New Health Measures, Charged with Murder and Denied Bail, COVID-19 Summer and More Top Local News for Friday, May 22

• The gradual increase in COVID-19 hospitalizations in Douglas County concern infectious disease doctor who said while they’ve never surged, the upward trend could still pose problems.
• The Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium will reopen June 1. More details about restrictions will come on Tuesday.
•  Expect stormy weather this Memorial Day weekend.
• South Omaha continues seeing its COVID-19 caseload pile up. Drive-thru testing there will resume Tuesday after the holiday weekend.
• An elderly couple died of complications due to COVID-19 within hours of each other at an Elkhorn senior care facility where 57 of its 61 residents have the virus. A resident who warned of the virus’ spread earlier this month, also died from COVID-19.
• Starting in June, venues can resume hosting live music at 25% capacity with no more than 3,000 people. But many operators said Thursday they’re still trying to decide what the new directed health measures mean for them.
• Stimulus debit cards come for some. Officials still warn of scammers.
• N.P. Dodge Park will reopen today after closing more than a year ago due to flooding. Many features of the park, including campgrounds, playgrounds and athletic fields, were destroyed by the floods and not replaced.
• The man arrested in the killing of a registered sex offender last weekend has officially been charged and denied bail.
• A woman who left her newborn son on a porch in South Omaha pleads no contest to abandonment and is sentenced to 90 days in jail.
• Latino community leaders held a virtual press conference saying more still needs to be done to protect meatpacking workers.
• Three workers at a brain and spinal cord injury rehabilitation center have tested positive for COVID-19.
• A woman spent nine weeks waiting for her unemployment benefits. After reporters looked into it, she had her application approved four hours later.
• Facebook donated $350,000 to help non-profits and small businesses in Sarpy County.

Around the State

• Eighty nine Nebraska counties will enter the next phase of reopening on June 1 including bars, some sports and large events. Here’s a breakdown of what you need to know.
• A meeting on a controversial grant that would put $1.8 million toward more ethanol pumps has been delayed until June 11.
• A Creighton University ag index shows this will be a hard season for farmers.
• Unemployment numbers continue to stack up, though the trend is decreasing. Since mid-March 120,000 people have applied for those benefits, but the number of new applicants as well as those receiving unemployment, has dropped in recent weeks.
• State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks, of Lincoln, has asked for a legislative rule change to allow senators to vote remotely once the Unicameral resumes on July 20.
• Gov. Ricketts to hold daily press briefing today

• For all the time people spent sanitizing surfaces, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention now say that method of transmission, along with transmission from animals, may be low.

• While many hoped summer would be a respite from COVID-19, as it is for the flu, new research shows that while hotter areas could see a decrease in cases it won’t be dramatic enough to do away with stay-at-home orders or government intervention.

Trump Skipped Wearing a Mask in Michigan Ford Plant

• President Donald Trump defied a state executive order and request by the carmaker to wear a protective face covering as he visited an automobile manufacturing plant that’s transitioned to building ventilators and masks.

Quiet in the Streets: Hear the Pandemic’s Effect in New York City

• As COVID-19 brought activity to a halt, the cacophony of car horns and people that defines the sound of New York City has, in some places, given way to calm.