By Erin Bamer | Reporter

“We’re here to see if we can’t make life better for these kids that come home with traumatic brain injuries and other kinds of injuries that mean they’re unable to care for themselves and oh, by the way, they no longer have a caregiver.” - U.S. Army Lt. Gen. John Sylvester of Texas, at a groundbreaking ceremony for Omaha’s Dunham House.

A dedication event for the Dunham House in Omaha, a long-term assisted living facility for veterans severely maimed in combat, kicked off Friday with a flag ceremony. The 30-unit residential complex is in the background. (Photo by Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)

GOVERNMENT & POLITICS

By Cindy Gonzalez

OMAHA — The scene was seared into John Folsom’s mind.

On a visit to Bethesda Naval Hospital around 2010, he met a young soldier severely brain-damaged by a war device that exploded near his head during a mission in Iraq.

Petition pages reviewed by local county election officials and returned to the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Office sit in the office for public inspection at the office’s Elections Division in downtown Lincoln on Aug. 24, 2026. (Photo by Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

COMMENTARY

By George Ayoub

If you’re going to the polls — highly recommended in a democracy that prides itself on representative government — take note of a couple of recent developments. Not items on which to vote but rather on what you can cast your “yea” or “nay” and how safe it is after that. Who knew in the 250th year of this political and social journey that — without proof of any real problem with elections — we’d be choosing up sides about their processes?

Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen announces the finalization and certification of the candidates and issues that will be advanced to voters at the Nov. 5, 2024, general election. Sept. 13, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)

ICYMI

By Zach Wendling

LINCOLN — Nebraska Secretary of State Bob Evnen has officially finalized Nebraska’s fall 2026 ballot, closing a chapter on a lawsuit-heavy, winding path toward certification.

An analysis found more than 2 million voters cast mail ballots in Michigan in 2024. Nearly half came from Democrats, while Republicans sent 39%, a difference of about 200,000 votes in Democrats’ favor. In this photo, voters in Grand Rapids, Michigan, cast their ballots during the state’s August 2024 primary. (Photo by Matt Vasilogambros/Stateline)

D.C. BUREAU

By Jacob Fischler

President Donald Trump has, at times, justified his campaign against mail-in voting in explicitly partisan terms, claiming Republicans’ electoral chances hinge on whether the practice is allowed.

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