Thursday, May 21
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Good morning,
Today we have stories about a record number of people donating to Omaha Gives yesterday, an Elkhorn nursing home, which has had health complaints in the past and has struggled to contain COVID-19, and why there may be more obstacles to finding a coronavirus vaccine than other communicable diseases.
Your Top Local Stories
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In Omaha
- Omaha Gives raised more than $8.5 million yesterday with the most donors and participating nonprofits the annual fundraising event has ever seen.
- Yesterday was the five-year anniversary of the death of Omaha Police Officer Kerrie Orozco, who was killed chasing a fugitive gang member one day before she was set to start maternity leave.
- An Elkhorn nursing home that’s struggled to contain its spread of COVID-19 has had complaints about infection control, wound care and a sexual assault of a female resident.
- Creighton University furloughed 190 of its employees as it looks toward cutting its spending by about $35 million in the next academic year.
- Members of Congress from Iowa are asking why the Utah companies running TestIowa, an almost identical program to TestNebraska, have not delivered on promised testing capacities, especially in Council Bluffs.
- Three more inmates at the Community Corrections Center-Omaha have tested positive for COVID-19, bringing the case total there to seven.
- Hospitalizations and positive cases are still on the rise in Douglas County.
- A UNO criminology professor is warning of the consequences of keeping a detailed sex offender registry list after the murder of a registered sex offender last Saturday.
- Omaha and smaller municipalities in the metro area are under serious financial strain as the Douglas County Board of Commissioners decides how to divvy up federal stimulus funds.
- The Twin Creek Cinema in Bellevue will host a drive-in theater this weekend with classic movies like E.T. and Jurassic Park.
- Experts worry about increased loss in academic progress this summer as the pandemic and virtual learning pile on to existing challenges that contribute to the “summer slide.”
Around the State
- Rep. Jeff Fortenberry said Nebraskans shouldn’t expect another direct payment in the next stimulus package.
- Despite not meeting goals, Gov. Pete Ricketts said he’s happy with TestNebraska results.
- Campers can return to state parks this Friday.
- Bars are reopening in Council Bluffs on May 28, but Ricketts says Nebraska won’t rush its decision.
- A stay-at-home order could have reduced Iowa’s COVID-19 cases by 30%, a University of Iowa study found.
- Gov. Ricketts to hold daily press briefing today
What to do during quarantine?
From our list of things to do during quarantine:
Watch the Best Omaha Movie
If you have Starz (which you can get through Amazon Prime or cable/satellite), you can watch Out of Omaha, the most important movie about the city ever made.
What’s Happening In The United States?
Earlier Lockdowns Would Have Saved Thousands of Lives
- If the United States had imposed lockdown, stay-at-home or any social distancing orders one week earlier than it did in March, 36,000 fewer people could have died, according to an analysis from The New York Times.
As Some Rushed to Test, They Found Few Takers
- Beuracratic hurdles and a disorganized American health care system kept many hospitals from utilizing labs that could have expedited testing early on.
- Past failures with Sars and Mers’ vaccines have at least one groundbreaking HIV/AIDS and cancer researcher saying a vaccine may not come any time soon.
Warren Softening Health Care Approach as Biden Eyes Her for VP
- Elizabeth Warren has backed off Medicare for All, saying Americans should focus instead on strengthening the Affordable Care Act. Warren and Joe Biden brawled over the issue on the campaign trail but now Biden is considering her and many others as his VP candidate.
What’s Happening Across The World?
Tension between China and the U.S. Continues
- Yesterday officials from China and the United States took shots at each other over credibility and responsibility for the spread of COVID-19.
Omaha, NE 68107