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On Thursday night, Rasha Khaled of Lincoln was murdered by her husband, who then killed himself. Their five children, ages 14, 13, 10, 5, and 3, were present in the home at the time of the murder. Friends of the murderer decided to hold a candlelight vigil for the man, and bafflingly, the local ABC […]
For all of you used to just seeing a list of names and some ovals on your ballot, this year’s city elections may come as something of a shock. Our ballots regularly feature one or two big giant blocks of legalese, asking us to vote to fund street repair or storm water management, but this […]
Nebraska has a terrible record when it comes to academic freedom and freedom of speech, and it’s time we take it seriously. Here is some historical background followed by a practical recommendation. The past two years have been particularly egregious for academic freedom in Nebraska. This week the Nebraska Republican Party insisted that Creighton University, […]
Boy, do I have a doozy of a tale from the archives for you. It’s about how Lincoln dealt with aggressive political protests in the 1990s, when lots of people on both sides of the aisle seemed to believe “Free speech is for me but not for thee.” I’ll go ahead and let you know […]
The Nebraska Republican Party has a white supremacist problem. It comes from the top and the bottom. The governor’s biggest funder, his billionaire dad, is a virulent racist, and the party keeps rewarding and promoting young white supremacists, one of whom they propelled right onto the stage next to President Trump. Yesterday Trump held a […]
If you’ve never been inside a prison, your impression of it probably comes from sensationalized Hollywood fare. Describing all the things wrong about these depictions would take another whole post. Suffice it to say, one of the most important things for the men and women overcrowded inside (so crowded the ACLU has sued the state) […]
Let’s just be blunt. Governor Pete Ricketts did not just have an actual Nazi as his Field Director, he is now blowing smoke up Nebraska’s ass about it. Don’t worry, it’s not that reefer smoke they have in Colorado! Here’s what Ricketts’s office said in his press release this week: “The staff person, Bennett Bressman, […]
Adrian Smith, candidate for House of Representatives in Nebraska’s 3rd District, and I are about the same age and we both grew up in Gering, Nebraska. I must admit, I don’t remember a whole lot about him because, well, he’s not that memorable. As anyone from a small town knows, regardless of how well you […]
You already knew Nebraska was unique, but did you know that we’re the only state in the union that derives all of its electricity from publicly owned utilities? That sounds boring, but actually it’s pretty awesome. In other states, private companies own all or part of the electrical grid and the plants which generate that […]
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 […]
