By Erin Bamer | Reporter
“I do regret those words. I apologize to the people at Red Cloud … They shouldn’t have been said.” - U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn, at a town hall referring to an audio leak in which he spoke about a hypothetical Red Cloud resident as a Trump supporter.
A sign of Red Cloud on Oct. 1, 2026 in Red Cloud. (Juan Salinas II/Nebraska Examiner)
ELECTION 2026
By Juan Salinas II
RED CLOUD — A small, quiet Nebraska town near the Kansas border was home to the famous 20th-century writer Willa Cather.
The town has the Willa Cather Center, dedicated to preserving materials related to her life and writing. Red Cloud has several historical landmarks connected to Cather, including her childhood home — the largest collection of historic sites dedicated to one American author in the country.
It has an opera house, a bowling alley, an art gallery, a winery, a golf course and a pharmacy that serves smoothies and coffee. But this town of fewer than 1,000 people was shoved into the national spotlight by a bitter Nebraska Senate race between incumbent Republican Sen. Pete Ricketts and registered independent candidate Dan Osborn after an audio leak, first reported by the Omaha World-Herald, in which Osborn spoke about a hypothetical Red Cloud resident as a Trump supporter.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, front, is briefed on heavy rain and severe flooding in northern Lancaster County that occurred the night before on Oct. 1, 2026. (Photo courtesy of Office of Gov. Jim Pillen)
ENVIRONMENT & AGRICULTURE
By Zach Wendling
LINCOLN — Southeast Nebraska is under a state of emergency following heavy rain and severe flooding as state officials assess damage to potentially apply for federal support.
Nebraska Public Employees Retirement Board members (from left to right): Jake Curtiss, Patrick Bourne, Gerald Clausen and Janis Elliott at a special board meeting Sept. 30, 2026. (Erin Bamer/Nebraska Examiner)
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
By Erin Bamer
LINCOLN — A special meeting of the Nebraska Public Employees Retirement Board ended with several unanswered questions about the sudden resignation of the agency’s latest executive director, as well as who will replace him.
State Sen. Steve Erdman of Bayard testifies on behalf of Legislative Bill 16 and a pair of constitutional amendments to create and codify the EPIC option consumption tax Wednesday, July 31, 2024, in Lincoln. (Aaron Sanderford/Nebraska Examiner)
COMMENTARY
By Steve Erdman
I read with interest John Cannon’s recent commentary in the Examiner. As noted in his information, Cannon is the director and lobbyist for NACO — the Nebraska Association of County Officials. During my eight years in the Legislature, I cannot recall a single instance in which NACO supported any property‑tax‑relief legislation I introduced to provide property tax relief in Nebraska.
The Omaha-Douglas County Civic Center is the headquarters of city and county government. (Courtesy of Douglas County GIS)
ICYMI
By Cindy Gonzalez
OMAHA — The Douglas County Board on Thursday announced that it sees no allegations of criminal wrongdoing in a state auditor’s probe of a county program that serves the poor, despite the sheriff’s call for a law enforcement investigation.
Officers from the Tennessee Highway Patrol and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security at a traffic stop in Memphis in October, 2025. (Photo by John Partipilo/Tennessee Lookout)
D.C. BUREAU
By Ariana Figueroa
WASHINGTON — This summer, arrests of immigrants in the United States soared to the highest levels since President Donald Trump returned to office.
An unprecedented increase in cooperation between local and state law enforcement and federal immigration officers through collaborations known as 287(g) agreements helped drive numbers up.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
COMMENTARY
EDITOR'S CHOICE
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