Celebrating Marshall Taylor, Thousands Request Rental Assistance, Teachers Protest the Lack of Safety Regulations for Reopening Schools and More Top Local News for Tuesday, August 4

• Governor Pete Ricketts announced that if the Douglas County health director would have gone through with implementing a mask mandate for Omaha the state would’ve challenged it in court.
• Millard Public Schools will reopen next week to small groups of students to learn the new coronavirus protocols; all students will return for class on Aug. 17.
• Teachers from almost every Omaha school district united at Memorial Park yesterday to call on government officials to implement stricter safety guidelines for schools reopening.
• A 6-year-old boy suffering from COVID-19 and other underlying health conditions died yesterday and may be the first child to have died due to the coronavirus in Douglas County.
• Omaha officials will discuss each department’s proposed 2021 budget today. Each department, including the Omaha Police, will get 30 minutes to explain its budget.
• More than 1,000 people requested assistance from the Douglas County CARES Act funding for overdue rent payments within the first week of the application opening.
• People have already seen overflow at popular recycling drop-off sites only a month into Omaha’s new curbside recycling schedule.
• Former President Obama endorsed Kara Eastman, a Nebraska congressional candidate, in a tweet yesterday.

Around the State

• The NCAA Board of Governors will decide today whether or not fall championships will be postponed or cancelled.
• The Nebraska Legislature passed a bill to prevent predatory grooming in schools and a bill to enhance opioid abuse education and treatment yesterday.
• Many of Nebraska’s substitute teachers are in the at-risk age group for COVID-19, and safety concerns about schools reopening have led to a substitute teacher shortage.
• Nebraska state Senators debated proposed legislation that would ban workplace discrimination of African American hairstyles.