Drag Against Hate, UNO Lawsuit, Parole Board Hearings

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Today’s Highlights:

A former teaching assistant at UNO’s Department of English files a racial discrimination lawsuit against the school.
State Sen. Megan Hunt changes her party registration from Democrat to nonpartisan.
Nebraska’s parole board is showing up to hearings following Flatwater Freepress reporting and a bill in the Legislature

‘We’re Not Going Backwards’

Drag show benefit highlights Nebraskans’ fight against anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. By Chris Bowling.

REED MOORE >>

Around Omaha

A former teaching assistant at UNO’s Department of English files a lawsuit against the school, alleging repeated acts of racial harassment and discrimination that forced her to leave the program.

Omaha’s PACE nonprofit continues to provide youth free sports programming, but at lower capacity and with less city funding due to its connection to an FBI investigation that led to federal indictments last month.

The Crossroads Mall redevelopment project at 72nd and Dodge gets an $80 million tax increment financing boost.

Thousands flock to Omaha for the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting — the annual Woodstock of Capitalism, as 92-year-old Warren Buffet likes to call it.

Upcoming Events

Be sure to get the updated booster shot before heading to any of these events.

Around Nebraska

Legislature:

Lawmakers inch closer to a compromise on amendments to implement voter ID.
State Sen. Megan Hunt changes her party registration from Democrat to nonpartisan and cites partisan media coverage and a lack of national party support as her reasons. “I’m a leftist, I want to be a part of the work to move the country and the party to the left from where it is now, and that’s not compatible with the work the Dem party is doing,” she tells the Nebraska Examiner.

“60 Minutes”speaks with a Labor Department investigator about its probe that found more than 100 children cleaning slaughterhouses, including in Nebraska. The case was helped by tips from middle school teachers in Grand Island who noticed acid burns on a student.

The five members of the Nebraska Board of Parole are showing up for parole hearings far more often than they did in the past five years. The change comes following a Flatwater Free Press story on the board’s previous spotty attendance and a bill in the Nebraska Legislature meant to compel board members to show up at parole hearings.

The Environmental Protection Agency reviews a new plan to restore a Sandhills stream damaged by an unauthorized deluge of sand three years ago. The sediment was unleashed when a local rancher and Cherry County drained a flooded hay meadow into the Snake River, an act the EPA deems a violation of the federal Clean Water Act.

A quadruple homicide in the small town of Laurel will go to trial after a judge rejects one defendant’s request to dismiss charges, including first-degree murder and tampering with evidence by setting a victim’s house on fire.

Local Government

The Omaha City Council will discuss a nearly $2.9 million contract on Tuesday, May 9, for Leo A. Daly, an international design firm, to plan the construction of the city’s new police and fire facility.
The Douglas County Board of Commissioners will receive a monthly update from Corrections Director Mike Myers, who will report that the corrections department is fully staffed for the first time in more than a decade.

Every week, Anton Johnson picks noteworthy agenda items from the Omaha City Council and Douglas County Board of Commissioners. See the full City Council and Board of Commissioners agendas for Tuesday, May 9, and tune in here to the Board of Commissioners at 9 a.m. and City Council at 2 p.m.