Nebraska Government News

WASHINGTON a ' Failure is not an option on health care, a leading Democratic senator said Monday, even as Republicans turned up the heat on moderates who hold the fate of the legislation in their hands.

A 19-year-old North Platte man accused of sexually assaulting three underage girls faces up to 150 years in prison if convicted.

As Nebraska lawmakers slash government-agency budgets, which could reduce services and lead to layoffs this year and next, they may be sparing their own arm of government similar consequences.

Democrats in the Senate say they have the votes to pass the first crucial health care reform vote Saturday night.

A Nebraska professor has been honored as 1 of the best undergraduate professors in the country.

Unemployment in Iowa showed a slight increase to 6.7 percent in October, compared to the previous month's 6.6 percent.

Business appears to be slowly improving in rural areas of 11 Midwest and Plains states, but the economy there remains weak, according to a new survey of bankers.

Sen. Ben Nelson of Nebraska, one of three moderate Democratic senators wavering on whether to allow debate on health care legislation to proceed, said Friday that he would vote to move the bill forward.

Lawmakers are nearly done working on a large package of tax cuts to close a $334 million state budget gap.

The University of Nebraska's governing board was expected to vote Friday on a resolution that would limit stem-cell research at the university system's facilities to rules approved under former President George W. Bush.

Death penalty opponents have vowed lengthy legal battles if the state adopts a three-drug cocktail to carry out death sentences.

Authorities say the rate of tobacco sales to underage youths has risen. The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services says it conducts tests with the help of teenage volunteers, the Nebraska State Patrol and Omaha Police.

Wednesday, November 18, 2009 A Nebraska company says it has recovered the 90 pounds of ground beef listed in a federal recall report because of possible E. coli contamination.

Former Missouri lawmaker Judy Baker has a new job in President Barack Obama's administration.

Auditors say the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services broke the law by not telling lawmakers of plans to shut down a program for people with acute mental illnesses.

Another relatively warm and dry week in Nebraska let farmers make up some harvest time.

Ohio's decision last week to scrap its three-drug lethal-injection protocol following a botched execution is not causing Nebraska officials to reconsider using a similar three-drug protocol to replace electrocution.

State lawmakers who brokered a compromise between abortion opponents and University of Nebraska researchers on embryonic stem cell research say the deal does not prohibit either side from lobbying the Board of Regents.

Former Nebraska running back Thunder Collins has no remorse for the death of a suspected drug dealer.

Three women who once worked at a Nebraska meatpacking company have sued their former employer, saying it violated a federal law aimed at protecting workers during mass layoffs or plant closings.