Reopening Phase III, Curfew Charges Dropped for Some, Donors Pledge Pool Money and More Top Local News for Tuesday, June 16

• Charges will be dropped for Omaha curfew breakers but only if they have a clean criminal record. However, some have already taken plea deals and agreed to sit in jail for seven days.
• Local LGBTQ advocates celebrated the Supreme Court’s decision that a person cannot suffer discrimination in the workplace based on their gender identity or sexual preference.
• Following other schools’ leads, OPS has purchased 360,000 face masks for faculty, staff and students in preparation for a school year that still carries many unknowns.
• OPS considered paying a $625,000 settlement to the family of a student assaulted by a former teacher at Fontanelle Elementary School who is now serving 40 to 65 years in prison for molesting six students there.
• After saying there’d be no public places to swim this summer, Mayor Jean Stothert said five Omaha pools will open July 1 after donors pledged the $700,000 necessary for operating them. City officials also announced that recycling pickup would switch to every other week.
• Protests at the 11-Worth Cafe led to a handwritten closed sign appearing in the front window Monday morning.
• Searchers for a missing 8-year-old girl again came up empty-handed on Monday. The search will continue today.
• Eight firefighters at a South Omaha station have tested positive for COVID-19.
• Offutt Air Force Base will start loosening coronavirus restrictions and allow half its employees to work on-site. Officials also reopened its recreation area, Catholic mass and several other on-base activities.
• Lee G. Simmons Wildlife Safari Park near Ashland will reopen trails and overlooks.
• CHI Health is hosting a drive-thru job fair to get people information about the more than 800 openings it has throughout Nebraska and Iowa.
• Officials at Hillcrest Health Services hope to see visitors return to the health provider’s nursing home after the installation of safety windows.

Around the State

• Gov. Pete Ricketts announced the next phase in Nebraska’s reopening, which will allow many businesses to operate at full capacity starting June 22.
• Indoor and outdoor stadiums can start filling their seats to limited capacities, and Ricketts said he’s hopeful the state can get to 100% capacity in those venues by the fall.
• Twenty staff members at the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services have now tested positive for COVID-19.
• After months of not conducting driving tests at full capacity, Department of Motor Vehicle buildings across the state reopened to lines out the door.