By Joan von Kampen | Editor-in-chief
During his rally speech at Pinnacle Bank Expo Center in Grand Island, President Trump signed an executive order expanding access to tax-free red-dyed diesel, waiving the off-road requirement and allowing anyone to purchase it for any reason.
President Donald Trump headlines a 2026 midterms rally in Grand Island, Nebraska, on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, at the Nebraska State Fairgrounds with thousands in attendance. (Photo by Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
ELECTION 2026
By Juan Salinas II and Zach Wendling
GRAND ISLAND — President Donald Trump told the crowd in Grand Island Monday to pretend that he is on the ballot this November.
Trump, during his rally speech at Pinnacle Bank Expo Center, announced an executive order that allows anyone to use tax-free red-dyed diesel, waiving the off-road requirement and allowing anyone to purchase it for any reason.
Trump said the order should “assure” Nebraska Sen. Pete Ricketts and Gov. Jim Pillen of reelection.
Merchandise for sale on the Nebraska State Fairgrounds in Grand Island, Nebraska, on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, ahead of a campaign rally featuring President Donald Trump. (Photo by Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
ELECTION 2026
By Zach Wendling
“We’re very excited here in Grand Island,” state Sen. Loren Lippincott of Central City. “Not only do we have the State Fair, but then to be selected for a Trump rally is just absolutely spectacular. We are totally thrilled about it.”
A red cedar grows near Wauneta, Nebraska. (Getty Images via Grist)
ENVIRONMENT & AGRICULTURE
By Bekah Stolhandske McNeel
Shelly Kelly has spent her life on the prairies of the High Plains. As a child, she made bouquets of flowering grasses and hunted for mudpuppies in the interdunal buffalo wallows on her parents’ ranch. Now a rancher herself, she’s trying to preserve the landscape she loves against the usual suspects — overgrazing and overharvesting — and one surprising new threat: trees.
A shelf at The Holiday Market in Ashland, Nebraska, provides a glimpse of the store's cheerful offerings. The year-round market is one of 24 stops the Nebraska tourism commission selected to include in this year's Nebraska Holiday Passport program. (Courtesy of Holiday Market)
HOLIDAY PASSPORT
By Cindy Gonzalez
The state’s tourism commission has announced its Nebraska Holiday Passport selections for 2026 — two dozen places ranging from a flower farm in Glenvil to the Draw Bar in Valentine.
Josh and wife Amanda Wigginton with their children. (Courtesy of the Wiggintons)
ICYMI
By Cindy Gonzalez
Josh Wigginton and his wife each went to work Friday. One dropped off daughter Nayeli at their childcare center, which transports the 7-year-old to school and back. The other parent picked her up after the work day.
It’s a longtime routine that nearly collapsed earlier in the week due to what Wigginton said was an unusually long delay by the state to reauthorize the family’s annual childcare subsidy.
Liquid kratom extracts and capsules containing 7-OH are displayed for sale at a smoke shop in Buffalo, N.Y. A growing market is prompting state lawmakers to reconsider how the substance should be regulated. (Photo by Amanda Watford/Stateline)
HEALTH
By Amanda Watford
For years, the psychoactive compound kratom has been sold across much of the United States as an herbal supplement, available in powders, capsules and extracts with few of the restrictions applied to controlled substances.
But the market is changing. Products containing a potentially dangerous kratom derivative known as concentrated 7-hydroxymitragynine, or 7-OH, and other chemically modified kratom compounds are increasingly being sold alongside traditional kratom leaf products, prompting state lawmakers and federal regulators to reconsider how the substances should be regulated.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
COMMENTARY
Asking a lot not too much to ask | George Ayoub
Nebraska must overhaul tax system to prosper | Steve Erdman
EDITOR'S CHOICE
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