By Erin Bamer | Reporter
“He is no clear Democrat, at least no Democrat I can relate to … His sudden claim to care about Democratic voters being disenfranchised is clearly suspect considering a lawsuit of this kind could disenfranchise the very coalition that rejected Mr. Forbes.” - Nebraska Democratic Party executive director Precious McKesson, on William Forbes.
Nebraska Democratic Party Chair Jane Kleeb speaks during a press conference in Lincoln on July 29, 2026. (Photo by Juan Salinas II/Nebraska Examiner)
ELECTION 2026
By Juan Salinas II
LINCOLN — Nebraska Democratic Party leaders called William Forbes a DINO – a Democrat in name only – while vowing to fight his lawsuit aiming to force them to find a replacement for former Democratic U.S. Senate nominee Cindy Burbank after she dropped out of the race.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins speaks with officials who had been fighting Nebraska wildfires in March 2026. (Courtesy of USDA, via Ag Secretary Brooke Rollins’ X post)
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
By Zach Wendling
LINCOLN — U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins has approved another disaster declaration for 13 Nebraska counties due to drought, bringing the total number of counties covered by a USDA declaration for drought conditions this year to 86 of 93 counties.
Demonstrators chant and hold signs outside U.S. Supreme Court on April 29, 2026 in Washington, D.C. The court heard arguments challenging the termination of Temporary Protected Status for immigrants. (Photo by Tom Brenner/Getty Images)
IMMIGRATION
By Ariana Figueroa
WASHINGTON — U.S. Maryland Democratic Sen. Chris Van Hollen Wednesday tried to advance in the Senate a bill that would create a legal pathway for immigrants with Temporary Protected Status.
Brandi Swindell, founder and CEO of the Stanton Healthcare network, examines items waiting to be given out to new mothers in the storeroom at the flagship crisis pregnancy center in Meridian, Idaho. Stanton, which unlike many other centers has a medical accreditation, offers traditional crisis pregnancy center services as well as free medical services including limited obstetric ultrasounds and sexually transmitted infection testing and treatment. (Otto Kitsinger for States Newsroom)
ABORTION POLICY
By Sofia Resnick
The auditors trying to learn how a dozen crisis pregnancy centers in Louisiana had spent nearly $1.2 million ultimately could not figure it out.
Despite a new law, the state had failed to establish a process for the centers or to track how they spent taxpayer dollars. That was surprising enough, auditors said. But then they learned something else: Every center they reviewed offered ultrasounds and other medical services. Yet none was licensed as a healthcare facility.
U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., is shown on a monitor as Dr. Anthony Fauci, left, testifies before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee on July 29, 2026 in Washington, D.C. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
D.C. BUREAU
By Jennifer Shutt
WASHINGTON — Dr. Anthony Fauci, one of the nation’s most visible public health officials during the coronavirus pandemic, declined to answer questions from a U.S. Senate committee in a tense and confrontational hearing Wednesday, citing his Fifth Amendment rights.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Ricketts outraises Osborn in Nebraska US Senate race | Juan Salinas II
COMMENTARY
EDITOR'S CHOICE
Douglas County sees continued rise in cyclospora infections | Cindy Gonzalez
Loser of Nebraska Democratic US Senate primary sues party | Juan Salinas II
Omaha moviemaker says state-funded film venture is paralyzed | Cindy Gonzalez
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