Auditor Mike Foley calls rebate misuse a growing concern of Nebraska governments

By:<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/cindygonzalez/">Cindy Gonzalez</a>&nbsp;<br><a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/03/17/lincoln-senators-clash-over-nebraska-school-retirement-bill-as-school-leaders-weigh-in/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN —&nbsp;The state auditor is calling out an elected official from northeast Nebraska for allegedly using Menards store rebates earned through county purchases for his own benefit.

Questionable buys ranged from a $1 prank whoopee cushion to a $94 load of lumber.

According to an<a href="https://auditors.nebraska.gov/APA_Reports/2025/CO90-08262025-August_26_2025_Wayne_County_Letter.pdf" target="_blank">&nbsp;eight-page report&nbsp;</a>issued Tuesday by Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley and addressed to the Wayne County Board of Commissioners, the auditor’s office had fielded concerns that Commissioner Dean Burbach had redeemed Menards rebates accumulated with county funds.&nbsp;

Wayne County maintains a charge account with Menards to buy general supplies and other items. The store frequently offers 11% rebates on purchases. Information on the rebate is included on the original transaction receipt, and to redeem it, someone fills out a form and mails it along with the rebate section of the original transaction receipt to Menards.

The state auditing team focused on a three-month period last summer, gleaning information through sources such as a “Rebates International” website. According to the letter, findings showed that rebates totalling about $600 were earned from purchases made on the county’s charge account and later were redeemed under Burbach’s name and home address.

Foley said the apparent misuse of Menards rebates intended for public and not personal gain has been a recurring theme in some other state reviews of governmental bodies beyond Wayne County.

“Increasingly we’re finding Menards rebate coupons being abused,” Foley told the Nebraska Examiner. “Many, many instances in just the last year or so.”

Foley’s team asked Burbach about the situation earlier this month. According to the auditor’s report, the commissioner said he “did not recall redeeming in his name any rebates earned from the expenditure of county funds.”

The letter called that response “implausible” and went on to state that “apparent misuse of county property and the seemingly misleading information provided to the APA give rise to the possibility of serious statutory concerns.”

Findings were forwarded to the Nebraska Attorney General, Wayne County Attorney and Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission for review.

But when reached by the Examiner, Burbach, a commissioner for 16 years, called the purchases a mistake and said he intended to pay back the county.

“It’s a mistake on my part,” he said. “It shouldn’t have happened.”&nbsp;

Representatives of Wayne County government — which covers about 9,500 residents in an area named after Revolutionary War hero Anthony Wayne — told the audit team that the county had no procedures for tracking rebates earned on county purchases, nor did it have a formal policy for handling such rebates.

Foley’s letter repeated language similar to his office’s other recent reports —&nbsp;that good internal controls require rebates received from vendors through county purchases to be tracked properly and treated as county property to be used only for appropriate public purposes.

Wayne County, in a response included in the auditor report, said it agreed. Moreover, it mentioned questionable purchases beyond those detailed in the report. Among them: Snickers bars, grape jam, Hot Tamales and a wind-up robot toy.

“The county clerk and county attorney are in the process of creating a policy to be included in the employee handbook,” said the county’s written response.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1756323369142.png" alt=" The Nebraska Auditor’s report included images of some of the alleged personal items purchased with Menards rebates intended for county use. (Screenshot, auditor report)" />
                        <figcaption> The Nebraska Auditor’s report included images of some of the alleged personal items purchased with Menards rebates intended for county use. (Screenshot, auditor report)</figcaption>
                    </figure><h2>Auditor Mike Foley calls rebate misuse a growing concern of Nebraska governments</h2><p>By:<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/cindygonzalez/">Cindy Gonzalez</a>&nbsp;<br><a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/03/17/lincoln-senators-clash-over-nebraska-school-retirement-bill-as-school-leaders-weigh-in/">Nebraska Examiner</a></p><p>LINCOLN —&nbsp;The state auditor is calling out an elected official from northeast Nebraska for allegedly using Menards store rebates earned through county purchases for his own benefit.</p><p>Questionable buys ranged from a $1 prank whoopee cushion to a $94 load of lumber.</p><p>According to an<a href="https://auditors.nebraska.gov/APA_Reports/2025/CO90-08262025-August_26_2025_Wayne_County_Letter.pdf" target="_blank">&nbsp;eight-page report&nbsp;</a>issued Tuesday by Nebraska State Auditor Mike Foley and addressed to the Wayne County Board of Commissioners, the auditor’s office had fielded concerns that Commissioner Dean Burbach had redeemed Menards rebates accumulated with county funds.&nbsp;</p><p>Wayne County maintains a charge account with Menards to buy general supplies and other items. The store frequently offers 11% rebates on purchases. Information on the rebate is included on the original transaction receipt, and to redeem it, someone fills out a form and mails it along with the rebate section of the original transaction receipt to Menards.</p><h2>Rebate abuse beyond Wayne</h2><p>The state auditing team focused on a three-month period last summer, gleaning information through sources such as a “Rebates International” website. According to the letter, findings showed that rebates totalling about $600 were earned from purchases made on the county’s charge account and later were redeemed under Burbach’s name and home address.</p><p>Foley said the apparent misuse of Menards rebates intended for public and not personal gain has been a recurring theme in some other state reviews of governmental bodies beyond Wayne County.</p><p>“Increasingly we’re finding Menards rebate coupons being abused,” Foley told the Nebraska Examiner. “Many, many instances in just the last year or so.”</p><p>Foley’s team asked Burbach about the situation earlier this month. According to the auditor’s report, the commissioner said he “did not recall redeeming in his name any rebates earned from the expenditure of county funds.”</p><p>The letter called that response “implausible” and went on to state that “apparent misuse of county property and the seemingly misleading information provided to the APA give rise to the possibility of serious statutory concerns.”</p><p>Findings were forwarded to the Nebraska Attorney General, Wayne County Attorney and Nebraska Accountability and Disclosure Commission for review.</p><p>But when reached by the Examiner, Burbach, a commissioner for 16 years, called the purchases a mistake and said he intended to pay back the county.</p><p>“It’s a mistake on my part,” he said. “It shouldn’t have happened.”&nbsp;</p><h2>County lacked policy</h2><p>Representatives of Wayne County government — which covers about 9,500 residents in an area named after Revolutionary War hero Anthony Wayne — told the audit team that the county had no procedures for tracking rebates earned on county purchases, nor did it have a formal policy for handling such rebates.</p><p>Foley’s letter repeated language similar to his office’s other recent reports —&nbsp;that good internal controls require rebates received from vendors through county purchases to be tracked properly and treated as county property to be used only for appropriate public purposes.</p><p>Wayne County, in a response included in the auditor report, said it agreed. Moreover, it mentioned questionable purchases beyond those detailed in the report. Among them: Snickers bars, grape jam, Hot Tamales and a wind-up robot toy.</p><p>“The county clerk and county attorney are in the process of creating a policy to be included in the employee handbook,” said the county’s written response.</p>

State auditor alleges county official misused Menards rebates for toy boats, whoopee cushion

By:<a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/author/max-nesterak/">Max Nesterak</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/author/michelle/">Michelle Griffith</a><br><a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/">Minnesota Reformer</a>

Two children, ages 8 and 10, are dead Wednesday following a shooting at Annunciation Church in south Minneapolis, where students at the Catholic school there gathered for a mass to celebrate the beginning of the school year.

The shooter, a man in his early 20s without an extensive criminal history, appears to have killed himself at the scene, according to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara, who gave a news conference near the site.

Another 17 people were injured — 14 of them children. Two of the injured are in citical condition, O’Hara said.

The shooter approached the church from the outside, barricaded the front door with plywood and shot dozens of rounds through the windows, O’Hara said.

Outside the school after the shooting, parents were picking up their children, who wore the green polos that are the school uniform.

Jeremy Graff, 50, lives two blocks from the school and said he’s lived in the south Minneapolis neighborhood his whole life. He said his neighbors messaged him around 8:45 a.m. to say they heard a round of gunshots near the campus. He said he has about a dozen friends with kids who go to the school.

“I would like to say it’s surprising, but it’s really not nowadays,” Graff said.

Officers were sweeping the neighborhood and backyard with dogs and interviewing neighbors.

Jack Freedman, 25, went to the school and lives in the area. He said, “You never think that it’s going to happen at the school you went to, but then you start thinking how naive to believe that. Because it happens everywhere.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said that the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and State Patrol are on the scene.

“I’m praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence,” Walz said in a social media post.

Giffords, the national gun control group, released a statement by former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot and severely injured in a mass shooting in 2011:&nbsp;“When will enough be enough? I am devastated by the news of a mass shooting at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis. No one should have to fear for their lives when attending religious services.”

Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Wednesday that the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and State Patrol are on the scene of what he called a “horrific act of violence” at a Catholic Church in south Minneapolis.

The shooting was reported at&nbsp;Annunciation Church, which is also the site of a Catholic school.

A news conference was scheduled for Wednesday morning.

Outside the school, parents were picking up their children, who wore the green polos that are the school uniform.

Jeremy Graff, 50, lives two blocks from the school and said he’s lived in the south Minneapolis neighborhood his whole life. He said his neighbors messaged him around 8:45am to say they heard a round of gunshots near the campus. He said he has about a dozen friends with kids who go to the school.

Another neighborhood resident, who declined to give his name, said he lives four blocks away and woke up to about 30 gunshots around 8:20 and came to Annunciation.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1756308874586.png" alt="Police have responded to a mass shooting at Annunciation Church in south Minneapolis, which is home to a school as well. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)" />
                        <figcaption>Police have responded to a mass shooting at Annunciation Church in south Minneapolis, which is home to a school as well. (Photo by Nicole Neri/Minnesota Reformer)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>By:<a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/author/max-nesterak/">Max Nesterak</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/author/michelle/">Michelle Griffith</a><br><a href="https://minnesotareformer.com/">Minnesota Reformer</a></p><p>Two children, ages 8 and 10, are dead Wednesday following a shooting at Annunciation Church in south Minneapolis, where students at the Catholic school there gathered for a mass to celebrate the beginning of the school year.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Minneapolis <a href="https://twitter.com/MayorFrey?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@MayorFrey</a> on Catholic School Shooting: &quot;Don&#39;t just say this is about thoughts and prayers right now. These kids were literally praying!&quot; <a href="https://t.co/0mPYfQsjWM">pic.twitter.com/0mPYfQsjWM</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1960736022410543433?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>The shooter, a man in his early 20s without an extensive criminal history, appears to have killed himself at the scene, according to Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara, who gave a news conference near the site.</p><p>Another 17 people were injured — 14 of them children. Two of the injured are in citical condition, O’Hara said.</p><p>The shooter approached the church from the outside, barricaded the front door with plywood and shot dozens of rounds through the windows, O’Hara said.</p><p>Outside the school after the shooting, parents were picking up their children, who wore the green polos that are the school uniform.</p><p>Jeremy Graff, 50, lives two blocks from the school and said he’s lived in the south Minneapolis neighborhood his whole life. He said his neighbors messaged him around 8:45 a.m. to say they heard a round of gunshots near the campus. He said he has about a dozen friends with kids who go to the school.</p><p>“I would like to say it’s surprising, but it’s really not nowadays,” Graff said.</p><p>Officers were sweeping the neighborhood and backyard with dogs and interviewing neighbors.</p><p>Jack Freedman, 25, went to the school and lives in the area. He said, “You never think that it’s going to happen at the school you went to, but then you start thinking how naive to believe that. Because it happens everywhere.”</p><p>Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said that the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and State Patrol are on the scene.</p><p>“I’m praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence,” Walz said in a social media post.</p><p>Giffords, the national gun control group, released a statement by former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot and severely injured in a mass shooting in 2011:&nbsp;“When will enough be enough? I am devastated by the news of a mass shooting at Annunciation Church in Minneapolis. No one should have to fear for their lives when attending religious services.”</p><p>-------------------</p><p>Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz said Wednesday that the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension and State Patrol are on the scene of what he called a “horrific act of violence” at a Catholic Church in south Minneapolis.</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I am heartbroken by the horrific violence at Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis this morning. My prayers are with the students, teachers, and families, and I am grateful for the first responders who are on the scene.</p>&mdash; Amy Klobuchar (@amyklobuchar) <a href="https://twitter.com/amyklobuchar/status/1960714176868852030?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I&#39;m monitoring reports of horrific violence in South Minneapolis. I&#39;m in touch with Chief O&#39;Hara and our emergency response team has been activated. We will share more information as soon as we can. Please give our officers the space they need to respond to the situation.</p>&mdash; Mayor Jacob Frey (@MayorFrey) <a href="https://twitter.com/MayorFrey/status/1960706399966568507?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I’ve been briefed on a shooting at Annunciation Catholic School and will continue to provide updates as we get more information. The BCA and State Patrol are on scene.<br><br>I’m praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence.</p>&mdash; Governor Tim Walz (@GovTimWalz) <a href="https://twitter.com/GovTimWalz/status/1960706436284985707?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We’re at the WH monitoring the situation in Minneapolis. Join all of us in praying for the victims!</p>&mdash; JD Vance (@JDVance) <a href="https://twitter.com/JDVance/status/1960724538519343129?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 27, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>“I’m praying for our kids and teachers whose first week of school was marred by this horrific act of violence,” Walz said in a social media post.</p><p>The shooting was reported at&nbsp;Annunciation Church, which is also the site of a Catholic school.</p><p>A news conference was scheduled for Wednesday morning.</p><p>Outside the school, parents were picking up their children, who wore the green polos that are the school uniform.</p><p>Jeremy Graff, 50, lives two blocks from the school and said he’s lived in the south Minneapolis neighborhood his whole life. He said his neighbors messaged him around 8:45am to say they heard a round of gunshots near the campus. He said he has about a dozen friends with kids who go to the school.</p><p>“I would like to say it’s surprising, but it’s really not nowadays,” Graff said.</p><p>Another neighborhood resident, who declined to give his name, said he lives four blocks away and woke up to about 30 gunshots around 8:20 and came to Annunciation.</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://minnesotareformer.com/wp-content/plugins/sn2/republisher/assets/img/ccwhite.png" alt="" />
                        <figcaption></figcaption>
                    </figure>

Two children dead in shooting at church school in Minneapolis

By:&nbsp;<a href="https://georgiarecorder.com/author/jacob-fischler/">Jacob Fischler</a><br><a href="https://stateline.org/">Stateline</a>

Three states are at risk of losing some federal transportation funding because they are not enforcing President Donald Trump’s executive order that commercial truck drivers must be proficient in English, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday.

New Mexico, Washington and California will have 30 days to comply with the order or risk losing funding from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration — among the smaller of the Transportation Department’s agencies — Duffy said, standing behind a lectern with an “America First” banner on it at the department’s Washington, D.C., headquarters.

California stands to lose $33 million, Washington could lose $10.5 million and New Mexico would lose $7 million, Duffy said. He urged the states to comply with the executive order, which Trump signed in April and took effect in June, or face increasingly draconian penalties.

“We don’t want to take away money from states,” Duffy said. “But we will take money away and we will take additional steps that get progressively more difficult for these states. There’s a lot of great tools that we have here that we don’t want to use.”

All three states contributed to a Florida crash this month in which three people were killed, Duffy said. The truck driver involved had a commercial license from California and Washington, and had been pulled over for speeding in New Mexico prior to crashing in Florida, Duffy said.

“So this one driver touched all three states,” he said.

The Florida driver, an immigrant from India who did not have permanent legal authority to be in the country, made an illegal U-turn on the Florida Turnpike, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/08/20/jay-collins-is-headed-to-california-to-bring-back-undocumented-truck-driver/" target="_blank">local reports</a>.

Duffy said the Florida driver did not understand road signs, but did not further specify how his lack of English comprehension led to the crash, which reportedly involved making a U-turn across lanes of traffic. But Duffy repeatedly said the issue was one of safety.

Duffy said that when the Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-enforces-commonsense-rules-of-the-road-for-americas-truck-drivers/" target="_blank">executive order&nbsp;</a>went into effect, it received negative publicity.

“There was a lot of press that complained to us that we were being unfair to people, that we were being mean to people,” he said. “And what we said was, ‘No, this is a safety issue.’ Making sure drivers of very heavy, 80,000-pound rigs can speak the language is truly a critical safety issue. And some complained about it.”

On social media, California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office said the federal government approved a permit for the Florida driver.

“This is rich,” Newsom’s office&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/GovPressOffice" target="_blank">wrote on X</a>. “The Trump Administration approved the federal work permit for the man who killed 3 people — and now they’re scrambling to shift blame after getting caught. Sean’s nonsense announcement is as big a joke as the Trump Administration itself.”

A DHS spokesperson&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/24/us/harjinder-singh-florida-crash-immigration" target="_blank">denied</a>&nbsp;the federal government issued the driver a work permit and blamed Newsom.

“These innocent people were killed in Florida because Gavin Newsom’s California Department of Motor Vehicles issued an illegal alien a Commercial Driver’s License—this state of governance is asinine,” a spokesperson wrote in an email to States Newsroom.

Newsom has increasingly over the past few months used his social media channels to mock Trump.&nbsp;

Washington State Patrol spokesman Chris Loftis wrote in an email that the agency was “reviewing the matter with our state transportation partners” and would soon have a more detailed response.

A spokesperson for Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, said he had not received Duffy’s letter.&nbsp;

“We will review it when we receive it and carefully evaluate next steps,” the spokesperson, Brionna Aho, said.&nbsp;

That state’s Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, made<a href="https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/08/19/wa-will-not-be-bullied-or-intimidated-ferguson-tells-bondi/" target="_blank">&nbsp;a defiant statement</a>&nbsp;last week about complying with the Trump administration’s demands on immigration enforcement.

“Washington State will not be bullied or intimidated by threats and legally baseless accusations,” he wrote to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.

He has&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/GovBobFerguson/status/1960108862843060436" target="_blank">amplified</a>&nbsp;that message&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/GovBobFerguson/status/1960132600112271694" target="_blank">several</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/GovBobFerguson/status/1958985338954948621" target="_blank">times</a>&nbsp;since.

The New Mexico Department of Transportation deferred a request for comment to the state’s Department of Public Safety, which did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.

Duffy said he was puzzled by commercial drivers who were able to pass a skills test without understanding English, and said the department was investigating that issue.

“This is something we’re looking at and working on when someone, an individual, comes in to take their test to become a commercial driver, and then they do a skills test… at that point, it would be clear that this driver doesn’t understand all the road signs and doesn’t speak the language, but miraculously, they’re passing the skills test,” he said. “I think any common-sense analysis would say, well, that doesn’t make sense.”

The federal department would be looking at whether the skills tests are being correctly administered and whether there is “some gaming of the system that we have to address.”

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/8/1565041802198.jpeg" alt="Google image" />
                        <figcaption>Google image</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>By:&nbsp;<a href="https://georgiarecorder.com/author/jacob-fischler/">Jacob Fischler</a><br><a href="https://stateline.org/">Stateline</a></p><p>Three states are at risk of losing some federal transportation funding because they are not enforcing President Donald Trump’s executive order that commercial truck drivers must be proficient in English, U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said Tuesday.</p><p>New Mexico, Washington and California will have 30 days to comply with the order or risk losing funding from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration — among the smaller of the Transportation Department’s agencies — Duffy said, standing behind a lectern with an “America First” banner on it at the department’s Washington, D.C., headquarters.</p><p>California stands to lose $33 million, Washington could lose $10.5 million and New Mexico would lose $7 million, Duffy said. He urged the states to comply with the executive order, which Trump signed in April and took effect in June, or face increasingly draconian penalties.</p><p>“We don’t want to take away money from states,” Duffy said. “But we will take money away and we will take additional steps that get progressively more difficult for these states. There’s a lot of great tools that we have here that we don’t want to use.”</p><p>All three states contributed to a Florida crash this month in which three people were killed, Duffy said. The truck driver involved had a commercial license from California and Washington, and had been pulled over for speeding in New Mexico prior to crashing in Florida, Duffy said.</p><p>“So this one driver touched all three states,” he said.</p><p>The Florida driver, an immigrant from India who did not have permanent legal authority to be in the country, made an illegal U-turn on the Florida Turnpike, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://floridaphoenix.com/2025/08/20/jay-collins-is-headed-to-california-to-bring-back-undocumented-truck-driver/" target="_blank">local reports</a>.</p><p>Duffy said the Florida driver did not understand road signs, but did not further specify how his lack of English comprehension led to the crash, which reportedly involved making a U-turn across lanes of traffic. But Duffy repeatedly said the issue was one of safety.</p><p>Duffy said that when the Trump&nbsp;<a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/fact-sheets/2025/04/fact-sheet-president-donald-j-trump-enforces-commonsense-rules-of-the-road-for-americas-truck-drivers/" target="_blank">executive order&nbsp;</a>went into effect, it received negative publicity.</p><p>“There was a lot of press that complained to us that we were being unfair to people, that we were being mean to people,” he said. “And what we said was, ‘No, this is a safety issue.’ Making sure drivers of very heavy, 80,000-pound rigs can speak the language is truly a critical safety issue. And some complained about it.”</p><h2>Newsom hits back</h2><p>On social media, California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s press office said the federal government approved a permit for the Florida driver.</p><p>“This is rich,” Newsom’s office&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/GovPressOffice" target="_blank">wrote on X</a>. “The Trump Administration approved the federal work permit for the man who killed 3 people — and now they’re scrambling to shift blame after getting caught. Sean’s nonsense announcement is as big a joke as the Trump Administration itself.”</p><p>A DHS spokesperson&nbsp;<a href="https://www.cnn.com/2025/08/24/us/harjinder-singh-florida-crash-immigration" target="_blank">denied</a>&nbsp;the federal government issued the driver a work permit and blamed Newsom.</p><p>“These innocent people were killed in Florida because Gavin Newsom’s California Department of Motor Vehicles issued an illegal alien a Commercial Driver’s License—this state of governance is asinine,” a spokesperson wrote in an email to States Newsroom.</p><p>Newsom has increasingly over the past few months used his social media channels to mock Trump.&nbsp;</p><p>Washington State Patrol spokesman Chris Loftis wrote in an email that the agency was “reviewing the matter with our state transportation partners” and would soon have a more detailed response.</p><p>A spokesperson for Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, said he had not received Duffy’s letter.&nbsp;</p><p>“We will review it when we receive it and carefully evaluate next steps,” the spokesperson, Brionna Aho, said.&nbsp;</p><p>That state’s Gov. Bob Ferguson, a Democrat, made<a href="https://washingtonstatestandard.com/2025/08/19/wa-will-not-be-bullied-or-intimidated-ferguson-tells-bondi/" target="_blank">&nbsp;a defiant statement</a>&nbsp;last week about complying with the Trump administration’s demands on immigration enforcement.</p><p>“Washington State will not be bullied or intimidated by threats and legally baseless accusations,” he wrote to U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi.</p><p>He has&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/GovBobFerguson/status/1960108862843060436" target="_blank">amplified</a>&nbsp;that message&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/GovBobFerguson/status/1960132600112271694" target="_blank">several</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://x.com/GovBobFerguson/status/1958985338954948621" target="_blank">times</a>&nbsp;since.</p><p>The New Mexico Department of Transportation deferred a request for comment to the state’s Department of Public Safety, which did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment.</p><h2>Investigating testing</h2><p>Duffy said he was puzzled by commercial drivers who were able to pass a skills test without understanding English, and said the department was investigating that issue.</p><p>“This is something we’re looking at and working on when someone, an individual, comes in to take their test to become a commercial driver, and then they do a skills test… at that point, it would be clear that this driver doesn’t understand all the road signs and doesn’t speak the language, but miraculously, they’re passing the skills test,” he said. “I think any common-sense analysis would say, well, that doesn’t make sense.”</p><p>The federal department would be looking at whether the skills tests are being correctly administered and whether there is “some gaming of the system that we have to address.”</p>

Trump admin. threatens to yank state funds over truckers’ English proficiency

<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">We thank our guests for sharing your voices and love for Cracker Barrel. We said we would listen, and we have. Our new logo is going away and our “Old Timer” will remain. <br><br>At Cracker Barrel, it’s always been – and always will be – about serving up delicious food, warm… <a href="https://t.co/C32QMLOeq0">pic.twitter.com/C32QMLOeq0</a></p>&mdash; Cracker Barrel (@CrackerBarrel) <a href="https://twitter.com/CrackerBarrel/status/1960475658116632865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

 Cracker Barrel: New logo is going away and our “Old Timer” will remain.  

<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Are you ready for an AI challenge?<br>Visit <a href="https://t.co/PNPBv2KckS">https://t.co/PNPBv2KckS</a> <a href="https://t.co/GdRiH8tz2t">pic.twitter.com/GdRiH8tz2t</a></p>&mdash; First Lady Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) <a href="https://twitter.com/FLOTUS/status/1960320005909737658?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 26, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

🎥First lady announces nationwide AI contest for students

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/9/1725580468000.png" alt="Taylor Swift arrives to watch the Chiefs last season -photo by Micaela Dea courtesy KAKE " />
                        <figcaption>Taylor Swift arrives to watch the Chiefs last season -photo by Micaela Dea courtesy KAKE </figcaption>
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border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div> <div style=" background-color: #F4F4F4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div></div></div><div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div> <div style="display:block; height:50px; margin:0 auto 12px; width:50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewBox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div><div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style=" color:#3897f0; 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See the photos: Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce are engaged

On Monday, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order taking steps to ensure that cashless bail in Washington, D.C. is eliminated.

STOPPING DANGEROUS RELEASE POLICIES IN D.C.:&nbsp;The District of Columbia’s cashless bail policies allow dangerous individuals to be released quickly, endangering residents, visitors, and Federal workers, and force law enforcement to repeatedly arrest the same offenders.

MAKING AMERICA SAFE AGAIN:&nbsp;The American people elected President Trump to get tough on crime and restore safety to communities nationwide.

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:

Section&nbsp;1.&nbsp;&nbsp;Purpose and Policy.&nbsp; Maintaining order and public safety requires incarcerating individuals whose pending criminal charges or criminal history demonstrate a clear ongoing risk to society.&nbsp; When these individuals are released without bail under city or State policies, they are permitted — even encouraged — to further endanger law-abiding, hard-working Americans because they know our laws will not be enforced. &nbsp;Our great law enforcement officers risk their lives to arrest potentially violent criminals, only to be forced to arrest the same individuals, sometimes for the same crimes, while they await trial on the previous charges.&nbsp; This is a waste of public resources and a threat to public safety.

As President, I will require commonsense policies that protect Americans’ safety and well-being by incarcerating individuals who are known threats.&nbsp; It is therefore the policy of my Administration that Federal policies and resources should not be used to support jurisdictions with cashless bail policies, to the maximum extent permitted by law.

Sec.&nbsp;2.&nbsp;&nbsp;Consequences for Cashless Bail Jurisdictions.&nbsp; (a) &nbsp;Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Attorney General shall submit to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, a list of States and local jurisdictions that have, in the Attorney General’s opinion, substantially eliminated cash bail as a potential condition of pretrial release from custody for crimes that pose a clear threat to public safety and order, including offenses involving violent, sexual, or indecent acts, or burglary, looting, or vandalism.&nbsp; The Attorney General shall update this list as necessary.

(b) &nbsp;The head of each executive department and agency, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, shall identify Federal funds, including grants and contracts, currently provided to cashless bail jurisdictions identified pursuant to subsection (a) of this section that may be suspended or terminated, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.

Sec.&nbsp;3.&nbsp;&nbsp;General Provisions.&nbsp; (a)&nbsp; Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:

(i) &nbsp;&nbsp;the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or

(ii) &nbsp;the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.

(b)&nbsp; This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.

(c)&nbsp; This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.

(d)&nbsp; The costs for publication of this order shall be borne by the Department of Justice.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; DONALD J. TRUMP

<p><i>White House</i></p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> signs an Executive Order taking steps to crack down on cashless bail <a href="https://t.co/qF795onMZa">pic.twitter.com/qF795onMZa</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1959996712736452677?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 25, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>On Monday, President Donald J. Trump signed an Executive Order taking steps to ensure that cashless bail in Washington, D.C. is eliminated.</p><ul>
                        <li>The Order tasks the relevant law enforcement agencies and officials that are members of the D.C. Safe and Beautiful Task Force to work to ensure that arrestees in the District of Columbia are held in Federal custody to the fullest extent permissible under applicable law, and to pursue Federal charges and pretrial detention for such arrestees whenever possible.</li><li>The Order directs the Attorney General to determine whether the District of Columbia continues to maintain its cashless bail policy for crimes that pose a clear threat to public safety, including murder, rape, carjacking, assault, burglary, looting, and more.&nbsp;</li><li>If the District’s cashless-bail policy remains in place, the Order instructs the Administration to take appropriate actions, which may include Federal funding decisions, services, or approvals, as well as actions the Attorney General identifies as necessary and appropriate because of the emergency conditions.</li>
                    </ul><p>STOPPING DANGEROUS RELEASE POLICIES IN D.C.:&nbsp;The District of Columbia’s cashless bail policies allow dangerous individuals to be released quickly, endangering residents, visitors, and Federal workers, and force law enforcement to repeatedly arrest the same offenders.</p><ul>
                        <li>Under D.C. law, cash bail is effectively outlawed, meaning that the overwhelming majority of individuals arrested and awaiting trial are released back onto the streets.</li><li>A journalist was reportedly injured and sexually abused near Union Station by a homeless man, only to be released back onto the streets before his trial.</li><li>A man who threw a Subway sandwich at a Federal officer has been released on his own recognizance, despite being charged with a sentence that carries up to eight years in Federal prison.</li><li>A man was released after being charged with inappropriately touching three women in Northwest Washington, only to be arrested again just two days later for sexually abusing another three women in broad daylight.</li><li>Two days after a man was released from court on a misdemeanor charge of assaulting a police officer, he was then charged in a fatal stabbing on a Metro train.</li><li>Under the District’s cashless bail policy, law enforcement officers risk their lives to arrest dangerous criminals, only to be forced to arrest the same individuals, sometimes for the same crimes, while they repeatedly endanger American citizens visiting our Nation’s capital and federal workers discharging their duties to our Nation.</li><li>President Trump must protect our Nation’s capital and Federal workers to ensure that the operations and conduct of the responsibilities of the Federal government are carried out safely and successfully.</li><li>A 2023 study out of Yolo County, California found that its “Zero Bail” policy resulted in 163% more crime and 200% more violent crime compared to those who posted bail.</li>
                    </ul><p>MAKING AMERICA SAFE AGAIN:&nbsp;The American people elected President Trump to get tough on crime and restore safety to communities nationwide.</p><ul>
                        <li>President Trump: “When I’m reelected, I will crack down on the left-wing jurisdictions that refuse to prosecute dangerous criminals and set loose violent felons on cashless bail… If you kill somebody, there’s no bond. Don’t worry about it. Go ahead. Kill somebody else. These people are crazy, I’ll tell you.”</li><li>Earlier this month, President Trump mobilized the national guard and invoked emergency authority over the D.C. Metro Police Department to restore law and order in the District of Columbia.</li><li>On his first day in office, President Trump sealed the southern border and launched the largest deportation operation in history to remove criminal illegal aliens.</li><li>He has consistently pushed for stronger law enforcement policies to ensure violent offenders are detained, protecting law-abiding Americans from repeat criminals.</li>
                    </ul><p>------------</p><p>By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, it is hereby ordered:</p><p>Section&nbsp;1.&nbsp;&nbsp;Purpose and Policy.&nbsp; Maintaining order and public safety requires incarcerating individuals whose pending criminal charges or criminal history demonstrate a clear ongoing risk to society.&nbsp; When these individuals are released without bail under city or State policies, they are permitted — even encouraged — to further endanger law-abiding, hard-working Americans because they know our laws will not be enforced. &nbsp;Our great law enforcement officers risk their lives to arrest potentially violent criminals, only to be forced to arrest the same individuals, sometimes for the same crimes, while they await trial on the previous charges.&nbsp; This is a waste of public resources and a threat to public safety.</p><p>As President, I will require commonsense policies that protect Americans’ safety and well-being by incarcerating individuals who are known threats.&nbsp; It is therefore the policy of my Administration that Federal policies and resources should not be used to support jurisdictions with cashless bail policies, to the maximum extent permitted by law.</p><p>Sec.&nbsp;2.&nbsp;&nbsp;Consequences for Cashless Bail Jurisdictions.&nbsp; (a) &nbsp;Within 30 days of the date of this order, the Attorney General shall submit to the President, through the Assistant to the President for Homeland Security, a list of States and local jurisdictions that have, in the Attorney General’s opinion, substantially eliminated cash bail as a potential condition of pretrial release from custody for crimes that pose a clear threat to public safety and order, including offenses involving violent, sexual, or indecent acts, or burglary, looting, or vandalism.&nbsp; The Attorney General shall update this list as necessary.</p><p>(b) &nbsp;The head of each executive department and agency, in coordination with the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, shall identify Federal funds, including grants and contracts, currently provided to cashless bail jurisdictions identified pursuant to subsection (a) of this section that may be suspended or terminated, as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.</p><p>Sec.&nbsp;3.&nbsp;&nbsp;General Provisions.&nbsp; (a)&nbsp; Nothing in this order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect:</p><p>(i) &nbsp;&nbsp;the authority granted by law to an executive department or agency, or the head thereof; or</p><p>(ii) &nbsp;the functions of the Director of the Office of Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or legislative proposals.</p><p>(b)&nbsp; This order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.</p><p>(c)&nbsp; This order is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit, substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity by any party against the United States, its departments, agencies, or entities, its officers, employees, or agents, or any other person.</p><p>(d)&nbsp; The costs for publication of this order shall be borne by the Department of Justice.</p><p>&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; DONALD J. TRUMP</p><p>THE WHITE HOUSE,</p>

Details on President Trump's order aimed at ending cashless bail nationwide

The Powerball® jackpot has soared to an estimated $815 million for the next drawing on Wednesday night, making it the seventh-largest prize in game history, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association.&nbsp; The jackpot has an estimated cash value of $367.9 million.

The Powerball jackpot rolled Monday night after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn – white balls 16, 19, 34, 37, 64 and red Powerball 22. The Power Play® multiplier was 3.

While the jackpot evaded players, two tickets in Georgia and Texas won $1 million prizes after matching all five white balls. There were also 26 tickets that won $50,000 prizes and five tickets that won $150,000 prizes.

In the Double Play® drawing, a ticket in Maryland won a $500,000 prize after matching all five black balls. Double Play® is a $1 add-on feature that allows players to play their Powerball numbers, again, in a separate drawing for a chance to win up to $10 million. Double Play drawings are live streamed on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.powerball.com/watch-drawing">Powerball.com&nbsp;</a>after the main drawing.

Wednesday’s Powerball drawing will be the 38th drawing since the jackpot was last won in California on May 31, 2025. If a player wins Wednesday’s jackpot, they will have the choice between an annuitized prize estimated at $815 million or a lump sum payment estimated at $367.9 million. Both prize options are before taxes. If the winner selects the annuity option, they will receive one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5-percent each year.

Powerball® tickets are $2 per play. Tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. More than half of all proceeds from the sale of a Powerball ticket remain in the jurisdiction where the ticket was sold. Since its first drawing in 1992, the Powerball game has helped generate more than $36 billion for good causes supported by U.S. lotteries.

Powerball drawings are broadcast live every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET from the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee, Fla. Powerball drawings are also live streamed on Powerball.com.

The overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/7/1689681523439.png" alt="<br>" />
                        <figcaption><br></figcaption>
                    </figure><p>The Powerball® jackpot has soared to an estimated $815 million for the next drawing on Wednesday night, making it the seventh-largest prize in game history, according to the Multi-State Lottery Association.&nbsp; The jackpot has an estimated cash value of $367.9 million.</p><p>The Powerball jackpot rolled Monday night after no ticket matched all six numbers drawn – white balls 16, 19, 34, 37, 64 and red Powerball 22. The Power Play® multiplier was 3.</p><p>While the jackpot evaded players, two tickets in Georgia and Texas won $1 million prizes after matching all five white balls. There were also 26 tickets that won $50,000 prizes and five tickets that won $150,000 prizes.</p><p>In the Double Play® drawing, a ticket in Maryland won a $500,000 prize after matching all five black balls. Double Play® is a $1 add-on feature that allows players to play their Powerball numbers, again, in a separate drawing for a chance to win up to $10 million. Double Play drawings are live streamed on&nbsp;<a href="https://www.powerball.com/watch-drawing">Powerball.com&nbsp;</a>after the main drawing.</p><p>Wednesday’s Powerball drawing will be the 38th drawing since the jackpot was last won in California on May 31, 2025. If a player wins Wednesday’s jackpot, they will have the choice between an annuitized prize estimated at $815 million or a lump sum payment estimated at $367.9 million. Both prize options are before taxes. If the winner selects the annuity option, they will receive one immediate payment followed by 29 annual payments that increase by 5-percent each year.</p><p>Powerball® tickets are $2 per play. Tickets are sold in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. More than half of all proceeds from the sale of a Powerball ticket remain in the jurisdiction where the ticket was sold. Since its first drawing in 1992, the Powerball game has helped generate more than $36 billion for good causes supported by U.S. lotteries.</p><p>Powerball drawings are broadcast live every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday at 10:59 p.m. ET from the Florida Lottery draw studio in Tallahassee, Fla. Powerball drawings are also live streamed on Powerball.com.</p><p>The overall odds of winning a prize are 1 in 24.9. The odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 292.2 million.</p><p>Top Ten Powerball Jackpots</p><ol>
                        <li>$2.04 Billion – Nov. 7, 2022 – CA</li><li>$1.765 Billion – Oct. 11, 2023 - CA</li><li>$1.586 Billion – Jan. 13, 2016 – CA, FL, TN</li><li>$1.326 Billion – April 6, 2024 - OR</li><li>$1.08 Billion – July 19, 2023 – CA</li><li>$842.4 Million – January 1, 2024 – MI</li><li>$815 Million (est) – Aug. 27, 2025</li><li>$768.4 Million – March 27, 2019 – WI</li><li>$758.7 Million – Aug. 23, 2017 – MA</li><li>$754.6 Million – Feb. 6, 2023 - WA</li>
                    </ol>

Powerball jackpot soars to seventh largest in game history

The Democrat National Committee opened their summer meetings on Monday in Minneapolis. Those in attendance are discussing the future of the party and criticizing President Trump.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Former Vice Presidential candidate and current Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said, " If Kamala Harris had won in 2024: "We wouldn't wake up everyday to a bunch of s%X$# on TV and a bunch of nonsense. We would wake up to an adult with compassion and dignity and vision and leadership doing the work. May his fat ankles find something today."

More than 400 elected party officials from all 50 states and several territories are attending the meetings at a downtown hotel in Minneapolis.

<p>The Democrat National Committee opened their summer meetings on Monday in Minneapolis. Those in attendance are discussing the future of the party and criticizing President Trump.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/GovTimWalz?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@GovTimWalz</a> on if Kamala Harris had won in 2024: &quot;We wouldn&#39;t wake up everyday to a bunch of shit on TV and a bunch of nonsense. We would wake up to an adult with compassion and dignity and vision and leadership doing the work...May his fat ankles find something today.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/ojPkh3DOPl">pic.twitter.com/ojPkh3DOPl</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1960023391429095753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 25, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>Former Vice Presidential candidate and current Minnesota Governor Tim Walz said, " If Kamala Harris had won in 2024: "We wouldn't wake up everyday to a bunch of s%X$# on TV and a bunch of nonsense. We would wake up to an adult with compassion and dignity and vision and leadership doing the work. May his fat ankles find something today."</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Tim Walz is a deeply disturbed individual.<br><br>Here he is coming unglued over a &quot;stupid frickin&#39; red hat&quot; and suggesting people burn flags with President Trump&#39;s photo on them. <a href="https://t.co/QwMryOCc1c">pic.twitter.com/QwMryOCc1c</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1960043219879916008?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 25, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>More than 400 elected party officials from all 50 states and several territories are attending the meetings at a downtown hotel in Minneapolis.</p>

🎥Former VP candidate insults President Trump during DNC speech

Read Cracker Barrel's apology to fans angered at changes

LINCOLN, Neb. - The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team made quick work of No. 6 Stanford in a 25-13, 25-19, 25-14 sweep on Sunday afternoon in front of a crowd of 15,734 at Pinnacle Bank Arena.&nbsp;

The Huskers (2-0) hit a blistering .385 and held the Cardinal (1-1) to .094 hitting. Allie Sczech earned her first start as a Husker and connected for 12 kills on .400 hitting. Rebekah Allick tallied 11 kills, five blocks and hit .600 to earn MVP honors in the match. Harper Murray contributed 10 kills and nine digs and hit .308.&nbsp;

Bergen Reilly had 36 assists, nine digs, four kills and three blocks. Laney Choboy and Olivia Mauch led the Big Red with 12 digs each.&nbsp;

NU had a 9-2 edge in blocks, 56-35 advantage in digs and 46-31 lead in kills.&nbsp;

Stanford got eight kills from Elia Rubin.&nbsp;

Set 1: The Huskers led 10-7 at the first media timeout with Reilly swinging for two kills and Allick, Jackson and Murray all chipping in two early kills as well. Allick registered two more kills and a block with Murray to make it 13-8. NU went on a 5-0 run to go up 21-11 with Murray and Reilly posting kills, and back-to-back blocks by Andi Jackson and Taylor Landfair and Jackson and Reilly. A solo block by Allick and kill by Sczech finished off a 25-13 Husker win.&nbsp;

Set 2: NU gained some separation at 9-5 after back-to-back Landfair kills and a block by Landfair and Allick. Two kills by Sczech around an ace by Teraya Sigler helped make it 12-6 Big Red. Stanford scored three in a row to get within 13-10 before Sczech rolled a kill to the floor. Two straight kills by Jackson made it 16-11 Big Red. Another solo stuff by Allick put the Huskers up 19-13, and Sczech added two more kills for a 21-15 lead. Sczech continued to carve up the Stanford defense with her eighth kill that made it 23-16, and Murray ended a 25-19 win with her seventh kill.&nbsp;

Set 3: After Stanford scored the first two points, Sczech and Murray posted kills as part of a 4-0 spurt for a 4-2 lead. A block by Allick and Reilly put NU on top 9-5. Allick and Sczech combined for four kills as the Huskers went up 16-7 after a 6-0 run served by Sigler. Murray, Reilly, Sigler and Allick tallied kills to keep NU ahead comfortably, 22-13, and NU went on to win 25-14 as Maisie Boesiger subbed in to serve a 4-0 run down the stretch.

Up Next: Nebraska hits the road next week for a pair of matches in Nashville, Tenn. NU will play at Lipscomb on Friday at 6 p.m. before taking on No. 7 Kentucky on Sunday at 11 a.m. in the Broadway Block Party.&nbsp;

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1756123616448.jpeg" alt="#1 Nebraska dominates #6 Stanford at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Sunday afternoon" />
                        <figcaption>#1 Nebraska dominates #6 Stanford at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Sunday afternoon</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>LINCOLN, Neb. - The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team made quick work of No. 6 Stanford in a 25-13, 25-19, 25-14 sweep on Sunday afternoon in front of a crowd of 15,734 at Pinnacle Bank Arena.&nbsp;</p><p>The Huskers (2-0) hit a blistering .385 and held the Cardinal (1-1) to .094 hitting. Allie Sczech earned her first start as a Husker and connected for 12 kills on .400 hitting. Rebekah Allick tallied 11 kills, five blocks and hit .600 to earn MVP honors in the match. Harper Murray contributed 10 kills and nine digs and hit .308.&nbsp;</p><p>Bergen Reilly had 36 assists, nine digs, four kills and three blocks. Laney Choboy and Olivia Mauch led the Big Red with 12 digs each.&nbsp;</p><p>NU had a 9-2 edge in blocks, 56-35 advantage in digs and 46-31 lead in kills.&nbsp;</p><p>Stanford got eight kills from Elia Rubin.&nbsp;</p><p>Set 1: The Huskers led 10-7 at the first media timeout with Reilly swinging for two kills and Allick, Jackson and Murray all chipping in two early kills as well. Allick registered two more kills and a block with Murray to make it 13-8. NU went on a 5-0 run to go up 21-11 with Murray and Reilly posting kills, and back-to-back blocks by Andi Jackson and Taylor Landfair and Jackson and Reilly. A solo block by Allick and kill by Sczech finished off a 25-13 Husker win.&nbsp;</p><p>Set 2: NU gained some separation at 9-5 after back-to-back Landfair kills and a block by Landfair and Allick. Two kills by Sczech around an ace by Teraya Sigler helped make it 12-6 Big Red. Stanford scored three in a row to get within 13-10 before Sczech rolled a kill to the floor. Two straight kills by Jackson made it 16-11 Big Red. Another solo stuff by Allick put the Huskers up 19-13, and Sczech added two more kills for a 21-15 lead. Sczech continued to carve up the Stanford defense with her eighth kill that made it 23-16, and Murray ended a 25-19 win with her seventh kill.&nbsp;</p><p>Set 3: After Stanford scored the first two points, Sczech and Murray posted kills as part of a 4-0 spurt for a 4-2 lead. A block by Allick and Reilly put NU on top 9-5. Allick and Sczech combined for four kills as the Huskers went up 16-7 after a 6-0 run served by Sigler. Murray, Reilly, Sigler and Allick tallied kills to keep NU ahead comfortably, 22-13, and NU went on to win 25-14 as Maisie Boesiger subbed in to serve a 4-0 run down the stretch.</p><p>Up Next: Nebraska hits the road next week for a pair of matches in Nashville, Tenn. NU will play at Lipscomb on Friday at 6 p.m. before taking on No. 7 Kentucky on Sunday at 11 a.m. in the Broadway Block Party.&nbsp;</p>

No. 1 Huskers Dominate No. 6 Stanford

LINCOLN, Neb. (Aug. 25, 2025) — Gov. Jim Pillen has appointed Lisa Lunz of Wakefield as the new District 4 director of the Nebraska Corn Board, succeeding Debbie Borg, who chose not to seek reappointment after serving since 2013.

Lunz, a fourth-generation farmer, has 37 years of experience raising corn and soybeans with her husband, Jim. She holds a degree in animal science from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and has served as a Dixon County supervisor and on the Nebraska Soybean Board.

“Lisa will be a valuable addition to our organization,” Nebraska Corn Board Chairman Brandon Hunnicutt said in a statement. “With her extensive farming experience and leadership background, we’re looking forward to her insights and contributions as we work together to promote the interests of Nebraska’s corn growers.”

Along with Lunz’s appointment, Pillen reappointed Dan Nerud of Crete and Adam Grabenstein of Farnam as directors for districts 1 and 5.

At its Aug. 19 meeting, the board also elected its 2025–26 officers: Hunnicutt of Giltner as chair, Andy Groskopf of Scottsbluff as vice chair, and Ted Schrock of Elm Creek as secretary/treasurer. Jay Reiners of Juniata will continue to serve as past chairman.

“The leadership elected take on great responsibility, representing all 36,000 corn farmers in the state,” Executive Director Kelly Brunkhorst said. “Their continuity and experience will serve us well as we continue to promote Nebraska’s corn industry and drive initiatives that benefit producers.”

The Nebraska Corn Board is funded through a producer checkoff and directed by nine farmer members. Its mission includes market development, research and promotion of Nebraska corn.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1756120869381.jpeg" alt="New leadership was recently elected to the Nebraska Corn Board at the August meeting. (L-R), Jay Reiners, past chairman; Brandon Hunnicutt, chairman; Andy Groskopf, vice chairman; and Ted Schrock, secretary/treasurer. They assume the roles immediately." />
                        <figcaption>New leadership was recently elected to the Nebraska Corn Board at the August meeting. (L-R), Jay Reiners, past chairman; Brandon Hunnicutt, chairman; Andy Groskopf, vice chairman; and Ted Schrock, secretary/treasurer. They assume the roles immediately.</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>LINCOLN, Neb. (Aug. 25, 2025) — Gov. Jim Pillen has appointed Lisa Lunz of Wakefield as the new District 4 director of the Nebraska Corn Board, succeeding Debbie Borg, who chose not to seek reappointment after serving since 2013.</p><p>Lunz, a fourth-generation farmer, has 37 years of experience raising corn and soybeans with her husband, Jim. She holds a degree in animal science from the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and has served as a Dixon County supervisor and on the Nebraska Soybean Board.</p><p>“Lisa will be a valuable addition to our organization,” Nebraska Corn Board Chairman Brandon Hunnicutt said in a statement. “With her extensive farming experience and leadership background, we’re looking forward to her insights and contributions as we work together to promote the interests of Nebraska’s corn growers.”</p><p>Along with Lunz’s appointment, Pillen reappointed Dan Nerud of Crete and Adam Grabenstein of Farnam as directors for districts 1 and 5.</p><p>At its Aug. 19 meeting, the board also elected its 2025–26 officers: Hunnicutt of Giltner as chair, Andy Groskopf of Scottsbluff as vice chair, and Ted Schrock of Elm Creek as secretary/treasurer. Jay Reiners of Juniata will continue to serve as past chairman.</p><p>“The leadership elected take on great responsibility, representing all 36,000 corn farmers in the state,” Executive Director Kelly Brunkhorst said. “Their continuity and experience will serve us well as we continue to promote Nebraska’s corn industry and drive initiatives that benefit producers.”</p><p>The Nebraska Corn Board is funded through a producer checkoff and directed by nine farmer members. Its mission includes market development, research and promotion of Nebraska corn.</p>

Wakefield farmer appointed to Nebraska Corn Board

Nearly 40% of election officials administering the 2024 election weren’t around in 2020.

By:<a href="https://stateline.org/author/jshorman/">Jonathan Shorman</a>

Election officials turned over at the highest rate in at least a quarter century during the last presidential election, according to new research from the Bipartisan Policy Center.

An analysis of shifts in election officials published Tuesday found nearly 41% of election officials administering the 2024 election were different than those in 2020. Turnover has accelerated over the past two decades, rising from about 28% in 2004 to 40.9% last year.

The growing percentage of departing election officials comes after years of challenges. They navigated the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, as well as harassment and false conspiracy theories surrounding stolen elections that persist today.

The analysis&nbsp;<a href="https://bipartisanpolicy.org/issue-brief/election-official-turnover-rates-through-the-2024-election/" target="_blank">released by the Bipartisan Policy Center</a>, a Washington, D.C.-based group that seeks to foster policy cooperation across party lines, represents an updated version of a report that previously examined turnover from 2004 to 2022. The new research, which extends the data through 2024, shows the turnover rate continued to climb.

The change means that, over time, election officials have less experience. The research found that the share of chief local election officials with six or more years in their role has dropped from 60% in 2006 to 47% in 2024.

But last year, 60% of election officials had previously overseen the administration of a presidential election in their jurisdiction.

“Despite increasing turnover and loss of experience, the majority of chief election officials still have experience running at least one presidential election cycle,” the analysis said. “This is important because presidential elections typically see the highest turnout and are the most visible elections administered.”

The analysis found that over the long term, election official turnover rates have been rising gradually in small jurisdictions, defined as areas with fewer than 100,000 voting-age residents. But large jurisdictions have experienced a more sudden jump in turnover.

Small jurisdictions had a 27% turnover rate in 2004 that had risen to 40% in 2024. But large jurisdictions enjoyed a turnover rate as low as 31% in 2018 before climbing rapidly to nearly 46% last year.

Stateline reporter&nbsp;Jonathan Shorman can be reached at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jshorman@stateline.org">jshorman@stateline.org</a>.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1756041439060.png" alt=" Election workers process ballots at the Davis County Administrative Building in Farmington, Utah, during November’s election. Research from the Bipartisan Policy Center shows turnover among election workers reached a new high in 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps/Utah News Dispatch)" />
                        <figcaption> Election workers process ballots at the Davis County Administrative Building in Farmington, Utah, during November’s election. Research from the Bipartisan Policy Center shows turnover among election workers reached a new high in 2024. (Photo by Spenser Heaps/Utah News Dispatch)</figcaption>
                    </figure><h2>Nearly 40% of election officials administering the 2024 election weren’t around in 2020.</h2><p>By:<a href="https://stateline.org/author/jshorman/">Jonathan Shorman</a></p><p>Election officials turned over at the highest rate in at least a quarter century during the last presidential election, according to new research from the Bipartisan Policy Center.</p><p>An analysis of shifts in election officials published Tuesday found nearly 41% of election officials administering the 2024 election were different than those in 2020. Turnover has accelerated over the past two decades, rising from about 28% in 2004 to 40.9% last year.</p><p>The growing percentage of departing election officials comes after years of challenges. They navigated the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, as well as harassment and false conspiracy theories surrounding stolen elections that persist today.</p><p>The analysis&nbsp;<a href="https://bipartisanpolicy.org/issue-brief/election-official-turnover-rates-through-the-2024-election/" target="_blank">released by the Bipartisan Policy Center</a>, a Washington, D.C.-based group that seeks to foster policy cooperation across party lines, represents an updated version of a report that previously examined turnover from 2004 to 2022. The new research, which extends the data through 2024, shows the turnover rate continued to climb.</p><p>The change means that, over time, election officials have less experience. The research found that the share of chief local election officials with six or more years in their role has dropped from 60% in 2006 to 47% in 2024.</p><p>But last year, 60% of election officials had previously overseen the administration of a presidential election in their jurisdiction.</p><p>“Despite increasing turnover and loss of experience, the majority of chief election officials still have experience running at least one presidential election cycle,” the analysis said. “This is important because presidential elections typically see the highest turnout and are the most visible elections administered.”</p><p>The analysis found that over the long term, election official turnover rates have been rising gradually in small jurisdictions, defined as areas with fewer than 100,000 voting-age residents. But large jurisdictions have experienced a more sudden jump in turnover.</p><p>Small jurisdictions had a 27% turnover rate in 2004 that had risen to 40% in 2024. But large jurisdictions enjoyed a turnover rate as low as 31% in 2018 before climbing rapidly to nearly 46% last year.</p><p>Stateline reporter&nbsp;Jonathan Shorman can be reached at&nbsp;<a href="mailto:jshorman@stateline.org">jshorman@stateline.org</a>.</p>

Turnover among election officials reaches new high, report finds

WASHINGTON —During a presentation and press conference with FIFA President Gianni Infantino in the Oval Office on Friday, President Trump held up a photo sent by Russian President Vladimir Putin: "I'm going to sign this for him . That's a man named Vladimir Putin who I believe will be coming to 2026 FIFA World Cup depending on what happens."

<p>WASHINGTON —During a presentation and press conference with FIFA President Gianni Infantino in the Oval Office on Friday, President Trump held up a photo sent by Russian President Vladimir Putin: "I'm going to sign this for him . That's a man named Vladimir Putin who I believe will be coming to 2026 FIFA World Cup depending on what happens."</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">President Trump holds up photo sent by Russian President Vladimir Putin: &quot;I&#39;m going to sign this for him ... That&#39;s a man named Vladimir Putin who I believe will be coming (to 2026 FIFA World Cup) depending on what happens.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/K3nGniRbPN">pic.twitter.com/K3nGniRbPN</a></p>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1958948441586839821?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 22, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

🎥President Trump shows off photo sent from Putin

In the interest of transparency, the United State's Department of Justice on Friday released the complete transcript and audio of&nbsp; Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche's interview of&nbsp; Ghislaine  Maxwell.&nbsp;

<a href="https://www.justice.gov/maxwell-interview">Click here</a>&nbsp;to listen to and or read the transcripts

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1755895048179.png" alt="<br>" />
                        <figcaption><br></figcaption>
                    </figure><p>In the interest of transparency, the United State's Department of Justice on Friday released the complete transcript and audio of&nbsp; Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche's interview of&nbsp; Ghislaine  Maxwell.&nbsp;</p><p><a href="https://www.justice.gov/maxwell-interview">Click here</a>&nbsp;to listen to and or read the transcripts</p><figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2024/1/1704330351229.png" alt="Jeffrey Epstein photo - New York Sex Offender Registry" />
                        <figcaption>Jeffrey Epstein photo - New York Sex Offender Registry</figcaption>
                    </figure>

🎙Read, listen to the DOJ interview with Epstein's girlfriend

By:<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/aaron-sanderford/">Aaron Sanderford</a><br><a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — The Nebraska State Auditor’s Office saw dead people in Nebraska’s Medicaid payments to managed care organizations as part of an audit, so it dug deeper and found 13.

The Auditor’s Office reviewed all regular monthly payments made in March to managed care groups by Nebraska’s Medicaid program under the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.

It identified 83 payments worth a combined $65,554 that were made on behalf of 13 Nebraska recipients of Medicaid after they had died, according to a letter from Auditor Mike Foley’s office.

The state systems that HHS oversees are supposed to flag the Medicaid program when HHS’ own Office of Vital Records notifies its eligibility system and its payment system of a person’s death so the payments stop.

In at least two and possibly three of the 13 people’s cases, Vital Records, which handles birth and death certificates, failed to flag the system automatically about the deaths.&nbsp;

One Medicaid recipient’s managed care organization received payments for more than two years after the patient’s death — 783 days, the state auditor’s letter says.

But in seven cases, the payments continued after the Medicaid payment system had been automatically flagged about their deaths. For five people, the state listed them as ineligible rather than dead. The other two had delayed processing.

The auditor’s deeper review of the payments followed its letter in late June to HHS raising questions about the program and its ability to verify proper payments and patient deaths.

“The procedures utilized by DHHS appear to have failed to check for deceased individuals against other systems or records used by the same agency,” the Auditor’s team wrote.

Foley’s office recommended that HHS button up its processes to more quickly stop payments after a Medicaid recipient’s death and that it work more quickly to seek and collect overpayments.

HHS, in a brief response included in the letter, acknowledged that its existing processes failed to properly stop some of the payments and pledged to review its internal controls.

“While DHHS has had processes in place that have largely been effective to identify, take eligibility action and&nbsp;recoup payments made after the date of death for Medicaid recipients, this review highlights opportunities to strengthen established controls,” the agency wrote.

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1755873756527.png" alt="The Nebraska State Office Building on Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022, in Lincoln. (Rebecca S. Gratz for the Nebraska Examiner)" />
                        <figcaption>The Nebraska State Office Building on Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2022, in Lincoln. (Rebecca S. Gratz for the Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>By:<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/aaron-sanderford/">Aaron Sanderford</a><br><a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/">Nebraska Examiner</a></p><p>LINCOLN — The Nebraska State Auditor’s Office saw dead people in Nebraska’s Medicaid payments to managed care organizations as part of an audit, so it dug deeper and found 13.</p><p>The Auditor’s Office reviewed all regular monthly payments made in March to managed care groups by Nebraska’s Medicaid program under the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services.</p><p>It identified 83 payments worth a combined $65,554 that were made on behalf of 13 Nebraska recipients of Medicaid after they had died, according to a letter from Auditor Mike Foley’s office.</p><p>The state systems that HHS oversees are supposed to flag the Medicaid program when HHS’ own Office of Vital Records notifies its eligibility system and its payment system of a person’s death so the payments stop.</p><p>In at least two and possibly three of the 13 people’s cases, Vital Records, which handles birth and death certificates, failed to flag the system automatically about the deaths.&nbsp;</p><p>One Medicaid recipient’s managed care organization received payments for more than two years after the patient’s death — 783 days, the state auditor’s letter says.</p><p>But in seven cases, the payments continued after the Medicaid payment system had been automatically flagged about their deaths. For five people, the state listed them as ineligible rather than dead. The other two had delayed processing.</p><p>The auditor’s deeper review of the payments followed its letter in late June to HHS raising questions about the program and its ability to verify proper payments and patient deaths.</p><p>“The procedures utilized by DHHS appear to have failed to check for deceased individuals against other systems or records used by the same agency,” the Auditor’s team wrote.</p><p>Foley’s office recommended that HHS button up its processes to more quickly stop payments after a Medicaid recipient’s death and that it work more quickly to seek and collect overpayments.</p><p>HHS, in a brief response included in the letter, acknowledged that its existing processes failed to properly stop some of the payments and pledged to review its internal controls.</p><p>“While DHHS has had processes in place that have largely been effective to identify, take eligibility action and&nbsp;recoup payments made after the date of death for Medicaid recipients, this review highlights opportunities to strengthen established controls,” the agency wrote.</p>

Nebraska DHHS made Medicaid payments for 13 dead people in March

DAMASCUS —U.S. forces conducted a successful raid in northern Syria on August 19, killing a senior ISIS member and key financier who planned attacks in Syria and Iraq, according to a statement from the U.S. Central Command.

He had relationships throughout the ISIS network in the region, posing a direct threat to U.S. and Coalition forces and the new Syrian Government.

“We will continue to pursue ISIS terrorists with unwavering determination, throughout the region” said ADM Brad Cooper, Commander, Centcom. “Together with our partners and allies, Centcom remains steadfast in our commitment of ensuring the lasting defeat of ISIS and the protection of the U.S. homeland.”

<figure>
                        <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2025/8/1755822794859.png" alt="A U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II conducts a combat air patrol over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Staff Sgt. John C.B. Ennis)" />
                        <figcaption>A U.S. Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II conducts a combat air patrol over the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility. (U.S. Air Force Photo by Staff Sgt. John C.B. Ennis)</figcaption>
                    </figure><p>DAMASCUS —U.S. forces conducted a successful raid in northern Syria on August 19, killing a senior ISIS member and key financier who planned attacks in Syria and Iraq, according to a statement from the U.S. Central Command.</p><p>He had relationships throughout the ISIS network in the region, posing a direct threat to U.S. and Coalition forces and the new Syrian Government.</p><p>“We will continue to pursue ISIS terrorists with unwavering determination, throughout the region” said ADM Brad Cooper, Commander, Centcom. “Together with our partners and allies, Centcom remains steadfast in our commitment of ensuring the lasting defeat of ISIS and the protection of the U.S. homeland.”</p>

U.S. forces kill senior ISIS official in Syria

<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">“You don’t want to slip and fall like somebody else I know” 🤣 <a href="https://t.co/nfEoIsg4Ko">pic.twitter.com/nfEoIsg4Ko</a></p>&mdash; Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) <a href="https://twitter.com/MargoMartin47/status/1958647055464714527?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 21, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">“This is a healthy, attractive looking group” 🤣 <br><br>President <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> thanks federal and local law enforcement helping to Make DC Safe Again 🇺🇸 <a href="https://t.co/GmVdMyNTwR">pic.twitter.com/GmVdMyNTwR</a></p>&mdash; Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) <a href="https://twitter.com/MargoMartin47/status/1958646088971559370?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 21, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">President <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@realDonaldTrump</a> personally thanks and shakes hands with federal and local law enforcement helping to Make DC Safe Again! 🇺🇸 <a href="https://t.co/c4FRxy4E7f">pic.twitter.com/c4FRxy4E7f</a></p>&mdash; Margo Martin (@MargoMartin47) <a href="https://twitter.com/MargoMartin47/status/1958651205309112704?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 21, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> on revitalizing Washington, D.C.: &quot;One of the things that we&#39;re going to be redoing is your parks... we&#39;re going to be regrassing all of your parks... It will look like Augusta. It will look like, more importantly, Trump National Golf Club — that&#39;s even better.&quot; 😂 <a href="https://t.co/4x0mbVrRjM">pic.twitter.com/4x0mbVrRjM</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1958647420557873324?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 21, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">.<a href="https://twitter.com/POTUS?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@POTUS</a> speaks to the National Guard and law enforcement in D.C.: &quot;I just want to thank everybody very much for being here... We&#39;ve had some incredible results... It&#39;s like a different place. It&#39;s like a different city. It&#39;s the capital — it&#39;s going to be the best in the world.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/vXuQ6CK86B">pic.twitter.com/vXuQ6CK86B</a></p>&mdash; Rapid Response 47 (@RapidResponse47) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapidResponse47/status/1958646085192122765?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 21, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>

🎥President Trump's field trip to thank police and troops in DC

By:<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/cindygonzalez/">Cindy Gonzalez</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/zachwendling/">Zach Wendling</a><br><a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/03/17/lincoln-senators-clash-over-nebraska-school-retirement-bill-as-school-leaders-weigh-in/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

OMAHA — Nebraska immigrant advocates and elected officials are among those criticizing the state’s decision to host a federal detention center for migrants — and the flippant nickname the Trump administration gave the facility.&nbsp;

“The so-called ‘Cornhusker Clink’ — if that name doesn’t demonstrate the dystopian nightmare in which we now find ourselves, I don’t know what does,” says Kevin Abourezk, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe who was among protestors outside of Gov. Jim Pillen’s Office when details were announced.

“It’s meant to be funny, but in this context it is actually terrifying,” said the longtime Lincoln-based journalist. “It’s like they’re not human to them.”

Roger Garcia, the Democratic chairman of the Douglas County Board, which governs the most populous county in the state, took to social media to express concern.

“They create cute names for their pursuit of furthering their aggressive, callous efforts,” Garcia said of the federal nickname for the McCook Work Ethic Camp that is to be converted into a 300-bed immigration detention center. He referred also to the “Alligator Alcatraz” name Republicans gave the detention center in the Florida Everglades.

“But woe to you who laugh now and to those who use your power to harm instead of nurture harmony and compassion in our society,” said Garcia.

Garcia had a relative apprehended in an Omaha worksite raid in June and has been a vocal critic of ICE detaining “parents working to feed their children, community members that have been here for decades.”

A spokesperson for Pillen on Wednesday defended the Cornhusker Clink nickname and Pillen’s broader approach of supporting President Donald Trump in his campaign pledge to execute the largest deportation operation in American history.&nbsp;

Pillen told Fox News on Wednesday, “The bottom line is: We’re not worried about names. We’re worried about supporting and doing our fair share.”

He talked about how he and other Republican governors have heard “loud and clear” Trump’s call to “step up.” He said he was “really, really proud” to empower the state’s National Guard, State Patrol and Department of Correctional Services to become a part of Trump’s deportation mission.

Many Republican state senators in the officially nonpartisan Nebraska Legislature have expressed support for the governor’s stance, including State Sen. Rob Clements, chair of the Legislature’s budget-writing Appropriations Committee.&nbsp;

State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha posted on social media site X that “using ‘Cornhusker’ to brand an ICE detention camp is a disgrace” — and called for action by the University of Nebraska.

“The University of Nebraska enforces its trademark all the time,” she said. “Why not now?”

Hunt, a progressive nonpartisan who has clashed before with Pillen on immigration, wrote that NU had built its reputation around “Cornhusker,” which she described as “a symbol of pride, community and the hardworking spirit” of Nebraska.&nbsp;

She said the term belongs to Nebraskans, not to ICE, Pillen or a detention facility that she said would “separate families and harm our immigrant neighbors.”

“Cornhusker should never be associated with incarceration, cruelty or state-sanctioned violence,” Hunt wrote. “To remain silent is to allow Nebraska’s most cherished identity to be co-opted for purposes that betray our values.”

The NU Board of Regents owns the trademark to the plural version of “Cornhuskers” and other related terms largely around Huskers athletics at the flagship Lincoln campus, like “Go Big Red.” Pillen previously served as an elected member of the regents and played defensive back for the Huskers.

The Nebraska Legislature dubbed Nebraska “The Cornhusker State” in 1945.&nbsp;

An NU spokesperson told the Examiner on Wednesday that while NU has certain legal protections, including for any use of phrases that would imply an NU endorsement or connection, the State of Nebraska can use the term for official state business. She also noted that many Nebraskans have informally used the “Cornhusker” label to describe themselves and their heritage.

The spokesperson added: “The University of Nebraska has had no role in the planning, naming or future operation of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility at the McCook Work Ethic Camp and learned of it only through the federal announcement.”&nbsp;

The nickname headlined the news release announcing the immigration detention center Tuesday from the Department of Homeland Security.

On its government X account, Homeland Security posted a caricature of ears of corn with black ICE hats on in a field near a jail yard.

Marty Ramirez, co-founder of the statewide immigrant advocacy group Las Voces, took issue with State Patrol and National Guard resources aimed at immigrants. But he says he believes “messing with the Cornhusker” name will backfire in prompting community backlash beyond immigration advocates.

“Nebraska — the good life — now equals militarized and politicized,” he said.

Ramirez and others noted how state officials say that criminals will be housed in the detention facility. He pointed out that many people in ICE custody today face civil administrative charges, not criminal.

For example, the June 10 ICE-led immigration raid at Omaha’s Glenn Valley Foods plant led to the detention of 75 to 80 undocumented workers at a North Platte facility. ICE officials said the worksite operation stemmed from a federal criminal search warrant looking for more than 100 individuals believed to have worked using stolen U.S. identities.

But according to available federal court records, it appears only one of the detained workers has been criminally charged for using the Social Security number of a U.S. citizen. Immigration judges who granted bond to several of the workers noted they had no criminal past.

Abourezk said the use and definition of the term criminal appears to be expanding by the day.

<p>By:<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/cindygonzalez/">Cindy Gonzalez</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/author/zachwendling/">Zach Wendling</a><br><a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2025/03/17/lincoln-senators-clash-over-nebraska-school-retirement-bill-as-school-leaders-weigh-in/">Nebraska Examiner</a></p><p>OMAHA — Nebraska immigrant advocates and elected officials are among those criticizing the state’s decision to host a federal detention center for migrants — and the flippant nickname the Trump administration gave the facility.&nbsp;</p><div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">COMING SOON: THE CORNHUSKER CLINK 🌽 <a href="https://t.co/jGrZS8opsW">https://t.co/jGrZS8opsW</a> <a href="https://t.co/W75pCHipHm">pic.twitter.com/W75pCHipHm</a></p>&mdash; Homeland Security (@DHSgov) <a href="https://twitter.com/DHSgov/status/1957931320044138759?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 19, 2025</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div><p>“The so-called ‘Cornhusker Clink’ — if that name doesn’t demonstrate the dystopian nightmare in which we now find ourselves, I don’t know what does,” says Kevin Abourezk, a member of the Rosebud Sioux Tribe who was among protestors outside of Gov. Jim Pillen’s Office when details were announced.</p><p>“It’s meant to be funny, but in this context it is actually terrifying,” said the longtime Lincoln-based journalist. “It’s like they’re not human to them.”</p><p>Roger Garcia, the Democratic chairman of the Douglas County Board, which governs the most populous county in the state, took to social media to express concern.</p><p>“They create cute names for their pursuit of furthering their aggressive, callous efforts,” Garcia said of the federal nickname for the McCook Work Ethic Camp that is to be converted into a 300-bed immigration detention center. He referred also to the “Alligator Alcatraz” name Republicans gave the detention center in the Florida Everglades.</p><p>“But woe to you who laugh now and to those who use your power to harm instead of nurture harmony and compassion in our society,” said Garcia.</p><p>Garcia had a relative apprehended in an Omaha worksite raid in June and has been a vocal critic of ICE detaining “parents working to feed their children, community members that have been here for decades.”</p><h2>Pillen not worried</h2><p>A spokesperson for Pillen on Wednesday defended the Cornhusker Clink nickname and Pillen’s broader approach of supporting President Donald Trump in his campaign pledge to execute the largest deportation operation in American history.&nbsp;</p><p>Pillen told Fox News on Wednesday, “The bottom line is: We’re not worried about names. We’re worried about supporting and doing our fair share.”</p><p>He talked about how he and other Republican governors have heard “loud and clear” Trump’s call to “step up.” He said he was “really, really proud” to empower the state’s National Guard, State Patrol and Department of Correctional Services to become a part of Trump’s deportation mission.</p><p>Many Republican state senators in the officially nonpartisan Nebraska Legislature have expressed support for the governor’s stance, including State Sen. Rob Clements, chair of the Legislature’s budget-writing Appropriations Committee.&nbsp;</p><p>State Sen. Megan Hunt of Omaha posted on social media site X that “using ‘Cornhusker’ to brand an ICE detention camp is a disgrace” — and called for action by the University of Nebraska.</p><p>“The University of Nebraska enforces its trademark all the time,” she said. “Why not now?”</p><h2>‘Symbol of pride’</h2><p>Hunt, a progressive nonpartisan who has clashed before with Pillen on immigration, wrote that NU had built its reputation around “Cornhusker,” which she described as “a symbol of pride, community and the hardworking spirit” of Nebraska.&nbsp;</p><p>She said the term belongs to Nebraskans, not to ICE, Pillen or a detention facility that she said would “separate families and harm our immigrant neighbors.”</p><p>“Cornhusker should never be associated with incarceration, cruelty or state-sanctioned violence,” Hunt wrote. “To remain silent is to allow Nebraska’s most cherished identity to be co-opted for purposes that betray our values.”</p><p>The NU Board of Regents owns the trademark to the plural version of “Cornhuskers” and other related terms largely around Huskers athletics at the flagship Lincoln campus, like “Go Big Red.” Pillen previously served as an elected member of the regents and played defensive back for the Huskers.</p><p>The Nebraska Legislature dubbed Nebraska “The Cornhusker State” in 1945.&nbsp;</p><p>An NU spokesperson told the Examiner on Wednesday that while NU has certain legal protections, including for any use of phrases that would imply an NU endorsement or connection, the State of Nebraska can use the term for official state business. She also noted that many Nebraskans have informally used the “Cornhusker” label to describe themselves and their heritage.</p><p>The spokesperson added: “The University of Nebraska has had no role in the planning, naming or future operation of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility at the McCook Work Ethic Camp and learned of it only through the federal announcement.”&nbsp;</p><h2>Corn cob caricature</h2><p>The nickname headlined the news release announcing the immigration detention center Tuesday from the Department of Homeland Security.</p><p>On its government X account, Homeland Security posted a caricature of ears of corn with black ICE hats on in a field near a jail yard.</p><p>Marty Ramirez, co-founder of the statewide immigrant advocacy group Las Voces, took issue with State Patrol and National Guard resources aimed at immigrants. But he says he believes “messing with the Cornhusker” name will backfire in prompting community backlash beyond immigration advocates.</p><p>“Nebraska — the good life — now equals militarized and politicized,” he said.</p><p>Ramirez and others noted how state officials say that criminals will be housed in the detention facility. He pointed out that many people in ICE custody today face civil administrative charges, not criminal.</p><p>For example, the June 10 ICE-led immigration raid at Omaha’s Glenn Valley Foods plant led to the detention of 75 to 80 undocumented workers at a North Platte facility. ICE officials said the worksite operation stemmed from a federal criminal search warrant looking for more than 100 individuals believed to have worked using stolen U.S. identities.</p><p>But according to available federal court records, it appears only one of the detained workers has been criminally charged for using the Social Security number of a U.S. citizen. Immigration judges who granted bond to several of the workers noted they had no criminal past.</p><h2>Who decides?</h2><p>Abourezk said the use and definition of the term criminal appears to be expanding by the day.</p><p>For that matter, he asked, “Who decides who is an immigrant? We live in a nation of immigrants except for our indigenous people. This administration seems to focus only on the brown ones.”&nbsp;</p><p>The Center for Immigrant and Refugee Advancement also evoked the ‘Good Life’ theme.</p><p>“Detaining our neighbors in our own backyard doesn’t make Nebraska safer,” said Roxana Cortes-Mills, legal director of the nonprofit that provides attorneys for ICE detainees. “We’ve seen the damage detention causes when families are separated, people are cut off from their lawyer and children are left wondering when their parents will come home</p><p>The Nebraska Commission on Latino-Americans, whose nine members are appointed by the governor, said in a statement Wednesday it also was concerned with the message the decision to host the detention facility sends locally and nationally.</p><p>“It is profoundly disappointing to consider that Nebraska may increasingly be viewed as a ‘Midwest hub of incarceration,’” said the statement issued by executive director Maria Arriaga for the commission. “Such an association risks diminishing the values of openness and justice that many Nebraskans hold dear.”</p><p>The commission urged elected officials and decision makers to reflect on the long-term impact and “prioritize solutions that honor human dignity and social cohesion.”</p>