Nebraska is not immune to decades of disinvestment in affordable housing, and a new measure making its way through the Legislature would create a single state housing agency, in part to address what has become a crisis for Nebraska's lowest-income workers.

Sen. Justin Wayne, D-Omaha, who introduced Legislative Bill 1073, said the current piecemeal approach to housing is not working, and believes a single agency can create a unified strategy for fixing a problem felt by people in all parts of the state.

"Affordable housing and housing in general is the number one issue facing Nebraska," Wayne asserted. "When you talk about workforce development, people have to have somewhere to live. So you have areas like Columbus, you have areas like Ogallala, and north and south Omaha who are all looking for housing, and there's nowhere for them to go."

Even before the public health emergency exacerbated housing insecurity, working Nebraskans struggled. According to 2019 data, just 44 affordable-housing units were available for every 100 of the state's 55,000 low-income workers. The bill has not yet been assigned to a committee.

Wayne contended creating a Department of Housing and Urban Development would help streamline government by coordinating state efforts already under way, but currently operating in silos.

"Right now housing is in four different departments, and so we are trying to combine it in one department and make it more efficient," Wayne explained. "Rather than having to go to four different people to try to get something done on affordable housing, it makes more sense to go to one department and get things done."

As Nebraskans lost jobs through no fault of their own during COVID and struggled to pay rent and avoid evictions, state officials left $120 million in federal support meant for rent and other housing relief on the table by failing to turn in an application.

Wayne emphasized a new single-minded agency will make it easier for officials to keep their eye on the ball.

"It would also benefit not just the renter, but the landlord who is maybe not getting their rent because of COVID," Wayne pointed out. "We just don't have anybody in charge or anybody overseeing this process. So this is what this agency would also allow us to do: go after more federal dollars."

With the election six weeks away, concern is building about attempts to intimidate voters at the polls - so, lawmakers are taking action at the state and federal levels.

On Tuesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the PEACE Act, which makes California the first state in the nation to state explicitly that openly carrying a gun in or near a polling place constitutes illegal harassment.

Sean Morales-Doyle, director of the Voting Rights Program for the nonprofit Brennan Center for Justice, said the measure is important.

"It represents some really commonsense principles. All voters, all election workers, should be able to participate and run our democracy free from intimidation. And visible guns around our elections are intimidating," he said.

A recent survey of election workers from the Brennan Center found that 40% report being subject to threats, abuse, or harassment.

On Wednesday, Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif., introduced a bill to ban open carry of firearms in polling places nationwide - noting the country has a long history of scare tactics on Election Day.

"There's individuals out there, stoked by partisan rhetoric and false narratives about election fraud, that have taken it upon themselves to either discourage at a minimum, or sometimes outright intimidate people into not letting their voice be heard in the democratic process," Padilla said.

Both political parties plan to have poll watchers present this year. The Brennan Center has set up a hotline at 866-OUR-VOTE for people to report any efforts to intimidate voters or election workers.


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Illinois voters have several ways to cast their ballot in the upcoming election, whether by mail, in person or early voting.

The Illinois Policy Institute, a political watchdog, reported 2022's general election produced the second-highest voter turnout in a midterm year in 25 years.

Matt Dietrich, public information officer for the Illinois State Board of Elections, wants voters to observe important deadlines for registering to vote. For unregistered voters, he advised there is still time to change their status.

"Voter registration never closes until the polls close on Election Day," Dietrich pointed out. "You can get registered from now right up through and even on November 5th. The online voter registration stays open until 11:59 pm, October 20th."

Voter inquiries can be answered through an online portal on the board's website, elections.il.gov.

Beginning Oct. 9, unregistered voters wanting in-person voting can do so at any early voting location. Dietrich added they will have to cast their early vote ballot at the time of registration.

Two forms of verifiable identification are needed, one which reflects who you are and the other, your voting residence. If you have recently moved to Illinois from another state, an unexpired out-of-state driver's license is accepted. A piece of government mail sent to your residence, a bank statement, or a pay stub with your voting residence is also sufficient.

Another popular choice among Illinoisans is to vote by mail. There was a "slight uptick of 10%," Dietrich reported, even before the pandemic in 2020. He added 2 million people tried it for the first time and deemed the process as safe, convenient and trackable.

"We and all the local election authorities really pushed voting by mail for safety reasons," Dietrich explained. "In the end, we had one-third of the total votes in 2020, cast by mail, about one-third cast early in person and one-third cast on Election Day in person."

Dietrich said in 2022, voting by mail slightly exceeded the number of voters who were voting early in person. He recommends residents wanting to cast mail-in ballots request their ballot far before the Oct. 31 deadline.

New Mexico volunteers will test the "butterfly effect" this Saturday as they perform small actions meant to produce monumental change.

Civic and nonprofit groups have enlisted volunteers to help plant food for monarch butterflies and other pollinators in the Bosque, a cottonwood forest bordering the Rio Grande. Organizers said the area's lush grass meadows and native milkweeds make it the perfect launchpad to expand pollinator habitat.

Emily Rees, Southwest restoration ecologist at the Institute for Applied Ecology, said teams will plant more than a thousand native perennial plants grown from wild-collected seeds.

"The overall project is 16 sites along a 200-mile stretch of the Rio Grande from north of Taos all the way down to Socorro," Rees outlined. "We are planting seven of those this year, and then we'll do the additional nine next year."

Rees pointed out New Mexico's 300-mile Bosque, which means "woods" or "forest" in Spanish, provides an oasis of valuable resources for animals and plants living in an otherwise arid Southwest habitat. To prepare for the event, the City of Albuquerque has been selectively removing invasive, non-native tree species in the planting area.

Monarch butterfly populations are declining in the U.S. and worldwide because of habitat loss.

Rees believes there is still a lot to learn about the Rio Grande's role in their New Mexico migration.

"It is very charismatic," Rees observed. "People really recognize monarchs but by restoring the habitat for monarchs we're also able to enhance that habitat for other pollinators as well."

Monarchs are not currently on the federal Endangered Species list but by one estimate their numbers declined in 2024 by 30% from the previous year. The Xerces Society said the overwintering population of western monarchs remains at approximately 5% of its size in the 1980s.


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