<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/health-officials-remind-nebraskans-to-be-cautious-of-rabies-risk-from-wild-animals/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN —&nbsp;Nebraska health officials are reminding residents to be aware of the risk for rabies and to avoid wild animals, especially bats, ahead of an annual “peak” in bat activity.

The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services on Monday, in an annual reminder, said there have been&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://dhhs.ne.gov/Pages/Rabies-Data.aspx#InplviewHash5d22dbed-7660-44bc-bad4-5a83f1f487a5=SortField%3DLab_x0020_Date-SortDir%3DAsc-WebPartID%3D%7B11F9B84A--A069--4AA2--ADF8--74BB6A5A6903%7D">10 positive cases</a>&nbsp;of rabies so far this year —&nbsp;nine from bats and one from a dog. The number of cases is similar to many recent years around this time.&nbsp;

Over the past three years, there were 21, 30 and 25 annual positive cases, respectively; 83% involved bats. Other cases included skunks, cats, horses, a dog and a bovine.

No human cases of rabies have occurred among Nebraskans since the 1920s.

“Bats are responsible for carrying much of the rabies virus in Nebraska,” Dr. Bryan Buss, state public health veterinarian for DHHS, said in a news release. “We’ll soon be into the peak time of the year for bat activity.”

Rabies, a virus that is generally fatal if not treated, is transmitted by the bite of an infected animal or through its saliva if it gets directly into an open wound or a person’s eyes, nose or mouth. The virus can be transmitted by other wildlife, too, such as foxes, coyotes and raccoons.

DHHS said Nebraskans can help prevent the spread of rabies by avoiding contact with and by never adopting or bringing wild animals home. People should not leave open garbage cans or litter to unintentionally attract animals.

Keeping pet vaccinations up-to-date is also an important step and is required by&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=71-4402">state law</a>.

Officials said residents should call local animal control agencies about removing or assisting stray animals, teach children never to handle unfamiliar animals even if they appear friendly and maintain homes and other buildings so bats cannot get inside.

If a bat does make it inside, DHHS said to not let it outside until after talking with animal control or public health officials and trying to safely capture it, if possible,&nbsp;to have it tested.

People should seek immediate veterinary assistance if a pet is exposed and should consult their doctor or local health department for assistance if they have been bitten or scratched by a wild animal or believe they may have been exposed.

DHHS said that because bats have small teeth, a bite mark may be difficult to find, but it’s better to be safe than sorry and seek preventive treatment just in case.

Residents should call 402-471-2937 before sending a specimen for testing of any submission linked to potential exposure to rabies in humans. Officials can help determine eligibility for state-paid testing.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2019/8/1566223828446.jpeg" alt="Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services" />
 <figcaption>Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services</figcaption>
 </figure>By Zach Wendling<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/health-officials-remind-nebraskans-to-be-cautious-of-rabies-risk-from-wild-animals/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN —&nbsp;Nebraska health officials are reminding residents to be aware of the risk for rabies and to avoid wild animals, especially bats, ahead of an annual “peak” in bat activity.The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services on Monday, in an annual reminder, said there have been&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://dhhs.ne.gov/Pages/Rabies-Data.aspx#InplviewHash5d22dbed-7660-44bc-bad4-5a83f1f487a5=SortField%3DLab_x0020_Date-SortDir%3DAsc-WebPartID%3D%7B11F9B84A--A069--4AA2--ADF8--74BB6A5A6903%7D">10 positive cases</a>&nbsp;of rabies so far this year —&nbsp;nine from bats and one from a dog. The number of cases is similar to many recent years around this time.&nbsp;Over the past three years, there were 21, 30 and 25 annual positive cases, respectively; 83% involved bats. Other cases included skunks, cats, horses, a dog and a bovine.No human cases of rabies have occurred among Nebraskans since the 1920s.“Bats are responsible for carrying much of the rabies virus in Nebraska,” Dr. Bryan Buss, state public health veterinarian for DHHS, said in a news release. “We’ll soon be into the peak time of the year for bat activity.”Rabies, a virus that is generally fatal if not treated, is transmitted by the bite of an infected animal or through its saliva if it gets directly into an open wound or a person’s eyes, nose or mouth. The virus can be transmitted by other wildlife, too, such as foxes, coyotes and raccoons.<h2>Prevention</h2>DHHS said Nebraskans can help prevent the spread of rabies by avoiding contact with and by never adopting or bringing wild animals home. People should not leave open garbage cans or litter to unintentionally attract animals.Keeping pet vaccinations up-to-date is also an important step and is required by&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://nebraskalegislature.gov/laws/statutes.php?statute=71-4402">state law</a>.Officials said residents should call local animal control agencies about removing or assisting stray animals, teach children never to handle unfamiliar animals even if they appear friendly and maintain homes and other buildings so bats cannot get inside.<h2>Treatment</h2>If a bat does make it inside, DHHS said to not let it outside until after talking with animal control or public health officials and trying to safely capture it, if possible,&nbsp;to have it tested.People should seek immediate veterinary assistance if a pet is exposed and should consult their doctor or local health department for assistance if they have been bitten or scratched by a wild animal or believe they may have been exposed.DHHS said that because bats have small teeth, a bite mark may be difficult to find, but it’s better to be safe than sorry and seek preventive treatment just in case.Residents should call 402-471-2937 before sending a specimen for testing of any submission linked to potential exposure to rabies in humans. Officials can help determine eligibility for state-paid testing.

Health officials remind Nebraskans to be cautious of rabies risk from wild animals

NEW YORK (AP) — The judge in Donald Trump's Manhattan hush-money criminal case has rejected the former president's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-indictment-jan-6-tanya-chutkan-protective-order-f7c0611ab8cf34aee5f46b4cb0528edb">demand to step aside</a>, denying defense claims that he's biased against the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/video/new-york-city-joe-biden-2020-united-states-presidential-election-michael-pence-mike-pence-1f1960ffc6594fac895bdb153d8d636b">Republican front-runner</a>&nbsp;because he's given cash to Democrats and his daughter is a party consultant.

New York Judge Juan Manuel Merchan acknowledged in a ruling late Friday that he made several small donations to Democratic causes during the 2020 campaign, including $15 to Trump's Democratic rival Joe Biden, but said he is certain of his “ability to be fair and impartial."

Removing himself from the case “would not be in the public interest," Merchan wrote. His six-page ruling echoed a state court ethics panel’s recent opinion that endorsed his continued involvement in the Trump case.

The decision on recusal was entirely up to Merchan. He previously rejected a similar request when Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, was on trial last year for tax fraud.

Trump lawyer Susan Necheles declined comment. The Manhattan district attorney's office, which is prosecuting the case and said in court papers that it wanted Merchan to remain on the case, also declined comment.

Trump's hush-money trial — one of three pending criminal cases against him — is scheduled to start March 25, overlapping with the presidential primary season as he seeks a return to the White House. A federal judge last month denied Trump's request to move the case out of Merchan's state courtroom and into federal court. Trump is appealing the ruling that he failed to meet a high legal bar for changing jurisdiction.

Trump pleaded not guilty in April in Manhattan to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The charges relate to hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign to bury allegations that he had extramarital sexual encounters. He has denied wrongdoing.

Separately, Trump is also charged in federal court in Florida with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-classified-documents-indictment-miami-court-e9412bb71b63ab1b7cfb8e8b122e9809">illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate</a>&nbsp;and impeding investigators and in federal court in Washington, D.C., in connection to efforts&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jan-6-hearings-trump-capitol-10351fe6d555eaee7554379ceed8bb24">to overturn the results</a>&nbsp;of his 2020 election loss in the run-up to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">violent riot</a>&nbsp;by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump’s lawyers wanted Merchan off the case in part because his daughter, Loren, is a political consultant whose firm has worked for some of Trump’s Democratic rivals and because, they contend, he acted inappropriately by involving himself in plea negotiations last year for Trump’s longtime finance chief, Allen Weisselberg. Merchan said he previously rejected that argument when asked to exit the Trump Organization case.

Trump's lawyers also raised concerns about the political donations, asking Merchan to explain three contributions totaling $35 that were made to Democratic causes in his name during the 2020 election cycle. Merchan, in his ruling, said the “donations at issue are self-evident and require no further clarification” and pointed to the ethics panel’s conclusion that such small-dollar contributions wouldn't require recusal.

“These modest political contributions made more than two years ago cannot reasonably create an impression of bias or favoritism in the case before the judge,” the panel wrote.

Merchan, a state court judge in New York, sought input from the Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics after Trump’s April 4 arraignment, as news outlets started reporting on his political contributions and Trump — pointing to the daughter's work — complained that he’s “a Trump-hating judge” with a family full of “Trump haters.”

The ethics panel, in its May 4 opinion, concluded that a judge in Merchan's situation “may continue to preside in the matter provided the judge believes he/she can be fair and impartial.”

Trump's lawyers sought Merchan's recusal on May 31, arguing in court papers that the hush-money case is “historic and it is important that the People of the State of New York and this nation have confidence that the jurist who presides over it is impartial."

Matthew Colangelo, a senior counsel to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, countered that Trump’s recusal motion was the latest in a “prolific history of baselessly accusing state and federal judges around the country of bias.”

Merchan’s daughter, Loren, is a political consultant whose firm has worked on campaigns for prominent Democrats including Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.

Merchan, citing the ethics panel's finding that his daughter's work had no bearing on his impartiality, said in his ruling that Trump's lawyers had “failed to demonstrate that there exists concrete, or even realistic reasons for recusal to be appropriate, much less required on these grounds.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692039434568.jpeg" alt="Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump walks to his vehicle after arriving at the Des Moines International Airport before his visit to the Iowa State Fair, Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)" />
 <figcaption>Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump walks to his vehicle after arriving at the Des Moines International Airport before his visit to the Iowa State Fair, Saturday, Aug. 12, 2023, in Des Moines, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)</figcaption>
 </figure>NEW YORK (AP) — The judge in Donald Trump's Manhattan hush-money criminal case has rejected the former president's&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/donald-trump-indictment-jan-6-tanya-chutkan-protective-order-f7c0611ab8cf34aee5f46b4cb0528edb">demand to step aside</a>, denying defense claims that he's biased against the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/video/new-york-city-joe-biden-2020-united-states-presidential-election-michael-pence-mike-pence-1f1960ffc6594fac895bdb153d8d636b">Republican front-runner</a>&nbsp;because he's given cash to Democrats and his daughter is a party consultant.New York Judge Juan Manuel Merchan acknowledged in a ruling late Friday that he made several small donations to Democratic causes during the 2020 campaign, including $15 to Trump's Democratic rival Joe Biden, but said he is certain of his “ability to be fair and impartial."Removing himself from the case “would not be in the public interest," Merchan wrote. His six-page ruling echoed a state court ethics panel’s recent opinion that endorsed his continued involvement in the Trump case.The decision on recusal was entirely up to Merchan. He previously rejected a similar request when Trump’s company, the Trump Organization, was on trial last year for tax fraud.Trump lawyer Susan Necheles declined comment. The Manhattan district attorney's office, which is prosecuting the case and said in court papers that it wanted Merchan to remain on the case, also declined comment.Trump's hush-money trial — one of three pending criminal cases against him — is scheduled to start March 25, overlapping with the presidential primary season as he seeks a return to the White House. A federal judge last month denied Trump's request to move the case out of Merchan's state courtroom and into federal court. Trump is appealing the ruling that he failed to meet a high legal bar for changing jurisdiction.Trump pleaded not guilty in April in Manhattan to 34 felony counts of falsifying business records. The charges relate to hush-money payments made during the 2016 campaign to bury allegations that he had extramarital sexual encounters. He has denied wrongdoing.Separately, Trump is also charged in federal court in Florida with&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-classified-documents-indictment-miami-court-e9412bb71b63ab1b7cfb8e8b122e9809">illegally hoarding classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate</a>&nbsp;and impeding investigators and in federal court in Washington, D.C., in connection to efforts&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/jan-6-hearings-trump-capitol-10351fe6d555eaee7554379ceed8bb24">to overturn the results</a>&nbsp;of his 2020 election loss in the run-up to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege">violent riot</a>&nbsp;by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol.Trump’s lawyers wanted Merchan off the case in part because his daughter, Loren, is a political consultant whose firm has worked for some of Trump’s Democratic rivals and because, they contend, he acted inappropriately by involving himself in plea negotiations last year for Trump’s longtime finance chief, Allen Weisselberg. Merchan said he previously rejected that argument when asked to exit the Trump Organization case.Trump's lawyers also raised concerns about the political donations, asking Merchan to explain three contributions totaling $35 that were made to Democratic causes in his name during the 2020 election cycle. Merchan, in his ruling, said the “donations at issue are self-evident and require no further clarification” and pointed to the ethics panel’s conclusion that such small-dollar contributions wouldn't require recusal.“These modest political contributions made more than two years ago cannot reasonably create an impression of bias or favoritism in the case before the judge,” the panel wrote.Merchan, a state court judge in New York, sought input from the Advisory Committee on Judicial Ethics after Trump’s April 4 arraignment, as news outlets started reporting on his political contributions and Trump — pointing to the daughter's work — complained that he’s “a Trump-hating judge” with a family full of “Trump haters.”The ethics panel, in its May 4 opinion, concluded that a judge in Merchan's situation “may continue to preside in the matter provided the judge believes he/she can be fair and impartial.”Trump's lawyers sought Merchan's recusal on May 31, arguing in court papers that the hush-money case is “historic and it is important that the People of the State of New York and this nation have confidence that the jurist who presides over it is impartial."Matthew Colangelo, a senior counsel to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, countered that Trump’s recusal motion was the latest in a “prolific history of baselessly accusing state and federal judges around the country of bias.”Merchan’s daughter, Loren, is a political consultant whose firm has worked on campaigns for prominent Democrats including Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris, House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and California Gov. Gavin Newsom.Merchan, citing the ethics panel's finding that his daughter's work had no bearing on his impartiality, said in his ruling that Trump's lawyers had “failed to demonstrate that there exists concrete, or even realistic reasons for recusal to be appropriate, much less required on these grounds.”

Judge in Donald Trump's hush-money case denies bias claim, won't step aside

LAHAINA, Hawaii  (AP) —The U.S. National Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Coast Guard are assisting with recovery efforts in the communities reeling from fires in Maui, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said on Monday.

However, no active duty forced are involved yet, Ryder said. That raises questions as to why not — Hawaii is home to tens of thousands of active duty military personnel, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and major Navy and Air Force installations, with ships and aircraft that could assist in flying in supplies or personnel.

Ryder said those forces are ready to provide whatever support is requested by Hawaii, but that rushing in resources too quickly could create additional logistics problems for rescue operations on the ground.

The multi-agency fire response&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-lahaina-wildfire-warnings-sirens-chaos-f4bb9bb77c093ac8ff16440b54ade4a6">has already been stymied</a>&nbsp;by logistical issues and communication challenges, particularly during evacuations when sirens failed to sound and roadblocks hindered residents leaving.

“Indo-Pacom is on a hair trigger to be able to support as necessary,” Ryder said. “Everyone fully understands the pain that people are experiencing right now. We want to do everything we can help. But we also don’t want to contribute to the problem by sending unnecessary capabilities that then will hinder any type of emergency response.”

So far 250 Hawaii Army National Guard and Air National Guard members are assisting recovery operations, Army National Guard helicopters have dropped more than 189,000 gallons of water on the wildfires, the Army Corps of Engineers have sent debris removal teams and power experts and the Army Reserve has provided space to collect and distribute supplies, Ryder said.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692046987598.png" alt="Hawaii Guard Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear &amp; high-yield Explosive Enhanced Response Force Package members assist search &amp; recovery efforts.-image Dept. of Defense" />
 <figcaption>Hawaii Guard Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear &amp; high-yield Explosive Enhanced Response Force Package members assist search &amp; recovery efforts.-image Dept. of Defense</figcaption>
 </figure>LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) —The U.S. National Guard, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and U.S. Coast Guard are assisting with recovery efforts in the communities reeling from fires in Maui, Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Pat Ryder said on Monday.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Lahaina?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Lahaina</a> residents are receiving help from volunteers and the Na Aikane ‘O Maui Cultural Center. Essential supplies — food, water, clothing &amp; basic medicine — have been distributed to 1,000+ survivors, with efforts continuing. Response &amp; recovery efforts: <a href="https://t.co/2b9mAIFLm1">https://t.co/2b9mAIFLm1</a> <a href="https://t.co/5H5AND9qSE">pic.twitter.com/5H5AND9qSE</a>&mdash; FEMA (@fema) <a href="https://twitter.com/fema/status/1690830336224096257?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 13, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>However, no active duty forced are involved yet, Ryder said. That raises questions as to why not — Hawaii is home to tens of thousands of active duty military personnel, U.S. Indo-Pacific Command and major Navy and Air Force installations, with ships and aircraft that could assist in flying in supplies or personnel.Ryder said those forces are ready to provide whatever support is requested by Hawaii, but that rushing in resources too quickly could create additional logistics problems for rescue operations on the ground.The multi-agency fire response&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-lahaina-wildfire-warnings-sirens-chaos-f4bb9bb77c093ac8ff16440b54ade4a6">has already been stymied</a>&nbsp;by logistical issues and communication challenges, particularly during evacuations when sirens failed to sound and roadblocks hindered residents leaving.“Indo-Pacom is on a hair trigger to be able to support as necessary,” Ryder said. “Everyone fully understands the pain that people are experiencing right now. We want to do everything we can help. But we also don’t want to contribute to the problem by sending unnecessary capabilities that then will hinder any type of emergency response.”So far 250 Hawaii Army National Guard and Air National Guard members are assisting recovery operations, Army National Guard helicopters have dropped more than 189,000 gallons of water on the wildfires, the Army Corps of Engineers have sent debris removal teams and power experts and the Army Reserve has provided space to collect and distribute supplies, Ryder said.

Pentagon: Active duty forces yet to be deployed on Maui

By CASEY QUINLAN <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/02/19/rural-hospitals-gird-for-unwinding-of-pandemic-medicaid-coverage/">States Newsroom</a>

Consumers are getting some relief from higher prices as core inflation, which excludes food and energy, continues to show signs of cooling — an encouraging sign for the U.S. economy, according to economists.

The Department of Labor’s report on Thursday showed the consumer price index rose&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm#cpi_pressa.f.1">0.2%</a>&nbsp;in July, in line with&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-05/world-economy-latest-us-inflation-may-reassure-fed">expectations</a>, and 3.2% in the past year compared to 3% in June. Despite that slight uptick, economists say that it’s still good news for the economy overall and for consumers.

This is the second month core inflation has reached pre-pandemic levels, according to an&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/mtkonczal/status/1689622719367716864">analysis</a>&nbsp;of Department of Labor data by the Roosevelt Institute.

“We now have two straight months of low, honestly, quite normal levels of inflation,” Kitty Richards, acting executive director of the progressive think tank Groundwork Collaborative, told States Newsroom. “That’s a huge drop from last summer’s peak. And that is something that we should be celebrating, especially given that it has happened in the context of growing real wages and a job market that is still really delivering for American workers. I’m really glad to see that in the inflation report.”

Food prices increased 0.2% from June to July and 4.9% from July 2022. However, egg prices, which families have been complaining about at the checkout line, are falling. Milk prices have also continued to decline. Frozen fish and other seafood prices also fell in July after increasing a bit in June.

David Ortega, a food economist who is an associate professor at Michigan State University, said food price inflation is starting to moderate.

“A 3.6% increase in grocery prices is a welcome relief from what we saw last year. We were talking about double-digit increases, year-over-year for grocery prices,” he said. “They peaked in August [of 2022]. There’s signs that things are moderating and, and they’re definitely improving.”

But it’s still important to consider that these changes, while promising, are not necessarily affecting the average American’s experience of prices at the supermarket in a big way, he cautioned.

“If you talk to consumers, people are like, ‘Things are still expensive at the grocery store.’ And that’s correct because inflation is the rate of increase in prices over a period of time,” he said. “Just because the rate of increase starts to come down, it doesn’t mean that prices are coming down or that things are necessarily getting cheaper. It just means that they’re not increasing in price as quickly.”

Some factors still adding inflationary pressures include climate change and Russia’s war in Ukraine, Ortega said.

“We’ve seen some of those factors start to improve and in some cases, not really be much of a problem like in the case of bird flu for egg prices. But we still have some factors at play that are still adding inflationary pressures ….,” he said. “That’s why inflation has been very persistent. And there’s also a demand story that we’ve seen, especially in the data that we have for last year, that consumer spending on food has been pretty strong.”

Thursday’s inflation numbers have implications for the Federal Reserve’s efforts to bring inflation down to its 2% target. In July, the Fed raised interest rates by 0.25% to the highest it has been in&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/interest-rate-hike-july-2023-how-much-higher-federal-reserve-rcna96210#:~:text=Federal%20Reserve%20raises%20interest%20rates%20by%200.25%25&amp;text=The%20Federal%20Reserve%20announced%20Wednesday,inflation%20in%20the%20U.S.%20economy.">22 years</a>.

Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said in a July press conference that the Fed was waiting to see whether the June CPI report, as well as other economic data, was a blip before deciding to pause the raising of interest rates. Fed&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/files/fomcminutes20230614.pdf">meeting details</a>&nbsp;show that officials wanted to see how interest rate hikes, as well as the spring bank collapses, were affecting the economy before making another policy decision.

Powell said the Fed would be watching this CPI report and the following one to see if there is a trend in the moderation of inflation as it considers its next decision.

“Between now and the September meeting, we get two more job reports, two more CPI reports,,” he said. “… All that data I recited we will be looking at all that and making that assessment then. Really, we did have that one good reading but it is just one reading as everybody knows and we’ve seen this borne in the data. Many forecasts call for inflation to remain low but we just don’t know until we see it in the data.”

Shelter also continues to have a significant effect on inflation. It made up 90% of the increase this month according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But there is additional context to consider for shelter data since it is a lagging indicator, Richards said.

“Affordability of housing is a huge concern for Americans. … The data is really telling us shelter costs in the CPI lag by up to a year and market data, which is much more current, shows that housing costs have cooled dramatically since last summer,” she said. “… What that means is that inflation right now is actually lower than the CPI headline number.”

Richards said that because prices for all items without shelter is only 1% for the past 12 months, the Fed may take that data into consideration in September when it makes its next call on interest rates.

“That’s good news. But we also need to start to ask whether the Fed continuing to pursue a 2% CPI inflation target aggressively has a real risk of overshooting.”

There’s only so much effect the Fed can have on demand for food, however, Ortega said.

“The raising of interest rates has little effect on demand for food, especially at the grocery store because food is a necessity. … That may make it more difficult for people to go out and eat at restaurants or maybe not splurge as much when they go to the grocery store. But that is not going to have that significant of an effect on the overall prices and, and what we’re seeing with overall inflation.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/1/1642689710083.jpeg" alt="Food prices overall increased a tad in July over the previous month, but seafood, eggs and milk prices all declined, according to the Department of Labor’s consumer price index. Photo by Cole Rife" />
 <figcaption>Food prices overall increased a tad in July over the previous month, but seafood, eggs and milk prices all declined, according to the Department of Labor’s consumer price index. Photo by Cole Rife</figcaption>
 </figure>By CASEY QUINLAN <a href="https://kansasreflector.com/2023/02/19/rural-hospitals-gird-for-unwinding-of-pandemic-medicaid-coverage/">States Newsroom</a>Consumers are getting some relief from higher prices as core inflation, which excludes food and energy, continues to show signs of cooling — an encouraging sign for the U.S. economy, according to economists.The Department of Labor’s report on Thursday showed the consumer price index rose&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm#cpi_pressa.f.1">0.2%</a>&nbsp;in July, in line with&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-05/world-economy-latest-us-inflation-may-reassure-fed">expectations</a>, and 3.2% in the past year compared to 3% in June. Despite that slight uptick, economists say that it’s still good news for the economy overall and for consumers.This is the second month core inflation has reached pre-pandemic levels, according to an&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/mtkonczal/status/1689622719367716864">analysis</a>&nbsp;of Department of Labor data by the Roosevelt Institute.“We now have two straight months of low, honestly, quite normal levels of inflation,” Kitty Richards, acting executive director of the progressive think tank Groundwork Collaborative, told States Newsroom. “That’s a huge drop from last summer’s peak. And that is something that we should be celebrating, especially given that it has happened in the context of growing real wages and a job market that is still really delivering for American workers. I’m really glad to see that in the inflation report.”Food prices increased 0.2% from June to July and 4.9% from July 2022. However, egg prices, which families have been complaining about at the checkout line, are falling. Milk prices have also continued to decline. Frozen fish and other seafood prices also fell in July after increasing a bit in June.David Ortega, a food economist who is an associate professor at Michigan State University, said food price inflation is starting to moderate.“A 3.6% increase in grocery prices is a welcome relief from what we saw last year. We were talking about double-digit increases, year-over-year for grocery prices,” he said. “They peaked in August [of 2022]. There’s signs that things are moderating and, and they’re definitely improving.”But it’s still important to consider that these changes, while promising, are not necessarily affecting the average American’s experience of prices at the supermarket in a big way, he cautioned.“If you talk to consumers, people are like, ‘Things are still expensive at the grocery store.’ And that’s correct because inflation is the rate of increase in prices over a period of time,” he said. “Just because the rate of increase starts to come down, it doesn’t mean that prices are coming down or that things are necessarily getting cheaper. It just means that they’re not increasing in price as quickly.”Some factors still adding inflationary pressures include climate change and Russia’s war in Ukraine, Ortega said.“We’ve seen some of those factors start to improve and in some cases, not really be much of a problem like in the case of bird flu for egg prices. But we still have some factors at play that are still adding inflationary pressures ….,” he said. “That’s why inflation has been very persistent. And there’s also a demand story that we’ve seen, especially in the data that we have for last year, that consumer spending on food has been pretty strong.”<h2>Housing costs lagging</h2>Thursday’s inflation numbers have implications for the Federal Reserve’s efforts to bring inflation down to its 2% target. In July, the Fed raised interest rates by 0.25% to the highest it has been in&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/interest-rate-hike-july-2023-how-much-higher-federal-reserve-rcna96210#:~:text=Federal%20Reserve%20raises%20interest%20rates%20by%200.25%25&amp;text=The%20Federal%20Reserve%20announced%20Wednesday,inflation%20in%20the%20U.S.%20economy.">22 years</a>.Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said in a July press conference that the Fed was waiting to see whether the June CPI report, as well as other economic data, was a blip before deciding to pause the raising of interest rates. Fed&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/files/fomcminutes20230614.pdf">meeting details</a>&nbsp;show that officials wanted to see how interest rate hikes, as well as the spring bank collapses, were affecting the economy before making another policy decision.Powell said the Fed would be watching this CPI report and the following one to see if there is a trend in the moderation of inflation as it considers its next decision.“Between now and the September meeting, we get two more job reports, two more CPI reports,,” he said. “… All that data I recited we will be looking at all that and making that assessment then. Really, we did have that one good reading but it is just one reading as everybody knows and we’ve seen this borne in the data. Many forecasts call for inflation to remain low but we just don’t know until we see it in the data.”Shelter also continues to have a significant effect on inflation. It made up 90% of the increase this month according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But there is additional context to consider for shelter data since it is a lagging indicator, Richards said.“Affordability of housing is a huge concern for Americans. … The data is really telling us shelter costs in the CPI lag by up to a year and market data, which is much more current, shows that housing costs have cooled dramatically since last summer,” she said. “… What that means is that inflation right now is actually lower than the CPI headline number.”Richards said that because prices for all items without shelter is only 1% for the past 12 months, the Fed may take that data into consideration in September when it makes its next call on interest rates.“That’s good news. But we also need to start to ask whether the Fed continuing to pursue a 2% CPI inflation target aggressively has a real risk of overshooting.”There’s only so much effect the Fed can have on demand for food, however, Ortega said.“The raising of interest rates has little effect on demand for food, especially at the grocery store because food is a necessity. … That may make it more difficult for people to go out and eat at restaurants or maybe not splurge as much when they go to the grocery store. But that is not going to have that significant of an effect on the overall prices and, and what we’re seeing with overall inflation.”

Consumers seeing relief in some food prices as inflation continues to slow

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/handicapped-state-employee-wins-grievance-over-essential-functions-of-job/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — A wheelchair-bound state employee, fired because he couldn’t perform an “essential function” of his job assessing people for state benefits, recently won a grievance reversing his dismissal and awarding him back pay.

Shawn Paillot was a community coordinator in the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, performing assessments of people applying for state assistance due to developmental disabilities.

Paillot, who was born with Spina Bifida, had worked for DHHS since 2018, and had been granted an accommodation, due to his disability, to work at home and conduct assessments virtually, over a computer, rather than in person.

But in early 2022, DHHS decided that assessments for one program needed to be done in person, and in September of 2022, moved to fire Paillot, who was homebound.

But arbitrator Jim Titus, who heard the appeal of his firing, ruled in favor of Paillot and the Nebraska Association of Public Employees (NAPE), of which Paillot was a member.

The arbitrator ruled that while in-person assessments were a function of Paillot’s job, it was not an “essential” function, and that the Americans with Disabilities Act required that the health department continue to allow accommodations for him to do assessments over a computer.

There was no evidence presented that Paillot’s job performance was unsatisfactory, the 14-page ruling stated, and there was testimony that the requirement of in-person assessments was not applied consistently within the DHHS.

A spokesman for the DHHS said that Paillot had resigned. Paillot could not be reached for comment.

Justin Hubly, the executive director of NAPE, said that Paillot had told him that while he was pleased that he was able to prove that the department’s actions were arbitrary and in violation of the ADA, he wasn’t sure he wanted to continue to work for the state.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/4/1682346201582.jpg" alt="Photo On File" />
 <figcaption>Photo On File</figcaption>
 </figure>By Paul Hammel<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/handicapped-state-employee-wins-grievance-over-essential-functions-of-job/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — A wheelchair-bound state employee, fired because he couldn’t perform an “essential function” of his job assessing people for state benefits, recently won a grievance reversing his dismissal and awarding him back pay.Shawn Paillot was a community coordinator in the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services, performing assessments of people applying for state assistance due to developmental disabilities.Paillot, who was born with Spina Bifida, had worked for DHHS since 2018, and had been granted an accommodation, due to his disability, to work at home and conduct assessments virtually, over a computer, rather than in person.But in early 2022, DHHS decided that assessments for one program needed to be done in person, and in September of 2022, moved to fire Paillot, who was homebound.But arbitrator Jim Titus, who heard the appeal of his firing, ruled in favor of Paillot and the Nebraska Association of Public Employees (NAPE), of which Paillot was a member.The arbitrator ruled that while in-person assessments were a function of Paillot’s job, it was not an “essential” function, and that the Americans with Disabilities Act required that the health department continue to allow accommodations for him to do assessments over a computer.There was no evidence presented that Paillot’s job performance was unsatisfactory, the 14-page ruling stated, and there was testimony that the requirement of in-person assessments was not applied consistently within the DHHS.A spokesman for the DHHS said that Paillot had resigned. Paillot could not be reached for comment.Justin Hubly, the executive director of NAPE, said that Paillot had told him that while he was pleased that he was able to prove that the department’s actions were arbitrary and in violation of the ADA, he wasn’t sure he wanted to continue to work for the state.

Handicapped state employee wins grievance over ‘essential functions’ of job

LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Barbie” has legs. Director&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/greta-gerwig-interview-barbie-ed61b918097f2fc43e024f4872a7225e">Greta Gerwig</a>&nbsp;'s film phenomenon remained a runaway No. 1 at the box office in its fourth week, bringing in $33.7 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.

The Margot Robbie-led and produced film from Warner Bros., still in 4,137 theaters, refused to drop off as most box-office toppers have this year, surpassing $500 million in North America overall a week after it crossed the $1 billion mark globally — a record for a female director.

The second half of the “Barbenheimer” duo,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/oppenheimer-christopher-nolan-469cc81e0989f414a20db5508c7630a0">“Oppenheimer,”</a>&nbsp;returned to the No. 2 spot in its own fourth week after a week at No. 3 overall. The Christopher Nolan-directed film from Universal Pictures brought in $18.8 million from 3,761 locations for an overall domestic total of $264.3 million.

The top pair had thin competition. The week's only major wide release, Universal's “The Last Voyage of the Demeter,” finished fifth with a $6.5 million opening weekend.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-mutant-mayhem-review-84cb1689a4849d2deec5516304e41739">“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,”</a>&nbsp;in its second week, earned $15.6 million domestically for third place, and the Jason Statham shark sequel,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/movie-review-meg-trench-73bca0d7e9918d63325497e20b12111e">“Meg 2: The Trench,”</a>&nbsp;brought in $12.7 million, dropping from second to fifth in its second week in theaters.

“Barbie” is poised to become 2023’s top film. Its $526.3 million domestic total and $1.18 billion global bankroll currently sits second behind “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which earned $574.2 million North America, and $1.358 billion globally in the spring. It's also the second-highest grossing film in the history of “Warner Bros.,” behind only 2011’s “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.”

The sustained performance of the Mattel movie continues to flip the script on what had been a weak year in theaters, with major sequels underperforming including “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" and “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part I,” which remained in the top 10 this week with $4.7 million.

“'Barbie' is as hot a commodity as it was in its first week. It's just ensconced at the No. 1 spot, and I don’t know if it’s going anywhere soon,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “And Oppenheimer right there with it. They’re just drafting off each other in this box office NASCAR race.”

The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/barbenheimer-barbie-vs-oppenheimer-61a6ec6c67359b851ddeccd6d655b5ab">midsummer “Barbenheimer”</a>&nbsp;put the industry-wide summer total ahead of 2022. It was lagging behind just a month ago.

“If you think of what ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ together — just those two movies — have contributed in these weekends at the box office, it’s really a staggering number," Dergarabedian said.

All movies combined this summer have earned $3.63 billion in North America. With significant releases remaining in August, including DC Comics' “Blue Beetle,” the video game adaptation “Gran Turismo,” and the Denzel Washington sequel “The Equalizer 3,” the box office has a chance of reaching the $4 billion that was considered a domestic benchmark for a strong summer before the pandemic.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

3. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” $15.6 million.

4. “Meg 2: The Trench,” $12.7 million.

5. “The Last Voyage of the Demeter,” $6.5 million.

9. “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part I,” $4.7 million.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1692025044473.jpeg" alt="The marquee of the Los Feliz Theatre features the films "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer," Friday, July 28, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)" />
 <figcaption>The marquee of the Los Feliz Theatre features the films "Barbie" and "Oppenheimer," Friday, July 28, 2023, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Chris Pizzello)</figcaption>
 </figure>LOS ANGELES (AP) — “Barbie” has legs. Director&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/greta-gerwig-interview-barbie-ed61b918097f2fc43e024f4872a7225e">Greta Gerwig</a>&nbsp;'s film phenomenon remained a runaway No. 1 at the box office in its fourth week, bringing in $33.7 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.The Margot Robbie-led and produced film from Warner Bros., still in 4,137 theaters, refused to drop off as most box-office toppers have this year, surpassing $500 million in North America overall a week after it crossed the $1 billion mark globally — a record for a female director.The second half of the “Barbenheimer” duo,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/oppenheimer-christopher-nolan-469cc81e0989f414a20db5508c7630a0">“Oppenheimer,”</a>&nbsp;returned to the No. 2 spot in its own fourth week after a week at No. 3 overall. The Christopher Nolan-directed film from Universal Pictures brought in $18.8 million from 3,761 locations for an overall domestic total of $264.3 million.The top pair had thin competition. The week's only major wide release, Universal's “The Last Voyage of the Demeter,” finished fifth with a $6.5 million opening weekend.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-mutant-mayhem-review-84cb1689a4849d2deec5516304e41739">“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,”</a>&nbsp;in its second week, earned $15.6 million domestically for third place, and the Jason Statham shark sequel,&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/movie-review-meg-trench-73bca0d7e9918d63325497e20b12111e">“Meg 2: The Trench,”</a>&nbsp;brought in $12.7 million, dropping from second to fifth in its second week in theaters.“Barbie” is poised to become 2023’s top film. Its $526.3 million domestic total and $1.18 billion global bankroll currently sits second behind “The Super Mario Bros. Movie,” which earned $574.2 million North America, and $1.358 billion globally in the spring. It's also the second-highest grossing film in the history of “Warner Bros.,” behind only 2011’s “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.”The sustained performance of the Mattel movie continues to flip the script on what had been a weak year in theaters, with major sequels underperforming including “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny" and “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part I,” which remained in the top 10 this week with $4.7 million.“'Barbie' is as hot a commodity as it was in its first week. It's just ensconced at the No. 1 spot, and I don’t know if it’s going anywhere soon,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore. “And Oppenheimer right there with it. They’re just drafting off each other in this box office NASCAR race.”The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/barbenheimer-barbie-vs-oppenheimer-61a6ec6c67359b851ddeccd6d655b5ab">midsummer “Barbenheimer”</a>&nbsp;put the industry-wide summer total ahead of 2022. It was lagging behind just a month ago.“If you think of what ‘Barbie’ and ‘Oppenheimer’ together — just those two movies — have contributed in these weekends at the box office, it’s really a staggering number," Dergarabedian said.All movies combined this summer have earned $3.63 billion in North America. With significant releases remaining in August, including DC Comics' “Blue Beetle,” the video game adaptation “Gran Turismo,” and the Denzel Washington sequel “The Equalizer 3,” the box office has a chance of reaching the $4 billion that was considered a domestic benchmark for a strong summer before the pandemic.Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.1. “Barbie,” $33.7 million.2. “Oppenheimer,” $18.8 million.3. “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem,” $15.6 million.4. “Meg 2: The Trench,” $12.7 million.5. “The Last Voyage of the Demeter,” $6.5 million.6. “Haunted Mansion,” $5.6 million.7. “Talk to Me,” $5.1 million.8. “Sound of Freedom,” $4.8 million.9. “Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part I,” $4.7 million.10. “Jailer,” 2.6 million.

'Barbie' has legs: Greta Gerwig's film tops box office again and gives industry a midsummer surge

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/08/14/consumers-seeing-relief-in-some-food-prices-as-inflation-continues-to-slow/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

A Department of Labor report showed that the consumer price index rose&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm#cpi_pressa.f.1">0.2%</a>&nbsp;in July, in line with&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-05/world-economy-latest-us-inflation-may-reassure-fed">expectations</a>, and 3.2% in the past year compared to 3% in June. Despite that slight uptick, economists say that it’s still good news for the economy overall and for consumers.

The inflation numbers released Thursday have implications for the Federal Reserve’s efforts to bring inflation down to its 2% target. In July, the Fed raised interest rates by 0.25% to the highest it has been in&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/interest-rate-hike-july-2023-how-much-higher-federal-reserve-rcna96210#:~:text=Federal%20Reserve%20raises%20interest%20rates%20by%200.25%25&amp;text=The%20Federal%20Reserve%20announced%20Wednesday,inflation%20in%20the%20U.S.%20economy.">22 years</a>.

“Between now and the September meeting, we get two more job reports, two more CPI reports …,” he said. “All that data I recited we will be looking at all that and making that assessment then. Really, we did have that one good reading but it is just one reading as everybody knows and we’ve seen this borne in the data. Many forecasts call for inflation to remain low but we just don’t know until we see it in the data.”

“Affordability of housing is a huge concern for Americans … The data is really telling us shelter costs in the CPI lag by up to a year and market data, which is much more current, shows that housing costs have cooled dramatically since last summer,” she said. “…What that means is that inflation right now is actually lower than the CPI headline number.”

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/3/1679320246727.jpg" alt="Photo on file" />
 <figcaption>Photo on file</figcaption>
 </figure>By Casey Quinlan<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/08/14/consumers-seeing-relief-in-some-food-prices-as-inflation-continues-to-slow/">Nebraska Examiner</a>Consumers are getting some relief from higher prices as core inflation, which excludes food and energy, continues to show signs of cooling — an encouraging sign for the U.S. economy, according to economists.A Department of Labor report showed that the consumer price index rose&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.bls.gov/news.release/cpi.nr0.htm#cpi_pressa.f.1">0.2%</a>&nbsp;in July, in line with&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-08-05/world-economy-latest-us-inflation-may-reassure-fed">expectations</a>, and 3.2% in the past year compared to 3% in June. Despite that slight uptick, economists say that it’s still good news for the economy overall and for consumers.This is the second month core inflation has reached pre-pandemic levels, according to an&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/mtkonczal/status/1689622719367716864">analysis</a>&nbsp;of Department of Labor data by the Roosevelt Institute.“We now have two straight months of low, honestly, quite normal levels of inflation,” Kitty Richards, acting executive director of the progressive think tank Groundwork Collaborative, told States Newsroom. “That’s a huge drop from last summer’s peak. And that is something that we should be celebrating, especially given that it has happened in the context of growing real wages and a job market that is still really delivering for American workers. I’m really glad to see that in the inflation report.”Food prices increased 0.2% from June to July and 4.9% from July 2022. However, egg prices, which families have been complaining about at the checkout line, are falling. Milk prices have also continued to decline. Frozen fish and other seafood prices also fell in July after increasing a bit in June.David Ortega, a food economist who is an associate professor at Michigan State University, said food price inflation is starting to moderate.“A 3.6% increase in grocery prices is a welcome relief from what we saw last year. We were talking about double-digit increases, year-over-year for grocery prices,” he said. “They peaked in August [of 2022]. There’s signs that things are moderating and, and they’re definitely improving.”But it’s still important to consider that these changes, while promising, are not necessarily affecting the average American’s experience of prices at the supermarket in a big way, he cautioned.“If you talk to consumers, people are like, ‘Things are still expensive at the grocery store.’ And that’s correct because inflation is the rate of increase in prices over a period of time,” he said. “Just because the rate of increase starts to come down, it doesn’t mean that prices are coming down or that things are necessarily getting cheaper. It just means that they’re not increasing in price as quickly.”Some factors still adding inflationary pressures include climate change and Russia’s war in Ukraine, Ortega said.“We’ve seen some of those factors start to improve and in some cases, not really be much of a problem like in the case of bird flu for egg prices. But we still have some factors at play that are still adding inflationary pressures ….,” he said. “That’s why inflation has been very persistent. And there’s also a demand story that we’ve seen, especially in the data that we have for last year, that consumer spending on food has been pretty strong.”<h2>Housing costs lagging</h2>The inflation numbers released Thursday have implications for the Federal Reserve’s efforts to bring inflation down to its 2% target. In July, the Fed raised interest rates by 0.25% to the highest it has been in&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/interest-rate-hike-july-2023-how-much-higher-federal-reserve-rcna96210#:~:text=Federal%20Reserve%20raises%20interest%20rates%20by%200.25%25&amp;text=The%20Federal%20Reserve%20announced%20Wednesday,inflation%20in%20the%20U.S.%20economy.">22 years</a>.Fed Chairman Jerome Powell said in a July press conference that the Fed was waiting to see whether the June CPI report, as well as other economic data, was a blip before deciding to pause the raising of interest rates. Fed&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/files/fomcminutes20230614.pdf">meeting details</a>&nbsp;show that officials wanted to see how interest rate hikes, as well as the spring bank collapses, were affecting the economy before making another policy decision.Powell said the Fed would be watching this CPI report and the following one to see if there is a trend in the moderation of inflation as it considers its next decision.“Between now and the September meeting, we get two more job reports, two more CPI reports …,” he said. “All that data I recited we will be looking at all that and making that assessment then. Really, we did have that one good reading but it is just one reading as everybody knows and we’ve seen this borne in the data. Many forecasts call for inflation to remain low but we just don’t know until we see it in the data.”Shelter also continues to have a significant effect on inflation. It made up 90% of the increase this month according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. But there is additional context to consider for shelter data since it is a lagging indicator, Richards said.“Affordability of housing is a huge concern for Americans … The data is really telling us shelter costs in the CPI lag by up to a year and market data, which is much more current, shows that housing costs have cooled dramatically since last summer,” she said. “…What that means is that inflation right now is actually lower than the CPI headline number.”Richards said that because prices for all items without shelter is only 1% for the past 12 months, the Fed may take that data into consideration in September when it makes its next call on interest rates.“That’s good news. But we also need to start to ask whether the Fed continuing to pursue a 2% CPI inflation target aggressively has a real risk of overshooting.”There’s only so much effect the Fed can have on demand for food, however, Ortega said.“The raising of interest rates has little effect on demand for food, especially at the grocery store because food is a necessity. … That may make it more difficult for people to go out and eat at restaurants or maybe not splurge as much when they go to the grocery store. But that is not going to have that significant of an effect on the overall prices and, and what we’re seeing with overall inflation.”

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gone was the helicopter, but&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;over the weekend renewed his reputation for defying norms and creating a mega-celebrity’s spectacle at the Iowa State Fair.

Trump, in fewer than two hours on the steaming fairgrounds in Des Moines, attracted thousands of sweating, chanting supporters to his stops at the Iowa Pork Producers tent, a baby farm animal exhibit and a popular Grand Concourse pub.

All the while, Trump not-so-subtly tried to set himself apart from Florida Gov.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ron-desantis" target="_blank">Ron DeSantis</a>, Trump’s main rival with more than five months until&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iowa-caucuses-2024-new-hampshire-primary-republican-election-ab362c03166a97c50a4db87c3bb494d9" target="_blank">Iowa’s leadoff caucuses</a>&nbsp;and who was on the fairgrounds at the same time.

Just as DeSantis and his family were wrapping up their day at the fair, meeting with Iowa Republican leaders and activists, Trump descended into the huge scrum of backers accompanied by about a dozen Florida U.S. House members, a shot at DeSantis who is making an aggressive pitch to Iowa Republicans.

Trump spoke little to the public in his short time at the fair, except to talk individually to some fairgoers. However, he repeated during remarks to hundreds crammed into the fair favorite “Steer and Stein” the disproven claim that the 2020 election was “rigged,” and that “we got millions and millions more votes.”

Instead, while most candidates seeking caucus support tout Iowa political endorsements, Trump spent most of his public remarks introducing Florida lawmakers who traveled with him to Iowa. The effort, Trump aides said, demonstrates feelings of those who know DeSantis best, but also clearly stoke outrage among those who feel the former president has been persecuted with the two federal indictments he now faces.

“So to all my friends in Iowa when you see them come for this man, know that they are coming for this movement, and they are coming for all of us,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.

Before taking his three children to ride bumper cars and the Ferris wheel, DeSantis boasted about the delegation of state lawmakers in Iowa that flanked him when reporters asked about the Florida representatives surrounding Trump.

“I think it’s fine to bring folks in from Washington, but I think Iowans really are more concerned about the people in their communities,” he said.

DeSantis and other candidates at the fair called out Trump for his criticism of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/kim-reynolds" target="_blank">Gov. Kim Reynolds</a>, who has taken a pledge of neutrality and hosted a series of one-on-one conversations that most GOP candidates accepted but Trump declined.

“That’s just how he operates, to attack one of the best governors in the country,” DeSantis said. “I think as Republicans we should be thankful and proud to see other Republicans doing well.”

Most candidates effused praise on Reynolds throughout their appearances at the fair and enjoyed her company on walks around the fairground or flipping pork burgers.

Former Vice President Mike Pence said he was “for Governor Kim Reynolds before it was cool.” Business entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy encouraged fairgoers to give her a round of applause.

Trump also sought to soothe tension between him and Reynolds Saturday even though he didn’t appear with her. But in addressing the drama with Reynolds, Trump repeated his claim that he was responsible for her election. Trump campaigned with Reynolds during her 2018 bid, which she won narrowly. She won reelection by a much larger margin in 2022.

“I have a very nice relationship with her,” he said. “I got her elected.”

For Trump’s team, there was not a trace of concern in the air — given the concentration of supporters, the range of ages and the sea of Make America Great Again hats — about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indicted-jan-6-investigation-special-counsel-debb59bb7a4d9f93f7e2dace01feccdc" target="_blank">Trump’s indictment this month on federal felony changes he worked to overturn the 2020 election</a>&nbsp;in the run-up to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege" target="_blank">violent riot by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol</a>&nbsp;on Jan. 6, 2021.

Stopping briefly to talk to reporters, he declined to say whether he would comply with a protective order by the judge overseeing the election conspiracy case, limiting what the former president can publicly say about evidence in the investigation as he campaigns.

“I’ll have to take a look at the order,” Trump said. “The whole thing is a fake — it was put out by Biden, because they can’t win an election the fair way.”

Asked later whether he would agree to plead guilty to lesser charges, Trump called the reporter “a wise guy.” “We don’t do plea deals,” he said.

In 2015, as the emerging Republican presidential nominee, Trump commanded attention at the fair by offering children rides on his personal helicopter. In suit and tie, the then-TV celebrity and New York real estate executive cut a far different figure than candidates typically in jeans and cowboy boots.

In just as brazen style Saturday, Trump’s Boeing 757 circled the fairgrounds ahead of his landing just as DeSantis was manning the grill at the Iowa Pork Producers tent.

It was one of several episodes this year in Iowa where Trump has sought to outshine DeSantis while both were in the state. DeSantis trails Trump in national and Iowa polls but is viewed still early in the race as his strongest potential challenger and has recently accelerated his Iowa outreach in an attempt to land an early blow against the former president who remains extremely popular within the GOP base.

Cheers of “Trump, Trump, Trump” erupted at the three stops the former president made — in a blue suit, but this time in an open-collared shirt — trudging shoulder-to-shoulder crowds.

Though so much of Trump’s stop was out of the ordinary, at the pork tent, he bowed to state fair protocol.

He held a pork chop on a stick up to the crowd and waved it.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — Gone was the helicopter, but&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/donald-trump" target="_blank">Donald Trump</a>&nbsp;over the weekend renewed his reputation for defying norms and creating a mega-celebrity’s spectacle at the Iowa State Fair.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">WATCH: (from Saturday) Former President Trump: &quot;We don&#39;t take plea deals because I did nothing wrong. It&#39;s called election interference.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/Ch2w7InRnm">pic.twitter.com/Ch2w7InRnm</a>&mdash; CSPAN (@cspan) <a href="https://twitter.com/cspan/status/1690737890425200640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 13, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>Trump, in fewer than two hours on the steaming fairgrounds in Des Moines, attracted thousands of sweating, chanting supporters to his stops at the Iowa Pork Producers tent, a baby farm animal exhibit and a popular Grand Concourse pub.All the while, Trump not-so-subtly tried to set himself apart from Florida Gov.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/ron-desantis" target="_blank">Ron DeSantis</a>, Trump’s main rival with more than five months until&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/iowa-caucuses-2024-new-hampshire-primary-republican-election-ab362c03166a97c50a4db87c3bb494d9" target="_blank">Iowa’s leadoff caucuses</a>&nbsp;and who was on the fairgrounds at the same time.Just as DeSantis and his family were wrapping up their day at the fair, meeting with Iowa Republican leaders and activists, Trump descended into the huge scrum of backers accompanied by about a dozen Florida U.S. House members, a shot at DeSantis who is making an aggressive pitch to Iowa Republicans.Trump spoke little to the public in his short time at the fair, except to talk individually to some fairgoers. However, he repeated during remarks to hundreds crammed into the fair favorite “Steer and Stein” the disproven claim that the 2020 election was “rigged,” and that “we got millions and millions more votes.”Instead, while most candidates seeking caucus support tout Iowa political endorsements, Trump spent most of his public remarks introducing Florida lawmakers who traveled with him to Iowa. The effort, Trump aides said, demonstrates feelings of those who know DeSantis best, but also clearly stoke outrage among those who feel the former president has been persecuted with the two federal indictments he now faces.“So to all my friends in Iowa when you see them come for this man, know that they are coming for this movement, and they are coming for all of us,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz, R-Fla.Before taking his three children to ride bumper cars and the Ferris wheel, DeSantis boasted about the delegation of state lawmakers in Iowa that flanked him when reporters asked about the Florida representatives surrounding Trump.“I think it’s fine to bring folks in from Washington, but I think Iowans really are more concerned about the people in their communities,” he said.DeSantis and other candidates at the fair called out Trump for his criticism of&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/kim-reynolds" target="_blank">Gov. Kim Reynolds</a>, who has taken a pledge of neutrality and hosted a series of one-on-one conversations that most GOP candidates accepted but Trump declined.“That’s just how he operates, to attack one of the best governors in the country,” DeSantis said. “I think as Republicans we should be thankful and proud to see other Republicans doing well.”Most candidates effused praise on Reynolds throughout their appearances at the fair and enjoyed her company on walks around the fairground or flipping pork burgers.Former Vice President Mike Pence said he was “for Governor Kim Reynolds before it was cool.” Business entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy encouraged fairgoers to give her a round of applause.Trump also sought to soothe tension between him and Reynolds Saturday even though he didn’t appear with her. But in addressing the drama with Reynolds, Trump repeated his claim that he was responsible for her election. Trump campaigned with Reynolds during her 2018 bid, which she won narrowly. She won reelection by a much larger margin in 2022.“I have a very nice relationship with her,” he said. “I got her elected.”For Trump’s team, there was not a trace of concern in the air — given the concentration of supporters, the range of ages and the sea of Make America Great Again hats — about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/trump-indicted-jan-6-investigation-special-counsel-debb59bb7a4d9f93f7e2dace01feccdc" target="_blank">Trump’s indictment this month on federal felony changes he worked to overturn the 2020 election</a>&nbsp;in the run-up to the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/capitol-siege" target="_blank">violent riot by his supporters at the U.S. Capitol</a>&nbsp;on Jan. 6, 2021.Stopping briefly to talk to reporters, he declined to say whether he would comply with a protective order by the judge overseeing the election conspiracy case, limiting what the former president can publicly say about evidence in the investigation as he campaigns.“I’ll have to take a look at the order,” Trump said. “The whole thing is a fake — it was put out by Biden, because they can’t win an election the fair way.”Asked later whether he would agree to plead guilty to lesser charges, Trump called the reporter “a wise guy.” “We don’t do plea deals,” he said.In 2015, as the emerging Republican presidential nominee, Trump commanded attention at the fair by offering children rides on his personal helicopter. In suit and tie, the then-TV celebrity and New York real estate executive cut a far different figure than candidates typically in jeans and cowboy boots.In just as brazen style Saturday, Trump’s Boeing 757 circled the fairgrounds ahead of his landing just as DeSantis was manning the grill at the Iowa Pork Producers tent.It was one of several episodes this year in Iowa where Trump has sought to outshine DeSantis while both were in the state. DeSantis trails Trump in national and Iowa polls but is viewed still early in the race as his strongest potential challenger and has recently accelerated his Iowa outreach in an attempt to land an early blow against the former president who remains extremely popular within the GOP base.Cheers of “Trump, Trump, Trump” erupted at the three stops the former president made — in a blue suit, but this time in an open-collared shirt — trudging shoulder-to-shoulder crowds.Though so much of Trump’s stop was out of the ordinary, at the pork tent, he bowed to state fair protocol.He held a pork chop on a stick up to the crowd and waved it.

🎥Trump seizes the spotlight at Iowa State Fair

LAHAINA, Hawaii&nbsp; (AP) —Hawaii officials urged tourists to avoid traveling to Maui as many hotels prepared to house evacuees and first responders on the island that faces a long recovery from the wildfire that demolished a historic town and killed more than 90 people.

About 46,000 residents and visitors have flown out of Kahului Airport in West Maui since the devastation in Lahaina became clear Wednesday, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority.

"In the weeks ahead, the collective resources and attention of the federal, state and county government, the West Maui community, and the travel industry must be focused on the recovery of residents who were forced to evacuate their homes and businesses," the agency said in a statement late Saturday. Tourists are encouraged to visit Hawaii's other islands.

Gov. Josh Green said 500 hotels rooms will be made available for locals who have been displaced. An additional 500 hotel rooms will be set aside for workers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Some hotels will carry on with normal business to help preserve jobs and sustain the local economy, Green said.

The state wants to work with Airbnb to make sure that rental homes can be made available for locals. Green hopes that the company will be able to provide three- to nine-month rentals for those who have lost homes.

As the death toll from a wildfire that razed a historic Maui town reached 93, authorities warned Saturday that the effort to find and identify the dead was still in its early stages. It's already the deadliest U.S. wildfire for over a century.

Crews with cadaver dogs have covered just 3% of the search area, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said.

"We've got an area that we have to contain that is at least 5 square miles and it is full of our loved ones," noting that the death toll is likely to grow and "none of us really know the size of it yet."

He spoke as federal emergency workers picked through the ashen moonscape left by the fire that razed the centuries-old town of Lahaina. Teams marked the ruins of homes with a bright orange X to record an initial search, and HR when they found human remains.

Pelletier said identifying the dead is extremely challenging because "we pick up the remains and they fall apart ... When we find our family and our friends, the remains that we're finding is through a fire that melted metal." Two people have been identified so far, he said.

Dogs worked the rubble, and their occasional bark — used to alert their handlers to a possible corpse — echoed over the hot and colorless landscape.

"It will certainly be the worst natural disaster that Hawaii ever faced," Gov. Josh Green remarked Saturday as he toured the devastation on historic Front Street. "We can only wait and support those who are living. Our focus now is to reunite people when we can and get them housing and get them health care, and then turn to rebuilding."

At least 2,200 buildings were damaged or destroyed in West Maui, Green said, of which 86% were residential. Across the island, he added, damage was estimated at close to $6 billion. He said it would take "an incredible amount of time" to recover."

The confirmed death toll was later raised to 93 from the total of 89 announced in a press conference with Green and other officials.

At least two other fires have been burning on Maui, with no fatalities reported thus far: in south Maui's Kihei area and in the mountainous, inland communities known as Upcountry. A fourth broke out Friday evening in Kaanapali, a coastal community north of Lahaina, but crews were able to extinguish it, authorities said.

Green said the Upcountry fire had affected 544 structures, of which 96% were residential.

Emergency managers in Maui were searching for places to house people displaced from their homes. As many as 4,500 people are in need of shelter, county officials said on Facebook early Saturday, citing figures from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Pacific Disaster Center.

He encouraged those with missing family members to go to the family assistance center.

"We need you to do the DNA test. We need to identify your loved ones," Pelletier said.

Those who escaped counted their blessings, thankful to be alive as they mourned those who didn't make it.

Retired fire captain Geoff Bogar and his friend of 35 years, Franklin Trejos, initially stayed behind to help others in Lahaina and save Bogar's house. But as the flames moved closer and closer Tuesday afternoon, they knew they had to get out. Each escaped to his own car. When Bogar's wouldn't start, he broke through a window to get out, then crawled on the ground until a police patrol found him and brought him to a hospital.

Trejos wasn't as lucky. When Bogar returned the next day, he found the bones of his 68-year-old friend in the back seat of his car, lying on top of the remains of the Bogars' beloved 3-year-old golden retriever Sam, whom he had tried to protect.

Trejos, a native of Costa Rica, had lived for years with Bogar and his wife, Shannon Weber-Bogar, helping her with her seizures when her husband couldn't. He filled their lives with love and laughter.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1691978468130.png" alt="FEMA along with federal and local partners, <a href="https://twitter.com/NationalVOAD">@NationalVOAD</a> member organizations, and other volunteer and faith-based organizations continue to respond to survivors’ immediate needs following the devastating wildfires in Maui.-FEMA photo" />
 <figcaption>FEMA along with federal and local partners, <a href="https://twitter.com/NationalVOAD">@NationalVOAD</a> member organizations, and other volunteer and faith-based organizations continue to respond to survivors’ immediate needs following the devastating wildfires in Maui.-FEMA photo</figcaption>
 </figure>LAHAINA, Hawaii&nbsp; (AP) —Hawaii officials urged tourists to avoid traveling to Maui as many hotels prepared to house evacuees and first responders on the island that faces a long recovery from the wildfire that demolished a historic town and killed more than 90 people. About 46,000 residents and visitors have flown out of Kahului Airport in West Maui since the devastation in Lahaina became clear Wednesday, according to the Hawaii Tourism Authority.<div><blockquote class="twitter-tweet">Our team is working in coordination with the County, the Red Cross, and FEMA to immediately move the survivors into hotel rooms and vacation rentals. Help is pouring in both locally and around the world as our hearts are with the people of Maui. <a href="https://t.co/WMUNl70LAX">pic.twitter.com/WMUNl70LAX</a>&mdash; Governor Josh Green (@GovJoshGreenMD) <a href="https://twitter.com/GovJoshGreenMD/status/1690583706602500098?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">August 13, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></div>"In the weeks ahead, the collective resources and attention of the federal, state and county government, the West Maui community, and the travel industry must be focused on the recovery of residents who were forced to evacuate their homes and businesses," the agency said in a statement late Saturday. Tourists are encouraged to visit Hawaii's other islands.Gov. Josh Green said 500 hotels rooms will be made available for locals who have been displaced. An additional 500 hotel rooms will be set aside for workers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Some hotels will carry on with normal business to help preserve jobs and sustain the local economy, Green said.The state wants to work with Airbnb to make sure that rental homes can be made available for locals. Green hopes that the company will be able to provide three- to nine-month rentals for those who have lost homes.As the death toll from a wildfire that razed a historic Maui town reached 93, authorities warned Saturday that the effort to find and identify the dead was still in its early stages. It's already the deadliest U.S. wildfire for over a century. Crews with cadaver dogs have covered just 3% of the search area, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said."We've got an area that we have to contain that is at least 5 square miles and it is full of our loved ones," noting that the death toll is likely to grow and "none of us really know the size of it yet."He spoke as federal emergency workers picked through the ashen moonscape left by the fire that razed the centuries-old town of Lahaina. Teams marked the ruins of homes with a bright orange X to record an initial search, and HR when they found human remains.Pelletier said identifying the dead is extremely challenging because "we pick up the remains and they fall apart ... When we find our family and our friends, the remains that we're finding is through a fire that melted metal." Two people have been identified so far, he said.Dogs worked the rubble, and their occasional bark — used to alert their handlers to a possible corpse — echoed over the hot and colorless landscape."It will certainly be the worst natural disaster that Hawaii ever faced," Gov. Josh Green remarked Saturday as he toured the devastation on historic Front Street. "We can only wait and support those who are living. Our focus now is to reunite people when we can and get them housing and get them health care, and then turn to rebuilding."At least 2,200 buildings were damaged or destroyed in West Maui, Green said, of which 86% were residential. Across the island, he added, damage was estimated at close to $6 billion. He said it would take "an incredible amount of time" to recover."The confirmed death toll was later raised to 93 from the total of 89 announced in a press conference with Green and other officials.At least two other fires have been burning on Maui, with no fatalities reported thus far: in south Maui's Kihei area and in the mountainous, inland communities known as Upcountry. A fourth broke out Friday evening in Kaanapali, a coastal community north of Lahaina, but crews were able to extinguish it, authorities said.Green said the Upcountry fire had affected 544 structures, of which 96% were residential.Emergency managers in Maui were searching for places to house people displaced from their homes. As many as 4,500 people are in need of shelter, county officials said on Facebook early Saturday, citing figures from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Pacific Disaster Center.He encouraged those with missing family members to go to the family assistance center."We need you to do the DNA test. We need to identify your loved ones," Pelletier said.Those who escaped counted their blessings, thankful to be alive as they mourned those who didn't make it.Retired fire captain Geoff Bogar and his friend of 35 years, Franklin Trejos, initially stayed behind to help others in Lahaina and save Bogar's house. But as the flames moved closer and closer Tuesday afternoon, they knew they had to get out. Each escaped to his own car. When Bogar's wouldn't start, he broke through a window to get out, then crawled on the ground until a police patrol found him and brought him to a hospital.Trejos wasn't as lucky. When Bogar returned the next day, he found the bones of his 68-year-old friend in the back seat of his car, lying on top of the remains of the Bogars' beloved 3-year-old golden retriever Sam, whom he had tried to protect.Trejos, a native of Costa Rica, had lived for years with Bogar and his wife, Shannon Weber-Bogar, helping her with her seizures when her husband couldn't. He filled their lives with love and laughter.

Tourists urged to avoid Maui as hotels prepare to take in evacuees 

LINCOLN, NE&nbsp;– Governor Jim Pillen announced his appointment of Jim Kamm as the new Tax Commissioner. Kamm, who currently serves as the assistant vice chancellor for the Business and Finance Division at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), will begin leading the Department of Revenue on Sept. 5.&nbsp;

“Jim has decades of experience in banking and financial services,” said Gov. Pillen. “That, combined with his public service, makes Jim a great pick to lead the agency.”

“The opportunity to serve Nebraskans in this role is humbling and an honor,” said Kamm. “I am thrilled to bring my combined knowledge and service in both public and private industry to Nebraska’s tax code.”

“I’ve known Jim Kamm both personally and professionally for a number of years,” said Scott Moore, Union Pacific Railroad executive and former Nebraska Secretary of State and state senator. “Jim has that grounded Nebraska background coupled with a long history in state business and higher education that make him an outstanding choice for this role in the Pillen administration.” &nbsp;

Prior to his role at UNO, Kamm held leadership roles at First Westroads Bank, TierOne, and First National Bank of Omaha. Kamm received his bachelor’s degree at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln in finance and a master’s degree in business administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.

In announcing his appointment of Kamm, Gov. Pillen also expressed his gratitude to Deputy Tax Commissioner Glen White for serving in the interim role as tax commissioner since Dec. 2022.

LINCOLN, NE&nbsp;– Governor Jim Pillen announced his appointment of Jim Kamm as the new Tax Commissioner. Kamm, who currently serves as the assistant vice chancellor for the Business and Finance Division at the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO), will begin leading the Department of Revenue on Sept. 5.&nbsp;“Jim has decades of experience in banking and financial services,” said Gov. Pillen. “That, combined with his public service, makes Jim a great pick to lead the agency.”“The opportunity to serve Nebraskans in this role is humbling and an honor,” said Kamm. “I am thrilled to bring my combined knowledge and service in both public and private industry to Nebraska’s tax code.”“I’ve known Jim Kamm both personally and professionally for a number of years,” said Scott Moore, Union Pacific Railroad executive and former Nebraska Secretary of State and state senator. “Jim has that grounded Nebraska background coupled with a long history in state business and higher education that make him an outstanding choice for this role in the Pillen administration.” &nbsp;Prior to his role at UNO, Kamm held leadership roles at First Westroads Bank, TierOne, and First National Bank of Omaha. Kamm received his bachelor’s degree at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln in finance and a master’s degree in business administration at the University of Nebraska at Omaha.In announcing his appointment of Kamm, Gov. Pillen also expressed his gratitude to Deputy Tax Commissioner Glen White for serving in the interim role as tax commissioner since Dec. 2022.

Gov. Pillen Appoints Jim Kamm as State Tax Commissioner

LINCOLN, NE&nbsp;– Governor Jim Pillen has announced the hiring of Jacy Schafer as his deputy communications director.

Schafer was previously vice president of government affairs with Nebraska Cattlemen. She has held prior communications and legislative roles in North Dakota, including with the Soybean Growers Association and U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer. Schafer has a bachelor’s degree in agriculture communications from North Dakota State University

Schafer serves on the Governor’s communications team with Communications Director Laura Strimple.

LINCOLN, NE&nbsp;– Governor Jim Pillen has announced the hiring of Jacy Schafer as his deputy communications director.Schafer was previously vice president of government affairs with Nebraska Cattlemen. She has held prior communications and legislative roles in North Dakota, including with the Soybean Growers Association and U.S. Senator Kevin Cramer. Schafer has a bachelor’s degree in agriculture communications from North Dakota State UniversitySchafer serves on the Governor’s communications team with Communications Director Laura Strimple.

Gov. Pillen Announces Communications Team Hire

By ELAINE S. POVICH <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2022/08/15/state-attorneys-general-unite-against-robocalls">Stateline</a>

Thousands of college students will get hundreds of dollars in compensation as colleges and universities move this summer to settle multimillion-dollar lawsuits stemming from canceled classes and activities during COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns.

While some of the class-action suits against the colleges and universities are still in litigation, and still others dismissed, several major cases have been settled in recent weeks.

The settlements mean students who were charged tuition and fees but weren’t able to use in-person services during the pandemic shutdowns will receive some compensation, though they won’t be refunded for all the on-campus amenities they lost.

The amounts depend on the total settlement figure, minus legal fees and other court expenses. Each case has a different timeline.

Most recently, the University of Delaware agreed in June to set up a $6.3 million fund to partially reimburse tuition and fees that the students paid for classes, housing and activities in 2020. The students argued that they did not receive the full benefit of in-person participation in academics and extra-curricular activities. Each student is expected to receive&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2023/06/14/university-of-delaware-students-covid19-lawsuit-payments-settlement-remote-learning/70317763007/">several hundred dollars in cash</a>&nbsp;as part of the agreement.

But the university did not admit wrongdoing and maintained that extenuating circumstances of the pandemic, and the lack of an official contract between the school and each student, meant it was justified in taking the tuition and fees — an argument made by many other schools.

Many universities also have argued that they incurred significant expense in making the almost immediate transition to online classes. In interviews with Stateline, attorneys for some schools argued that the students’ argument was undercut by the fact that many chose to remain in remote classes after the campuses reopened, for convenience or health concerns.

Florida attorney Mendy Halberstam, who was not involved in the Delaware case but who represents other universities that have been similarly sued, said in an interview that the schools feel compelled to defend themselves against cases they believe “are lacking in merit.”

“They are not looking to make life difficult for their students,” he said, “but they also have to make sure of their [lack of] liability.”

There have been about 300 such lawsuits, according to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/leading-us-universities-settle-covid-online-teaching-lawsuits">Times Higher Education,</a>&nbsp;a British publication that partners with The Wall Street Journal on rankings and evaluations of U.S. schools.

The University of Colorado, for example,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.denverpost.com/2023/04/19/university-of-colorado-class-action-lawsuit-2020-5-million/">settled a similar class-action case</a>&nbsp;in April for $5 million.

Attorney Igor Raykin, who represented the Colorado students, said the settlement was “a reasonable offer given the challenges of the suit itself and the legal landscape in general.”

Among the challenges, Raykin said, is the fact that these were precedent-setting cases and that a lengthy legal process meant many of the students have already graduated and gotten on with their lives.

“We wanted to make sure the students would be getting something that would benefit them.” Individual awards will vary, he said, but typically will be in the hundreds of dollars.

In May, the University of Minnesota&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.twincities.com/2023/06/01/umn-students-to-get-bigger-refunds-from-pandemic-semester-as-class-action-lawsuit-settles/">also settled a class-action lawsuit</a>, allowing students to get bigger refunds of tuition and fees than the school initially allowed. And in June, a judge&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.hbsslaw.com/sites/default/files/case-downloads/tuition-university-of-washington/2023-06-28-order-granting-class-certification.PDF">certified</a>&nbsp;a group of students in a class-action suit against the University of Washington.

However, early this year a judge in Rhode Island&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/courts/2023/02/04/judge-dismisses-students-covid-claims-against-university-of-rhode-island/69870262007/">dismissed a case</a>&nbsp;against the University of Rhode Island and several other schools in that state,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.brown.edu/sites/default/files/order-03-04-21-web-small.pdf">ruling</a>&nbsp;that there were no enforceable contracts breached in the shutdowns. The plaintiffs argued that the shutdowns denied them university experiences they expected, based on the schools’ marketing materials, websites, course catalogs, student handbooks and the like.

But U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. ruled that, “unfortunately for [the] plaintiffs, these general advertisements and distinctions do not create obligations on the part of the university — they are vague and more akin to puffery, rather than enforceable promises.”

Two weeks ago, the Florida Supreme Court&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://acis-api.flcourts.gov/courts/68f021c4-6a44-4735-9a76-5360b2e8af13/cms/case/0cbc501c-e5e1-44a0-9b8b-0781e2a31586/docketentrydocuments/2c17d27a-4160-48cf-a0fd-8bd31d9ec0aa">announced</a>&nbsp;it would consider a class-action suit from University of Florida students asking for compensation for being denied services during the COVID-19 shutdown.

But in another Florida case, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/202310299.pdf">upheld</a>&nbsp;a ruling from a lower court dismissing a student’s lawsuit against the University of Miami, a private school.

The university refunded pro-rated fees for housing, dining, student centers and gyms. The student argued that wasn’t enough, but the court ruled that she was “not entitled to damages stemming from any alleged breach of contract, unjust enrichment, or inadequate refunds on the part of Miami.”

“The pandemic forced students of all ages to learn from behind their computer screens for a period of time, and we certainly harbor a great deal of sympathy for those students whose educations and relationships were affected by the transition,” the court wrote.

“We hope that some comfort can be found, however, in our certainty that despite enduring the hardships created by the pandemic, any student who has earned a degree from a school like the University of Miami retains the unspoiled potential for a fulfilling and prosperous future.”

Florida attorney Jeffrey Ostrow, who represented students in a lawsuit against Barry University, a private school in Miami, said the cases have been “a mixed bag all over the place.” In one of the earliest settlements, Barry University in September 2021&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.570668/gov.uscourts.flsd.570668.84.0.pdf">agreed to set up a $2.4 million</a>&nbsp;compensation fund for students.

Ostrow maintains that universities did enter contracts for in-person learning and campus activities.

“All these students signed up for a program in class,” he said, noting that schools often charged less for online classes before the pandemic. “Whether [the university] was forced to, or decided unilaterally to shut those things down, it’s not fair for them to keep the [in-class payments].”

He also noted that many schools got pandemic relief payments from the federal government to help them weather the pandemic.

“There was federal money that a lot of the schools were able to get,” Ostrow said. “And we believe that money should have gone back to the students.”

<a target="_blank" href="https://stateline.org/">Stateline</a>&nbsp;is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence.&nbsp;

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2020/9/1599528423128.png" alt="" />
 <figcaption></figcaption>
 </figure>By ELAINE S. POVICH <a href="https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/blogs/stateline/2022/08/15/state-attorneys-general-unite-against-robocalls">Stateline</a>Thousands of college students will get hundreds of dollars in compensation as colleges and universities move this summer to settle multimillion-dollar lawsuits stemming from canceled classes and activities during COVID-19 pandemic shutdowns.While some of the class-action suits against the colleges and universities are still in litigation, and still others dismissed, several major cases have been settled in recent weeks.The settlements mean students who were charged tuition and fees but weren’t able to use in-person services during the pandemic shutdowns will receive some compensation, though they won’t be refunded for all the on-campus amenities they lost.The amounts depend on the total settlement figure, minus legal fees and other court expenses. Each case has a different timeline.Most recently, the University of Delaware agreed in June to set up a $6.3 million fund to partially reimburse tuition and fees that the students paid for classes, housing and activities in 2020. The students argued that they did not receive the full benefit of in-person participation in academics and extra-curricular activities. Each student is expected to receive&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.delawareonline.com/story/news/local/2023/06/14/university-of-delaware-students-covid19-lawsuit-payments-settlement-remote-learning/70317763007/">several hundred dollars in cash</a>&nbsp;as part of the agreement.But the university did not admit wrongdoing and maintained that extenuating circumstances of the pandemic, and the lack of an official contract between the school and each student, meant it was justified in taking the tuition and fees — an argument made by many other schools.Many universities also have argued that they incurred significant expense in making the almost immediate transition to online classes. In interviews with Stateline, attorneys for some schools argued that the students’ argument was undercut by the fact that many chose to remain in remote classes after the campuses reopened, for convenience or health concerns.Florida attorney Mendy Halberstam, who was not involved in the Delaware case but who represents other universities that have been similarly sued, said in an interview that the schools feel compelled to defend themselves against cases they believe “are lacking in merit.”“They are not looking to make life difficult for their students,” he said, “but they also have to make sure of their [lack of] liability.”There have been about 300 such lawsuits, according to&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/leading-us-universities-settle-covid-online-teaching-lawsuits">Times Higher Education,</a>&nbsp;a British publication that partners with The Wall Street Journal on rankings and evaluations of U.S. schools.The University of Colorado, for example,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.denverpost.com/2023/04/19/university-of-colorado-class-action-lawsuit-2020-5-million/">settled a similar class-action case</a>&nbsp;in April for $5 million.Attorney Igor Raykin, who represented the Colorado students, said the settlement was “a reasonable offer given the challenges of the suit itself and the legal landscape in general.”Among the challenges, Raykin said, is the fact that these were precedent-setting cases and that a lengthy legal process meant many of the students have already graduated and gotten on with their lives.“We wanted to make sure the students would be getting something that would benefit them.” Individual awards will vary, he said, but typically will be in the hundreds of dollars.In May, the University of Minnesota&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.twincities.com/2023/06/01/umn-students-to-get-bigger-refunds-from-pandemic-semester-as-class-action-lawsuit-settles/">also settled a class-action lawsuit</a>, allowing students to get bigger refunds of tuition and fees than the school initially allowed. And in June, a judge&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.hbsslaw.com/sites/default/files/case-downloads/tuition-university-of-washington/2023-06-28-order-granting-class-certification.PDF">certified</a>&nbsp;a group of students in a class-action suit against the University of Washington.However, early this year a judge in Rhode Island&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.providencejournal.com/story/news/courts/2023/02/04/judge-dismisses-students-covid-claims-against-university-of-rhode-island/69870262007/">dismissed a case</a>&nbsp;against the University of Rhode Island and several other schools in that state,&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://www.brown.edu/sites/default/files/order-03-04-21-web-small.pdf">ruling</a>&nbsp;that there were no enforceable contracts breached in the shutdowns. The plaintiffs argued that the shutdowns denied them university experiences they expected, based on the schools’ marketing materials, websites, course catalogs, student handbooks and the like.But U.S. District Judge John McConnell Jr. ruled that, “unfortunately for [the] plaintiffs, these general advertisements and distinctions do not create obligations on the part of the university — they are vague and more akin to puffery, rather than enforceable promises.”Two weeks ago, the Florida Supreme Court&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://acis-api.flcourts.gov/courts/68f021c4-6a44-4735-9a76-5360b2e8af13/cms/case/0cbc501c-e5e1-44a0-9b8b-0781e2a31586/docketentrydocuments/2c17d27a-4160-48cf-a0fd-8bd31d9ec0aa">announced</a>&nbsp;it would consider a class-action suit from University of Florida students asking for compensation for being denied services during the COVID-19 shutdown.But in another Florida case, the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://media.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/pub/files/202310299.pdf">upheld</a>&nbsp;a ruling from a lower court dismissing a student’s lawsuit against the University of Miami, a private school.The university refunded pro-rated fees for housing, dining, student centers and gyms. The student argued that wasn’t enough, but the court ruled that she was “not entitled to damages stemming from any alleged breach of contract, unjust enrichment, or inadequate refunds on the part of Miami.”“The pandemic forced students of all ages to learn from behind their computer screens for a period of time, and we certainly harbor a great deal of sympathy for those students whose educations and relationships were affected by the transition,” the court wrote.“We hope that some comfort can be found, however, in our certainty that despite enduring the hardships created by the pandemic, any student who has earned a degree from a school like the University of Miami retains the unspoiled potential for a fulfilling and prosperous future.”Florida attorney Jeffrey Ostrow, who represented students in a lawsuit against Barry University, a private school in Miami, said the cases have been “a mixed bag all over the place.” In one of the earliest settlements, Barry University in September 2021&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.flsd.570668/gov.uscourts.flsd.570668.84.0.pdf">agreed to set up a $2.4 million</a>&nbsp;compensation fund for students.Ostrow maintains that universities did enter contracts for in-person learning and campus activities.“All these students signed up for a program in class,” he said, noting that schools often charged less for online classes before the pandemic. “Whether [the university] was forced to, or decided unilaterally to shut those things down, it’s not fair for them to keep the [in-class payments].”He also noted that many schools got pandemic relief payments from the federal government to help them weather the pandemic.“There was federal money that a lot of the schools were able to get,” Ostrow said. “And we believe that money should have gone back to the students.”<a target="_blank" href="https://stateline.org/">Stateline</a>&nbsp;is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Stateline maintains editorial independence.&nbsp;

Some students blocked from campus when COVID hit get refunds

LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — As the death toll from a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/live-updates-maui-fire-hawaii-wildfire-162a9fcdefe648d6bcd6557af70d894f">wildfire that razed a historic Maui town</a>&nbsp;reached 93, authorities warned Saturday that the effort to find and identify the dead was still in its early stages. It's already the deadliest U.S. wildfire for over a century.

“We’ve got an area that we have to contain that is at least 5 square miles and it is full of our loved ones,” noting that the death toll is likely to grow and “none of us really know the size of it yet.”

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 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/8/1691927642453.png" alt="At least 2,200 buildings were damaged or destroyed in West Maui-photo courtesy KHNL TV" />
 <figcaption>At least 2,200 buildings were damaged or destroyed in West Maui-photo courtesy KHNL TV</figcaption>
 </figure>LAHAINA, Hawaii (AP) — As the death toll from a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/live-updates-maui-fire-hawaii-wildfire-162a9fcdefe648d6bcd6557af70d894f">wildfire that razed a historic Maui town</a>&nbsp;reached 93, authorities warned Saturday that the effort to find and identify the dead was still in its early stages. It's already the deadliest U.S. wildfire for over a century.Crews with cadaver dogs have covered just 3% of the search area, Maui Police Chief John Pelletier said.“We’ve got an area that we have to contain that is at least 5 square miles and it is full of our loved ones,” noting that the death toll is likely to grow and “none of us really know the size of it yet.”He spoke as federal emergency workers picked through the ashen moonscape left by the fire that razed the centuries-old town of Lahaina. Teams marked the ruins of homes with a bright orange X to record an initial search, and HR when they found human remains.Pelletier said identifying the dead is extremely challenging because “we pick up the remains and they fall apart ... When we find our family and our friends, the remains that we’re finding is through a fire that melted metal." Two people have been identified so far, he said.Dogs worked the rubble, and their occasional bark — used to alert their handlers to a possible corpse — echoed over the hot and colorless landscape.“It will certainly be the worst natural disaster that Hawaii ever faced,” Gov. Josh Green remarked Saturday as he toured the devastation on historic Front Street. "We can only wait and support those who are living. Our focus now is to reunite people when we can and get them housing and get them health care, and then turn to rebuilding.”At least 2,200 buildings were damaged or destroyed in West Maui, Green said, of which 86% were residential. Across the island, he added, damage was estimated at close to $6 billion. He said it would take “an incredible amount of time” to recover."The confirmed death toll was later raised to 93 from the total of 89 announced in a press conference with Green and other officials.At least two other fires have been burning on Maui, with no fatalities reported thus far: in south Maui’s Kihei area and in the mountainous, inland communities known as Upcountry. A fourth broke out Friday evening in Kaanapali, a coastal community north of Lahaina, but crews were able to extinguish it, authorities said.Green said the Upcountry fire had affected 544 structures, of which 96% were residential.Emergency managers in Maui were searching for places to house people displaced from their homes. As many as 4,500 people are in need of shelter, county officials said on Facebook early Saturday, citing figures from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Pacific Disaster Center.He encouraged those with missing family members to go to the family assistance center.“We need you to do the DNA test. We need to identify your loved ones,” Pelletier said.Those who escaped counted their blessings, thankful to be alive as they mourned those who didn't make it.Retired fire captain Geoff Bogar and his friend of 35 years, Franklin Trejos, initially stayed behind to help others in Lahaina and save Bogar's house. But as the flames moved closer and closer Tuesday afternoon, they knew they had to get out. Each escaped to his own car. When Bogar's wouldn't start, he broke through a window to get out, then crawled on the ground until a police patrol found him and brought him to a hospital.Trejos wasn't as lucky. When Bogar returned the next day, he found the bones of his 68-year-old friend in the back seat of his car, lying on top of the remains of the Bogars' beloved 3-year-old golden retriever Sam, whom he had tried to protect.Trejos, a native of Costa Rica, had lived for years with Bogar and his wife, Shannon Weber-Bogar, helping her with her seizures when her husband couldn't. He filled their lives with love and laughter.“God took a really good man,” Weber-Bogar said.The newly released death toll surpassed the toll of the&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/wildfires-business-environment-and-nature-gavin-newsom-paradise-dbae2ef725b32d91ff4c612de38f01e2">2018 Camp Fire</a>&nbsp;in northern California, which left 85 dead and destroyed the town of Paradise. A century earlier, the 1918 Cloquet Fire broke out in drought-stricken northern Minnesota and raced through a number of rural communities, destroying thousands of homes and killing hundreds.The wildfires are the state’s deadliest natural disaster in decades, surpassing a 1960 tsunami that killed 61 people. An even deadlier tsunami in 1946, which killed more than 150 on the Big Island, prompted development of a territory-wide emergency alert system with sirens that are tested monthly.Hawaii emergency management records do not indicate the warning sirens sounded before fire hit the town. Officials sent alerts to mobile phones, televisions and radio stations, but widespread power and cellular outages may have limited their reach.Fueled by a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-wildfires-climate-change-92c0930be7c28ec9ac71392a83c87582">dry summer</a>&nbsp;and strong winds from a&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-wildfire-maui-dora-winds-ec23c16abfbeb6ba689f1a98263720db">passing hurricane</a>, the wildfires on Maui raced through parched brush covering the island.“It outpaced anything firefighters could have done in the early hours,” U.S. Fire Administrator Lori Moore-Merrell said, adding that it moved horizontally, structure to structure and “incredibly fast.”“It was a low-to-the-ground fire. It was grass-fed by all evidence that we could observe today,” she said.The most serious blaze swept into Lahaina on Tuesday and destroyed nearly every building in the town of 13,000, leaving a grid of gray rubble wedged between the blue ocean and lush green slopes.Maui water officials warned Lahaina and Kula residents not to drink running water, which may be contaminated even after boiling, and to only take short, lukewarm showers in well-ventilated rooms to avoid possible chemical vapor exposure.Maui’s firefighting efforts may have been hampered by limited staff and equipment.Bobby Lee, president of the Hawaii Firefighters Association, said there are a maximum of 65 county firefighters working at any given time, who are responsible for three islands: Maui, Molokai and Lanai.Green said officials will review policies and procedures to improve safety.“People have asked why we are reviewing what’s going on and it’s because the world has changed. A storm now can be a hurricane-fire or a fire-hurricane,” he said. “That’s what we experienced, that’s why we’re looking into these policies, to find out how we can best protect our people.”Lahaina resident Riley Curran said he doubted that county officials could have done more, given the speed of the onrushing flames. He fled his Front Street home after seeing the oncoming fire from the roof of a neighboring building.“It’s not that people didn’t try to do anything," Curran said. “The fire went from zero to 100.”More than a dozen people formed an assembly line on Kaanapali Beach Saturday to unload water, toiletries, batteries and other essentials from a catamaran that sailed from another part of Maui.David Taylor, marketing director of Kai Kanani Sailing, which owns the boat, said many of the supplies were for hotel employees who lost their homes and were living with their families at their workplaces.“The aloha still exists,” he said as the group applauded when they finished unloading the boat. “We all feel it really intensely and everybody wants to feel like they can do something.”Caitlin McKnight, who also volunteered at an emergency shelter at the island's war memorial, said she tried to be strong for those who lost everything.“It was evident that those people, those families, people of the Maui ohana, they went through a traumatic event,” McKnight said, using a Hawaiian word for family. “You could just see it in their face.”