Read past Reed Moore daily newsletters
HERE’S YOUR RUNDOWN
International Guide Dog Day
Reed Moore adores these beloved animals for improving the quality of life of people who are blind, have low vision or have other special needs.
Today’s news: Four female state senators launch the Herbster Victim Witness Legal Defense Fund to support individuals saying GOP gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster touched them inappropriately. In 2021, the city approved approximately $41 million in tax-increment financing loans, according to the Omaha World-Herald. And 18-year-old Lily Lautenschlager, from Lincoln, joins the World Team Cup Junior Team in wheelchair tennis, according to KOLN.
REED MOORE’S FEATURED STORY
Pizza, Tacos, and the Mother of All Reminders
Check out food editor Sara Locke’s dining roundup, published in The Reader.
There’s still a pandemic, so Reed Moore implores you to get vaxxed, boosted and maybe even tested for COVID-19 before dining in a restaurant.
COVID-19 UPDATE
‘Rona roundup:
Pfizer wants the Food and Drug Administration to grant emergency use authorization for COVID-19 booster doses in kids ages 5 to 11. In the U.S., three out of every four children have been infected with COVID-19, according to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Click here to read the report. Vice President Kamala Harris tests positive for the virus. She’s prescribed Paxlovid, an oral antiviral treatment, to which the Biden administration is seeking expanded access, according to Reuters.
By the numbers:
AROUND OMAHA
- Here’s the latest installment in NOISE’s The Black Church in Omaha series, written by journalist Leo Adam Biga.
- In 2021, the city approved approximately $41 million in tax-increment financing loans, according to the Omaha World-Herald. To learn more, scroll down to the “REED MOORE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT” section.
- “[Today’s students] are going to be leading us within the next 10 years”: Sharnelle Shelton, candidate for the Omaha Public Schools board, sits down with 1st Sky Omaha.
AROUND NEBRASKA
- The city of Lincoln agrees to pay $497,500 in damages to Elise Poole, who was struck by a “rubber bullet gun,” according to her lawsuit, at the hands of a law enforcement officer during a May 31, 2020, Black Lives Matter protest. The injuries Poole sustained necessitated emergency reconstructive surgery, according to Nebraska Public Media.
- Herbster Allegations: Four female state senators, all Republicans — Rita Sanders, Lou Ann Linehan, Joni Albrecht and Suzanne Geist — launch the Herbster Victim Witness Legal Defense Fund to support individuals saying GOP gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster touched them inappropriately. Meanwhile, according to KMTV, Herbster drops an advertisement attacking Gov. Pete Ricketts, fellow GOP gubernatorial candidate Jim Pillen, and state Sen. Julie Slama, who alleges sexual battery at the hands of Herbster three years ago. Slama responds via her lawyer, Dave Lopez, who says, “Just as she is holding Herbster accountable for his frivolous lawsuit, Sen. Slama will take the appropriate steps to hold him accountable for this latest round of slander against her.”
- President Joe Biden grants clemency to 78 people — including Jose Luis Colunga from Juniata, Nebraska. To learn more about Colunga’s situation, do a find/replace for “Nebraska” on the White House press release, linked here.
- A judge dismisses a suit filed by Big Red Keno over who’s allowed to offer casino gaming at the Lincoln Race Course, according to the Nebraska Examiner. As a result, the Nebraska Horsemen’s Benevolent and Protective Association can continue to partner with a wing of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska to offer gambling at its Lincoln racetrack.
- Read about the barriers to health care for Lincoln’s Yazidi refugee community.
- Eighteen-year-old Lily Lautenschlager, from Lincoln, joins the World Team Cup Junior Team in wheelchair tennis, according to KOLN. She’s slated to represent the U.S. in Portugal.
REED MOORE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
The Omaha City Council approves an alternative process for improvements at the new library locations, skipping the bidding process. The City Planning Department gives a report on last year’s tax-increment financing projects. The Douglas County Board of Commissioners gets an update from Douglas County Corrections.
Read local government reporter Anton Johnson’s full article for The Reader here.
FACTS OF THE DAY
From Harper’s Index
Percentage by which more white men than
Black men died of drug overdoses in 2015: 51
By which more Black men than white men died of drug overdoses in 2020: 22
Source: Pew Research Center (Washington)
DAILY FUNNY
Comic by Koterba. Support him on Patreon.