on the letter I read from the ACLJ today, they’re gonna be a bit too busy to look into that.”

Multiple homeschool mothers and one homeschooled child spoke on the qualifications of homeschool students, including their long history of outperforming public school students in virtually every metric. Seth Coates spoke at last.

“For months, we came here. We spoke publicly. We wrote you notes. We made phone calls. We asked questions. We asked for meetings. We asked for someone, anyone, to simply sit down with us and look at what happened,” he said.

“A policy can change with a vote — trust takes something more. Trust requires honesty about what happened… do not mistake fixing tomorrow’s policy for answering what happened yesterday.”

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While the board unanimously voted to change the policy, it did not end the night on a positive note with Seth Coates. He later appeared during the general public comment to address the pending public records request, anticipating it would show a lack of due diligence on the council’s part in correspondence with the city’s administrators and legal counsel.

On a point of order citing general comment rules, Mr. Coates was not allowed to continue, and the room emptied shortly after.

— Lewis Thune is a College Fix writing fellow with The Plains Sentinel.

(Picture credit ACLJ)

A Christian public-interest law firm on Monday informed the city of Fremont that it intends to file a federal lawsuit on behalf of Andrew Coates, the homeschooled volunteer firefighter denied an application for a paid firefighter position at Fremont Fire Department.

“We just sent a litigation hold letter, putting the city of Fremont on notice that federal litigation is reasonably anticipated and demanding the immediate preservation of all relevant evidence,” Nathan Moelker, senior associate counsel at the Washington, D.C.-based American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) said in a Sept. 29 website posting.

“The city cannot delete or lose the emails, text messages, meeting notes, recordings, job-posting drafts, or other records that could reveal why it rejected Andrew’s homeschool diploma – and why it changed the written job requirements after excluding him. If Fremont treated Andrew unfairly because he was homeschooled, the public deserves to know how and why that decision was made. And we will hold them accountable so that this can’t ever happen to another homeschooler again,” added Moelker, who included a link to ACLJ’s Sept. 28 litigation hold letter addressed to Travis Jacott of the Adams & Sullivan law firm in Papillon.

The ACLJ’s September 28 litigation hold letter can be found here.

“State educational authorities have recognized that students who complete Nebraska’s homeschool pathway earn the credential the law contemplates and do not need to obtain a GED. In fact, a letter from the state explicitly indicated that a GED would not be ‘appropriate or necessary’ for such graduates,” Moelker wrote.

A city council member who had been corresponding with The Plains Sentinel prior to learning about the ACLJ letter now has expressed to The Plains Sentinel that his earlier emails may be considered “a potential liability to the city’s legal position.”

As The Plains Sentinel previously reported, the city of Fremont says that under its existing employment policy, Coates was not qualified for the firefighter opening due to a lack of a high school diploma from an accredited high school.

ACLJ’s news announcement Tuesday comes hours ahead of a city council meeting where a resolution to revise the city’s policy is to be debated and voted on.

In a “staff report” appended to that resolution in the meeting agenda document, city officials noted that “Without widely acknowledged standards or measurement, there is no standardized diploma or certificate to show the level of academic achievement for those completing exempt or approved education. Given that fact, the City of Fremont has elected not to consider applicants without an accredited high school diploma or G.E.D. (high school equivalency), citing potential liability risks in hiring individuals without education ‘certification’.”

Nonetheless, the report added, “In both the public and private sectors, it is common for all lawfully issued high school diplomas to be given equal footing, especially given the many examples of exempt and approved school graduates going on to high levels of academic and professional achievement.”

“Beyond our hiring process, there are other options to manage risk,” the staff reported added. “Those would include but are certainly not limited to: probationary employment, annual performance reviews, basic competency testing, skills training, prior training, prior experience and skills testing.”

“The purpose of this resolution is to revise our current HR hiring policy to acknowledge and accept lawfully issued high school diplomas to fulfill high school-level education requirements for city jobs,” the report concluded.

Yet it is precisely that staff report which the ACLJ picks up on in its letter to the city attorney as a crucial indicator of potential discrimination.

“The City Council is considering proposed Resolution No. 2026-256, which would accept graduates of non-accredited schools, including Nebraska Rule 13 exempt schools and Rule 14 approved schools, as satisfying high-school-level minimum qualifications for City employment, including civil-service positions. The accompanying staff report describes alternative means of managing hiring risk, including probationary employment, performance reviews, competency testing, skills training, and consideration of prior training and experience,” noted Nathan Moelker, joined on the letter by his ACLJ colleagues Lindsey Bachman and Benjamin Sisney, as well as local Fremont counsel Shane J. Placek of SidnerLaw.

“Fremont never determined whether Mr. Coates was qualified. It prevented him from taking the written examination, physical-agility test, interviews, and other competitive steps because it rejected the credential produced by his religious education,” observed Moelker.

The Plains Sentinel has reached out to the Fremont city clerk as well as Jacott’s law firm for comment.

Fremont Changes Policy Ahead of Lawsuit

On Tuesday evening, the Fremont City Council voted unanimously to reverse its policy and allow homeschool diplomas from applicants. Dozens of homeschool families attended the late night meeting to express their frustration with the city over its initial decision.

Multiple Fremont council members told The Plains Sentinel the policy correction was necessary because its HR Director Jennifer McDuffee refused to act as soon as the possibility of litigation was mentioned.

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Coates’ father, Seth Coates, spoke during public comment at the meeting and signaled that the family was not done fighting for answers from the city.

“Changing a policy going forward does not answer what happened in the past. It does not erase the decisions that were made and does not answer why citizens spent months asking questions without getting meaningful answers. And it does not repair trust simply because a new policy is adopted. A policy can change with a vote. Trust takes something more.”

An investigation by The Plains Sentinel found that Seth Coates had appealed nearly half a dozen times to the city council with no action being taken until his son’s situation became a national news story.

— Ken Shepherd is a freelance reporter with The Plains Sentinel. He is a former editor at Fox News Digital and the Washington Times.

(Picture credit The Vince Show)

Vice President JD Vance spoke on the Vince Coglianese show Tuesday and said he and President Trump have been wargaming how to get the SAVE America Act passed.

“Could I assume the chair of the Senate and fire the parliamentarian? Yes, I could,” Vance said. “You have to ask the question — ‘What does that get you?’ So, let’s just play this out, and trust me, we’ve played it out internally with a lot of great people, including the president of the United States.”

“So I take over the chair, I fire the parliamentarian, and what happens? Four or five Republicans, at least, and maybe ten Republicans — they join the Democrats to then overrule the new chair, which is the vice president of the United States. The point is there is no shortcut.”

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The vice president’s comments come as the party’s conservative base has expressed frustration over the Senate’s inability to pass the SAVE Act. Earlier this summer, Trump called on Senate Majority Leader John Thune to fire the parliamentarian to get the bill passed.

The Senate parliamentarian, Elizabeth MacDonough, has ruled that the SAVE Act does not fit the requirements to be in a budget reconciliation package, which only needs a simple majority to pass. Instead, the bill would need 60 votes to break the Senate’s filibuster — Republicans only have 53 Senate seats.

The SAVE Act, which stands for Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act, contains provisions to move voter registration standards nationwide, including requiring Americans to show proof of citizenship when registering to vote in federal elections. The bill would also limit mail-in voting in future elections.

Vance singled out four Republican senators he said were standing in the way of the bill’s passage.

“Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, Thom Tillis, Lisa Murkowski,” he said. “There’s your four. They overrule the vice president. You have a fun little ceremonial battle that you lose. We are actually interested in winning the battle, which means replacing mediocre Republicans senators with good Republican senators.

— John Gage is the executive editor of The Plains Sentinel.