By Zach Wendling | Reporter
“What we’re finding is that, although Nebraska really looks like an affordable place to rent, if you just look at the sticker price, that is a much more complicated picture when you start to look at what people are actually earning in our state,” - Catherine Harvey, senior policy manager at the Urban Institute.
Chuck Martens does landscaping at his apartment complex in Omaha to afford rent. (Noelle Annonen/Nebraska Public Media News)
HOUSING
By Noelle Annonen, Nebraska Public Media News
When Chuck Martens could no longer afford his rent, he came up with a solution. He negotiated with his landlords to swap his labor for a rent reduction. Now Martens does landscape work for his Omaha apartment complex. Seven days a week, he mows the grass, collects trash and wields a leaf blower. Hedge trimming is his favorite.
Nebraska legislative, executive and judicial branch employees joined on the front steps of the Nebraska State Capitol on Thursday, June 25, 2026, donning red, white and blue in the shape of Nebraska and an homage to the American flag ahead of the United States’ 250th birthday. (Photo courtesy of the Office of the Capitol Commission)
ICYMI
By Zach Wendling and Cindy Gonzalez
LINCOLN — Judges, lawmakers and Nebraskans representing all three branches of government converged on the steps of the State Capitol Thursday to form a human American flag shaped in the likeness of their home state.
U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., looks on as Congressional Black Caucus Chair Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., speaks during a news conference in front of the U.S. Capitol on May 19, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)
D.C. BUREAU
By David Lightman
WASHINGTON — The long, often agonizing struggle for Black political clout in Washington faces a new, uncertain and potentially troublesome chapter.
(Illustration by Alex Cochran for Stateline)
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
By Kevin Hardy and Jonathan Shorman
Democrats are seizing the mantle of states’ rights to oppose the agenda of President Donald Trump, who has sought to reset Washington’s relationship with the states.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Pillen signs off on medical cannabis regulations | Zach Wendling
Scooter’s Coffee working on new Nebraska distribution center | Cindy Gonzalez
COMMENTARY
EDITOR'S CHOICE
Party fever: Another new political party emerges in Nebraska | Juan Salinas II
Omaha Airport Business Park project gets its first tenant | Cindy Gonzalez
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