By Erin Bamer | Reporter
“Every supply chain is diesel-powered, from the ships that cross the ocean to the trains that haul commodities to the trucks that move 88% of the tonnage in the state of Nebraska …. So when the price of diesel is setting record levels, all of that is going to get into the pockets of you and me and everybody else.” - Nebraska Trucking Association CEO Kent Grisham, commenting on President Donald Trump’s executive order temporarily allowing use of untaxed red-dyed diesel.
President Donald Trump tosses the pen he used to sign a new executive order just moments before waiving federal taxes on red-dyed diesel during a 2026 midterms rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, at the Nebraska State Fairgrounds with thousands in attendance. At left is one of his aides, Natalie Harp. (Photo by Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
ENVIRONMENT & AGRICULTURE
By Cindy Gonzalez
LINCOLN — Sixth-generation Nebraska farmer John Hansen leaned into baseball lingo to describe his take on dual diesel directives by President Donald Trump and Gov. Jim Pillen. He compared the impact to a bunt single.
The swing was less than full and the outcome far from a home run, he said.
Former state Sen. Brett Lindstrom of Omaha, newly registered member of the America First Party, talks with reporters outside the Nebraska Secretary of State’s Election Division after filing paperwork to be the gubernatorial candidate for the new political party on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2026, in Lincoln. (Photo by Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
ELECTION 2026
By Zach Wendling
OMAHA — Former state Sen. Brett Lindstrom of Omaha twice petitioned this summer for the 2026 ballot for Nebraska governor. In an amended report Friday, he said he paid $16,000 for signature gathering.
Flags of the member states flying before the NATO headquarters Brussels, Belgium, circa 1970. Among the flags of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization members are (clockwise from left) Luxembourg, Iceland, Greece, Germany, France, Denmark, Canada, Belgium, NATO flag, United States, United Kingdom, Turkey, Portugal, Norway, and the Netherlands. (Pix/Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
COMMENTARY
By Jeanne Bourne
I first registered to vote on my 18th birthday. Perhaps many people do that, but my birthday is in June, and the next election was more than a year away. My interest in politics started long before then, and that is why I’m interested in the story of Nebraska’s Republican Party suing to prevent voting by U.S. citizens who have never lived in Nebraska.
A growing number of state officials fear prediction markets are opening the door to a new era of gambling on elections — a practice many states have long prohibited. In this photo, a voter casts a ballot during the March 3, 2026 primary in Little Rock, Arkansas. (Photo by Katie Adkins/Arkansas Advocate)
D.C. BUREAU
By Jonathan Shorman
On Friday morning, the prediction market platform Kalshi gave the Democratic candidate in Minnesota’s U.S. Senate race an 87% chance of winning. The volume of trading on the outcome exceeded $1.8 million.
This is exactly the type of activity Minnesota and numerous other states want to shut down.
Nebraska Tax Commissioner Jim Kamm, who leads the Nebraska Department of Revenue, at an inaugural public roundtable of Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen’s cabinet. April 20, 2026. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
ICYMI
By Zach Wendling
LINCOLN — The Nebraska Department of Revenue has confirmed it is the entity responsible for administering state and local sales taxes under state law as a state senator alleges wrongdoing by Lincoln city officials.
The state agency made the clarification Thursday in response to questions from the Nebraska Examiner. Local taxes are determined by some municipalities and a couple of counties, up to 2 cents per dollar. State sales taxes are set by the Legislature, currently at a 5.5-cent rate.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
COMMENTARY
Nebraska voters should ask better questions | Jesse E. Stanley
EDITOR'S CHOICE
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