By Zach Wendling | Reporter
“It’s a model that is good for the developer and equally as good for smaller communities where having housing development inside the city limits is really really important.” — Phil Green, Blair city administrator.
The Bear Creek residential subdivision is to rise on this roughly 40-acre tract in Blair, Nebraska. McCune Development is working on the effort with D.R. Horton home builder. It is expected to be the first Nebraska project designated a “Community Improvement District” under a new law intended to make homeownership more affordable to first-time buyers. Left is Jason Thiellen of E&A Consulting Group who also is president of Welcome Home Coalition, a nonprofit who helped push for the CID Act, along with Blair City Administrator Phil Green. (Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)
HOUSING
By Cindy Gonzalez
BLAIR, Nebraska — For about three years, Jason Thiellen of E&A Consulting Group watched client after client turn down the prospect of developing a housing subdivision on a tract of land near the Walmart in this town of about 8,000 people.
Commissioners on the Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission during an April 13, 2026, meeting. From left, Commissioners Bud Synhorst of Lincoln, Jim Elworth of Nebraska City, Lorelle Mueting of Gretna (interim chair) and J. Michael Coffey of Omaha. All but Mueting also serve on the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
ENVIRONMENT & AGRICULTURE
By Zach Wendling
LINCOLN — The Nebraska Medical Cannabis Commission cleared the way Monday for the first state-licensed cultivator to put marijuana plants in the ground, while another is taking steps to fight a local zoning decision.
The backroom of the Lancaster County Election Commission office on April, 24. 2026. (Juan Salinas II/Nebraska Examiner)
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
By Juan Salinas II
LINCOLN — The Republican National Committee and two Nebraska voters have filed a lawsuit against Nebraska over a part of state election law that was meant to implement a 2009 federal election law.
Nebraska U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts at the Lincoln’s Country Club in Lincoln on June 12, 2026. (Juan Salinas II/Nebraska Examiner)
ELECTION 2026
By Juan Salinas II
LINCOLN — The Nebraska Fraternal Order of Police has endorsed Nebraska U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts in his race against registered nonpartisan candidate Dan Osborn.
Registered nonpartisan U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn speaking in Lincoln on June 11, 2026. (Juan Salinas II/Nebraska Examiner)
ICYMI
By Juan Salinas II
LINCOLN — Nebraska might have nonpartisan fever. This midterm cycle has seen an increase in nonpartisan — independent — candidates running in partisan races across the state.
Nebraska and other states have considered legislation to regulate artificial intelligence. Image created using Canva. (Courtesy of Cassie Mallette/University of Nebraska at Omaha)
COMMENTARY
By George Ayoub
How refreshing it was listening to a trio of bright, buoyant speeches last week, two from the opening of the Obama Presidential Center and Museum, where the former president and Michelle Obama spoke, and one from New York City, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani welcomed the NBA champion New York Knicks to the Big Apple’s city hall.
A fast food restaurant advertises jobs on the first day of summer. The Economic Policy Institute found a handful of states that eased labor laws for teenagers during this year’s legislative sessions. (Photo by Robbie Sequeira/Stateline)
LABOR & GROWTH
By Robbie Sequeira
For some teenagers across the country, the summer is the first opportunity to gain work experience for their nascent resume.
Voting at the Portland Expo in Maine’s June 9, 2026 primary election. (Photo by Jim Neuger/Maine Morning Star)
D.C. BUREAU
By Robbie Sequeira
The Trump administration illegally overhauled a U.S. Department of Homeland Security computer program in its hunt for noncitizen voters, a judge ruled Monday in a stinging decision that laid into federal officials for violating the privacy of millions of Americans.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Planned grocery store aims to feed, uplift Omaha’s Black community | Cindy Gonzalez
Woman’s flair enters history-filled ‘Lawyers Room’ at Capitol | Cindy Gonzalez
Regents vote to increase NU tuition by 4.25% | Zach Wendling
COMMENTARY
OPINION: Rising childcare costs strain Nebraska family budgets, reduce business output | Katie Bass, Sara Brady
EDITOR'S CHOICE
Omaha Community Foundation in talks about Nebraska Medicine | Zach Wendling
Nebraska AG suing Lincoln over minimum wage ordinance | Juan Salinas II
Women legislators say federal bill jeopardizes rideshare safety | Zach Wendling
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