The long federal government shutdown was particularly hard on Nebraska’s native community. Mechelle Walker, a member of the Omaha Tribe who recently ran for the Lower Platte South Natural Resources District 1, says that services to native people in the state are chronically underfunded and the shutdown depleted already strained budgets. Many of the services…
Why is Ricketts Duplicating Blood’s Efforts on Military Retirement?
Governor Ricketts seems to like Senator Carol Blood’s work so much he is co-opting it as his own. Nebraska State Senator Carol Blood represents the Bellevue area. She considers the issues affecting military families to be among her top priorities. She has a great track record on this front, proposing several military family bills that…
The Western Nebraska Senator Ignoring the First Amendment and Shilling for Big Oil
Man, we wish Tom Brewer were the leader many voters had hoped. He’s the only Native American senator in the legislature. He knows the horror of violence, having been shot multiple times in Afghanistan. Unfortunately, instead of working to decrease gun violence or address inequality in the state, he is taking oil industry money,…
Pat MeGroin–er, McPherson–Is a Handsy White Supremacist and Nebraska Deserves Better
Why don’t girls and women report the men who assault them? A 2003 case involving District 8 School Board Member Pat McPherson will tell you why. Here are some facts not in dispute: On February 7, 2003, Douglas County Election Commissioner and former Douglas County Republican Party Chair Pat McPherson and his friend, Omaha City…
Pete Ricketts’s Campaign Funding is Sad and Obscene
You should check out donations to Pete Ricketts’s campaign(s) for governor of Nebraska. Don’t bother with his run for U.S. Senate–on which he spent $12 million of his own money. Just look at who has been giving money to Pete Ricketts so that he can maintain control over the little fiefdom we call Nebraska. First–a…
Something Smells in Jeff Fortenberry’s Office
“Why do men feel threatened by women?” I asked a male friend of mine… “I mean,” I said, “men are bigger, most of the time, they can run faster, strangle better, and they have on average a lot more money and power.” “They’re afraid women will laugh at them,” he said. “Undercut their world view.”…
A Theory about Ricketts’s Execution Strategy: Moore is the Guinea Pig for Sandoval
This is speculation–but it seems plausible enough that I want to float it ahead of the execution of Carey Dean Moore. It’s possible that the Ricketts administration is rushing the execution of Moore in order to eliminate a grounds to stop the execution of Jose Sandoval, whom Ricketts would also like to execute in advance…
Pharmaceutical Company’s Request to Delay Execution Is Denied
Seeing Red attended the hearing in United States District Court today in which pharmaceutical company Fresenius Kabi sought a temporary restraining order delaying the execution of Carey Dean Moore scheduled for Tuesday, August 14 at 10:00 a.m. Moore will be executed with a cocktail of four drugs. This is a summary of the hearing. In their…
What Is Going on with the Execution in Nebraska?
In four days, Nebraska is scheduled to execute Carey Moore by lethal injection. Moore murdered two taxi drivers in Omaha in 1979. He is not fighting his own execution, saying he believes he will be forgiven by Christ upon his death. Because he is not fighting it, the main legal avenue that typically delays or…
Homophobia and Free Speech at UNL
This piece was co-authored by Amanda Gailey and Julia Schleck, both of whom have interest in free speech and academic freedom. Ron Brown is returning to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln as Director of Player Development under new head coach Scott Frost. In 2012, when Brown used to work at UNL, he made anti-gay comments at…
