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Last weekend marked the 104th Burwell Rodeo. This year, the Burwell community literally weathered a storm to continue the tradition. It took many volunteers to make it happen.

Data shows a need for more than 12,000 child care spots across Nebraska. Communities across the state have utilized various tools and approaches to address the gap in their area. Child care leaders see engagement from most, if not all, stakeholders in the community as a common denominator of success.

North Platte is struggling with housing issues. Community leaders say the problem has been occurring for decades. With a new surge in economic development and employers moving into the city, the need for housing has been exacerbated.

The interest in local food systems, like farmer's markets and direct farm-to-consumer sales, is on the rise. But the U.S. is still more reliant on imported foods than ever before.

In a lawsuit pitting former Creighton Prep football player Jack Hasz against the NCAA, the U.S. District Court in Omaha ruled against Hasz's motion for preliminary injunction. Senior District Judge Joseph Battaillon submitted the ruling Thursday.

Omaha non-profit ‘Playing with Fire' is putting on their 21st Playing with Fire event this Friday and Saturday. The event, held for the first time inside the Slowdown, will host 6 blues artists, including four from outside the U.S.

Jack Hasz wants one more year. The former Creighton Prep offensive lineman is suing the NCAA, in hopes of playing one more season of college football.

ACLU Nebraska is criticizing the treatment of a man detained in an ICE immigration raid.

Some of Nebraska's federal delegation are defending their support of what the president calls the “Big Beautiful Bill.”

Providers, families and advocates are worried how cuts next month to Medicaid rates for Applied Behavior Analysis therapy, which helps people with autism, will impact the availability of services across the state. Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services representatives say the changes put Nebraska in line with what other states pay.

The chair of the Nebraska Commission on African American Affairs said a recent audit is providing the agency an opportunity to improve. Findings showed the agency failed to provide advance notice for all 10 quarterly meetings audited from 2022 to 2024.

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is developing a framework for assessing drought in a changing climate. It's a difficult task, as what's considered drought is often situational.

Pillen says the proposed cuts are part of his goal of reducing the size of government and not due to economic indicators. However, June tax revenues fell well short of predictions for the fiscal year and the amount of federal funds for the state next year is uncertain. Justin Hubly, the executive director of the Nebraska Association of Public Employees, says Pillen's proposal would likely lead to a workforce reduction.

Fremont now has its first bilingual daycare. The opening fills a large need in the city.

Less than a week after setting a new national record in the road mile for his age group, Lynn Rathjen already has his sights set on the next accomplishment. The 80-year-old retired physical therapist is training to break the age group records in the 800 and 1500 meter races at the national championships in Alabama this weekend.

The Mexican Consulate of Omaha is meeting with elected leaders and residents to ensure Mexican nationals feel safe in the region.

Iowa authorities say the contractor for Nebraska's new prison cost them millions in construction errors and delays on Sioux City jail.

Following over $7 billion worth of federal funds being withheld from schools nationally, the Beatrice Educational Foundation has launched a campaign to keep the community's after school program running.

As a new Postmaster General with ties to FedEx assumes control of the agency, postal workers and their customers are bracing for either scenario, especially as corporate America weighs in.

Congress approved and passed the budget bill earlier this month that included a $200,000 cap on federal loans medical students, and other professional degree students, can receive. One student collected over 500 signatures urging the Nebraska federal delegation to reconsider, saying this cap doesn't take into account the full deb students incur.

A three-day ice storm in northern Michigan early this spring left 145,000 people without power, some for weeks. Three months later, clean-up efforts are focused on millions of acres of the state's forests, where broken and fallen trees could affect the forest's long-term health.

The stretch of 14th street between O and P streets is now Boehmer Street, after the former owner and talent promoter at Lincoln's Zoo Bar, Larry Boehmer.

The Nebraska Commission on African American Affairs has fallen short of several transparency and accounting benchmarks, according to new findings by State Auditor Mike Foley.

A Chinese-owned ag products company says it will remain in Nebraska despite Gov. Jim Pillen's suggestion that it leave.

The Texas floods not only impacted thousands of people, but also their pets. Here's what the state's humane society is doing to support those animals from three states away.

Omaha's Heartland Pride event begins today. With recent scrutiny of D-E-I programs, as well as companies distancing themselves from Pride Month, Nebraska Public Media's Arthur Jones spoke to Heartland Pride's Vice President Samual Parnell about what this year will look like.

Congressman Don Bacon introduced legislation Thursday that would increase criminal penalties for anyone convicted of killing or conspiring to kill public safety officers. The so-called ‘Back the Blue Act' would also create mandatory minimums for assaulting a federally funded law enforcement officer, which could include a firefighter, chaplain, federal judge or rescue squad member. If a death occurs, there is a mandatory minimum sentence of 30 years. Attempting to flee to avoid prosecution carries a minimum of 10 years.

The Nebraska Children's Home Society, in partnership with Scheels, launched its “Lace Up to Learn” campaign Wednesday. The initiative aims to collect shoes for children across the state before the start of the school year.

The last fluent speaker for the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska died in 2006. An Oklahoma tribe helped organize the first digital Ponca dictionary, which is also available in physical copies.

Soda and energy drinks would no longer be eligible for purchase through the Supplemental Nutrition and Assistance Program in Nebraska under proposed regulations from the state's Department of Health and Human Services. At a hearing Tuesday, advocates said the restrictions could hurt grocery stores and stigmatize Nebraskans who use SNAP. “Implementing the SNAP restriction waiver will lead to fewer food retailers accepting SNAP, thereby causing a significant number of Nebraskan families, including those with children, veterans, people with disabilities and the elderly, to face even greater barriers when trying to put food on the table,” said Madison Castor with Nebraska Appleseed.

Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers is suing General Motors over the sale of its customers' data to insurance companies.

Tons of worn out fishing gear makes its way across the Pacific Ocean, and winds up on Hawaii's beaches. In an effort to both clean up the ocean and find a way to recycle the junk, some of that fishing gear is sent up to Omaha, Nebraska.

The federal government is withholding federal funds to after-school programs across the nation, with about $6.5 million that typically goes to Nebraska. After school and summer program providers say this could lead to programs cutting down on services, serving less students or even closing their doors.

Communities continue to recover from the impacts of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid in Omaha earlier this month. Some worry about the longer-term stresses of the impacted children.

Hydropower accounts for nearly 30% of utility-scale renewable energy in the U.S., but federal hurdles may prevent older hydroelectric plants from staying online and new projects from getting off the ground.

Nebraska lawmakers overcame a significant shortfall through the passage of this year's budget, but more fiscal trouble may be on the horizon. On the final day of this year's legislative session in June, Speaker John Arch made a prediction on the focus of the legislature's return in 2026. “I will predict that our biggest challenge next year will be our budget,” he said. “Once again, we sent a balanced budget to the governor, but we always face mid-biennium budget adjustments, and next year will be no different. And in fact, could be more challenging” So how did Nebraska get into this situation in the first place?

The nearly 6,000 mechanical amusement devices in Nebraska are now taxed at five percent of their net operating revenue, thanks to a law passed last April. These devices are found in gas stations, cafes and social halls and are used for contests of skill, unlike keno or bingo. Fraternal organizations are exempt from the tax.

Naloxone, a drug that counteracts the effects of opioid overdose, has become more available within Southeastern Nebraska. Free Naloxone can be found at three vending machines, as well as five grab-and-go sites located around Lincoln. There is also a grab-and-go site now located in Jansen, Southwest of Beatrice, near the Kansas border.

Governor Jim Pillen has signed the commission's emergency regulations, which prohibit dispensaries from selling whole-plant cannabis and products that are vaped or smoked. The rules also cap the number of dispensaries at one in each of the state's 12 district court judicial districts. The emergency regulations will be in effect for the next 90 days, after which they can be amended or put into law.

Nebraskans with felony drug convictions almost saw a light at the end of the tunnel when legislators voted to end the lifetime ban on SNAP access. But then, the governor's veto was not overturned. Those impacted said this decision will ultimately harm the state.

In the month of May alone, the casino contributed more than one million dollars to the state's Property Tax Credit Cash Fund. Thanks in part to a new expansion in April, WarHorse has already generated more revenue at its south Omaha location in the first five months of 2025 than it did throughout all of last year. Across the state, revenues have grown steadily at other casinos in Lincoln, Grand Island, and Columbus with new locations on the horizon in other cities. Lance Morgan, the CEO of WarHorse Gaming, doesn't see the growth of the industry slowing down any time soon.

The over 1000 page ‘big beautiful bill' covers many things, but rural health leaders are most concerned over what proposed Medicaid cuts will do to an already fragile rural health system.

Specialty producers exporting to China have been hit just as hard as soybeans and beef. But they often have fewer alternative markets for their crops, worsening the impact of retaliatory tariffs.

Lancaster County District Court Judge Susan Strong dismissed a lawsuit Thursday alleging that the state's medical cannabis program violates state and federal law. The case was brought by former State Sen. John Kuehn, who claimed laws allowing any form of marijuana are unconstitutional because the substance remains illegal at the federal level. Kuehn argued his status as a Nebraska taxpayer gives him the right to sue the state over its “illegal expenditure of taxpayer money.” Strong disagreed, saying that “the Court does not believe that the incidental burdens of implementing a law, like employee time and printing costs, is an ‘expenditure of public funds' sufficient to confer taxpayer standing under Nebraska law.”

The commission voted unanimously to approve emergency regulations on medical cannabis to meet its deadline of July 1st in the initiative approved by voters last November. The regulations allow only one dispensary in each of the state's 12 district court judicial districts and prohibit raw plant material or any product that is smoked or vaped. The regulations did not include details about who counts as a qualified patient to receive medical cannabis.

Come the end of the month, Nebraska's Women's Health Initiative Advisory Council will also come to an end. The council was terminated in the recent legislative session.

The manufacturing and agriculture sectors are struggling to grow, according to two surveys in the Midwest.

State Sen. John Cavanaugh kicked off his bid to become the next congressman for Nebraska's Second District Tuesday night. In a speech to several hundred supporters gathered at Omaha's Firefighters Union Hall, Cavanaugh vowed to stand up to President Donald Trump and work to protect Medicaid, social security and public lands.

New data from the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services suggest a disconnect between people with developmental disabilities who are offered money by the state and getting them connected to services. More than 3,000 families have been offered state funding, since Governor Jim Pillen launched an initiative last spring to end an eight year waiting list. But data show not many families are using the state funding.

Bur oak trees are some of the most common native Nebraska trees that shade many city parks and congregate in the state's eastern deciduous forests. They're hardy trees, known to withstand a range of stresses, including Nebraska's harshest weather. But they're dying en masse due to years of devastating drought.

A Lincoln nonprofit collaboration has launched a new website to share immigration information and resources. Its aim is to address misinformation and fear amid heightened attention on immigration enforcement.