Nebraska DHHS confirms measles case in Panhandle — state's first since 2017
Signs point the way to measles testing in the parking lot of the Seminole Hospital District on February 27, 2025, in Seminole, Texas. Nebraska confirmed its first measles case of the recent national surge. (Photo by)
LINCOLN — Nebraska confirmed its first measles case of the recent national surge, this one in the state's Panhandle.
The measles case involved an 'age-appropriately vaccinated child' in Sheridan County is the state's first since 2017, according to the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services. The child had no history of out-of-state travel.
'We are grateful the child's symptoms have been mild, and they are recovering,' said Jessica Davies, health director of the Panhandle Public Health District that covers 12 western counties. 'Those with known exposure have already been notified.'
The state health agency said people may have been exposed to measles in two cities in the panhandle and advised them to visit and complete the state DHHS risk assessment survey.
DHHS says people visiting the following locations may have been exposed to measles and are advised to visit and complete the state DHHS's risk assessment survey.
Family Dollar in Rushville, 316 W 2nd St., on May 17 from 9 a.m. to noon
Gordon Memorial Hospital Clinic in Gordon on May 21 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Measles is a highly contagious airborne disease that spreads when an infected person breathes, coughs, or sneezes. It spreads easily when an infected person breathes, coughs or sneezes. It can cause severe disease, complications and even death. Symptoms include a high fever, cough, runny nose and a rash over the body. Being vaccinated is the best way to prevent getting sick with measles or spreading it to other people.
Measles can affect anyone, but it is most common in children.
The state health agency emphasizes that if an individual thinks they have symptoms of measles, they should isolate themselves and call a healthcare facility in advance to get tested. State health officials also said anyone with known measles exposure and no confirmed immunity needs to stay at home and away from others for 21 days from the last date of exposure.
Vaccines have made measles rare in the U.S., leading to its elimination in 2000, but the politicization of vaccinations has played a part in the resurgence of measles in the U.S.
Many nearby states have had a handful of measles cases. Kansas currently has 58 cases. Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen held a press conference in April with state health officials urging Nebraskans to get vaccinated against a disease that can cause serious health complications, especially for children under age five.
At the time, Pillen said, 'It's not if it's going to come to Nebraska, but when.'
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Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen. Dec. 10, 2024. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner) LINCOLN — Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen has accepted responsibility for mishandled line-item vetoes to the state's next two-year budget while reiterating that many of the suggested cuts will be reconsidered in 2026. Pillen, speaking with the Nebraska Examiner after the Legislature adjourned for the year, said the veto process includes 'human beings' in his office, the Clerk of the Legislature's Office and the Secretary of State's Office. On May 21, his office delivered Legislative Bill 261 and LB 264 with line-item vetoes to the Secretary of State's Office, which is the right place for the bills to go when the Legislature is out of session, but not to the Clerk of the Legislature's Office on the other side of the Capitol, which is where bills must be returned when senators are in session. The Governor's Office says LB 261 was line-item vetoed at 1:08 p.m. on May 21 and LB 264 at 1:10 p.m. A spokesperson for the Secretary of State's Office said the bills were delivered to that office around 5 p.m. the same day. The Legislature did receive a separate letter from Pillen the night of May 21 detailing the line-item vetoes, as well as a copy of the bills with the inscribed vetoes, but lawmakers contended the next day that a line-item veto is constitutional only with the inscribed vetoes on the actual bills. Those bills remained at the Secretary of State's Office until morning. The Nebraska Constitution requires vetoes to be returned within five days of being presented to the governor, excluding Sundays. The bills passed May 15 and went to Pillen's office at 1:12 p.m., so the deadline was by the end-of-day May 21. Pillen said the mistake on the night of May 21 was 'a miscommunication on where it was supposed to go.' Pillen was in Washington, D.C., the following day, for a 'Make America Healthy Again' event at the White House. 'Bottom line: We made a mistake. I'd have thought, because we all work together, that a flag would have been thrown and said, 'Hey, let's do X,' but there wasn't, and then the glass of milk was spilled the next morning,' Pillen told the Examiner. The intended vetoes targeted $14.5 million to the state's general fund and $18 million in repurposed cash funds for improvements at Lake McConaughy. He sought to save $14.5 million that the Legislature's budget aimed to use from the state's 'rainy day' cash reserve by trimming spending — $152 million from the rainy day fund went to help balance the budget. The Nebraska Supreme Court, which faced about $12 million of Pillen's proposed general fund reductions (83%), has said the loss of those funds could close vital court services. This was Pillen's second two-year budget — he vetoed $38.5 million in general fund spending in 2023 for the 2023-24 and 2024-25 fiscal years. Lawmakers restored about $850,000 of the trims. Pillen, Secretary of State Bob Evnen and Speaker of the Legislature John Arch have pledged to clarify the line-item veto process for the budget ahead of 2026, and they've agreed that the suggested reductions should be considered when the budget is adjusted next year. Arch has said that to his knowledge, nothing like this had happened before. Pillen, whose office now insists the matter is resolved, said, 'As I told our team, we look in the mirror, we accept responsibilities. I've not met a human that doesn't make a mistake yet.' Pillen and his staff have declined to detail exactly what happened the night of May 21. 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The request sought texts, emails and digital messages. It also asked for communications within the executive branch and between Pillen's office and the legislative branch, including staff and state senators. Documents provided in response indicated that Pillen's veto letter detailing his objections was ready by 6:05 p.m., when the state budget administrator, Neil Sullivan, sent it to Pillen's staff. Around 6:27 p.m., Kenny Zoeller, director of the governor's Policy Research Office, the main research and lobbying arm for Pillen, confirmed the letter among gubernatorial staff. 'We are handing this off back to the Legislature POST adjournment,' Zoeller wrote of next steps. 'I will text when it's handed off.' Laura Strimple, the governor's primary spokesperson, sent a draft news release regarding the vetoes at 8:21 p.m. to Sullivan. It was sent to reporters around 11:23 p.m. The Legislature adjourned at 9:20 p.m., and a reporter could see legislative staff discussing the veto letter. Through much of the day on May 22, legislative leadership met off the floor, including Arch. Several emerged just before adjournment at 2:37 p.m. when Arch announced the vetoes could not be accepted and that the Legislature had concluded they were constitutionally improper. Some members of the Appropriations Committee hugged, threw fists in the air and smiled after. Pillen's spokesperson, Strimple, sent a statement to reporters at 4:48 p.m. stating it was the governor's position that Pillen 'clearly took the legally required steps to exercise his veto authority by surrendering physical possession and the power to approve or reject the bills.' She said the Governor's Office would consult with the Attorney General's Office and other counsel. The Policy Research Office, executive branch budget staff and other members of the governor's staff met around 5 p.m. on May 22. Strimple sent her statement on the governor's position to all members of the governor's staff at 5:23 p.m., then to lawmakers at 5:53 p.m. On May 27, the next legislative day, Pillen, Arch and Evnen released their joint statement around 2:54 p.m., ending the possible constitutional dispute and returning to their respective corners, with no one taking blame for the situation until Pillen spoke with reporters this week. Pillen's office asserts that it searched texts and digital messages as part of the public records request but found no responsive records, including from Zoeller, who had pledged to text after delivering the veto letter in one of the emails. The Governor's Office provided no records reflecting communications with the legislative branch. None of the records indicate what happened to the bills after being delivered to Evnen's office. Evnen, speaking with the Examiner on Friday, reiterated that the Secretary of State's Office's role with legislation is to file it, and 'when it's brought to our office and we're asked to file it, that's what we do.' 'There's a certain amount of confusion, really between the legislative branch and the Governor's Office, about those line-item vetoes, and I think that what we will do is sit down and talk through together how that will be handled. That's a really good thing to do,' he said. Multiple lawmakers beyond Arch have quietly teased the suggestion with the Examiner, asking how much clearer the process can be. Asked if there was a reason the original bills in the Secretary of State's Office by about 5 p.m. could not be delivered by midnight on May 21, Evnen said: 'You would have to ask the Governor's Office.' Strimple, asked about the remaining timeline on May 21 and May 22, said that with the Arch-Evnen-Pillen joint statement, 'The matter is concluded.' 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Steel, as well as Chief Justice Jeffrey Funke, have said that position isn't accurate and that increased spending has been in part due to legislation that came without new funds. The judicial branch leaders have said that the 'money' held in various funds is now exhausted. However, Pillen said he's not backing down and that the reductions will be considered in 2026. 'We have to be fiscally responsible,' Pillen said, 'and that's all we're asking.' — Zach Wendling SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
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Former State Sen. Tony Vargas endorses Denise Powell in Nebraska's 2nd District
Denise Powell at her campaign event on June 4, 2025. (Courtesy of Denise Powell for Congress) LINCOLN — Former Omaha State Sen. Tony Vargas has endorsed nonprofit co-founder and business owner Denise Powell in her bid for Nebraska's 2nd Congressional District. The endorsement comes a day after Omaha State Sen. John Cavanaugh declared his candidacy for the seat on Wednesday, the same day Powell hosted a campaign kick-off event. The Vargas endorsement also followed Cavanaugh saying he has a 'stronger record of being a leader in the Legislature' than Vargas. Vargas, a Democrat who represented South Omaha in the Legislature and on the Omaha Public Schools board, narrowly lost twice to U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., with the 2024 margin being less than two percentage points. 'Denise's leadership and proven record of bringing people together to solve our toughest problems is why I'm proud to support her campaign for Congress,' Vargas said. Powell said she wants to build on the energy and enthusiasm Vargas brought to his House races. 'It is a tremendous honor to have the support of a dedicated public servant, leader and friend like Tony Vargas,' Powell said. Powell already has secured endorsements from some Cavanaugh colleagues in the Legislature from Omaha's State Sens. Margo Juarez and Dunixi Guereca, and other elected officials in the district, which includes all of Douglas and Saunders Counties and parts of suburban Sarpy County. Cavanaugh's new campaign has yet to announce any endorsements. Powell and Cavanaugh are the two highest-profile Democratic candidates in the race so far. Also running are Mark Johnston and Evangelos Argyrakis. Powell is running as an outsider, but she has the support of some top local Democratic donors from her time leading the nonpartisan nonprofit Women Who Run, a group that encouraged more women to consider running for office and equipped them with the tools to do so. Cavanaugh is part of a local political dynasty, seeking to follow his father into the same 2nd District seat he held in the late 1970s. His sister, State Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh, serves in the Legislature alongside him. In her statement responding to Cavanaugh's announcement, Powell didn't mention the senator by name but said, 'Nebraskans deserve better than lip service from career politicians.' 'I'm running to bring courage and common sense back to DC,' Powell said in the statement. She also received the endorsement from Square One Politics, a group focused on recruiting and discovering young, diverse, progressive candidates. Vargas became the group's executive director earlier this year. Whoever emerges from the 2026 Democratic primary will have to navigate Nebraska's most politically divided and diverse district, with a slight GOP tilt. National and state Democrats have been using the recent Omaha mayoral race as evidence of growing voter 'energy' against President Donald Trump and political fuel for the congressional midterms. Bacon has said both Democrats are too progressive to represent a purple district. Republicans are waiting on Bacon to decide whether to run again. Bacon has said he would announce this summer whether he would retire from Congress. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
