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Daily Mail
2 hours ago
- Daily Mail
Bystanders jump in front of ICE vehicles with arrested migrants inside after raid on meat packing plant
Horrified locals threw themselves in front of Immigration and Customs Enforcement vans which had been loaded with dozens of illegal migrants picked up in a raid on a meat packing plant. ICE agents stormed Glenn Valley Foods processing plant in Omaha, Nebraska on Tuesday and arrested up to 80 illegal immigrants working under fake IDs. Shocking footage emerged on Tuesday of the moment three bystanders who had gathered outside the manufacturing plant blocked the path of a tinted black van. Even as the agent behind the wheel of the car began driving toward them, the trio refused to move out of the way, clutching their phones to their chests as they filmed the moment the van ploughed them down. As horrified bystanders shouted a nd pleaded, the trio jumped onto the bonnet of the van, which abruptly came to a halt, tossing them off the hood. 'You f***ing ran me over,' one of the men said to the agent as he stepped out of the car, in the video captured by Flatwater Free Press. Moments later, the agent jumped behind the wheel again and sped off at speed, with at least one woman still stuck on the front of the car. 'You're not taking those people,' a bystander shouted as an agent approached the woman who moments earlier was on the car. 'Don't touch me, don't touch me,' she repeatedly said. Others used rocks and sticks in an effort to break the back window of the car and free the people who were detained inside the car. One ICE officer approached a boy who was trying to break into the car and roughly shoved him to the ground, telling him to 'get back.' When the boy got to his feet again, he spat on the agent. It's understood at least three 15-passenger vans were loaded with illegal migrants, while others were escorted onto a bus with boarded up windows. The cars were joined by a law enforcement escort as they left the plant. Gary Rohwer, owner and CEO of Glenn Valley Foods, told local media outlet WOWT that federal agents told him 97 employees were using false IDs. He said his company had used e-Verify during the hiring process and that he was unaware that any of his staff were working in the United States illegally. 'They're good, hardworking, honest,' he said. 'They're part of our family.' Rohwer said he was not aware of the raid beforehand and that ICE agents began screening his staff. 'They had a list of 97 employees that they screened. If they're okay then they'll be coming back to work. If they're not okay, they won't be back.' According to witnesses, staff were being separated into two groups within the plant - those who could verify their legal working status and those who couldn't. Relatives of workers reportedly rushed to the scene, some trying to bring documentation for their loved ones. ICE spokesperson Tanya Roman confirmed that agents 'executed a federal search warrant at Glenn Valley Foods, today, based on an ongoing criminal investigation into the large-scale employment of aliens without authorization to work in the United States.' She said despite reporting otherwise, the Glenn Valley Foods raid was the only operation in the Omaha region to take place on Tuesday. Mayor John Ewing Jr., who only officially took office on Monday, said he and his team were 'trying to get to the bottom of what happened today. 'We know that actions like these affect families. My administration is working with community groups to understand the scale of need,' the mayor said. 'We do not want people to be so afraid they stop reporting crimes. Our Omaha Police Department will respond to 911 calls and not ask about legal status.' Ewing reiterated that Ohama police officers 'do not and will not seek individuals to check their legal status.' Several small protests sprung up around Omaha in the wake of the raids on Tuesday, following a similar pattern to the timeline of demonstrations in Los Angeles. Protesters gathered to condemn raids across Downtown LA on Friday, but community anger spiraled throughout the weekend and led to violent riots. President Trump sent in about 700 Marines and a total of 4,100 National Guard troops to regain control of the crisis, sparking fury from state Democrats and community leaders.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Despite the Law, Nebraska School Districts Denied Transfers to Special Ed Kids
This story was produced in partnership with Flatwater Free Press, Nebraska's first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter. Angela Gleason knew something was wrong with her son's education by the time he began first grade in Omaha Public Schools. The district moved Teddy, who has autism and is nonverbal, from a behavioral skills class to general education. His struggles brought on outbursts of running around the room and disrupting his classmates, leading to near-daily phone calls asking Gleason to come get him. Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for The 74 Newsletter Feeling hopeless, Gleason applied for a transfer to Millard Public Schools in 2018. But the nearby district said its special education program had no room for Teddy. Year after year, Gleason applied to Millard and received the same response, even as the district later accepted two of her other children, who didn't need special education services. She tried other Omaha-area districts. Westside. Then Bellevue. Both rejected Teddy. 'It's very disheartening as a parent to try repeatedly to get your child with disabilities accepted into a different school district, and to be told 'no' over and over and over again,' she said. A 35-year-old Nebraska law lets students transfer from one public school district to another under a policy known as option enrollment. Today, more than 25,000 students attend schools outside their home district. But for hundreds of kids like Teddy, the program hasn't lived up to its promise, despite a provision barring districts from considering students' disabilities as part of their admission standards. In 2023-24, Bellevue Public Schools and 39 other districts rejected only kids with disabilities while accepting option applications from other students. Several suburban Omaha districts, like Millard, Westside and Papillion La Vista, denied students with disabilities at disproportionate rates. Across Nebraska, students with individualized education programs (IEPs) made up 38% of the option enrollment rejections despite accounting for 17% of K-12 school kids, according to a data analysis of a first-of-its-kind state report. Disability disparities have also emerged in other states with open enrollment programs. In 2021, Wisconsin districts rejected students with disabilities for open enrollment at nearly three times the rate of other students. This year, technical high schools in Connecticut were accused of discriminating against students with disabilities after denying enrollment to 42 kids, a state report found. Nebraska administrators and education lobbyists say an increasingly dire shortage of special education staff is to blame for the disparity. The law allows districts to reject applications if they lack the ability or space to accommodate more kids. Nebraska schools reported 150 unfilled special ed teaching posts last year, and that doesn't include dozens of vacancies districts gave up on filling, said Tim Royers, president of the state teachers union. Adding more option students to already stretched-thin special ed classrooms would decrease the quality of education while exacerbating burnout that's driving teachers out of the profession faster than schools can replace them, Royers said. 'In an ideal world, we're not turning anybody away through option enrollment because their child has an IEP,' he said. 'We know what we want the system to look like, (but) we don't have the people to accomplish that goal right now.' Critics say schools have long ignored state law and manipulated transfer enrollment at the expense of kids with disabilities. 'We got here because of self-interest. [Schools] don't want to deal with kids who may require a little more work,' said Justin Wayne, a Democrat and former state lawmaker from Omaha who worked on education issues. To Democratic state Sen. Danielle Conrad, the high rejection rate for students with disabilities can't be explained away by staffing troubles: 'That's discrimination, plain and simple.' She's part of a bipartisan bloc of lawmakers that tried unsuccessfully in the just-concluded legislative session to pass a bill barring districts from disproportionately rejecting transfers from students with disabilities. The proposal failed to advance after heavy pushback from teachers and school administrators, who contended it would have hamstrung their ability to educate the special-needs students they already have. The bill could be considered again when the Legislature reconvenes in January. It's 'shocking and disappointing' that schools 'and their highly paid superintendents' opposed efforts to stem disability discrimination, said Conrad. Meanwhile, the toll of rejection continues to weigh heavily on parents like Gleason. It's more than the feeling of injustice — it's the weeks, months and years that go by watching their child trying to thrive in the wrong learning environment. 'We got here because of self-interest. [Schools] don't want to deal with kids who may require a little more work.' Justin Wayne, former state lawmaker from Omaha 'We tried in a meeting to request more support with a one-on-one paraprofessional, but the school actively advocated against it, telling us no one would apply for the position and that they wouldn't be able to fill it,' Gleason said. 'It was a very stressful time, and we decided to try and enroll in other districts because we had heard other districts do very well at providing services.' When the Nebraska Legislature first weighed big questions about interdistrict transfers in 1989, nobody had the answers: A track record didn't yet exist. Minnesota had become the first state to establish an open enrollment program just a year prior. But days before assuming the Oval Office in January, George H.W. Bush gave a hefty endorsement to public school choice, setting off a wave of legislation in state capitols across the country. Pitched as a way to boost parental engagement and competition among school districts, Nebraska's proposal would eventually make it one of 15 states to require districts to take transfers under certain bill passed narrowly over objections from some lawmakers and school administrators who feared the greater freedom to transfer could undermine neighborhood schools. About 370 kids formed the inaugural class of option students. The program has proven extremely popular: 1 in 13 public schools students opted out of their home district last year. The original law prohibited schools from creating rejection standards based on 'handicapping conditions,' previous academic performance or athletic ability. But the state didn't require districts to provide data on their rejections. Spurred by persistent complaints from fed-up parents about kids denied transfers because of their IEPs, lawmakers passed a bill in 2023 mandating that districts determine their special education capacity on a case-by-case basis rather than closing their whole program to option students, as Papillion La Vista had done. The bill also required public schools to report the number of option applications they rejected from students with and without disabilities. The report released last year by the Nebraska Department of Education revealed a widespread practice among districts of denying students with IEPs at disproportionate rates. Bellevue Public Schools stood out from the pack: All 30 of the district's denials during the 2023-24 school year were students with IEPs. The district later confirmed that of more than 250 option students it accepted that year, only 10 had active IEPs. Michele Zephier's son, Dylan, was among those denied a transfer to Bellevue in 2018 after poor experiences in Omaha and Millard schools. Dylan, who has Down syndrome and autism, was being secluded up to eight times a day because of his behavior while in third grade in the Millard district, Zephier said. He was often absent because he dreaded coming to school. The district declined to comment on individual students but said in a statement that it 'works as a team with families to place children in the least restrictive environment possible.' After being rejected by Bellevue because of its special education capacity, Zephier was desperate for something different. She sold her house and moved to a small apartment inside the Bellevue district boundaries, guaranteeing enrollment. In a statement, the Bellevue district cited staffing shortages as the reason for the rejections. At the start of the 2023-24 school year, the district was down four special ed teachers and 29 paraprofessionals. 'The decision to deny an application is never made lightly,' the statement said. 'We fully recognize the impact these decisions have on families, and we continue actively working to recruit and retain qualified staff to support our students.' The district denied 36 of the 46 students with IEPs who applied for transfers for the 2024-25 school year, though most of the rejected applications came in after a preliminary March 2024 deadline, said spokeswoman Amanda Oliver. Related During the two years Zephier lived in the Bellevue district, Dylan was often secluded in an adjoining room for behaviors like pushing teachers away and shoving items off his desk, she said. She decided to move 60 miles away to the state capital, Lincoln, in 2020 as a last-ditch effort to find something better. She broke her apartment lease, drained her savings and eventually found the right public school for her son there. 'All those bad behaviors disappeared. Now he's included. He's in the band. He performed in the state band competition. He's had solos on the stage,' she said. 'There are districts that are known for having a lot of strengths in special education — they're just really good at it or they built programs that have benefited students who can option into that district.' Option enrollment has long resembled a one-way street out of the Omaha district and into higher-achieving suburban schools. Last year, more than 5,700 kids opted out of Omaha to attend other districts, while just 875 went in the other direction. Option enrollment has been a boon for suburban districts like Millard and Westside, allowing them to fill seats and keep their per-student costs down, said former Republican state Sen. Lou Ann Linehan. But critics contend that the same districts taking in hundreds of option students won't give kids with disabilities a fair shake. In 2023, Millard Public Schools enrolled the most new option students in the state, but 27 of its 34 denials were for students with IEPs. What the state report didn't show, said spokeswoman Rebecca Kleeman, is that the district had accepted 60% of the kids with IEPs who applied that year and more than 90% the year prior. 'We exist to educate children, and we want to accept as many as we can. We also want to be careful not to exceed capacity of any program so that we can serve our students effectively,' Kleeman said in an email. Westside Community Schools received about 700 option applications, more than any other Nebraska district, and rejected about half. Roughly 25% of the denied students had IEPs. The district welcomes option students, 'but our first responsibility is to the families who live in our district, so we must ensure we have adequate space, staff and services for all students,' said district spokeswoman Elizabeth Power in a statement. In Papillion La Vista, students with disabilities made up 14% of accepted option applications but 56% of rejections in the 2023-24 school year. The disproportionate rates happened because the school board voted in fall 2022 to close its K-12 special education program to option students for the following year. It just didn't have enough teachers and staff to take on more students, said Christopher Villarreal, a district spokesman. The district reversed course following the enactment of the 2023 law, but capacity issues remain, he said. 'It's program capacity. So if there's a special ed reason for denial, that special ed reason is going to be because of capacity — but I accepted a bunch (of special ed students) too,' said Tammy Voisin, Papillion La Vista's director of special services. 'So you accept up to a certain point, and then you say, 'Now I can't accept any more.' ' But Conrad said the 'capacity argument just doesn't hold any water for me,' since districts would have to find a way to provide special ed services to families that move within their boundaries. 'We can't just throw up our hands and say 'capacity' if I move into the district, but that's what we're doing right now for kids and families with special needs who want to utilize option enrollment,' she said at a February bill hearing. Voisin said that when the special ed program is full and a student with disabilities moves into the district, administrators 'figure it out' by shifting teachers to different buildings or hiring more staff. But because the school board sets firm staffing numbers each fall for the following year, she said, the district can't suddenly hire more people if it receives too many option enrollment requests. Republican state Sen. Dave Murman, who sponsored the bill to ban the disproportionate denial of kids with IEPs, said districts that receive more option students than they lose are typically better staffed in special ed than those like Omaha, where students are trying to transfer out. Related Those 'option positive' districts should be more easily able to adjust their staffing to take in additional students with disabilities than Omaha, Murman said. Omaha Public Schools' teacher shortage grew so severe in 2023 that the district eliminated special ed programs at three elementary schools a week before the school year started. The district gave about 140 families the option to move their kids to another school or forgo their IEP accommodations. Staffing levels have improved from that low point, and special ed programs at the three schools returned last year. But Nebraska's biggest district still faces gaping personnel holes, including vacancies for 62 special ed teachers, 63 classroom support staffers and 20 speech pathologists. Omaha has 'a deep commitment to student success' and actively recruits staff year round in a competitive marketplace to meet students' needs, a statement from the district said. Wayne noted that suburban districts can contract with Omaha Public Schools and private businesses to provide specialized services to kids with IEPs. Lawmakers also say they've recently increased state funding for special ed and for per-pupil payments in districts that take lots of option kids, making it financially viable to accept transfer students with disabilities. 'Every reason that I've heard in the Legislature of why a school district may or may not take a kid in the Omaha area, to me, they're just flat-out lying,' Wayne said. Districts that 'pick and choose' which option students to take are shrugging off state law because there's no penalty, Linehan said. 'If you get a speeding ticket, you get a fine. If you're a school and you ignore the rules, so what?' she said. Royers, the union president, acknowledged that some districts may have taken disability rejections too far — especially for students with slight hearing loss or other minor disabilities that don't require special accommodations. Those districts should be held accountable, he said. 'If you get a speeding ticket, you get a fine. If you're a school and you ignore the rules, so what?' Lou Ann Linehan, former state senator But in most cases, he said, staffing shortages are the real barrier, and some teachers are already in a situation where it's 'mathematically impossible for them to meet all of the instructional-minute requirements for all of the students on their caseload.' The uneven denial of students with disabilities in Omaha-area districts has been playing out on a small scale in small towns. In fall 2015, Gary Shada didn't know that moving his family to a house a mile outside the Pierce Public Schools district in northeast Nebraska would upend his daughter's education. Shada, a teacher in the district for more than 30 years, had a son in kindergarten at the time. His daughter Kylee, who has Down syndrome, was enrolled in the district's preschool. Because his new address fell in the neighboring Plainview district, he had to use option enrollment for his children to continue their education in Pierce for the 2016-17 year. His son's application was accepted. But Shada said Pierce Superintendent Kendall Steffensen told him it wouldn't be possible for Kylee because the elementary school's special education program was at capacity. Shada appealed to the Nebraska State Board of Education, but it upheld Pierce's decision. Kylee, who just completed seventh grade, is still enrolled in Plainview Public Schools, while her brother is in Pierce. Last school year, Shada hoped Kylee could try option enrollment again and attend Pierce High School, making transportation easier and ensuring his two children were in the same building. But, he said, Steffensen told him it's not going to happen and said, 'Don't ever bring it up again.' Steffensen couldn't be reached for comment after multiple attempts. 'I just got shot down at every turn. But I'm not saying that Pierce did anything different than any other district would do. That's why I feel that something has got to change when it comes to option enrollment and kids with special needs,' Shada said. 'You can't just look them in the eye and say, 'Oh, they have an IEP. We don't want them.' ' Few parents have appealed denials, like Shada, and even fewer have succeeded in changing the outcome. Since 2008, the State Board of Education has ruled on 15 appeals of applications rejected for special education capacity shortages, including two that were later withdrawn. The elected panel overturned only two denials. For Murman, conversations about special education invoke thoughts of Whitney. His adult daughter lives with Rett syndrome and received instruction catered to her needs as a kid. But when another of his daughters sought to opt out of their home district in the program's early days, the first question on the application was: 'Does your student have an IEP?' Murman said he understood that the district needed the information, but it made him wonder how it was being used. Three decades later, Murman led the recently thwarted effort to close the disability disparity in option enrollment as the chair of the Legislature's Education Committee. His bill would have prohibited districts from denying option applications from most kids with disabilities at rates beyond the statewide percentage of students with IEPs — currently about 17%. The proposal, introduced following an Omaha World-Herald investigation, left a carveout for districts to deny applications from students with severe disabilities that require them to spend more than three-fifths of their school day outside the general ed classroom — a nod to special ed staffing difficulties. But it would have provided extra funding to schools that accept those kids. School administrators resisted the bill from the start and kept the pressure on their local lawmakers to oppose it, Murman said. Hastings Public Schools Superintendent Jeff Schneider told Murman's committee in February that the bill's passage would force his district to consider taking 'a backward step' by closing option enrollment to all students. Related The district has capacity in general education, but 'we are overloaded in special ed … so, this scares the heck out of us because we are already struggling,' Schneider said. Ultimately, the bill never came before the full Legislature. With time winding down in the legislative session and lawmakers reluctant to buck their local superintendents, Murman knew he didn't have the votes. The Republican said he plans to work out kinks in the bill with opponents and try again next year. Lawmakers also dashed plans to pay tuition for special ed teachers-in-training if they stay in state after graduation, and another bill to give special ed teachers several paid days to do federally mandated paperwork failed to advance. The Legislature's unwillingness to embrace these quality-of-life improvements for special ed teachers is frustrating, Royers said. Royers maintains that if the bill's backers would give districts three years before it took effect, education groups could recruit enough former teachers back into the field to resolve the disparity in option rejections. For Gleason, fighting for Teddy's education is still a priority, but she doesn't think she'll apply to districts again next year, since the bill didn't pass. She said moving to a different district, as Zephier did, might be the answer. 'Trying to find support outside of [Omaha Public Schools] is nearly impossible,' she said. 'Because if you try to opt into another district, you probably aren't going to get in — not if your child has an IEP.'
Yahoo
20-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
At Nebraska boarding school, search for graves, closure continues
Jessica WadeFlatwater Free Press Carolyn Fiscus knows where her aunt, Mildred Lowe, spent her final days. She knows the 12-year-old Winnebago girl became gravely ill in the winter of 1930 at the Genoa U.S. Indian Industrial Boarding School. She knows Mildred died. She does not know where her aunt was buried. It's a mystery Fiscus pondered as she sat in a folding chair beneath the sweltering sun in July 2023 and watched as a small team of archaeologists dug into the hardened Nebraska dirt. They were searching for the graves of children. Fiscus hoped her aunt might be among them. She prayed, reaching out to Mildred's spirit and the spirits of other children believed to be buried on land that was once a sprawling campus. The excavation had days to go, but the longtime educator and Ho-Chunk elder said she felt in her heart what the archeological team would soon realize: The children's remains weren't there. The search would have to continue. Hundreds of children like Mildred were brought to the Genoa boarding school 110 miles west of Omaha during the institution's 50 years of operation. At least 86 are known to have died there — young casualties amid the federally mandated erasure of Indigenous culture. Records show nine students were buried on school grounds. The remains of 37 others were sent home to their tribes. The final resting place of 40 is still unknown. 'It's not just my aunt,' Fiscus told the Flatwater Free Press. 'There are many others that haven't been accounted for.' In recent years, the U.S. government has acknowledged the troubled history of the schools and joined the nationwide search for those children through its federal boarding school initiative. But with a new administration in D.C., it remains unclear if the federally-led effort will remain a priority. The new interior secretary, former North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, is reviewing all department programs, including the boarding school initiative launched under President Joe Biden, according to a statement from the Bureau of Indian Affairs. Some Native leaders have expressed cautious optimism, noting Burgum's relatively strong record on Native issues as governor. Any changes at the federal level are not expected to impact the search in Nebraska, which has relied on state and local resources. Those involved remain hopeful as they continue to search for the graves. With the search ongoing, Fiscus and other descendants face a festering question: What does closure look like when the school's dead remain lost? The Genoa school was among the largest federal Native American boarding schools built in the U.S. From 1884 to 1934, children from more than 40 tribes were taken by railroad or horseback to the arching sign that still reads today 'U.S. Indian School.' At its peak in 1932, the 600-acre campus housed 599 students who ranged in age from 4 to 22 years old. Spurred by the discovery of unmarked graves at similar schools in Canada in 2021, the U.S. Interior Department launched an investigation into the nation's boarding school system. To date, the department has found that at least 18,000 children were taken from their tribes and forced to attend schools founded in the name of assimilation. It also documented nearly 1,000 deaths and 74 gravesites associated with the more than 500 schools. Historians believe that the true death toll is likely much higher. Records show that diseases such as tuberculosis spread quickly through the schools, greatly contributing to the number of deaths. In Nebraska, the state Commission on Indian Affairs has led the search effort in partnership with the state archeology department. For Judi gaiashkibos, the commission's director and a citizen of Ponca Nation, the search has been personal. Her mother was a student at the school. 'It's a buried history. It's a sad story that America doesn't want to fully accept,' gaiashkibos told the Flatwater Free Press. 'So many people who grew up in our country and our state weren't taught any of this history.' Like many former students, gaiashkibos' mother, Eleanor Josephine Knudsen, didn't share much with her 10 children about her time at Genoa. Limited firsthand accounts and the loss of records to time make it difficult to fully comprehend what life was like at the boarding school, but some truths are known. Children were physically abused there. A former teacher named Julie Carroll was one of two school employees to describe the abuse before a U.S. Senate subcommittee in 1929. 'Some of the children were beaten up like dogs until blood flew out of their noses,' Carroll said. Students were 'loaned out' to work on nearby farms. Some would be stuck on campus for years before returning home. Some would return home only to find they had lost their native language; they were unable to speak with their relatives. And some never made it back to their families. Fred Hensley was a student at the Genoa school for eight months when in the spring of 1891 he succumbed to an unknown illness. The 9-year-old Winnebago boy's body never returned home. According to the school newspaper: 'Funeral services were held Wednesday afternoon … and the little body was laid to rest among the mouldering (sic) remains of his schoolmates who preceded him to the better land.' Decades after the Genoa school closed, former students would mention the school's cemetery, but no one could quite recall its exact location. Years had passed, and the 600-acre campus was filled in by nearby farms and the town of Genoa. Campus landmarks tumbled and any headstones that once stood were removed or lost to time. Still, there is ample evidence that a cemetery once existed on the grounds. Its location was marked on a 1899 plat map, and there are references to students, like Fred, whose burials were shared in local newspapers. State Archeologist Dave Williams gathered plenty of his own evidence before he began to dig at a potential grave site on the outskirts of Genoa in July 2023. He was guided to that spot by a historic map, a team of cadaver dogs and ground penetrating radar that had revealed four anomalies consistent with the presence of graves, the Omaha World-Herald reported at the time. For nearly two weeks Williams' and his team dug into the sun-baked dirt. In the end, they didn't find signs of human remains. 'I think we had high hopes because of those pieces of evidence stacking up,' Williams said. 'Then to go in and spend time and not come away with anything is disappointing, but negative data is still data.' Williams and gaiashkibos shared the results of the dig with the dozens of tribes whose children were taken to the school. There were varying ideas on how to proceed. Some wanted Williams to expand the search area and keep digging. Others wanted the team to look for more archival evidence before conducting another excavation. Geophysical surveys will continue, and a specialized cadaver search dog team will again assist with the search. 'We need to locate the cemetery so we can work toward protecting it, and maybe bring a little closure to the descendants,' Williams said. Closure is difficult to define. On Oct. 25, President Biden spoke before a crowd at the Gila River Indian Community in Arizona and for the first time in U.S. history acknowledged the devastation of the schools. He called the country's federal boarding school era 'a sin on our soul.' 'The federal Indian boarding school policy and the pain it has caused will always be a significant mark of shame,' Biden said. 'A blot on American history.' Whether that work will continue remains to be seen. In a statement sent to the Flatwater Free Press, the Bureau of Indian Affairs said Burgum, the new head of the Interior Department appointed by President Donald Trump, is currently reviewing all programs at the department. 'The Department of the Interior and Bureau of Indian Affairs remain committed to our trust responsibilities of protecting tribal treaty rights, lands, assets, and resources, in addition to its duty to carry out the mandates of federal law with respect to American Indian and Alaska Native tribes and villages,' the statement read. Tribal leaders in Burgum's home state have been publicly supportive of his new role. 'Governor Burgum understands Indian country and the challenges we face,' David Flute, secretary of the South Dakota Department of Tribal Relations, said in a November statement to the North Dakota Monitor. A few days before Biden issued his apology, James Riding In considered what it means to move forward as a boarding school descendant and Pawnee citizen. The Arizona-based professor is an author, advocate and board member of the Genoa Indian School Digital Reconciliation Project. While his relatives didn't attend the Genoa school, Riding In feels connected to Genoa. The location is Pawnee homeland. 'This whole idea of reconciliation – it might be a good concept, but is it just like an apology being issued for past wrongs?' Riding In asked. 'To me, reconciliation should have greater meaning.' That greater meaning should translate into systemic change, such as land restorations, Riding In said. To gaiashkibos, locating the school cemetery is a move toward closure, and she has facilitated every step of the search. She watched as Williams and his team used ground penetrating radar to narrow in on an excavation site. She laid a bundle of sage on the damp October ground in 2022, marking the spot where a search dog indicated the possible presence of human remains. She toured an old dairy barn that once belonged to the school and touched the names of former students carved into the century-old wood. '(Finding the graves) also is a tribute to honor those who suffered at the hands of this failed policy to assimilate and 'kill the Indian,'' gaiashkibos said. 'Those children were the last little soldiers to die. I'm committed to finding the warriors, those children.' Fiscus is still searching for the grave of her aunt Mildred. Records show the girl's body was sent back to her tribe, but Fiscus has found no evidence that Mildred was buried on Winnebago ground. Another record indicates Mildred's body was taken to an Omaha funeral home, adding to the mystery. Despite the uncertainty, Fiscus said she found her own form of closure that summer day at the excavation in 2023. 'I feel like she's on her way home,' Fiscus said of her aunt. 'Back to the ancestors.' The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraska's first independent, nonprofit newsroom focused on investigations and feature stories that matter.
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Many Nebraskans still under threat of high nitrate in drinking water, report finds
In 2023, nearly 29,000 households scattered across rural Nebraska received postcards instructing them how to get their drinking water tested, free of charge, for a harmful contaminant state policymakers have been aware of for decades. It was the state's largest-ever effort to test registered domestic wells, which most Nebraskans who live outside of a town use to shower, cook and drink. Unlike public water systems in cities and towns, these wells aren't subject to regular testing and treatment. And many are pumping out water that's high in nitrate, the state testing shows. Some 40% of private wells tested in the past two years contained nitrate that exceeded 3 parts per million — the level that one Nebraska medical expert considers safe for children. About 15% exceeded the federal drinking water standard, the level that would trigger mandatory treatment if it were a public water well. Rural Nebraska's nitrate problem doesn't appear to be getting any better – the results of the recent testing are roughly in line with the 20-year testing average for private wells. And nitrate levels are also rising in roughly a third of the 444 public water systems analyzed, according to the study, which was ordered by the Legislature at the request of Gov. Jim Pillen. Those water systems provide drinking water to untold thousands of Nebraskans living in cities and towns. Testifiers question need for proposed Nebraska requirements for abortion pills In 2022, the Flatwater Free Press spent months examining the scope and history of nitrate contamination, a byproduct of decades of nitrogen fertilizer excessively applied to corn. The multi-part series highlighted recent studies linking nitrate to a variety of diseases, pregnancy complications, birth defects and various cancers. Nebraska has the highest pediatric cancer rate west of Pennsylvania. And the problem isn't going away, health and environmental experts who reviewed the report told the Flatwater Free Press. 'I think it's essential that we go on looking at these higher nitrate levels and understanding what it is they're doing that's adverse to human health, particularly in children, since children are so much more vulnerable,' said Eleanor Rogan a public health professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, whose team is studying the links between cancer and environmental contaminants including nitrate. There are positive signs. About another third of the public water systems analyzed by the state showed a significant drop in their nitrate levels. And the average nitrate level in community water system wells is dropping slightly overall. This trend is expected because of treatment measures taken by public water systems in order to follow the federal drinking water standard, according to the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy. The report also identified areas where private wells are most severely threatened by nitrate: the Platte River Valley stretching across central and east-central parts of the state, the Elkhorn River Valley in northeast Nebraska and the Republican River watershed and the Little Blue and Big Blue River basins in the southern part of the state. Nebraska deputy killed in crash near Neligh Public water systems must treat their water when nitrate levels exceed 10 parts per million, as mandated by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Drinking water with nitrate higher than that concentration can lead to 'blue baby syndrome,' a sometimes fatal disease for babies. However, experts have long raised concerns that ingesting nitrate at much lower levels than the current federal standard may still increase the risk of developing adult and pediatric cancers. University of Nebraska Medical Center researchers found Nebraska watersheds with high nitrate levels largely coincided with those with high occurrences of pediatric brain cancer, leukemia and lymphoma. Bacteria in human bodies can turn nitrate, a colorless, tasteless and odorless chemical, into nitrite and then convert it to nitrosamine, a known probable carcinogen. This may more greatly impact people already more genetically predisposed to developing various forms of cancer. Rogan believes Nebraska children shouldn't drink water above 3 ppm, but said it's currently all but impossible to get Nebraska water systems down to that level because of widespread nitrate contamination of groundwater. Tim Gragert is a former state senator from Creighton, the first Nebraska town to install a complex water treatment plant to filter out high nitrate. He sees another public health problem: A lack of awareness. Out of nearly 29,000 private well owners the state reached out to, only 3,478 samples were sent back. 'That's what's kind of alarming to me out here in the rural area, that the people aren't getting educated enough, if you will, on the actual severity of this nitrate problem that we have,' Gragert said in an interview. Education report reveals which states have seen biggest drops in reading, math scores Nitrate in Nebraska largely stems from agricultural practices. It forms when soil bacteria break down nitrogen, often from commercial fertilizers and animal waste. When fertilizer is sprayed on cornfields and not used up by the crop, the excess nitrate can leach into the soil and eventually the water supply, especially when applied excessively. The overapplication of manure on fields can do the same. The problem is even harder to combat because nitrate leached years or even decades ago is already in the soil, slowly making its way into the groundwater beneath it. Elevated nitrate concentrations have been reported since the 1930s in watersheds like the Upper Elkhorn and Central Platte River basins. 'You can see where it's all eastern Nebraska with your red dots (showing hot spots of nitrate), and then down through southeast Nebraska … it kind of shows you where the crops are growing, and more specifically, corn is grown,' said Gragert. Rogan, the public health expert, said she's especially concerned about the Elkhorn River Valley's nitrate levels in northeast Nebraska. That part of the state continues to be a hotspot for pediatric cancers and birth defects, she said. The state study happened because it's a step toward Pillen's goal of reducing overapplication of nitrate fertilizers, said Laura Strimple, the governor's spokesperson, in an email statement. Another goal: Preserve Nebraska's drinking water and the Ogallala Aquifer, the largest source of groundwater. The aquifer is a 'pot of gold' for Nebraskans, Pillen said in his State of State address in January. Nebraska lawmakers hear support for opening unemployment insurance to immigrant 'Dreamers' 'Ensuring that Nebraskans have access to quality drinking water is a key priority for Governor Pillen,' Strimple added. Pillen's proposed merger of the state Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Environment and Energy would help, Strimple said, acting as a 'one-stop shop' for water quantity and water quality concerns. Having a good deal of nitrate in your drinking water source is an expensive problem. Public water systems, including those in small towns like Creighton, have spent millions to get their nitrate levels down. They have drilled new wells, blended water with a nearby water system, installed large treatment plants and even, in places like Prosser, a town of less than 100 residents, provided bottled water. Boiling the water doesn't reduce nitrate levels. In fact, it drives up the concentration and makes the water more dangerous to consume. A regular filter, such as a Brita, doesn't take out the chemical either. Households whose private wells contain nitrate levels above 10 ppm are eligible for a state rebate of up to $1,000 to install a reverse osmosis purification system. Those more advanced purifiers cost up to a few thousand dollars and require regular maintenance including replacing filters. The state allocated $500,000 annually for the program from July 2024 through July 2027. The fund will increase to $1 million annually thereafter. In the Lower Loup NRD, reverse osmosis systems reduced nitrate in drinking water by 81%, data provided by the district shows. However, reverse osmosis systems used by families often only store a few gallons of purified water. Residents often still use untreated water for showering, as the Flatwater Free Press previously reported. 'While RO does temporarily provide better drinking water, it only addresses the symptom of high nitrates and does nothing to fix the problem,' said Tylr Naprstek, Lower Loup NRD's assistant manager, in an email. Some farmers have adopted conservation practices that can greatly reduce nitrate leaching, such as introducing cover crops to absorb excess nitrogen and using precision farming technologies. Best management practices in the Central Platte NRD seem to have decreased nitrate in the region, said Amanda Woita, a spokesperson for the NDEE. Norfolk woman convicted of providing drugs that caused overdose But these practices remain voluntary in many parts of the state. And natural resources districts have little to no authority to police how people farm, NRD leaders previously told Flatwater. The Nitrogen Reduction Incentive Act, introduced by Sen. Teresa Ibach, a Republican who represents eight southwest Nebraska counties, including the cities of Lexington and Imperial, became law in 2024. It paved the way for the state to provide funding for producers who adopt farming practices that reduce nitrogen leaching. But farmers in the Upper Elkhorn NRD, where pediatric cancer rates remain high and nitrate in water systems continues to get worse, barely used the program. The landowners in the district who participated in the program own just 900 acres total. The district approved all applications, at a total state cost of roughly $12,000 paid to the farmers who applied. That's less than a quarter of the state money available to farmers in that area. Leaving it up to farmers to voluntarily adopt better management practices isn't enough, said Gragert, a former soil conservationist at the Natural Resources Conservation Service prior to assuming public office. The state regulatory agencies are letting Nebraskans down, he said. Brian Bruckner, manager of the Lower Elkhorn NRD, doesn't see any quick fix on the horizon. It could take as long as a half century for the benefits of any control measures to materialize, he wrote in an email. In his district, 25% of private wells tested exceeded the federal nitrate standard. The money the state has spent has done little to ease northeast Nebraska's nitrate problem, Gragert said. And if the current trend continues, Nebraskans may not be able to simply dig new wells, he said. 'Good luck finding good water to mix with the bad water.' ___ This story was originally published by Flatwater Free Press and distributed through a partnership with The Associated Press. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Associated Press
14-02-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Many Nebraskans still under threat of high nitrate in drinking water, report finds
In 2023, nearly 29,000 households scattered across rural Nebraska received postcards instructing them how to get their drinking water tested, free of charge, for a harmful contaminant state policymakers have been aware of for decades. It was the state's largest-ever effort to test registered domestic wells, which most Nebraskans who live outside of a town use to shower, cook and drink. Unlike public water systems in cities and towns, these wells aren't subject to regular testing and treatment. And many are pumping out water that's high in nitrate, the state testing shows. Some 40% of private wells tested in the past two years contained nitrate that exceeded 3 parts per million — the level that one Nebraska medical expert considers safe for children. About 15% exceeded the federal drinking water standard, the level that would trigger mandatory treatment if it were a public water well. Rural Nebraska's nitrate problem doesn't appear to be getting any better – the results of the recent testing are roughly in line with the 20-year testing average for private wells. And nitrate levels are also rising in roughly a third of the 444 public water systems analyzed, according to the study, which was ordered by the Legislature at the request of Gov. Jim Pillen. Those water systems provide drinking water to untold thousands of Nebraskans living in cities and towns. In 2022, the Flatwater Free Press spent months examining the scope and history of nitrate contamination, a byproduct of decades of nitrogen fertilizer excessively applied to corn. The multi-part series highlighted recent studies linking nitrate to a variety of diseases, pregnancy complications, birth defects and various cancers. Nebraska has the highest pediatric cancer rate west of Pennsylvania. And the problem isn't going away, health and environmental experts who reviewed the report told the Flatwater Free Press. 'I think it's essential that we go on looking at these higher nitrate levels and understanding what it is they're doing that's adverse to human health, particularly in children, since children are so much more vulnerable,' said Eleanor Rogan a public health professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, whose team is studying the links between cancer and environmental contaminants including nitrate. There are positive signs. About another third of the public water systems analyzed by the state showed a significant drop in their nitrate levels. And the average nitrate level in community water system wells is dropping slightly overall. This trend is expected because of treatment measures taken by public water systems in order to follow the federal drinking water standard, according to the Nebraska Department of Environment and Energy. The report also identified areas where private wells are most severely threatened by nitrate: the Platte River Valley stretching across central and east-central parts of the state, the Elkhorn River Valley in northeast Nebraska and the Republican River watershed and the Little Blue and Big Blue River basins in the southern part of the state. Public water systems must treat their water when nitrate levels exceed 10 parts per million, as mandated by the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. Drinking water with nitrate higher than that concentration can lead to 'blue baby syndrome,' a sometimes fatal disease for babies. However, experts have long raised concerns that ingesting nitrate at much lower levels than the current federal standard may still increase the risk of developing adult and pediatric cancers. University of Nebraska Medical Center researchers found Nebraska watersheds with high nitrate levels largely coincided with those with high occurrences of pediatric brain cancer, leukemia and lymphoma. Bacteria in human bodies can turn nitrate, a colorless, tasteless and odorless chemical, into nitrite and then convert it to nitrosamine, a known probable carcinogen. This may more greatly impact people already more genetically predisposed to developing various forms of cancer. Rogan believes Nebraska children shouldn't drink water above 3 ppm, but said it's currently all but impossible to get Nebraska water systems down to that level because of widespread nitrate contamination of groundwater. Tim Gragert is a former state senator from Creighton, the first Nebraska town to install a complex water treatment plant to filter out high nitrate. He sees another public health problem: A lack of awareness. Out of nearly 29,000 private well owners the state reached out to, only 3,478 samples were sent back. 'That's what's kind of alarming to me out here in the rural area, that the people aren't getting educated enough, if you will, on the actual severity of this nitrate problem that we have,' Gragert said in an interview. Nitrate in Nebraska largely stems from agricultural practices. It forms when soil bacteria break down nitrogen, often from commercial fertilizers and animal waste. When fertilizer is sprayed on cornfields and not used up by the crop, the excess nitrate can leach into the soil and eventually the water supply, especially when applied excessively. The overapplication of manure on fields can do the same. The problem is even harder to combat because nitrate leached years or even decades ago is already in the soil, slowly making its way into the groundwater beneath it. Elevated nitrate concentrations have been reported since the 1930s in watersheds like the Upper Elkhorn and Central Platte River basins. 'You can see where it's all eastern Nebraska with your red dots (showing hot spots of nitrate), and then down through southeast Nebraska … it kind of shows you where the crops are growing, and more specifically, corn is grown,' said Gragert. Rogan, the public health expert, said she's especially concerned about the Elkhorn River Valley's nitrate levels in northeast Nebraska. That part of the state continues to be a hotspot for pediatric cancers and birth defects, she said. The state study happened because it's a step toward Pillen's goal of reducing overapplication of nitrate fertilizers, said Laura Strimple, the governor's spokesperson, in an email statement. Another goal: Preserve Nebraska's drinking water and the Ogallala Aquifer, the largest source of groundwater. The aquifer is a 'pot of gold' for Nebraskans, Pillen said in his State of State address in January. 'Ensuring that Nebraskans have access to quality drinking water is a key priority for Governor Pillen,' Strimple added. Pillen's proposed merger of the state Department of Natural Resources and the Department of Environment and Energy would help, Strimple said, acting as a 'one-stop shop' for water quantity and water quality concerns. Having a good deal of nitrate in your drinking water source is an expensive problem. Public water systems, including those in small towns like Creighton, have spent millions to get their nitrate levels down. They have drilled new wells, blended water with a nearby water system, installed large treatment plants and even, in places like Prosser, a town of less than 100 residents, provided bottled water. Boiling the water doesn't reduce nitrate levels. In fact, it drives up the concentration and makes the water more dangerous to consume. A regular filter, such as a Brita, doesn't take out the chemical either. Households whose private wells contain nitrate levels above 10 ppm are eligible for a state rebate of up to $1,000 to install a reverse osmosis purification system. Those more advanced purifiers cost up to a few thousand dollars and require regular maintenance including replacing filters. The state allocated $500,000 annually for the program from July 2024 through July 2027. The fund will increase to $1 million annually thereafter. In the Lower Loup NRD, reverse osmosis systems reduced nitrate in drinking water by 81%, data provided by the district shows. However, reverse osmosis systems used by families often only store a few gallons of purified water. Residents often still use untreated water for showering, as the Flatwater Free Press previously reported. 'While RO does temporarily provide better drinking water, it only addresses the symptom of high nitrates and does nothing to fix the problem,' said Tylr Naprstek, Lower Loup NRD's assistant manager, in an email. Some farmers have adopted conservation practices that can greatly reduce nitrate leaching, such as introducing cover crops to absorb excess nitrogen and using precision farming technologies. Best management practices in the Central Platte NRD seem to have decreased nitrate in the region, said Amanda Woita, a spokesperson for the NDEE. But these practices remain voluntary in many parts of the state. And natural resources districts have little to no authority to police how people farm, NRD leaders previously told Flatwater. The Nitrogen Reduction Incentive Act, introduced by Sen. Teresa Ibach, a Republican who represents eight southwest Nebraska counties, including the cities of Lexington and Imperial, became law in 2024. It paved the way for the state to provide funding for producers who adopt farming practices that reduce nitrogen leaching. But farmers in the Upper Elkhorn NRD, where pediatric cancer rates remain high and nitrate in water systems continues to get worse, barely used the program. The landowners in the district who participated in the program own just 900 acres total. The district approved all applications, at a total state cost of roughly $12,000 paid to the farmers who applied. That's less than a quarter of the state money available to farmers in that area. Leaving it up to farmers to voluntarily adopt better management practices isn't enough, said Gragert, a former soil conservationist at the Natural Resources Conservation Service prior to assuming public office. The state regulatory agencies are letting Nebraskans down, he said. Brian Bruckner, manager of the Lower Elkhorn NRD, doesn't see any quick fix on the horizon. It could take as long as a half century for the benefits of any control measures to materialize, he wrote in an email. In his district, 25% of private wells tested exceeded the federal nitrate standard. The money the state has spent has done little to ease northeast Nebraska's nitrate problem, Gragert said. And if the current trend continues, Nebraskans may not be able to simply dig new wells, he said. 'Good luck finding good water to mix with the bad water.'
