
By Erin Bamer | Reporter
U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson visited Nebraska Saturday to stump for Brinker Harding, the GOP nominee to represent the state’s 2nd District in the House of Representatives.

U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson in Omaha campaigning for GOP nominee Brinker Harding on July 18, 2026. (Juan Salinas II/Nebraska Examiner)
ELECTION 2026
By Juan Salinas II
OMAHA — U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson told a crowded cafe how important for Republicans to elect GOP nominee Brinker Harding and keep one of Nebraska’s most-watched congressional races in the red column.

Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District nonpartisan candidate Austin Ahlman in Lincoln on June 17, 2026. (Juan Salinas II/Nebraska Examiner)
ELECTION 2026
By Juan Salinas II
LINCOLN — Austin Ahlman, a journalist mounting a nonpartisan campaign for Nebraska’s 1st Congressional District, announced Sunday he was ending his run for office because of concerns over his father’s health.

Circa 1751, Voltaire (left) travelled to Prussia in 1750, on the invitation of Friedrich II and was a permanent resident of court for two years. (Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
COMMENTARY
By George Ayoub
Nebraskans sometimes enjoy the reputation of having common sense … as if the gods, Prudence and Perception, tilted the coasts and a whole bunch of wisdom and wit tumbled into Middle America. The lexicographers at Merriam-Webster say as much, defining common sense as “sound and prudent judgment based on a simple perception of the situation or facts.”

Barbed wire and fences surround the Charles H. Hickey Jr. School, a juvenile detention center in Maryland. The state’s recent changes to its juvenile justice laws aim to reduce the number of young people entering the adult criminal justice system while expanding rehabilitative services. (Photo by Amanda Watford/Stateline)
PUBLIC SAFETY
By Amanda Watford
A teenager charged with the same crime can face dramatically different consequences depending on where they live.
In one state, a young person accused of a serious offense may be sent to a juvenile facility focused on treatment and rehabilitation. In another, they could face adult criminal proceedings, a permanent record and the possibility of an adult prison sentence.

A dog walks along a wooded trail in a Maryland park. Ticks are commonly found in wooded and grassy habitats, and the lone star tick has expanded well beyond its historic range in the Southeast. (Photo by Amanda Watford/Stateline)
HEALTH
By Amanda Watford
The tiniest menace of summer doesn’t care if you’re hiking through the woods, walking the dog or pulling weeds in your backyard.
It just wants a ride and a meal.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Cindy Burbank drops out of US Senate race | Juan Salinas II
District judge grants injunction on Lincoln minimum wage law | Juan Salinas II
Dawson County gets temporary Medicaid work waiver | Cindy Gonzalez
COMMENTARY
EDITOR'S CHOICE
Dan Osborn qualifies for the ballot in US Senate race | Juan Salinas II
Walz talks priorities ahead of Nov. 3 gubernatorial election | Zach Wendling
Thanks for reading Examiner Today. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.