By Joan von Kampen | Editor-in-chief
“I'm terrified of the craziness that the far left is trying to bring across the country, and so when I have an opportunity to vote for a conservative over an ultra-liberal, I'm going to do it.” - Bob Rose, a 74-year-old Scottsbluff resident, who was among attendees Sunday at Sen. Pete Ricketts’ annual steak fry.
Nebraska Sen. Pete Ricketts speaks at his annual steak fry in Weeping Water on Sept. 20, 2026. (Photo by Juan Salinas II/Nebraska Examiner)
ELECTION 2026
By Juan Salinas II
Some of the roughly 1,000 people who showed up for Nebraska Sen. Pete Ricketts' annual steak fry said they’ll vote for him this November because he shares their conservative values.
Ricketts and Louisiana Sen. John Kennedy — along with other elected Nebraska Republican officials – sought Sunday to energize Republican voters to turn out this November,
Charles Cross stands outside an open house about data centers in St. Charles, Missouri, on Aug. 13, 2026. Cross lives near the site of a proposed data center in St. Charles and does not want to see it built. (Kate Grumke/St. Louis Public Radio)
ENVIRONMENT
By Holly Edgell, Midwest Newsroom
The residents of Peculiar, Missouri, celebrated their victory against a proposed data center on an October night in 2024, after the town’s six-person Board of Aldermen unanimously voted down a proposal to rezone land for a 500-acre data center campus.
Peculiar, a town of 3,000 people about 40 minutes southwest of Kansas City, was among the earliest documented communities in the country to defeat a data center development through grassroots pushback.
Communities around the Midwest are following Peculiar’s lead by organizing opposition and urging their local officials to stop or pause data center development — or at least develop strong regulations for them.
Maureen Larsen, director of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development. (Courtesy of the Nebraska Department of Economic Development)
ICYMI
By Erin Bamer
In a survey of Nebraska Economic Development staff, roughly half of the current workers heavily criticized the department’s leadership, claiming management cares more about budget cuts and downsizing than taking care of their employees.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is urging President Donald Trump to embargo diesel fuel exports as rising costs impact farmers in his largely agricultural state. Grassley is shown at a Senate Judiciary Committee meeting on July 23, 2026. (Screenshot from committee webcast)
D.C. BUREAU
By Ashley Murray
Diesel prices hit a record average of $6.51 a gallon Monday, and some in President Donald Trump’s own party are breaking their support for the ongoing war in Iran that has driven fuel prices to staggering levels in the United States and across the globe.
Medicaid enrollees from five states and leading medical organizations filed a lawsuit Friday challenging new Medicaid work requirements. (Photo by Whitney Downard/Indiana Capital Chronicle)
HEALTH
By Nada Hassanein
Medicaid enrollees from five states and leading medical organizations filed a lawsuit Friday challenging new Medicaid work requirements.
The broad tax and spending law that President Donald Trump signed last summer established work, school or community service requirements for low-income adults who receive Medicaid under expansion provisions and waiver programs across 44 states. The law exempts people who are medically frail from work requirements, but the lawsuit argues a new administration rule severely restricts who qualifies.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
COMMENTARY
‘Silly season’ moving right along| George Ayoub
Careless budget decisions threaten state’s stability | John Stinner
EDITOR'S CHOICE
Nebraska Examiner launches 2026 General Election Voter Guide | Zach Wendling
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