Thursday, April 16
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Mapping record number of mail-in ballot requests
As more than 116,000 request mail-in ballots, data shows most are being returned to residents on the west side of Douglas County. The total requests far exceed the total turnout in any previous primary.
View our guide to local resources at TheReader.com
Today we have stories about who’s received mail-in ballots so far, Hall County surpassing Douglas County in confirmed cases and the reality that social distancing could be part of our lives for the next two years.
Your top local stories
In Omaha
- Omaha is under a winter weather advisory today and forecasted to get 3 to 5 inches of snow, but meteorologists think we’ll get closer to 2 inches.
- Nebraska’s schools are preparing for an abnormal fall, drawing up contingency plans that include delayed starts, staggered classes and some amount of distance learning.
- Two workers are dead following an outbreak at a Tyson Foods plant in southeastern Iowa.
- New cases in Douglas County include one infant. Hall County has surpassed Douglas County for most cases in the state as coronavirus inundates Grand Island.
- Police fatally shot a man in Blair while responding to a domestic disturbance call.
- Residents of a Blair nursing home hit by coronavirus returned home after weeks of hospital stays and quarantining.
- Infectious disease experts say reopening the state needs to be gradual and measured.
- More than 16,000 Nebraskans applied for unemployment last week, down from the 27,000 that applied the week before.
- A federal judge threw the embattled Keystone XL pipeline another road block by canceling a key permit, saying builders did not properly consider impact on Sturgeon fish.
- State employees are fighting for extra pay for those who still need to work in offices and interact with people face-to-face.
- With 278 cases, Hall County has passed Douglas County for most confirmed coronavirus infections in the state. There was not a confirmed case until March 26. Douglas had its first case 20 days earlier.
- Gov. Ricketts to hold daily press briefing at 2 p.m.
What to do during quarantine?
From our list of things to do during quarantine
What’s happening in the United States?
- In a recent report, Harvard researchers said Americans may need to mold their lives around preventing the virus for the next two years.
Another 5.2 million applied for unemployment benefits last week
- The figure reinforces some expert predictions that the U.S. will see a 20 percent jobless rate and 40 percent drop in Gross Domestic Product.
- Officials say the U.S. still does not have adequate testing capacity or supplies to understand the scope of the pandemic and then make decisions about reopening.
- The president wants to exercise the previously unused executive authority to fast track political appointees without Senate approval.
What’s happening across the world?
- WHO: Europe still in “eye of the storm”
- As some countries ease restrictions and infections level off in the hard-hit countries, cases across the continent continue to multiple and the World Health Organization is calling for solidarity.
Check out more coverage online at TheReader.com
The Omaha Reader