By Erin Bamer | Reporter
“Families should be able to count on SNAP to help meet their basic needs without facing uncertainty about what foods they can purchase, and grocery stores and small businesses across the state that accept SNAP benefits deserve the same clarity.” - Ken Smith, Nebraska Appleseed Economic Justice Program director.
A sign in a convenience store in Hyattsville, Maryland, advertises that it accepts SNAP benefits. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
HEALTH
By Juan Salinas II
LINCOLN — A federal judge ruled Monday to end a Nebraska pilot program that restricts the use of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program — SNAP — money to purchase soda and energy drinks.
A look at the quarantine unit inside the Davis Global Center on the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus in Omaha. (Courtesy of UNMC)
HEALTH
By Cindy Gonzalez
OMAHA — Empty, at least for now, is the Omaha-based National Quarantine Unit that for six weeks hosted American cruise ship passengers exposed to a deadly hantavirus.
A lawsuit led by Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers, a Republican, alleges that California’s single-use plastics law will drive up consumer costs. (Photo by Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
By Nada Hassanein
Seventeen Republican attorneys general have sued California over a state law that requires plastic packaging producers to move away from single-use plastics, alleging that the law will raise costs for consumers across the country.
The U.S. Capitol on April 9, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
D.C. BUREAU
By Ashley Murray
WASHINGTON — The Republican-led U.S. Senate served up a rare public check on President Donald Trump’s agenda Tuesday when it voted to approve a House-passed War Powers Resolution to end hostilities in Iran.
An observer is detained by ICE agents after they arrested two people from a residence on Jan. 13, 2026 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. (Photo by Stephen Maturen/Getty Images)
D.C. BUREAU
By Ariana Figueroa
WASHINGTON — An appeals court Tuesday cleared the way for the Trump administration to use fast-track deportations within the interior of the country and not just at the Southern border, a key pillar in the president’s mass deportation campaign.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen greets State Sen. Ben Hansen of Blair on the final day of the 2026 legislative session. April 17, 2026. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
By Andrew Wegley, Flatwater Free Press
For more than two years, Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen did not make or take a single call on his cellphone while on the clock as the state’s chief executive — at least none that there is any record of, according to his office’s top attorney.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
New state law expected to prompt more affordable housing | Cindy Gonzalez
RNC sues Nebraska over state election law | Juan Salinas II
Commission OKs legal planting of marijuana in Nebraska | Zach Wendling
COMMENTARY
EDITOR'S CHOICE
Why are there so many independent candidates in Nebraska? | Juan Salinas II
Regents vote to increase NU tuition by 4.25% | Zach Wendling
Planned grocery store aims to feed, uplift Omaha’s Black community | Cindy Gonzalez
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