By Erin Bamer | Reporter
A ballot initiative campaign seeking to enact a total abortion ban in Nebraska failed to submit signed petitions to the Secretary of State’s Office by deadline, and will not be on the 2026 ballot.
Absentee ballots are prepared to be mailed at the Wake County Board of Elections on Sept. 17, 2024, in Raleigh, North Carolina. North Carolina will send out absentee ballots to military and overseas citizens by Sept. 20. Other absentee ballots will be sent by Sept. 24 to voters who requested ballots by mail. Early voting begins Oct. 17. (Allison Joyce/Getty Images)
ELECTION 2026
By Juan Salinas II
LINCOLN — A ballot initiative that would have asked Nebraska voters to add a total ban on abortions to the state’s constitution will not be on the November ballot after failing to submit signatures needed.
Nebraska’s 3rd Congressional District nonpartisan candidate Macey Budke. (Courtesy of Macey Budke campaign’s facebook page)
ELECTION 2026
By Juan Salinas II
LINCOLN — Nebraska’s 3rd Congressional District nonpartisan candidate Macey Budke will run a write-in campaign, she announced Tuesday.
A player holds Nebraska Lottery tickets in his car. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
By Cindy Gonzalez
LINCOLN — The latest quarterly share of Nebraska-sold Scratch and Lotto game tickets, $9.6 million, has been distributed to entities including the state fair and an environmental trust fund.
Fire crests a hill and approaches houses on the north side of Lake McConaughy, just west of the Lake McConaughy dam, looking north in March 2026. (Courtesy of Jake Wyatt/Nebraska Rural Radio Association)
PUBLIC SAFETY
By Zach Wendling
LINCOLN — President Donald Trump issued a federal disaster declaration for damage resulting from major wildfires this spring that burned more than 821,000 acres combined.
(Photo via Getty Images)
D.C. BUREAU
By Amelia Twyman
WASHINGTON — Members of a U.S. House Education and Workforce subcommittee found rare common ground scrutinizing private equity’s stake in youth sports at a Tuesday hearing.
A 911 decal on a Montgomery County, Md., Police Department cruiser. Maryland is among the states that have adopted new laws aimed at supporting first responders’ mental health. (Photo by Amanda Watford/Stateline)
HEALTH
By Amanda Watford
More states this year have looked beyond traditional counseling and medication to help first responders cope with post-traumatic stress.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is currently finalizing a rule that would allow public housing authorities and property owners who participate in federal housing voucher programs to impose work requirements and time limits on aid recipients. (Photo courtesy of HUD Office of Public Affairs)
HOUSING
By Robbie Sequeira
Dozens of public housing authorities, tribes, property owners and community groups have joined a new coalition organized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to promote work requirements and time limits for people who receive federal housing help.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Omaha Inland Port Authority gains property for ‘innovation district’ | Cindy Gonzalez
Nebraska Secretary of State calls RNC lawsuit ‘a little baffling’ | Juan Salinas II
COMMENTARY
OPINION: The Supreme Court headline is not what you think | George Ayoub
EDITOR'S CHOICE
Nebraskans say rising rent costs are a major stressor | Noelle Annonen
Party fever: Another new political party emerges in Nebraska | Juan Salinas II
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