Governor Jim Pillen has issued a state of emergency for a wildfire in Sioux County. Pillen declared the Corkscrew Road Fire southwest of Crawford as an emergency Tuesday. The fire began on July 10th and was ignited and fueled by high winds and dry conditions. The declaration allows the use of the governor's emergency fund to help cover the costs associated with responding to the fire.
Nebraska is joining 48 states and territories in a settlement with a drugmaker. Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers' office says Glenmark settled with the states and territories for 29-point-six-million-dollars.Glenmark was accused of manipulating and artificially inflating prices for generic drugs. Nebraska will receive 128-thousand-dollars through the settlement.
The Nebraska Department of Transportation is releasing June crash data. Twenty-one-people died in crashes on Nebraska roads in June. Officials say 12 of the deaths were in rural areas, and six of the victims were not wearing seatbelts.
The Stephen Center's HERO Recovery Center in Omaha is reopened. The center reopened yesterday following a renovation of its 64-bed residential treatment program. Outpatient services have also been expanded. The renovations include new trauma-informed spaces to provide a more comfortable environment.
No one is injured after a fire at an abandoned Omaha golf course. Crews were dispatched to a reported bush fire at the former Sunset Valley Golf Club Tuesday night. OFD said the former clubhouse was fully engulfed when they arrived. The building suffered severe structural damage as a result. The incident remains under investigation.
Iowa's new Medicaid Fraud Elimination Task Force had its first meeting on Wednesday. Governor Kim Reynolds established the eleven-member task force by executive order July 1 and appointed Iowa Attorney General Brenna Bird as its chair. The goal is to bring together leadership from state departments, law enforcement, and care organizations to prevent Medicaid fraud. Members will submit a statewide strategy for rooting out waste, fraud, and abuse of Medicaid funds by the end of October.
Iowa is getting almost $430-thousand-dollars of a multi-million-dollar settlement from 23andMe. Iowa is one of 42 states that filed a lawsuit accusing 23andMe of unreasonable data security practices that led to a data breach in 2023.The breach compromised genetic data for almost seven-million customers globally.