Category: Nebraska

GOP Rep. Bacon Wins Reelection in Tight Nebraska Race

Incumbent Republican Rep. Don Bacon has secured reelection, beating Democratic challenger Tony Vargas in a tight race for Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District. The Associated Press called the race for Bacon, who won 51.9 percent of the vote to Vargas’s 48.1 percent with 97 percent of the votes reported as of 2:42 a.m. ET on Nov. 9….


Fires in Nebraska, Iowa Spur Evacuations, Destroy Homes

LINCOLN, Neb.—Prairie fires pushed by tinder-dry conditions and winds topping 60 mph (96 kph) led to evacuations in eastern Nebraska and western Iowa and destroyed homes and injured two firefighters south of Nebraska’s capital city of Lincoln, officials said. At least two grassland fires were first reported Sunday afternoon south of Lincoln and spread quickly…


Sen. Lindsey Graham Wants Nebraska Governor to Take Over Senate Seat Left Vacant by Sasse Resignation

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) is pushing for Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts to fill the vacant seat left by Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), who recently announced his retirement. Sasse confirmed on Oct. 6 that he will retire early from the Senate and will likely take a position as president of the University of Florida. Now, Graham wants…


Nebraska Sandhills Wildfire More Than Half Contained

HALSEY, Neb.—A destructive Nebraska Sandhills wildfire that saw one firefighter die while fighting the flames was more than half contained by Wednesday, officials said. The size of the Bovee Fire in west-central Nebraska was mapped Tuesday at nearly 19,000 acres, or about 30 square miles, up from the 15,000 acres, or about 23 square miles,…


Teenage Girl, Boyfriend Arrested in Father’s Stabbing Death

LINCOLN, Neb.—Police in Nebraska’s capital city of Lincoln have arrested a 15-year-old girl and her 16-year-old boyfriend in the stabbing death of the girl’s father. Officers called Monday afternoon to the apartment of 70-year-old Jesse Gilmer found him dead with stab wounds, police said in a news conference Tuesday. Gilmer’s teenage daughter made the 911…


Authorities Identify 6 Killed in Southeastern Nebraska Crash

LINCOLN, Neb.—Police in Nebraska have identified the six young people killed in a car crash that was first reported when a passenger’s cellphone automatically alerted dispatchers. The Honda Accord hit a tree in a residential neighborhood in Lincoln early Sunday, investigators said. The Lincoln Journal Star reports the driver was 26-year-old Jonathan Kurth, of Lincoln. Four passengers died at…


Voter ID Ballot Proposals in Nebraska, Arizona Top 2022 Election Integrity Measures

Nebraskans will be asked to make their state the 22nd to require valid photo identification to vote when they go to the polls on Nov. 8, one of four election integrity measures on ballots nationwide this fall. Nebraska’s Initiative 432 and Arizona’s Proposition 309 seek to incorporate more stringent ID requirements into state election laws….


Phone Alerts Responders After Car Hits Tree, Killing All 6

LINCOLN, Neb.—A passenger’s cellphone automatically alerted responders after a car hit a tree early Sunday in a Nebraska crash that killed all six of its young occupants, authorities said. Five men in the Honda Accord died at the scene of the crash around 2:15 a.m. in Lincoln, about 3 miles east of the state Capitol,…


School Bus, Semi Collision in Nebraska Injures 11 Children

CHAMPION, Neb.—A semitrailer truck collided with a school bus in southwestern Nebraska, injuring eleven children and the two drivers, officials said. The crash happened around 4 p.m. Tuesday on a rural highway near Champion when a bus dropping off children from school turned left in front of a semi loaded with grain, a news release…


Civility Rates High in Tight Congressional Race In and Around Omaha

A perennially close Congressional seat covering what’s called “the blue dot” in one of the reddest states in the country, Nebraska, looks like it’ll be tight again in the November elections. Incumbent Republican Don Bacon, representing Nebraska’s second district since 2016, seeks to hold his seat against state legislator Tony Vargas, the Democratic nominee. As…