Category Archives: Nebraska

Warren Buffett backs Apple after firm sells millions of shares in iPhone maker

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Berkshire Hathaway CEO stressed relationship at annual meeting attracting Apple CEO Tim Cook, Bill Gates and Bill Murray

The billionaire investment tycoon Warren Buffett has stressed his empire will remain a key investor in Apple after it sold billions of dollars’ worth of shares in the iPhone maker.

Thousands of shareholders in Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett’s sprawling conglomerate, have flocked to Omaha, Nebraska, for the firm’s annual meeting – dubbed Woodstock for Capitalists – this weekend.

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Freezing US winter storms threaten to break low-temperature records

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From New Mexico to Portland, Maine, temperatures dropped and snow fell, closing campaigns, football games and roads

Icy winter weather blanketed the US on Saturday as a wave of Arctic storms threatened to break low-temperature records in the heartland, spread cold and snow from coast to coast and cast a chill over everything from football playoffs to presidential campaigns.

As the three-day Martin Luther King Jr Day holiday weekend began, the weather forecast was a quilt of color-coded advisories, from an ice storm warning in Oregon to a blizzard warning in the northern plains to high wind warnings in New Mexico.

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Former congressman Jeff Fortenberry’s conviction reversed by appeals court

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Republican convicted over false statements about payment from billionaire should not have been tried in Los Angeles, court says

An appellate court on Tuesday reversed a 2022 federal conviction against former Nebraska congressman Jeff Fortenberry, ruling that the Republican should not have been tried in Los Angeles.

Fortenberry was convicted in March 2022 on charges that he lied to federal authorities about an illegal $30,000 contribution to his campaign from a foreign billionaire at a 2016 Los Angeles fundraiser. He resigned his seat days later after pressure from congressional leaders and Nebraska’s Republican governor.

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Blizzard conditions hit US northern plains and upper midwest

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Freezing weather affecting more than a million people expected in parts of South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado

Snow, freezing rain and high winds are hitting the northern plains and upper midwest states, with the National Weather Service warning that “blizzard conditions for central South Dakota into parts of Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado [are] resulting in difficult to near impossible travel” soon after Christmas.

Parts of South Dakota were expected to receive up to 13in of snow, with wind gusts as high as 55 mph, according to the weather forecasting agency. The conditions affecting more than a million people could last through early Wednesday, forecasters said.

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Group uses billboards and banners to expose Nebraska’s anti-abortion laws

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Free & Just uses signs referring to Jessica and Celeste Burgess, who received prison sentences after procuring and using abortion pills

Over the last week, if Nebraskans on their commute looked up, they might have glimpsed a striking banner flying through the sky – a red, black and white flag that read: “Extremist groups don’t want you to know women are going to jail under Nebraska’s abortion ban.”

The banner is the work of Free & Just, an abortion rights organization that, over the past few months, has launched a campaign that publicizes the case of Jessica Burgess and her teenage daughter Celeste Burgess, who were jailed last year after police accused Jessica of giving abortion pills to Celeste. Celeste Burgess was sentenced to 90 days in jail, while Jessica Burgess has been sentenced to two years in prison.

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‘Inhumane’: judge hears arguments about anti-migrant buoys in Rio Grande

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Court to decide whether to remove them as Greg Abbott and other Republican governors defend militarization of border with Mexico

A federal judge heard arguments on Tuesday about whether state authorities should remove huge buoys installed to stop migrants crossing the river that divides Texas from Mexico.

The court hearing in Austin came a day after Texas’s governor, Greg Abbott, and a group of hardline Republican governors gathered on the riverbank to defend local militarization of the US-Mexico border – while also acknowledging that the 1,000ft (305-meter) floating barrier had been adjusted after complaints that it had mostly drifted into Mexican territory.

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US mother pleads guilty to giving daughter abortion pills and burying fetus

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Jesssica Burgess of Nebraska admits to providing abortion after 20 weeks and tampering with human skeletal remains

A Nebraska mother has pleaded guilty to giving her 17-year-old daughter pills for an illegal abortion last year and helping to burn and bury the fetus.

Under a plea agreement, Jessica Burgess, 42, of Norfolk, admitted to providing an abortion after 20 weeks of gestation, false reporting and tampering with human skeletal remains. Charges of concealing the death of another person and abortion by someone other than a licensed physician were dismissed.

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Nebraska rodeo athlete and horse die after being struck by lightning

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Terrel Vineyard was checking on cattle while riding his horse Shorty when both were hit by lightning in Oshkosh

A Nebraska rodeo athlete and his horse both died after being struck by lightning last month in an exceedingly rare worst case scenario that came to pass.

Terrel Vineyard, 27, was on his horse, Shorty, and checking on cattle in Oshkosh, Nebraska, on the afternoon of 21 June when he and the animal were hit by lightning, according to the Lighting Safety Council.

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Nebraska legislature passes 12-week abortion ban after bitter struggle

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Draft law, which governor has promised to sign, also puts restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors

The Nebraska state legislature on Friday approved a 12-week abortion ban and restrictions on gender-affirming care for children in a move so contentious that lawmakers on both sides have said they may be unable to work together in the future.

Conservative lawmakers wrangled just enough votes to end a filibuster and pass a bill with both measures. The Republican governor, Jim Pillen, who pushed for the bill and met with various lawmakers to shore up support, has promised to sign it into law.

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‘They were little’: photos show children illegally working in US slaughterhouse

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Images released by US labor department show conditions over 100 children faced at Packers Sanitation Services Incorporated

Harrowing photos released by the US labor department taken at a slaughterhouse plant in Nebraska show the conditions more than 100 children faced while illegally working for Packers Sanitation Services Incorporated (PSSI) before the department cracked down on the company for violating child labor laws.

The pictures show employees covered in protective gear, using chemicals to spray down and sanitize equipment. In some of the pictures, made public on Sunday by the television news show 60 Minutes, some of the employees appear to be young children, wearing protective face glasses and holding buckets.

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US National Weather Services warns of ‘widespread’ winter storm hazards

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More than 15 million people under winter advisory while several areas in midwest and Great Plains face intense snowstorms

More than 15 million people are under a winter advisory as of Tuesday, as several areas in the midwest and Great Plains face intense snowstorms, Axios reported.

Storm warnings are in effect across a dozen states, including parts of Colorado, Wyoming, Nebraska, Montana and South Dakota.

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Sanitation firm accused of employing 31 children at animal slaughter facilities

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Department of Labor complaint says Nebraska firm employed children ages 13 to 17 to work with ‘dangerous equipment’

A Nebraska sanitation services firm is facing a major complaint from the Department of Labor for allegedly employing 31 children in job duties that are illegal for those under 18 years old.

The Department of Labor filed the complaint against Packers Sanitation Services (PSSI) on Wednesday, issuing a request for a temporary injunction, as reported by the Daily Beast.

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Appeals court temporarily halts Biden’s student debt cancellation scheme

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Program has been paused as the court considers a motion filed by six Republican-led states

Joe Biden’s plan to cancel billions of dollars in federal student loans has been temporarily halted by a federal appeals court as it considers a motion from six Republican-led states to block the program.

The eighth circuit court of appeals issued the temporary stay on Friday, ordering the Biden administration not to act on the program while it considers the appeal.

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Homes destroyed as Washington state wildfire forces evacuation of town

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Fourteen structures burnt in Lind, in east of state, as forecasters in California warn ‘sleeping giant’ McKinney fire could grow further

A small town in Washington state was evacuated due to a fast-moving fire that burned a half-dozen homes, as crews in California made progress against the state’s deadliest and largest wildfire of the year.

In Washington, the Adams county sheriff’s office warned residents of Lind on Thursday afternoon to flee due to the encroaching flames.

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Four people found dead in two burning homes in north-east Nebraska town

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Suspect remains on the loose after a man was seen driving away from city of Laurel, authorities say

Four people were found dead on Thursday in two burning homes in a small town in rural north-eastern Nebraska and a suspect remains on the loose, authorities said.

Col John Bolduc of the Nebraska state patrol said at a news conference that a man was seen driving away from the city of Laurel before the bodies were discovered and that investigators would like to speak to him.

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Republican retracts false claim schools placing litter boxes for ‘furry’ students

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Nebraska’s Bruce Bostelman apologises for repeating rumor that schools accommodating children who self-identify as cats

A Nebraska state lawmaker apologized on Monday after he publicly cited a persistent but debunked rumor alleging that schools are placing litter boxes in school bathrooms to accommodate children who self-identify as cats.

State senator Bruce Bostelman, a conservative Republican, repeated the false claim during a public, televised debate on a bill intended to help school children who have behavioral problems. His comments quickly went viral, with one Twitter video garnering more than 300,000 views as of Monday afternoon, and drew an onslaught of online criticism and ridicule.

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US congressman Jeff Fortenberry resigns after conviction for lying to FBI

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Nebraska Republican Jeff Fortenberry stepped down after concerted pressure from both Washington and his own state

The Nebraska congressman Jeff Fortenberry has resigned from office after a California jury convicted him of lying to federal authorities about an illegal campaign donation from a foreign national.

In a letter to the House on Saturday, nine-term Republican Fortenberry said he was resigning from Congress, effective 31 March.

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Kellogg to replace 1,400 strikers as deal is rejected

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Strike, which began in October, expected to continue as workers seek significant raises, saying they work 80-hour weeks

Kellogg has said it is permanently replacing 1,400 workers who have been on strike since October, a decision that comes as the majority of its cereal plant workforce rejected a deal that would have provided 3% raises.

The Bakery, Confectionary, Tobacco Workers and Grain Millers (BCTGM) International Union said an overwhelming majority of workers had voted down the five-year offer.

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Three snow leopards die of Covid-19 at children’s zoo in Nebraska

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Lincoln Children’s Zoo says deaths of Ranney, Everest and Makalu are ‘truly heartbreaking’, as two tigers recover

Three snow leopards have died at the Lincoln Children’s Zoo in Nebraska of complications from Covid-19.

The zoo made the announcement in a Facebook post on Friday, describing the deaths of the three leopards – named Ranney, Everest, and Makalu – as “truly heartbreaking”.

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Firefighters escape Tamarack wildfire by driving through flames – video

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A group of firefighters had a close escape when fast-moving flames engulfed them as they battled the Tamarack wildfire in Nebraska. After driving straight through the inferno, the crew emerged unscathed. Poor humidity and wind conditions have caused the Tamarack fire to grow up to 58,417 acres, prompting local authorities to issue an evacuation order.

This video was provided without sound. 

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