Daily Minute | The latest Lincoln-area news for Feb. 6

Good morning, Lincoln. Here are today's top stories:

Seed companies seek AltEn assets to help cleanup; ethanol plant says it needs funds to comply with state

Six companies that supplied AltEn with pesticide-treated seeds have asked a federal judge to freeze the assets of the former ethanol plant and several other companies in order to help pay for an environmental cleanup at the site.

AltEn was shut down by the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy in 2021 for violating several state environmental regulations. The site is now being cleaned up by the seed companies, who say AltEn has not paid for any of the remediation efforts.

After a hearing on Friday, a U.S. District Court judge is expected to issue a decision on the seed companies’ request sometime this week.

'Extremely frustrating' — Lincoln Northwest students still waiting to get into new school's auditorium

Staff and students at Lincoln Northwest High School have had to get creative as they wait for construction on the performing arts center to be completed with the school year already more than halfway over.

But issues in obtaining key supplies may mean they'll have to keep waiting until the fall, leaving parents and students frustrated.

Lincoln Public Schools is still waiting for components like lighting and stage rigging to wrap up the project, saying supply chain issues have delayed completion. The remaining parts are set to be delivered sometime in March, with the 730-seat auditorium set to open in May, but likely not in time for spring performances.

UNL engineering teams prepare for national research challenge hosted by NASA

And, three student-run teams at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln are gearing up for a week of testing at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.

The groups are a part of UNL’s Research, Engineering and Design Teams, or RED, and the three teams are competing in two separate NASA-hosted challenges.

UNL’s RED Teams compete against colleges from across the nation for the opportunity to study at the Johnson Space Center, and acceptance rates are low for both challenges.

That’s it for Monday, Feb. 6. Stay in the know with Lincoln’s longest-standing news source at JournalStar.com and we’ll see you back here tomorrow.