Our best Omaha staff photos & videos of January 2024

All K-12 schools in Nebraska, including private and parochial schools, would be required to administer national standardized tests to students under one of 61 bills introduced Friday.

Lawmakers ended a snowy fourth day of the 2024 legislative session with a three-hour public hearing on 34 proposed rules changes, some of them aimed at making filibusters more difficult.

A Nebraska lawmaker is suggesting the Legislature amend the state's new 12-week abortion ban to include exceptions for fatal fetal anomalies.

Nebraska's commission responsible for settling labor disputes indicated Wednesday that some state departments violated the commission's prior order to pause return-to-office directives for state union members.

As Omaha officials take steps to establish an inland port authority within the city, a state lawmaker is looking at ways to set up that authority for success.

Nebraskans could use deadly force to defend themselves whether at home, at work, in their vehicle or out in public under a bill introduced in the Legislature.

A lawmaker introduced a bill to let school employees carry firearms on school grounds, but said the choice would be left to districts. An opponent called it a bad idea.

A bill that would remove existing barriers to occupational licensure has made it through the first round of debate in the Nebraska Legislature with little pushback.

Nebraska lawmakers took a step toward updating the process that put a troubled Kansas-based nonprofit in charge of Omaha area child welfare cases and led to other major contract failures.

Nebraskans who undergo a colonoscopy shouldn't have to worry that their insurance won't cover removal of potentially cancerous tissue during the process, a state lawmaker says.

After a review by the Board of Health, Nebraska will move forward with controversial proposed regulations to govern access to gender-affirming care for the state’s transgender youth. 

The fate of a bill that would help the City of Omaha establish an inland port authority to revitalize low-income neighborhoods remains unsettled in the Nebraska Legislature. 

Nebraska Chief Justice Michael Heavican thanked state lawmakers in a speech Thursday for helping the judicial branch fill vacant positions, while warning about cyberthreats to sensitive court records.

Giving sterile needles to drug addicts to reduce the spread of infectious diseases like HIV drew widespread support Friday from Nebraska lawmakers.

The Nebraska Racing and Gaming Commission has grown rapidly with new casinos opening up. Now lawmakers are talking about giving the governor more say in overseeing the agency.

Subsidizing the cost of care for child care providers' own children could be a "game-changer" for Nebraska employers struggling to fill jobs, a legislative committee was told.

Students at private and faith-based schools in Nebraska would be able to get a $1,500 state-funded savings account for educational needs under a bill that prompted a contentious hearing.

A new strip club in a shopping plaza has inspired a city ordinance designed to increase the city's ability to crackdown on business owners whose establishments cause neighborhood problems.

Two proposals to tighten limits on property taxes collected by schools and other local governments drew more opposition than support at a public hearing Wednesday.

Testimony was divided Wednesday on a bill that would allow Nebraska parents to opt out of health screenings for newborns, which are currently mandatory. 

A bill that would require Nebraska participate in a federal summer food assistance program received widespread support at a hearing. 

A state senator wants to let public school students in Nebraska take voluntary religious classes during the school day under a "released time" bill. 

Nebraska lawmakers heard comments Tuesday on a bill that would nullify the November referendum on a law providing tax credits for donating to scholarship funds for private and faith-based schools.

Class sizes need to be more manageable, especially when special education students are involved, in order to keep teachers from being overwhelmed, a Lincoln lawmaker says.

The voter initiative to repeal a new Nebraska tax credit law for private school scholarships prompted more sparring by lawyers and lawmakers over whether it should remain on the ballot.

The Nebraska agency that regulates gambling spent $30,000-plus to buy a semi-automatic rifle for each of the agency’s 10 investigators, citing the need to protect casino-goers from active shooters.