Extreme HEAT Advisory | Headline News | Nebraska, August 28th 2024

Opening remarks hello there thank you so much for joining us this is News Channel Nebraska my name is Eric McKay let's take a look at our top headlines today beginning in central Nebraska where a man accused of messaging an investigator he believed to be a 13-year-old girl has pleaded not guilty Court Document show 54-year-old James wart entered that plea yesterday he faces 17 felonies Grand Island Police say wart sent explicit messages and videos to an investigator posing as a teenage girl W's next court hearing has been scheduled for the end of October his trial has been scheduled for early Property Tax Relief January well the property tax reform that passed out of this past Summer's special legislative session didn't exactly look like what governor Jim pillan wanted but Senators say a lot still got done Governor Jim pan said after signing the tax reform bill that the total relief package will meet about 20% lower property tax bills for Nebraskans beginning next year the bill repurposes existing income tax credits for property tax paid to appear on property tax statements rather than requiring Property Owners to request the refund later it also caps increases in spending at the city and county level to equal the rate of inflation state Senator Mike Jacobson of North Plat says there is real relief in the bill but adds more could have been done the bigger thing that we got accomplished in the special session however was we did approve spending caps on cities and counties as far as how much they can increase their property tax ask uh I think that Lincoln County for example and and city of North Plat haven't been near those caps to begin with so they're going to be unaffected by it uh but nonetheless those caps are in place to help control property tax increase in the future the initial plan would havean state government take on the bulk of the funding for local school districts but that was scrapped over concerns of loss of local control the 17-day special session the second longest in unical history it's going to be hot again in Nebraska on Wednesday but then again Extreme HEAT it's going to be hot just about everywhere temperatures reaching record highs in several US cities this week tens of millions find themselves under some sort of heat advisory John Lawrence has more as the US heads toward Labor Day weekend and The Unofficial end of summer the sun is cranking out extra heat for tens of millions of Americans it's really hard to kind of just like breathe and grasp air it was almost like this humid mix with the warmth not something we're used to in Chicago the Midwest is getting hit especially hard this week I biked to work and I was sweating I mean it's it's pretty hot the National Weather Service says heat index values from the Midwest to the Mid-Atlantic could reach up to 115° it's so hot like I'm dring the Ohio Valley and the central to Southern Plains are also dealing with hotter than usual conditions for this time of year you know it's still pretty warm especially when the sun's just hitting you all day so you got to walk in the where the shades at even Washington DC is flirting with triple digit temps some people are getting outside earlier in the day in order to get fresh air ahead of the oppressive heat came group of friends just play volleyball you know get some kind of sweat in before it gets a little too hot others are going to pools SPL flash pads and beaches to try to cool off water felt really good it's always nice and refreshing first thing in the morning to go in and take a dip and kind of sets the tone for the rest of the day I'm John lawen reporting parents in the United States say they're overwhelmed and burned out with the dizzying pace of the world and it's become a public health concern that's according to a surgeon general's advisory released on Wednesday the advisory cited a survey last year of adults from the American Psychological Association researchers found 33% of parents reported high levels of stress in the past month compared to 20% of other adults The Advisory describes how parents are now spending many more hours on both work and primary Child Care the demands have come at the cost of quality time with one's partner sleep and parental Leisure Time The Strain even greater on parents who care for other aging parents or other loved ones volunteers are essential to any major event without them those events just wouldn't be the same that's certainly true with the state fair honor withth Lugo Mahia has more if you visit the Nebraska state fair you're likely to see lots of yellow shirts the Nebraska state fair is successful with because of volunteers they call them the yellow shirt crew and they are volunteers from hand Stampers to Courtesy car drivers to people assisting with the buses to readers volunteer coordinator Haley rush says there are 75 different positions for volunteers on Tuesday Harry Brown is getting people as they come in my wife and I both do it because we enjoy it I I really enjoy this job here where I meet all the people coming in uh when I get through here I'm going to go drive a cart around and I'll probably meet a few people there too just Brown says it's the people that have drawn him to volunteer for the past 10 years Jeff Cook and Paul palansky are the information kiosk cook has been volunteering since he retired four years ago and pansky has been doing it for 5 years I live in the community and I just want to help do what I can to help support it I come almost every day anyway so help out what about you uh we just we enjoy the state fair and so it's uh I think it's important to volunteer help out a little bit are you friends you know we didn't know other this morning oh really right oh I thought you were friends like oh we are now no just Happ you yeah now we know each other meeting all the people we've met several people that their first visit to the fair is today and to help them and get them where they want to go it's just real rewarding I guess yeah we're just handing out maps in the book and people get kind of orientated to where everything is and easiest way to get to places most of them I have to use the restroom though there are three shifts and each is 4 hours this year alone more than 700 volunteers will staff the stfe fair they are that friendly face that people see right when they walk in they're there to assist you with anything they can in Grand Island an new channel Nebraska Carney Hospital looking to expand its offerings in a new part of town Carney Regional Medical Center announced Tuesday that it's purchased attractive land at the corner of 2 Avenue in 56th Street in North Carney north of Pinnacle Bank East of high ve the hospital says they don't have any specific plans as of yet but they are going to call the new development krmc Oak Park Campus the announcement continues a growth trend for Carney Regional construction is already started on a $30 million addition to the hospital's main campus staying inney the university hosted its first day of classes this week as if that isn't already stressful enough students and staff there had to deal with an additional disruption a Unk spokesman says a water main broke early Monday now that meant students in Randall Hall could still use the sinks and restrooms thankfully but they needed to shower in a neighboring dorm the break entirely disrupted the Water Service in the student affairs and Library buildings Crews completed the repairs on Tuesday flushed the lines and had service fully restored by late afternoon Southeast Community College SCC receives donor gift has received a quarter million doll Grant uh gift that they're granting to naming rights on the second flooor of the Lincoln campus Health Sciences Center the gift from Lincoln psychiatrist Dr Lori Anderson being made in the name of her late mother Flo Anderson a former student of the college Foundation executive director Michelle burkel says the gift also includes $20,000 worth of scholarship support her mom was 67 when she came here and took the Practical nursy program at selfing college she then Ed to come back when she was 94 and she took tap dancing classes here so since then she's passed away she wants to do something wonderful in memory of her mom so we started out with a scholarship she's going to do 11,500 for scholarship she then wanted to help she wanted to honor her because she went took the um the practical nursing program and then she also had an interest in physical therapy college officials say they plan to place a a plaque and photos of Flo Anderson on the second floor of the new Health Sciences Center which is located next to southeast's student Welcome Center on the East O Street campus a Nebraska Congressman being recognized nationally for supporting local businesses Brandon axit has more from Lincoln Nebraska District 1 representative Mike flood was given the US chamber of commerce's advocate for American Business award in Lincoln on Tuesday Morning representative flood exemp ifies what this award means to honor strong leadership and bipar bipartisanship as well as building strong working relationships at the US chamber with the local chamber and state Chambers across the Nebraska flood said he's been a business owner since he was 24 years old and that receiving the award was an honor it means a lot it it's a recognition that I try hard in Washington to watch out for policies that will hurt American businesses and American workers the congressman said he will continue our touring District 1 for the remainder of the week to hear from more constituents I'm Brandon axit in Lincoln reporting news channel Nebraska a flood's most recent Town Hall was in Lincoln on Monday evening he said the two primary concerns raised from attendees securing the US Mexico border and affordable housing Mike flood is the founder and owner of flood Communications and of News Channel Nebraska and finally with downtown norfor continuing to add various activities Escape rooms are now Escape Room Business capturing the minds of those up for the challenge Andrew feifer has more opening in October of 2022 encrypt Escape rooms have been spinning heads with their mindboggling puzzles and familyfriendly challenges 100% success rate so far everybody gets out eventually eventually so this is one of the rooms this is FRA the business ran by Austin and Kylie Truex took their first crack at Escape rooms just a few years ago ran an escape room before ever being a business um so I was interning at the elorn Valley Museum here in town at the time we booked out two weeks it was packed and we said okay maybe Norfork is ready for an actual escape room business since then they've surpassed just local fundraisers successfully operating as their own business we do everything in house we design and build um test and then run our rooms all ourselves the three separate Escape rooms provide participants the opportunity to work together as a team norfor is such a great Community like people love to come in and do things you know with their families with their friends you know we have team building from companies come through we're just really passionate about the community of Norfork and so when we had people reach out to us after the museum fundraiser and say hey this is something that nor fork could use this is something that would be beneficial to the community that was something that really resonated with us since they've open the couple says the foot traffic has been significant and with many businesses and other activities opening in downtown Norfork en Crypt Escape rooms provides that breath of fresh air to the downtown area reporting in Norfork Andrew Fifer News Channel Nebraska and you can stay up to date with the very latest by following us online head to News Channel nebraska.com click on the news tab there you can also follow us on X like us on Facebook and Instagram as well thanks for joining us have a great day you're watching news channel Nebraska