February 5, 2018

House panel rejects anti-newspaper bills

State lawmakers blocked attempts Thursday to cut the guts from South Dakota’s law that makes local governments and school boards publish minutes from their meetings in local newspapers.

Twice the House Local Government Committee voted 11-1, first against HB 1141, then against HB 1142, in another battle of a long war over South Dakota publication laws.

The latest incident flamed up in November, when the corporate owner of weekly newspapers at Belle Fourche and Sturgis locked their doors with one week of notice.

Just as suddenly, Butte County and most of Meade County were without a newspaper.

The Black Hills Pioneer stepped up and hired three more reporters to help fill the gap. But payments to the Pioneer for putting meeting minutes in the paper cover only part of the additional costs, publisher Letitia Lister told the committee.

Read more: http://www.capjournal.com/news/house-panel-rejects-anti-newspaper-bills/article_77e873dc-07e0-11e8-8bc9-f3decb421a9d.html

February 5, 2018

Push starts in South Dakota Legislature for casino on Nebraska border

PIERRE, S.D. — Supporters of a proposed casino and entertainment complex in Yankton are betting it would help their community and bring in millions of dollars for the state, but first they need South Dakota lawmakers to put a constitutional amendment on the November ballot.

A measure introduced Wednesday at the Capitol would ask voters to allow a nonprofit group to have a gaming license in the southeastern South Dakota city. Former state Sen. Bernie Hunhoff, a Port Yankton project supporter, said the community wants an opportunity to compete with Nebraska and Iowa for tourists, conventions and working families.

Yankton is 60 miles north of Norfolk on U.S. 81.

"Port Yankton will allow us to use gaming to produce all sorts of amenities and quality-of-life benefits that our city of 15,000 just can't afford otherwise," Hunhoff said.

Read more: http://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/nebraska/push-starts-in-south-dakota-legislature-for-casino-on-nebraska/article_52c2ad72-02f3-57f1-96fd-e512d0574db5.html

February 5, 2018

Repeal of individual mandate could raise Nebraska premiums

Nebraska residents could see their health insurance premiums spike in future years now that Congress has gutted the legal requirement to purchase coverage, but advocates say it's too early to know how much prices could rise.

The individual mandate was effectively repealed under the Republican congressional tax plan signed by President Donald Trump, who called it "the core of disastrous Obamacare" in his State of the Union speech last week.

The mandate was a key part of the Affordable Care Act because it required all residents to buy coverage or pay a tax penalty. Congressional Republicans ended the tax penalty, rendering it toothless.

Nebraska groups that support the law said they're concerned that without the mandate, healthy people who help subsidize everyone's coverage will leave their plans, resulting in higher premiums for those who remain.

Read more: http://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/nebraska/repeal-of-individual-mandate-could-raise-nebraska-premiums/article_60a76be5-c636-542a-aeae-fd47692b9fb9.html#tracking-source=home-the-latest

February 5, 2018

Attorney blames hazing for Creighton student's attack

OMAHA — Hazing rituals at a fraternity share the blame for one student's attack on another, a defense attorney said this week.

Christopher Wheeler, 20, is charged with second-degree assault and weapon use on a female Creighton University student in February 2017.

Steve Lefler, Wheeler's attorney, acknowledged that Wheeler slashed the woman's neck with a knife. Lefler is seeking to include testimony regarding Phi Kappa Psi fraternity's hazing practices to illustrate how hazing influenced his client's actions.

Wheeler spent the hours before the assault drinking heavily with the fraternity as part of the group's hazing rituals, Lefler said. Wheeler walked into the woman's room at his residence hall and called her by the wrong name. The woman said he had the wrong person. Wheeler then turned and swung at her with a pocketknife.

Read more: http://journalstar.com/news/state-and-regional/nebraska/attorney-blames-hazing-for-creighton-student-s-attack/article_15255f75-d0e0-5fc2-9a70-818211de2118.html

February 5, 2018

Skinner to run for Nebraska auditor

An Omaha librarian plans to challenge incumbent state Auditor Charlie Janssen in the November election.

Jane Skinner, a Democrat, said Friday that she wants to be a “fresh set of eyes” in Lincoln.

She said she’s not sure what she would do differently from Janssen and she’s still learning about the office.

“It seems like it’s been held by a cadre of men for the last couple of years and I just want it to be different,” she said.

Read more: http://www.omaha.com/news/politics/omaha-librarian-jane-skinner-to-run-for-nebraska-auditor/article_94bc8eed-df80-5b62-96d3-14475a65b574.html

February 5, 2018

Legislature to hold hearing on Ricketts' plan to end funding for clinics that offer abortion-related

Legislature to hold hearing on Ricketts' plan to end funding for clinics that offer abortion-related services

LINCOLN — Abortion politics will once again be discussed alongside the state budget this week at the Nebraska Legislature.

In his state budget proposal, Gov. Pete Ricketts has recommended cutting off federal Title X funding to entities that perform, counsel or refer for abortion.

The budget-crafting Appropriations Committee will hold a public hearing on the governor’s proposed changes Monday.

Title X funds are used to pay for contraceptives, cervical cancer screenings, testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases and related services for low-income women and men.

Read more: http://www.omaha.com/news/legislature/legislature-to-hold-hearing-on-ricketts-plan-to-end-funding/article_2ad23204-b390-54cf-9197-91e60530b1d8.html

February 5, 2018

At meeting, Nebraska Democrats debate party leaders' role in primaries

Divisions in the Nebraska Democratic Party over how to recover from the 2016 presidential election led to a dispute at the organization’s state central committee meeting Saturday.

The matter at hand was whether party officials should be allowed to take sides in Democrat-versus-Democrat elections.

The committee held a contentious debate and ultimately approved a nonbinding resolution that suggests the state party chairwoman, county party chairs and staff not take sides in such elections.

The vote came as Douglas County Democratic Party Chairwoman Crystal Rhoades has been criticized for supporting Kara Eastman over Brad Ashford in the 2nd Congressional District Democratic primary. Her husband, Ben Onkka, is also Eastman’s campaign manager.

Two sponsors of the resolution, Stephanie Matejka and Scott Williams, said they didn’t intend to target Rhoades but they pointed to frustration that the national party in 2016 supported Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders in the primary.

Read more: http://www.omaha.com/news/politics/at-meeting-nebraska-democrats-debate-party-leaders-role-in-primaries/article_a4c49a7b-c556-569f-84e2-815d516248c5.html

February 5, 2018

Supreme Court judge resigned after ethics complaint; sexual comments emerge

Nebraska Supreme Court Judge Max Kelch’s abrupt resignation last month came in the face of an ethics investigation, two officials told The World-Herald.

The officials wouldn’t discuss details, but one said the allegations against Kelch are in line with the national #MeToo movement that has resulted in resignations of actors, politicians, business executives and judges over questions of sexual misconduct. Attorneys and former colleagues — including two women — told The World-Herald that Kelch’s judicial career has been pocked with sexual comments to women.

Kelch, 60, resigned Jan. 23 — less than two years after his appointment to the bench — rather than undergo an inquiry, according to the officials.

Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts was unaware of any complaints or allegations against Kelch before his appointment to the Supreme Court in March 2016, said Taylor Gage, the governor’s spokesman.

Read more: http://www.omaha.com/townnews/law/supreme-court-judge-resigned-after-ethics-complaint-sexual-comments-emerge/article_7131f80e-9fbd-5ecd-be6f-6cbd74c0a831.html

February 4, 2018

Kansas House advances bill lowering age for concealed weapons to 18

The Kansas House voted to adopt legislation Friday lowering the minimum age for carrying concealed weapons to 18 and mandating only people with a permit could legally bringing hidden firearms onto state university and college campuses.

The bill sent to the Senate on a vote of 76-44 included a requirement Kansas begin recognizing conceal-carry licenses and permits issued by other states. The reciprocity provision applies only to handguns and was endorsed by Attorney General Derek Schmidt.

Amendments to House Bill 2042 reducing the conceal-carry age limit from 21 and adding the permit provision for carrying on campus were work of the Republican-led House.

During debate Thursday, the House rejected an amendment by Rep. Barbara Ballard, D-Lawrence, to grant college and university officials authority to ban concealed weapons from campus. State law says universities and colleges can forbid concealed weapons only in buildings with airport-style security, including guards and metal detectors.

Read more: http://www.cjonline.com/news/20180202/kansas-house-advances-bill-lowering-age-for-concealed-weapons-to-18

February 4, 2018

Cut to food sales tax up for debate in Kansas Senate committee

Kansas’ unusually high sales tax on groceries could come down as senators weigh a constitutional amendment aimed at easing prices for consumers and supporting grocery stores near the state’s borders.

According to KC Healthy Kids, Kansas’ 6.5 percent statewide sales tax is more than the four surrounding states charge.

The Senate Assessment and Taxation Committee considered a resolution Thursday that would allow voters to decide in November whether the state should lower food sales taxes to 4 percent in mid 2019 and 2 percent in mid 2020. The measure would have to pass the House and Senate with a two-thirds majority and get support from a simple majority of Kansas voters. Lowering the sales tax on groceries would cost the state $446 million over the next two fiscal years, according to the Kansas Department of Revenue.

Sen. Tom Holland, a Baldwin Democrat, brought the proposal. He and proponents argued Kansas’ food sales tax makes it difficult for families to afford groceries, making it difficult to eat nutritious food and putting Kansas businesses at a disadvantage.

Read more: http://www.cjonline.com/news/20180202/cut-to-food-sales-tax-up-for-debate-in-kansas-senate-committee