By Erin Bamer | Reporter
“We can’t work. We can’t do post production. We haven’t been able to pay anybody — we are still in suspension.” - Randy J. Goodwin, on the status of a state-funded project to create at least three Nebraska film and TV programs in qualified low-income census tracts.
Founder Randy J. Goodwin stands in Fallen Giant Films Omaha headquarters. He wrote a script for “The Father’s Fight” movie about a mixed martial artist who lost everything. Goodwin, shown in the poster, would have a star role but he said the project stalled along with a $5 million state grant to the company. (Photo by Cindy Gonzalez/Nebraska Examiner)
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
By Cindy Gonzalez
OMAHA — Randy J. Goodwin sits alone these days at Fallen Giant Films headquarters, a space rented with state dollars that stretches across much of the 11th floor of a trendy midtown Omaha highrise.
Gov. Jim Pillen ceremonially signs LB 1096 alongside FBI Special Agent in Charge Eugene Kowel, state Sen. Eliot Bostar of Lincoln, CEO of the Long Term Strategy Group Jackie Deal, and CEO of State Armor Michael Lucci. (Erin Bamer/Nebraska Examiner)
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
By Erin Bamer
LINCOLN — Gov. Jim Pillen celebrated the passage of the latest legislation in his effort to increase protections against U.S. foreign adversaries in a ceremonial bill signing Friday.
The 2026 NCSL Legislative Summit will bring together state lawmakers and legislative staff from the 50 states and U.S. territories from July 27-29 in Chicago. (Photo by Leontura/Getty Images)
COMMENTARY
By Tim Storey, Sue Urahn
Like two sides of a coin imprinted with the nation’s motto, “e pluribus unum” — out of many, one — America’s political factions are cast in opposition, but they are intrinsically bound together as parts of a larger whole.
High school students unlock magnetic locking pouches containing their phones after class with a newly established a phone-free policy in 2024. After the success of cellphone bans nationwide, state lawmakers are turning to legislation restricting how much time students can look at screen. (Alixel Cabrera/Utah News Dispatch)
EDUCATION
By Robbie Sequeira
After school cellphone bans passed many statehouses with bipartisan support in recent legislative sessions, state lawmakers are turning to legislation governing how long students should spend looking at screens.
Federal agents on patrol in Minneapolis, Minnesota in January. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)
IMMIGRATION
By Jacob Fischler
Three people who observed federal immigration enforcement during the Trump administration’s sometimes-violent surge said in a federal lawsuit filed Friday the Department of Homeland Security illegally recorded them and revoked their status in the department’s trusted traveler programs.
In this handout provided by Hennepin County Sheriff’s Office, Vance Luther Boelter poses for a booking photo on June 16, 2025 in Green Isle, Minnesota.
GOVERNMENT & POLITICS
By Michelle Griffith
Melissa and Mark Hortman were killed in less than 30 seconds on June 14, 2025, in a shocking act of political violence.
But their quick deaths are of no comfort to their son, Colin Hortman, who on Thursday told a federal judge that he falls asleep every night picturing a waterfall of blood flowing down the stairs of his childhood home in Brooklyn Park. It’s the same image he awakens to.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Nebraska sees sharp drop in participation in public food aid | Cindy Gonzalez
Denise Powell outraises Brinker Harding in NE-02 race | Juan Salinas II
Pillen announces 28 picks for statewide opportunity zones | Cindy Gonzalez
COMMENTARY
EDITOR'S CHOICE
Husker legend Tom Osborne inducted into Nebraska Hall of Fame | Zach Wendling
Douglas County sees spike in cyclospora infections | Cindy Gonzalez
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