State health leaders are warning that a federal proposal to exclude nursing from the "professional degree" category could worsen nursing shortages. The rule limits nursing students' federal loans to half of the amount available for other professional degrees such as medicine and pharmacy. The Nebraska Hospital Association says more than five-thousand nurses are needed and instructor shortages between 10-to-20-percent are straining educational programs. The NHA and Nebraska Nurses Association are urging policymakers to reconsider the rule to protect the state's healthcare workforce.
The state's Supreme Court is hearing arguments in a dispute over the state's in-person requirement for government employees. This involves an executive order issued by Governor Pillen in 2023 directing most state employees to work on-site, with limited exceptions. The Nebraska Association of Public Employees contends that the state must bargain over the policy and challenged the award of 42-thousand-dollars in legal fees. State officials say the CIR correctly upheld management rights under the existing union contract.
The city of Omaha is working to keep college graduates in the area. The "We Make Omaha" program has created a 20-year plan to grow the city's population and keep young talent from leaving the state. An estimated 15-hundred college graduates leave Omaha each year, and the city is seeing its number of college graduates continuing to decline.
Omaha city officials are working to address fires at abandoned properties. Mayor John Ewing was joined by Omaha Fire Chief Kathy Bossman at a news conference yesterday after a recent fire at a building near Saddle Creek Road and Hamilton Street left three people injured. The Omaha Fire Department has investigated 35 fires at vacant buildings this year, and Bossman says some of them are started by people who are experiencing homelessness.
Members of the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission are working to finalize state regulations. A listening session was held yesterday with manufacturers as part of their monthly meeting. Only two growing licenses have been approved so far, with each grower planning up to 12-hundred-50 plants per harvest. Two other applicants appealed after falling short of the required score.
The University of Nebraska volleyball team is receiving postseason honors. Husker junior setter Bergen Reilly has been named the 2025 Big Ten Player of the Year and the 2025 Big Ten Setter of the Year. Nebraska head coach Dani Busboom Kelly was named the 2025 Big Ten Coach of the Year.