New judge appointed to Nebraska's 7th Judicial District
Governor Pillen appointed Michael Long, of Norfolk, to the position in the state's 7th Judicial District, which covers seven counties.
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He's been a county court judge in that district since 2013. Before that, long was a county attorney in Antelope County and a deputy county attorney in Madison County.
He fills the vacancy due to Judge Mark Johnson's retirement.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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Chicago Tribune
04-08-2025
- Chicago Tribune
Funding cuts ripple across Northwestern, as faculty urge no deal with Trump
Nearly four months have passed since the Donald Trump administration abruptly froze $790 million in federal funding at Northwestern University, and the school's fragile research infrastructure has been pummeled by cuts. Portions of research and clinical trials have ground to a halt. Labs have been instructed to scrutinize every expense, from equipment to personnel. Some teams are even killing off lab mice because it's cheaper than feeding them and cleaning cages. With university President Michael Schill set to appear again before a congressional committee Tuesday, rumors of a possible deal with the White House have gripped campus. But the situation on-the-ground remains dire, according to faculty and staff. 'Let's say they unfreeze the funds. The damage is done,' said Guillermo Oliver, a professor in the Division of Nephrology and Hypertension. 'Let's be clear, this is not going to be, 'OK, back to business.'' Northwestern never received formal notification of the funding freeze in April, which came amid several federal probes into allegations of antisemitism. The Evanston-based university has been spending about $10 million a week to keep research afloat, faculty told the Tribune in June. That's led officials to pursue a string of belt-tightening measures. Last week, the university eliminated more than 400 positions, half of which were already vacant. A month earlier, officials announced changes to employees' health insurance plans and a hiring freeze. While Northwestern pays out-of-pocket for research, departments have urged scientists to crimp spending. The Feinberg School of Medicine, which receives 70% of the university's research funding, has seen the brunt of those cuts — potentially putting lifesaving work at risk, faculty say. The Oliver Lab at Feinberg studies the biological development of the lymphatic system. Each piecemeal reduction has contributed to an environment of uncertainty among its staff. As the freeze drags on, Oliver isn't sure how long he can maintain bare-bones operations. 'We were asked to cut as many costs as we could, in everything,' Oliver said. 'The stressful question is, 'When will this be over?' We have no idea.' Many Northwestern scientists, including Oliver, utilize genetically engineered mice specifically bred for lab work. But animal costs have had to be reduced, too. 'It was not mandatory,' he said. 'Nobody told us, 'You need to reduce your mouse colony by 50%.' Rather it was, 'Try to reduce as much as you can without major impact to your research.'' Infrastructure for labs and clinical trials takes time to develop, and sudden shifts in resources and personnel can jeopardize years of work. That can't be immediately reversed, researchers say. Scott Budinger, chief of pulmonary and critical care in the department of medicine, has spent more than two decades researching drugs to treat pneumonia. While his team is still able to collect vital patient samples, they've been left untouched in a freezer. 'The work on those new drug targets has virtually stopped … All of that work could be gone in several months,' Budinger said. 'If we start to lose the people and lose the expertise, you can't just step in and rebuild that work.' It's unclear how much longer Northwestern can continue to fund research without reimbursement. A university spokesperson did not respond to requests for comment. Northwestern is among the wealthiest universities in the country, with a $14.3 billion endowment. But the school's business model was built on grants: During its 2023-24 fiscal year, it received $1.05 billion in research funding. Amid the pause, the endowment and donors can only offer so much support. Endowments weren't designed to be rainy-day funds or sitting cash. A large portion of the capital is invested in hedge funds and private equity. Much of the pool is also restricted, meaning the funds are reserved by donors for specific purposes — such as scholarships or academic programs. In a typical year, most universities only draw from their year-to-year earnings at a rate of less than 5% of the total endowment. That uncertainty — coupled with perceived threats to academic freedom — has led some scientists to explore opportunities elsewhere, even outside of the U.S. Faculty members have voiced concerns that a potential exodus of researchers could undermine Northwestern's competitiveness on the global stage. It's an option weighed by Benjamin Thomson, an assistant professor of ophthalmology who said he would consider returning to his home country of Canada. 'I've done some looking at positions,' Thomson said. 'I have no immediate intention of leaving, but it's not something I would necessarily be averse to if the situation were different.' In recent weeks, several Ivy League schools have settled with the Trump administration to restore paused funding. Columbia University, for example, will pay more than $220 million to the federal government and implement several initiatives aimed at addressing antisemitism on campus. The Wall Street Journal reported that Northwestern officials were also in talks with White House. A university spokesperson declined to comment, but rumors of a deal have already rippled through campus. Northwestern's Concerned Faculty Group, which represents hundreds of members, said in a statement last week that a settlement would make the school 'complicit in an assault on institutions of higher education.' The Trump administration has leveraged federal funding to force universities to comply with its agenda, the statement said. 'This is extortion,' said Laura Beth Nielsen, a professor of sociology and member of the group. 'We need to resolve the situation, but not at the expense of academic freedom.' Meanwhile, Schill is set to appear again before the House Committee on Education and the Workforce in a transcribed interview closed to the press Tuesday. When he last appeared before the Republican-led body in May 2024, he was grilled for hours about the campus environment for Jewish students. A committee spokesperson did not directly comment on when or if the transcription might be made public. 'We all agree that if there is an antisemitism problem on campus, that the university is under an obligation to take action to stop it,' said Paul Gowder, a professor of law. 'But we also all agree that this is a pretext.' The situation has left some faculty conflicted. Many are alarmed by the prospect of yielding to federal pressure, but also recognize that an indefinite funding freeze poses serious risks. Melissa Simon, vice chair for research in the department of general obstetrics and gynecology, was one of the highest-funded Northwestern professors through the National Institutes of Health. In May, her research hub, the Center for Health Equity Transformation, was shuttered with just minutes' notice. Simon suspects Northwestern closed the lab to comply with the Trump administration's crackdown on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. A few weeks later, she was allowed to resume the center's research under a new name, Elevate Lab. But the whiplash has been draining. 'I'm fighting every day. It has been demoralizing and exhausting,' Simon said. 'But how much will so-called negotiation with Trump help?' Last week, Simon was forced to lay off her program assistant, Chisom Chima, her only staffer not funded by grant money. Both women were devastated. 'It's very heartbreaking, not just to lose a job, but to lose a job working with this team,' Chima said. 'Everyone has been on edge.' Next month, undergraduate students will begin to trickle back to campus. It won't be a typical academic year. When Schill announced the layoffs last week, he called the period of the freeze 'among the most difficult in our institution's 174-year history.' But the message among faculty is clear: The university is at a tipping point for research. 'I think if the freeze were reversed today, we could get things back,' Budinger said. 'I don't think it's too late yet, but time is running out.'
Yahoo
04-08-2025
- Yahoo
Badly Bruised Universities Are Rushing to Cut Deals With Trump
(Bloomberg) -- As a growing number of the wealthiest US colleges capitulate in their battles with the Trump administration, the strain from lost and frozen federal funding is putting pressure on the remaining holdouts to cut a deal. PATH Train Service Resumes After Fire at Jersey City Station Seeking Relief From Heat and Smog, Cities Follow the Wind Chicago Curbs Hiring, Travel to Tackle $1 Billion Budget Hole Mayor Asked to Explain $1.4 Billion of Wasted Johannesburg Funds Universities targeted by Donald Trump's crackdown on diversity programs and other policies he says show a liberal bias are essentially bleeding at the negotiating table after taking on debt, laying off hundreds of staff and slashing spending. As the fall semester approaches, they may be increasingly eager to ink accords that will stanch the flow. Cornell and Northwestern, both of which announced steps to address major budget shortfalls this year after the federal government suspended research funds, are now close to agreements with the White House, Bloomberg News has reported. Brown, Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania reached accords over the past month. But amid those settlements, new universities are being targeted. Most recently, the University of California at Los Angeles and Duke joined Harvard, Northwestern, Princeton and others in losing access to federal grants that are the financial lifeblood of large research institutions. It all adds up to an unprecedented pressure campaign that's roiling the world of higher education, reverberating through faculty, student and alumni groups and clouding the outlook for the type of medical and scientific research that takes place at the colleges. The multitrillion-dollar tax law signed last month also hikes the tax on income from endowments for some of the wealthiest private schools. As the Trump administration gains leverage, colleges' bruised budgets could drive them toward making agreements quicker. 'It seems like they want to get deals done now,' said Brendan Cantwell, a professor at Michigan State University who focuses on the political economy of higher education. 'It's almost like a dam is broken. I would not be at all surprised if we saw a cascading set of agreements.' Federal funding has been used as a cudgel by the Trump administration, which has criticized what it says is a failure by academic institutions to crack down on antisemitism during campus protests over Israel's war in Gaza. The moves also come amid a broader campaign against diversity efforts and accusations of political bias. The fallout has already started. Northwestern said it would cut more than 400 jobs to save 5% on labor costs, with university officials calling the past few months some of the most difficult in its 174-year history. The Trump administration in April paused $790 million in research funding for the Evanston, Illinois-based school because of potential civil rights violations. At Cornell, leaders in June warned that drastic financial austerity measures were on the table after hundreds of millions of dollars in federal research contracts were terminated or frozen. 'The spring semester was unlike anything ever seen in higher education,' they wrote in a letter to students and staff. 'We have been using institutional resources to try to plug these funding holes in the short term, but these interim measures are not sustainable.' Late last month, the government froze $108 million in research funding to Duke University, or about 20% of its federal revenue, three Trump administration officials told Bloomberg. Duke is in talks with government officials on a settlement, according to an administration official. Duke's press office didn't provide a comment on the funding loss or the status of government talks. A Duke official, who asked not to be identified discussing internal deliberations, said the school is reconsidering its budget amid the funding loss, but that it hopes an end to the freeze will come soon. Cornell and Northwestern have declined to comment on any settlement talks. Trump Agreements On July 23, Columbia University agreed to pay $221 million in a deal that was promptly criticized for infringing on academic freedom at the school. Brown announced a deal on July 30, agreeing to give $50 million over 10 years to workforce development organizations in its home state of Rhode Island in exchange for the reimbursement of at least $50 million in unpaid federal grants. Shortly before reaching the deal, Brown took out a $500 million loan — a sign of how strained the school's finances had become. Brown, the least wealthy of the Ivy League schools with an endowment of $7.2 billion, had previously warned in June of 'significant' cost-cutting measures to offset the federal funding. The Trump administration's higher-education crackdown has exposed just how dependent some of the elite, research-focused universities are on the government. They're essentially 'major federal contractors' and stopping the stream would be catastrophic for many of them, according to Cantwell. 'Think about Booz Allen or Raytheon,' Cantwell said. 'If they said, 'All your federal funding will be frozen for 9 months,' you can imagine how those firms might react.' The Trump administration has dealt a harsher financial blow to Harvard than any other university in its crosshairs, freezing billions of multiyear research grants and contracts. The school estimates that the moves by the administration, as well as the endowment tax increase, will cost about $1 billion annually. Harvard's Kennedy School already cut staff. 'The unprecedented challenges we face have led to disruptive changes, painful layoffs, and ongoing uncertainty about the future,' Harvard President Alan M. Garber said in a letter to the campus. Garber has told faculty that a settlement with the government isn't imminent and the university is considering resolving its dispute through the courts, the Harvard Crimson reported Monday. Larry Ladd, who served as Harvard's budget director and now advises schools at the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, said he can't criticize any college for coming to a deal with the Trump administration given what's at stake for their campuses. 'Schools are likely facing pressure to use endowment and tuition revenue, which are typically used to support students, to support some of their research enterprise instead,' Ladd said. 'They don't want to do that because they want to continue to support students. There's that pressure as well.' Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities, said campus leaders are being put in an 'untenable position' and worries that federal funds will continue to be weaponized by the Trump administration, even if schools make deals. 'The concern is the more we capitulate through making these agreements, the more the administration will be empowered to continue along these lines,' she said. --With assistance from Janet Lorin and Akayla Gardner. 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Yahoo
04-08-2025
- Yahoo
Badly Bruised Universities Are Rushing to Cut Deals With Trump
(Bloomberg) -- As a growing number of the wealthiest US colleges capitulate in their battles with the Trump administration, the strain from lost and frozen federal funding is putting pressure on the remaining holdouts to cut a deal. Seeking Relief From Heat and Smog, Cities Follow the Wind Chicago Curbs Hiring, Travel to Tackle $1 Billion Budget Hole PATH Train Service Suspended After Fire at Jersey City Station NYC Mayor Adams Gives Bally's Bronx Casino Plan a Second Chance Universities targeted by Donald Trump's crackdown on diversity programs and other policies he says show a liberal bias are essentially bleeding at the negotiating table after taking on debt, laying off hundreds of staff and slashing spending. As the fall semester approaches, they may be increasingly eager to ink accords that will stanch the flow. Cornell and Northwestern, both of which announced steps to address major budget shortfalls this year after the federal government suspended research funds, are now close to agreements with the White House, Bloomberg News has reported. Brown, Columbia and the University of Pennsylvania reached accords over the past month. But amid those settlements, new universities are being targeted. Most recently, the University of California at Los Angeles and Duke joined Harvard, Northwestern, Princeton and others in losing access to federal grants that are the financial lifeblood of large research institutions. It all adds up to an unprecedented pressure campaign that's roiling the world of higher education, reverberating through faculty, student and alumni groups and clouding the outlook for the type of medical and scientific research that takes place at the colleges. The multitrillion-dollar tax law signed last month also hikes the tax on income from endowments for some of the wealthiest private schools. As the Trump administration gains leverage, colleges' bruised budgets could drive them toward making agreements quicker. 'It seems like they want to get deals done now,' said Brendan Cantwell, a professor at Michigan State University who focuses on the political economy of higher education. 'It's almost like a dam is broken. I would not be at all surprised if we saw a cascading set of agreements.' Federal funding has been used as a cudgel by the Trump administration, which has criticized what it says is a failure by academic institutions to crack down on antisemitism during campus protests over Israel's war in Gaza. The moves also come amid a broader campaign against diversity efforts and accusations of political bias. The fallout has already started. Northwestern said it would cut more than 400 jobs to save 5% on labor costs, with university officials calling the past few months some of the most difficult in its 174-year history. The Trump administration in April paused $790 million in research funding for the Evanston, Illinois-based school because of potential civil rights violations. At Cornell, leaders in June warned that drastic financial austerity measures were on the table after hundreds of millions of dollars in federal research contracts were terminated or frozen. 'The spring semester was unlike anything ever seen in higher education,' they wrote in a letter to students and staff. 'We have been using institutional resources to try to plug these funding holes in the short term, but these interim measures are not sustainable.' Late last month, the government froze $108 million in research funding to Duke University, or about 20% of its federal revenue, three Trump administration officials told Bloomberg. Duke is in talks with government officials on a settlement, according to an administration official. Duke's press office didn't provide a comment on the funding loss or the status of government talks. A Duke official, who asked not to be identified discussing internal deliberations, said the school is reconsidering its budget amid the funding loss, but that it hopes an end to the freeze will come soon. Cornell and Northwestern have declined to comment on any settlement talks. Trump Agreements On July 23, Columbia University agreed to pay $221 million in a deal that was promptly criticized for infringing on academic freedom at the school. Brown announced a deal on July 30, agreeing to give $50 million over 10 years to workforce development organizations in its home state of Rhode Island in exchange for the reimbursement of at least $50 million in unpaid federal grants. Shortly before reaching the deal, Brown took out a $500 million loan — a sign of how strained the school's finances had become. Brown, the least wealthy of the Ivy League schools with an endowment of $7.2 billion, had previously warned in June of 'significant' cost-cutting measures to offset the federal funding. The Trump administration's higher-education crackdown has exposed just how dependent some of the elite, research-focused universities are on the government. They're essentially 'major federal contractors' and stopping the stream would be catastrophic for many of them, according to Cantwell. 'Think about Booz Allen or Raytheon,' Cantwell said. 'If they said, 'All your federal funding will be frozen for 9 months,' you can imagine how those firms might react.' The Trump administration has dealt a harsher financial blow to Harvard than any other university in its crosshairs, freezing billions of multiyear research grants and contracts. The school estimates that the moves by the administration, as well as the endowment tax increase, will cost about $1 billion annually. Harvard's Kennedy School already cut staff. 'The unprecedented challenges we face have led to disruptive changes, painful layoffs, and ongoing uncertainty about the future,' Harvard President Alan M. Garber said in a letter to the campus. Garber has told faculty that a settlement with the government isn't imminent and the university is considering resolving its dispute through the courts, the Harvard Crimson reported Monday. Larry Ladd, who served as Harvard's budget director and now advises schools at the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges, said he can't criticize any college for coming to a deal with the Trump administration given what's at stake for their campuses. 'Schools are likely facing pressure to use endowment and tuition revenue, which are typically used to support students, to support some of their research enterprise instead,' Ladd said. 'They don't want to do that because they want to continue to support students. There's that pressure as well.' Lynn Pasquerella, president of the American Association of Colleges and Universities, said campus leaders are being put in an 'untenable position' and worries that federal funds will continue to be weaponized by the Trump administration, even if schools make deals. 'The concern is the more we capitulate through making these agreements, the more the administration will be empowered to continue along these lines,' she said. --With assistance from Janet Lorin and Akayla Gardner. 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