The Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska (BHECN) has awarded more than $3 million in cycle-two American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) awards to 27 projects to develop, expand and train the behavioral health workforce across the state.

These awards come on top of the&nbsp;<a>nearly $20 million</a>&nbsp;in ARPA dollars that BHECN granted to 83 projects in January as part of the first cycle of ARPA awards. With this latest round of awards, BHECN has allocated all the ARPA funds that the Nebraska Legislature charged it with distributing.

BHECN received 150 cycle-two applications requesting more than $25.3 million across the four award categories, which are behavioral health training opportunities, telebehavioral health support in rural areas, behavioral health workforce projects related to the COVID-19 pandemic and funding for supervision of provisionally licensed behavioral health providers.

“We are excited to support these amazing projects that will help address our state’s critical shortage of behavioral health workers,” said Marley Doyle,&nbsp;<a>MD</a>, director of BHECN. “As was the case in cycle one, we were overwhelmed once again by the number of applications we received, which truly highlights how much need there is for behavioral health services in Nebraska.”

About 40% of the projects selected for cycle-two awards will be conducted by organizations in rural parts of the state, while about 60% will be conducted by organizations in urban areas. All the projects awarded in the telebehavioral health category have a specific focus on expanding services in rural areas, per category requirements.&nbsp;

The urban-rural project distribution through both cycles of awards was even as 55 BHECN-ARPA awards went to organizations in urban areas and 55 others went to organizations in rural parts of the state.

“The COVID-19 pandemic particularly exacerbated behavioral health workforce issues in rural Nebraska and we are grateful to be able to provide needed support to organizations looking to address these vital issues,” Dr. Doyle said.

Along with providing funding to groups in rural parts of the state, BHECN also is providing ongoing training and assistance to groups in both rural and urban Nebraska that have limited experience in receiving grant funding, said Jessica Buche, BHECN’s ARPA award director.

“Our awardees are providing vital services and helping to address crucial issues in their communities,” Buche said. “Administering federal funding can be burdensome for some of these agencies – especially smaller organizations with limited staff and resources. We hope to lessen that burden so these agencies can continue to do the important work of helping care for the people in their communities.”&nbsp;

While this latest round of awardees&nbsp;<a>prepares</a>&nbsp;to receive funds and start their projects, Dr. Doyle noted that the majority of the 83 cycle-one awardees already have started to execute their projects.&nbsp;<a>UNMC</a>&nbsp;and BHECN, she said, are working diligently to ensure that all the ARPA funding is administered successfully to expand the behavioral health workforce across the state.

“The legislature presented us with a meaningful opportunity to improve behavioral health care in Nebraska and we are dedicated to making sure this funding benefits as many people as possible,” Dr. Doyle said.

For the most updated information regarding BHECN’s ARPA awards, visit the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unmc.edu/bhecn/about/about-bhecn-arpa-awards.html" target="_blank">BHECN website.</a>

Cycle 2 awardees and award amounts by category:

Behavioral Health Training and Education Opportunities Funding to metropolitan organizations:&nbsp;$287,000 or 72%. Funding to rural organizations:&nbsp;$113,000 or 28%.

Telebehavioral Health in Rural Areas&nbsp; Funding to metropolitan organizations:&nbsp;$1,453,828&nbsp;or 66%. Funding to rural organizations:&nbsp;$746,171 or 34%.&nbsp; *All projects have rural components.

Behavioral Health Workforce COVID-19 Projects Funding to metropolitan organizations:&nbsp;$260,000&nbsp;or 65%. Funding to rural organizations:&nbsp;$140,000&nbsp;or 45%.

Funding for Supervision of Provisionally Licensed Providers Funding to metropolitan organizations:&nbsp;$0. Funding to rural organizations:&nbsp;$300,000&nbsp;or 100%.

Marley Doyle, MD, director of the Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska

John Keenan, UNMCThe Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska (BHECN) has awarded more than $3 million in cycle-two American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) awards to 27 projects to develop, expand and train the behavioral health workforce across the state.These awards come on top of the&nbsp;<a>nearly $20 million</a>&nbsp;in ARPA dollars that BHECN granted to 83 projects in January as part of the first cycle of ARPA awards. With this latest round of awards, BHECN has allocated all the ARPA funds that the Nebraska Legislature charged it with distributing.BHECN received 150 cycle-two applications requesting more than $25.3 million across the four award categories, which are behavioral health training opportunities, telebehavioral health support in rural areas, behavioral health workforce projects related to the COVID-19 pandemic and funding for supervision of provisionally licensed behavioral health providers.“We are excited to support these amazing projects that will help address our state’s critical shortage of behavioral health workers,” said Marley Doyle,&nbsp;<a>MD</a>, director of BHECN. “As was the case in cycle one, we were overwhelmed once again by the number of applications we received, which truly highlights how much need there is for behavioral health services in Nebraska.”About 40% of the projects selected for cycle-two awards will be conducted by organizations in rural parts of the state, while about 60% will be conducted by organizations in urban areas. All the projects awarded in the telebehavioral health category have a specific focus on expanding services in rural areas, per category requirements.&nbsp;The urban-rural project distribution through both cycles of awards was even as 55 BHECN-ARPA awards went to organizations in urban areas and 55 others went to organizations in rural parts of the state.“The COVID-19 pandemic particularly exacerbated behavioral health workforce issues in rural Nebraska and we are grateful to be able to provide needed support to organizations looking to address these vital issues,” Dr. Doyle said.Along with providing funding to groups in rural parts of the state, BHECN also is providing ongoing training and assistance to groups in both rural and urban Nebraska that have limited experience in receiving grant funding, said Jessica Buche, BHECN’s ARPA award director.“Our awardees are providing vital services and helping to address crucial issues in their communities,” Buche said. “Administering federal funding can be burdensome for some of these agencies – especially smaller organizations with limited staff and resources. We hope to lessen that burden so these agencies can continue to do the important work of helping care for the people in their communities.”&nbsp;While this latest round of awardees&nbsp;<a>prepares</a>&nbsp;to receive funds and start their projects, Dr. Doyle noted that the majority of the 83 cycle-one awardees already have started to execute their projects.&nbsp;<a>UNMC</a>&nbsp;and BHECN, she said, are working diligently to ensure that all the ARPA funding is administered successfully to expand the behavioral health workforce across the state.“The legislature presented us with a meaningful opportunity to improve behavioral health care in Nebraska and we are dedicated to making sure this funding benefits as many people as possible,” Dr. Doyle said.For the most updated information regarding BHECN’s ARPA awards, visit the&nbsp;<a href="https://www.unmc.edu/bhecn/about/about-bhecn-arpa-awards.html" target="_blank">BHECN website.</a>Cycle 2 awardees and award amounts by category:Behavioral Health Training and Education Opportunities Funding to metropolitan organizations:&nbsp;$287,000 or 72%. Funding to rural organizations:&nbsp;$113,000 or 28%.<ol>
 <li>Completely Kids, Omaha, urban, $71,000</li><li>Mary Lanning Healthcare, Hastings, rural, $58,000</li><li>Mid-Plains Center for Behavioral Healthcare Services, Inc., Grand Island, rural, $55,000</li><li>CenterPointe, Inc., Lincoln, urban, $72,000</li><li>AM Counseling and Consulting, Bellevue, urban, $72,000</li><li>Siena Francis House, Omaha, urban, $72,000</li>
 </ol>Telebehavioral Health in Rural Areas&nbsp; Funding to metropolitan organizations:&nbsp;$1,453,828&nbsp;or 66%. Funding to rural organizations:&nbsp;$746,171 or 34%.&nbsp; *All projects have rural components.<ol>
 <li>Silver Sun Mental Health, dba Nebraska Mental Health Centers, Lincoln, urban, $13,911</li><li>Banisters Leadership Academy, Omaha, urban, $500,000</li><li>CEDARS Youth Services, Inc., Lincoln, urban, $114,965.12</li><li>Health Center Association of Nebraska, Omaha, urban, $800,000</li><li>Boone County Health Center, Albion, rural, $44,199</li><li>Pender Community Hospital District, Pender, rural, $556,326.91</li><li>Compass, Kearney, rural, $145,645</li><li>For All Counseling Services Inc, Omaha, urban, $24,952</li>
 </ol>Behavioral Health Workforce COVID-19 Projects Funding to metropolitan organizations:&nbsp;$260,000&nbsp;or 65%. Funding to rural organizations:&nbsp;$140,000&nbsp;or 45%.<ol>
 <li>Silver Sun Mental Health, dba Nebraska Mental Health Centers, Lincoln, urban, $50,000</li><li>Options in Psychology,&nbsp;<a>LLC</a>, Scottsbluff, rural, $20,000</li><li>University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha, urban, $50,000</li><li>Midtown Health Center, Norfolk, rural, $19,898.95</li><li>University of Nebraska at Kearney, Kearney, rural, $50,000</li><li>Heartland Counseling Services, Inc., South Sioux City, rural, $50,000</li><li>UNMC - Wellness Center, Omaha, urban, $50,000</li><li>Lincoln Medical Education Partnership, Lincoln, urban, $10,000</li><li>Heartland Family Service, Omaha, urban, $50,000</li><li>Nebraska Alliance of Child Advocacy Centers, Omaha, urban, $50,000</li>
 </ol>Funding for Supervision of Provisionally Licensed Providers Funding to metropolitan organizations:&nbsp;$0. Funding to rural organizations:&nbsp;$300,000&nbsp;or 100%.<ol>
 <li>Inspirit Counseling, PC, Chadron, rural, $100,000 &nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;</li><li>Mid-Plaines Center for Behavioral Healthcare Services, Inc., Grand Island, rural, $100,000</li><li>Cirrus House, Inc., Scottsbluff, rural, $100,000</li>
 </ol>Photo captions:Marley Doyle, MD, director of the Behavioral Health Education Center of NebraskaJessica Buche, BHECN ARPA award director

BHECN completes ARPA funding allocation with second group of awardees

WASHINGTON (AP) — The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court">Supreme Court</a>&nbsp;on Thursday struck down&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/affirmative-action">affirmative action</a>&nbsp;in college admissions, declaring race cannot be a factor and forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies.

<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/20-1199_hgdj.pdf">Click here to read</a> the opinion&nbsp;

The court's conservative majority overturned admissions plans at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, the nation's oldest private and public colleges, respectively.

Chief Justice John Roberts said that for too long universities have “concluded, wrongly, that the touchstone of an individual’s identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned but the color of their skin. Our constitutional history does not tolerate that choice.”

Justice Clarence Thomas, the nation's second Black justice who had long called for an end to affirmative action, wrote separately that the decision “sees the universities’ admissions policies for what they are: rudderless, race-based preferences designed to ensure a particular racial mix in their entering classes.”

Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in dissent that the decision “rolls back decades of precedent and momentous progress.”

Both Thomas and Sotomayor, the two justices who have acknowledged affirmative action played a role in their admissions to college and law school, took the unusual step of reading a summary of their opinions aloud in the courtroom.

In a separate dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson — the court’s first Black female justice — called the decision “truly a tragedy for us all.”

Jackson, who sat out the Harvard case because she had been a member of an advisory governing board, wrote, “With let-them-eat-cake obliviousness, today, the majority pulls the ripcord and announces ‘colorblindness for all’ by legal fiat. But deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life.”

The vote was 6-3 in the North Carolina case and 6-2 in the Harvard case. Justice Elena Kagan was the other dissenter.

The Supreme Court had twice upheld&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/college-admissions-us-supreme-court-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-harvard-university-95be5363a3245fbf185babe8423426a4">race-conscious college admissions programs</a>&nbsp;in the past 20 years, including as recently as 2016.

But that was before the three appointees of former President Donald Trump joined the court. At arguments in late October, all six conservative justices expressed doubts about the practice, which had been upheld under Supreme Court decisions reaching back to 1978.

Lower courts also had upheld the programs at both UNC and Harvard, rejecting claims that the schools discriminated against white and Asian American applicants.

The college admissions disputes are among several high-profile cases focused on race in America, and were weighed by the conservative-dominated, but most diverse court ever. Among the nine justices are four women, two Black people and a Latina.

The justices earlier in June decided a voting rights case in favor of Black voters in Alabama and rejected a race-based challenge to a Native American child protection law.

The affirmative action cases were brought by conservative activist Edward Blum, who also was behind an earlier affirmative action challenge against the University of Texas as well as the case that led the court in 2013 to end use of a key provision of the landmark Voting Rights Act.

Blum formed Students for Fair Admissions, which filed the lawsuits against both schools in 2014.

The group argued that the Constitution forbids the use of race in college admissions and called for overturning earlier Supreme Court decisions that said otherwise.

Roberts' opinion effectively did so, both Thomas and the dissenters wrote.

The only institutions of higher education explicitly left out of the ruling are the nation's military academies, Roberts wrote, suggesting that national security interests could affect the legal analysis.

Blum’s group had contended that colleges and universities can use other, race-neutral ways to assemble a diverse student body, including by focusing on socioeconomic status and eliminating the preference for children of alumni and major donors.

The schools said that they use race in a limited way, but that eliminating it as a factor altogether would make it much harder to achieve a student body that looks like America.

At the eight Ivy League universities, the number of nonwhite students increased by 55% from 2010 to 2021, according to federal data. That group, which includes, Native American, Asian, Black, Hispanic, Pacific Islander and biracial students, accounted for 35% of students on those campuses in 2021, up from 27% in 2010.

The end of affirmative action in higher education in California, Michigan, Washington state and elsewhere led to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-affirmative-action-college-admissions-1d37af28939a533551cff45fa577ceb0">a steep drop in minority enrollment in the states’ leading public universities</a>.

They are among nine states that already prohibit any consideration of race in admissions to their public colleges and universities. The others are: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, New Hampshire and Oklahoma.

In 2020, California voters easily rejected a ballot measure to bring back affirmative action.

A poll last month by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnorc.org/">The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research</a>&nbsp;showed 63% of U.S. adults say the court should allow colleges to consider race as part of the admissions process, yet few believe students’ race should ultimately play a major role in decisions. A Pew Research Center survey released last week found that half of Americans disapprove of considerations of applicants’ race, while a third approve.

The chief justice and Jackson received their undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard. Two other justices, Elena Kagan and Neil Gorsuch, went to law school there, and Kagan was the first woman to serve as the law school’s dean.

Every U.S. college and university the justices attended, save one, urged the court to preserve race-conscious admissions.

Those schools — Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Notre Dame and Holy Cross — joined briefs in defense of Harvard’s and UNC’s admissions plans.

Only Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s undergraduate alma mater, Rhodes College, in Memphis, Tennessee, was not involved in the cases.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2022/10/1667264915999.jpeg" alt="Activists demonstrate as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a pair of cases on affirmative action in college admissions, in Washington, Oct. 31, 2022. The Supreme Court ruled Thursday, June 29, 2023, that colleges and universities must stop considering race in admissions, forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies. In a 6-3 decision, the court struck down admissions plans at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, the nation's oldest private and public colleges, respectively. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)" />
 <figcaption>Activists demonstrate as the Supreme Court heard oral arguments on a pair of cases on affirmative action in college admissions, in Washington, Oct. 31, 2022. The Supreme Court ruled Thursday, June 29, 2023, that colleges and universities must stop considering race in admissions, forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies. In a 6-3 decision, the court struck down admissions plans at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, the nation's oldest private and public colleges, respectively. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/us-supreme-court">Supreme Court</a>&nbsp;on Thursday struck down&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/hub/affirmative-action">affirmative action</a>&nbsp;in college admissions, declaring race cannot be a factor and forcing institutions of higher education to look for new ways to achieve diverse student bodies.<a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/22pdf/20-1199_hgdj.pdf">Click here to read</a> the opinion&nbsp;The court's conservative majority overturned admissions plans at Harvard and the University of North Carolina, the nation's oldest private and public colleges, respectively.Chief Justice John Roberts said that for too long universities have “concluded, wrongly, that the touchstone of an individual’s identity is not challenges bested, skills built, or lessons learned but the color of their skin. Our constitutional history does not tolerate that choice.”Justice Clarence Thomas, the nation's second Black justice who had long called for an end to affirmative action, wrote separately that the decision “sees the universities’ admissions policies for what they are: rudderless, race-based preferences designed to ensure a particular racial mix in their entering classes.”Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in dissent that the decision “rolls back decades of precedent and momentous progress.”Both Thomas and Sotomayor, the two justices who have acknowledged affirmative action played a role in their admissions to college and law school, took the unusual step of reading a summary of their opinions aloud in the courtroom.In a separate dissent, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson — the court’s first Black female justice — called the decision “truly a tragedy for us all.”Jackson, who sat out the Harvard case because she had been a member of an advisory governing board, wrote, “With let-them-eat-cake obliviousness, today, the majority pulls the ripcord and announces ‘colorblindness for all’ by legal fiat. But deeming race irrelevant in law does not make it so in life.”The vote was 6-3 in the North Carolina case and 6-2 in the Harvard case. Justice Elena Kagan was the other dissenter.The Supreme Court had twice upheld&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/college-admissions-us-supreme-court-race-and-ethnicity-racial-injustice-harvard-university-95be5363a3245fbf185babe8423426a4">race-conscious college admissions programs</a>&nbsp;in the past 20 years, including as recently as 2016.But that was before the three appointees of former President Donald Trump joined the court. At arguments in late October, all six conservative justices expressed doubts about the practice, which had been upheld under Supreme Court decisions reaching back to 1978.Lower courts also had upheld the programs at both UNC and Harvard, rejecting claims that the schools discriminated against white and Asian American applicants.The college admissions disputes are among several high-profile cases focused on race in America, and were weighed by the conservative-dominated, but most diverse court ever. Among the nine justices are four women, two Black people and a Latina.The justices earlier in June decided a voting rights case in favor of Black voters in Alabama and rejected a race-based challenge to a Native American child protection law.The affirmative action cases were brought by conservative activist Edward Blum, who also was behind an earlier affirmative action challenge against the University of Texas as well as the case that led the court in 2013 to end use of a key provision of the landmark Voting Rights Act.Blum formed Students for Fair Admissions, which filed the lawsuits against both schools in 2014.The group argued that the Constitution forbids the use of race in college admissions and called for overturning earlier Supreme Court decisions that said otherwise.Roberts' opinion effectively did so, both Thomas and the dissenters wrote.The only institutions of higher education explicitly left out of the ruling are the nation's military academies, Roberts wrote, suggesting that national security interests could affect the legal analysis.Blum’s group had contended that colleges and universities can use other, race-neutral ways to assemble a diverse student body, including by focusing on socioeconomic status and eliminating the preference for children of alumni and major donors.The schools said that they use race in a limited way, but that eliminating it as a factor altogether would make it much harder to achieve a student body that looks like America.At the eight Ivy League universities, the number of nonwhite students increased by 55% from 2010 to 2021, according to federal data. That group, which includes, Native American, Asian, Black, Hispanic, Pacific Islander and biracial students, accounted for 35% of students on those campuses in 2021, up from 27% in 2010.The end of affirmative action in higher education in California, Michigan, Washington state and elsewhere led to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/supreme-court-affirmative-action-college-admissions-1d37af28939a533551cff45fa577ceb0">a steep drop in minority enrollment in the states’ leading public universities</a>.They are among nine states that already prohibit any consideration of race in admissions to their public colleges and universities. The others are: Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, New Hampshire and Oklahoma.In 2020, California voters easily rejected a ballot measure to bring back affirmative action.A poll last month by&nbsp;<a href="https://apnorc.org/">The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research</a>&nbsp;showed 63% of U.S. adults say the court should allow colleges to consider race as part of the admissions process, yet few believe students’ race should ultimately play a major role in decisions. A Pew Research Center survey released last week found that half of Americans disapprove of considerations of applicants’ race, while a third approve.The chief justice and Jackson received their undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard. Two other justices, Elena Kagan and Neil Gorsuch, went to law school there, and Kagan was the first woman to serve as the law school’s dean.Every U.S. college and university the justices attended, save one, urged the court to preserve race-conscious admissions.Those schools — Yale, Princeton, Columbia, Notre Dame and Holy Cross — joined briefs in defense of Harvard’s and UNC’s admissions plans.Only Justice Amy Coney Barrett’s undergraduate alma mater, Rhodes College, in Memphis, Tennessee, was not involved in the cases.

Read the decision: Supreme Court rejects use of race for college admissions

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/06/28/roads-bridges-trails-ports-white-house-awards-2-2b-in-transportation-grants/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

The U.S. Department of Transportation will send more than $2.2 billion in grants to state, tribal and local governments under a grant program that was expanded under the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law.

The grants include $4 million for work in Nebraska.

The $2.26 billion for 162 projects provides funds for each of the 50 states, two territories and the District of Columbia. It is similar to the allocation for the grant program last year, the first after President Joe Biden signed the $1.2 trillion infrastructure law that added funding for the program.

The projects include improvements and expansions of roads, rail, bridges, pedestrian trails and maritime infrastructure.

The Transportation Department has managed a similar discretionary grant program since 2010, though the name of the program and criteria have changed with each presidential administration. Funding levels, set by Congress, also vary year to year, ranging from roughly $500 million to more than $2 billion in each of the two years since the infrastructure law passed.

Under Biden, the department has prioritized projects that advance climate goals, racial equity and safety.

In a call with reportersTuesday previewing the announcement, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg emphasized that all the projects were proposed and planned by local authorities.

“It is particularly focused on communities’ needs,” he said. “We don’t design the projects at headquarters. We are proceeding very much on the idea that the answers don’t all come from Washington, but more of the funding should.”

In Nebraska, the Omaha Tribe will receive $2.06 million to complete planning and final design for 15 spots in rural areas of Thurston County.

The work involves rebuilding and repairing failing pavement and gravel roads.

The City of Omaha will receive $2 million to complete a planning study for safety improvements along Ames Avenue, from 72nd&nbsp;Street to Florence Boulevard.

The goal is to eliminate traffic-related injuries and fatalities along the stretch. The estimated total cost of the project is $2.5 million.

No project received more than $25 million from the program, the maximum for projects of less than $45 million total cost.&nbsp; The department selected 22 projects to receive that maximum.

The funding is split between rural and urban projects, White House Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu told reporters.

Most of the funding — 70% — will go toward either areas of persistent poverty or historically disadvantaged communities. That represented a record high for the program, Buttigieg said.

Many of the communities that received funding had sought federal help for the projects for years, Buttigieg said. The department will work with communities that submitted highly rated proposals that were not accepted in this round to improve their applications for future years, he said.

About 10 projects that received grants this year had applied last year, Assistant Secretary of Transportation Policy Christopher Coes said.

A full list of projects is available&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://transportation.gov/RAISEgrants">here</a>.

Buttigieg and Landrieu highlighted a handful of projects on Tuesday’s call.

Iowa will receive $24.7 million to rebuild nine bridges in rural areas. The bridges’ poor condition forces detours for residents and commercial drivers, according to a DOT news release. The federal government will pay for most of those bridge repairs, estimated to total about $31 million.

The city of Jackson, Kentucky, will receive $21.1 million to widen a highway near Panbowl Lake. The area has been hit with severe flooding recently. The project will help improve resiliency to future floods, Buttigieg said.

An Atlanta trail project was among those receiving $25 million. The project, which has a total cost of $70.7 million, will add 4.8 miles to the BeltLine Northeast Trail, which is accessible to pedestrians and bicycles. The project will improve access to transit and to jobs, schools and other services in an area with 5,000 affordable housing units nearby.

By&nbsp;Jacob Fischler<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/06/28/roads-bridges-trails-ports-white-house-awards-2-2b-in-transportation-grants/">Nebraska Examiner</a>The U.S. Department of Transportation will send more than $2.2 billion in grants to state, tribal and local governments under a grant program that was expanded under the 2021 bipartisan infrastructure law.The grants include $4 million for work in Nebraska.The $2.26 billion for 162 projects provides funds for each of the 50 states, two territories and the District of Columbia. It is similar to the allocation for the grant program last year, the first after President Joe Biden signed the $1.2 trillion infrastructure law that added funding for the program.The projects include improvements and expansions of roads, rail, bridges, pedestrian trails and maritime infrastructure.The Transportation Department has managed a similar discretionary grant program since 2010, though the name of the program and criteria have changed with each presidential administration. Funding levels, set by Congress, also vary year to year, ranging from roughly $500 million to more than $2 billion in each of the two years since the infrastructure law passed.Under Biden, the department has prioritized projects that advance climate goals, racial equity and safety.<h2>Local input</h2>In a call with reportersTuesday previewing the announcement, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg emphasized that all the projects were proposed and planned by local authorities.“It is particularly focused on communities’ needs,” he said. “We don’t design the projects at headquarters. We are proceeding very much on the idea that the answers don’t all come from Washington, but more of the funding should.”<h2>Two Nebraska grants</h2>In Nebraska, the Omaha Tribe will receive $2.06 million to complete planning and final design for 15 spots in rural areas of Thurston County.The work involves rebuilding and repairing failing pavement and gravel roads.The City of Omaha will receive $2 million to complete a planning study for safety improvements along Ames Avenue, from 72nd&nbsp;Street to Florence Boulevard.The goal is to eliminate traffic-related injuries and fatalities along the stretch. The estimated total cost of the project is $2.5 million.No project received more than $25 million from the program, the maximum for projects of less than $45 million total cost.&nbsp; The department selected 22 projects to receive that maximum.The funding is split between rural and urban projects, White House Infrastructure Coordinator Mitch Landrieu told reporters.Most of the funding — 70% — will go toward either areas of persistent poverty or historically disadvantaged communities. That represented a record high for the program, Buttigieg said.Many of the communities that received funding had sought federal help for the projects for years, Buttigieg said. The department will work with communities that submitted highly rated proposals that were not accepted in this round to improve their applications for future years, he said.About 10 projects that received grants this year had applied last year, Assistant Secretary of Transportation Policy Christopher Coes said.A full list of projects is available&nbsp;<a target="_blank" href="http://transportation.gov/RAISEgrants">here</a>.Buttigieg and Landrieu highlighted a handful of projects on Tuesday’s call.Iowa will receive $24.7 million to rebuild nine bridges in rural areas. The bridges’ poor condition forces detours for residents and commercial drivers, according to a DOT news release. The federal government will pay for most of those bridge repairs, estimated to total about $31 million.The city of Jackson, Kentucky, will receive $21.1 million to widen a highway near Panbowl Lake. The area has been hit with severe flooding recently. The project will help improve resiliency to future floods, Buttigieg said.An Atlanta trail project was among those receiving $25 million. The project, which has a total cost of $70.7 million, will add 4.8 miles to the BeltLine Northeast Trail, which is accessible to pedestrians and bicycles. The project will improve access to transit and to jobs, schools and other services in an area with 5,000 affordable housing units nearby.

Roads, bridges, trails, ports: White House awards $2.2B in transportation grants

<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

OMAHA — More than two years after leaving public office, former State Sen. Ernie Chambers emerged in South Omaha on Wednesday to call out as “sexist and racist” a $10 million bond set for a Hispanic woman accused of manslaughter.

“Even mobsters don’t have $10 million bonds imposed on them,” said the civil rights activist and longest-serving Nebraska lawmaker.

Chambers joined Latino community advocate Ben Salazar at a news conference in criticizing the bond amount for Jessica Hernandez, 26, who is charged in connection with the beating death of gym owner Carlos Salguero-Canar.&nbsp;

Salazar said they weren’t making a judgment on Hernandez’s innocence or guilt. The two said their raised voices were a matter of protecting the constitutional rights of a person of color who hadn’t yet been tried or convicted.

They pointed out that co-defendant Nadim Zarazua-Hernandez Jr., 24, is accused of carrying out the fatal blows, and that his bond was a much lower $200,000. He is out of jail after posting 10% of that, or $20,000.

Jessica Hernandez, a mother of two, would have to post $1 million, or 10% of the bond, to be released pending a trial. She’s charged with manslaughter and evidence tampering.

Chambers said he plans to file a formal complaint with the Nebraska Judicial Qualifications Commission against Douglas County Court Judge Grant Forsberg and the Douglas County Attorney’s Office, who he called “co-conspirators in this blatant show of racism and sexism.”

While it was not uncommon for Chambers to file misconduct complaints against officials during his half-century as a state lawmaker, he said this would be one of the few times he’d done so since his last legislative term ended in January 2021.

Said Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine: “It’s a high bond, there is no question. But we don’t set the bond.”

Prosecutors have said that Salguero-Canar, 30, was beaten to death June 2 and found at an apartment complex near 27th and Harrison Streets. Surveillance video acquired by law enforcement showed Zarazua-Hernandez striking Salguero-Canar until he collapsed.&nbsp;

At some point, Salguero-Canar and Jessica Hernandez dated. Prosecutors have said that she gave false information and tampered with evidence in the case.

Hernandez’s attorney, Bassel El-Kasaby, said the prosecution has accused his client of “orchestrating” the crime as a sort of “mastermind.”

He said, however, that the probable cause affidavit that contains the basis for detention is sealed, and that he has not been allowed access to the document.

“I’m doing bond review hearings blindfolded,” said El-Kasaby, who did not participate in Wednesday’s&nbsp; news event, organized by Salazar. El-Kasaby said a hearing is scheduled Thursday to determine whether he can access the affidavit.

Salazar said he was also bothered that local authorities allowed the father of Hernandez’s two children, ages 6 and 3, to take the children to Oregon, where he lives.

Hernandez’s family members said that a local police officer accompanied the father to their house and that the officer told them the father had the right to take the children with him. Neither the family nor the children’s mother wanted the children to go.

A spokesman for the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services said it could not confirm or deny that it was aware of the circumstances, but noted that DHHS is not involved in all such incidents.

“Sometimes it is only law enforcement involved,” said the DHHS spokesman.

Standard procedure, if DHHS were involved in a child’s removal from a parent, would be to&nbsp;rule out legal or criminal barriers. Consideration would go first to a biological parent, then relatives, kinship and traditional foster care.

Margo Juarez was among a handful of advocates who attended the news event in la Plaza de la Raza along South 24th Street. Juarez serves on the Omaha Public Schools board, but she spoke in her capacity as a community representative.

She said she was concerned about the well-being of the children “and how that was handled.”

By Cindy Gonzalez<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/">Nebraska Examiner</a>OMAHA — More than two years after leaving public office, former State Sen. Ernie Chambers emerged in South Omaha on Wednesday to call out as “sexist and racist” a $10 million bond set for a Hispanic woman accused of manslaughter.“Even mobsters don’t have $10 million bonds imposed on them,” said the civil rights activist and longest-serving Nebraska lawmaker.<figure>
 <img src="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/hernandez__jessica-240x300.jpeg" alt="Jessica Hernandez, accused of manslaughter and evidence tampering. (Courtesy of the Omaha Police Department)" />
 <figcaption>Jessica Hernandez, accused of manslaughter and evidence tampering. (Courtesy of the Omaha Police Department)</figcaption>
 </figure>Chambers joined Latino community advocate Ben Salazar at a news conference in criticizing the bond amount for Jessica Hernandez, 26, who is charged in connection with the beating death of gym owner Carlos Salguero-Canar.&nbsp;Salazar said they weren’t making a judgment on Hernandez’s innocence or guilt. The two said their raised voices were a matter of protecting the constitutional rights of a person of color who hadn’t yet been tried or convicted.They pointed out that co-defendant Nadim Zarazua-Hernandez Jr., 24, is accused of carrying out the fatal blows, and that his bond was a much lower $200,000. He is out of jail after posting 10% of that, or $20,000.Jessica Hernandez, a mother of two, would have to post $1 million, or 10% of the bond, to be released pending a trial. She’s charged with manslaughter and evidence tampering.Chambers said he plans to file a formal complaint with the Nebraska Judicial Qualifications Commission against Douglas County Court Judge Grant Forsberg and the Douglas County Attorney’s Office, who he called “co-conspirators in this blatant show of racism and sexism.”While it was not uncommon for Chambers to file misconduct complaints against officials during his half-century as a state lawmaker, he said this would be one of the few times he’d done so since his last legislative term ended in January 2021.Said Douglas County Attorney Don Kleine: “It’s a high bond, there is no question. But we don’t set the bond.”Prosecutors have said that Salguero-Canar, 30, was beaten to death June 2 and found at an apartment complex near 27th and Harrison Streets. Surveillance video acquired by law enforcement showed Zarazua-Hernandez striking Salguero-Canar until he collapsed.&nbsp;At some point, Salguero-Canar and Jessica Hernandez dated. Prosecutors have said that she gave false information and tampered with evidence in the case.Hernandez’s attorney, Bassel El-Kasaby, said the prosecution has accused his client of “orchestrating” the crime as a sort of “mastermind.”He said, however, that the probable cause affidavit that contains the basis for detention is sealed, and that he has not been allowed access to the document.“I’m doing bond review hearings blindfolded,” said El-Kasaby, who did not participate in Wednesday’s&nbsp; news event, organized by Salazar. El-Kasaby said a hearing is scheduled Thursday to determine whether he can access the affidavit.Salazar said he was also bothered that local authorities allowed the father of Hernandez’s two children, ages 6 and 3, to take the children to Oregon, where he lives.Hernandez’s family members said that a local police officer accompanied the father to their house and that the officer told them the father had the right to take the children with him. Neither the family nor the children’s mother wanted the children to go.A spokesman for the Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services said it could not confirm or deny that it was aware of the circumstances, but noted that DHHS is not involved in all such incidents.“Sometimes it is only law enforcement involved,” said the DHHS spokesman.Standard procedure, if DHHS were involved in a child’s removal from a parent, would be to&nbsp;rule out legal or criminal barriers. Consideration would go first to a biological parent, then relatives, kinship and traditional foster care.Margo Juarez was among a handful of advocates who attended the news event in la Plaza de la Raza along South 24th Street. Juarez serves on the Omaha Public Schools board, but she spoke in her capacity as a community representative.She said she was concerned about the well-being of the children “and how that was handled.”

Former Nebraska lawmaker Ernie Chambers and activist Ben Salazar decry high bond set for Hispanic woman

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 6-year-old Iowa boy who was hospitalized after he was found unconscious in a wave pool at at a suburban Omaha waterpark has died, police said Wednesday.

Police did not identify the boy but his family said on a GoFundMe site that he had no brain activity since the incident on Sunday and was taken off life support, the Omaha World-Herald&nbsp;<a href="https://omaha.com/news/local/child-rushed-to-hospital-from-fun-plex-waterpark-has-died-omaha-police-say/article_76703888-15da-11ee-80b2-1bf685861f91.html#tracking-source=home-the-latest">reported</a>.

“He was a sweet 6 year old, our first son, a twin to his sister, and everything to our family,” the boy’s mother, Makda Gebre, wrote on the site. “We are devastated.”

The Sioux City, Iowa, family said it was asking for donations to help with funeral expenses.

Medical personnel were called to the pool in Ralston Sunday afternoon. He was taken to the Creighton University Medical Center-Bergan Mercy and then transported to Children’s Hospital &amp; Medical Center.

Fun-Plex has remained closed since Sunday.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — A 6-year-old Iowa boy who was hospitalized after he was found unconscious in a wave pool at at a suburban Omaha waterpark has died, police said Wednesday.Police did not identify the boy but his family said on a GoFundMe site that he had no brain activity since the incident on Sunday and was taken off life support, the Omaha World-Herald&nbsp;<a href="https://omaha.com/news/local/child-rushed-to-hospital-from-fun-plex-waterpark-has-died-omaha-police-say/article_76703888-15da-11ee-80b2-1bf685861f91.html#tracking-source=home-the-latest">reported</a>.“He was a sweet 6 year old, our first son, a twin to his sister, and everything to our family,” the boy’s mother, Makda Gebre, wrote on the site. “We are devastated.”The Sioux City, Iowa, family said it was asking for donations to help with funeral expenses.Medical personnel were called to the pool in Ralston Sunday afternoon. He was taken to the Creighton University Medical Center-Bergan Mercy and then transported to Children’s Hospital &amp; Medical Center.Fun-Plex has remained closed since Sunday.

Police: 6-year-old boy who was found in Nebraska wave pool has died

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden in recent weeks has started using a continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, machine at night to help with sleep apnea, the White House said Wednesday. The revelation comes after indents from the mask were visible on the president’s face as he departed the White House.

The president has disclosed since 2008 a history with sleep apnea, a potentially serious but common condition in which breathing can stop and start in the night. Biden used the machine Tuesday night, White House officials said. The imprint lines on his face were apparent when he left Wednesday morning for a speech in Chicago.

<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sleep-apnea-machines-recall-1c0b269dbda55fb6f42c3b33939abdaa" target="_blank">A CPAP machine</a>&nbsp;is a motorized device that pumps air through a mask to open a sleeper’s airway. About 5 million Americans have tried them.

While his history with the condition has long been disclosed, it didn’t come up during his most recent physical in February. When he was vice president, doctors noted Biden had an irregular heartbeat probably linked to apnea.

The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-age-2024-campaign-oldest-president-voters-92d4f3daee6e12cb1cd6f119c7f6053a" target="_blank">80-year-old president</a>&nbsp;is running for reelection and is the oldest person ever to hold the nation’s highest office.

Roughly 30 million people in the U.S. are thought to have the condition, though only about 6 million are diagnosed with it, according to the American Medical Association.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/5b1533185f4d4372bc56452c161e6aa7" target="_blank">In people with the condition</a>, throat and tongue muscles relax and block the airway during sleep, caused by obesity, aging or facial structure.

They stop breathing, sometimes for up to a minute and hundreds of times each night, then awake with loud gasping and snoring. That prevents them from getting deep, restorative sleep. Untreated sleep apnea can lead to dangerous drowsiness and increased heart attack risk. The problem is more common in men than women.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1687995753754.png" alt="The revelation comes after indents from the mask were visible on the president’s face as he departed the White House Wednesday- photo courtesy CSPAN" />
 <figcaption>The revelation comes after indents from the mask were visible on the president’s face as he departed the White House Wednesday- photo courtesy CSPAN</figcaption>
 </figure>WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden in recent weeks has started using a continuous positive airway pressure, or CPAP, machine at night to help with sleep apnea, the White House said Wednesday. The revelation comes after indents from the mask were visible on the president’s face as he departed the White House.The president has disclosed since 2008 a history with sleep apnea, a potentially serious but common condition in which breathing can stop and start in the night. Biden used the machine Tuesday night, White House officials said. The imprint lines on his face were apparent when he left Wednesday morning for a speech in Chicago.<a href="https://apnews.com/article/sleep-apnea-machines-recall-1c0b269dbda55fb6f42c3b33939abdaa" target="_blank">A CPAP machine</a>&nbsp;is a motorized device that pumps air through a mask to open a sleeper’s airway. About 5 million Americans have tried them.While his history with the condition has long been disclosed, it didn’t come up during his most recent physical in February. When he was vice president, doctors noted Biden had an irregular heartbeat probably linked to apnea.The&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/biden-age-2024-campaign-oldest-president-voters-92d4f3daee6e12cb1cd6f119c7f6053a" target="_blank">80-year-old president</a>&nbsp;is running for reelection and is the oldest person ever to hold the nation’s highest office.Roughly 30 million people in the U.S. are thought to have the condition, though only about 6 million are diagnosed with it, according to the American Medical Association.&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/5b1533185f4d4372bc56452c161e6aa7" target="_blank">In people with the condition</a>, throat and tongue muscles relax and block the airway during sleep, caused by obesity, aging or facial structure.They stop breathing, sometimes for up to a minute and hundreds of times each night, then awake with loud gasping and snoring. That prevents them from getting deep, restorative sleep. Untreated sleep apnea can lead to dangerous drowsiness and increased heart attack risk. The problem is more common in men than women.

Imprint lines on Biden's face prompt White House health disclosure

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Human remains have likely been recovered from the wreckage of the submersible that imploded on a voyage to view the wreckage of the Titanic, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.

The announcement came hours after the announcement that debris from the Titan, collected from the seafloor more than 12,000 feet (3,658 meters) below the surface of the North Atlantic, had arrived in St. John's, Newfoundland. Twisted chunks of the submersible were unloaded at a Canadian Coast Guard pier.

Recovering and scrutinizing the wreckage is a key part of the investigation into&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/titanic-shipwreck-titan-submersible-search-deepsea-atlantic-implosion-90b9c54c3887c99099170a5afded15bc">why the Titan imploded</a>&nbsp;last week, killing all five people on board. The multiday search and eventual recovery of debris from the 22-foot (6.7-meter) vessel captured the world's attention.

"There is still a substantial amount of work to be done to understand the factors that led to the catastrophic loss of the Titan and help ensure a similar tragedy does not occur again,” Coast Guard Chief Capt. Jason Neubauer said in a statement released late Wednesday afternoon.

The “presumed remains” will be brought to the United States, where medical professionals will conduct a formal analysis, and the Coast Guard has convened an investigation of the implosion at the highest level, Neubauer said, noting that the Marine Board of Investigation will analyze and test evidence, including pieces of debris, at a port in the U.S.

He said the evidence will provide “critical insights" into the cause of the implosion.

Debris from the Titan, which is believed to have imploded on June 18 as it made its descent, was located about 12,500 feet (3,810 meters) underwater and roughly 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the Titanic on the ocean floor. The Coast Guard is leading the investigation, in conjunction with several other government agencies in the U.S. and Canada.

Authorities have not disclosed details of the debris recovery, which could have followed several approaches, according to Carl Hartsfield, who directs a lab at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution that designs and operates autonomous underwater vehicles and has been serving as a consultant to the Coast Guard.

“If the pieces are small, you can collect them together and put them in a basket or some kind of collection device," Hartsfield said Monday. Bigger pieces could be retrieved with a remote-operated vehicle, or ROV, such as the one brought to the wreckage site by the Canadian ship Horizon Arctic to search the ocean floor. For extremely big pieces a heavy lift can be used to pull the pieces up with a tow line, he said. Representatives for Horizon Arctic did not respond to requests for comment.

Pelagic Research Services, a company with offices in Massachusetts and New York that owns the ROV, said on Wednesday that it is “still on mission” and cannot comment&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/titanic-shipwreck-titan-submersible-search-deepsea-atlantic-a89dbd2f6d3edd7e4a52566e451a5e6d">on the investigation</a>, said company spokesperson Jeff Mahoney.

“They have been working around the clock now for 10 days, through the physical and mental challenges of this operation,” Mahoney said.

Analyzing the physical material of recovered debris could reveal important clues about what happened to the Titan, and there could be electronic data recorded by the submersible’s instruments, Hartsfield said.

"So the question is, is there any data available? And I really don’t know the answer to that question,” he said Monday.

OceanGate CEO and pilot Stockton Rush was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/missing-titanic-submersible-passengers-6616175a166cda894a83d7ebe21a6aa4">killed in the implosion</a>&nbsp;along with two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood; British adventurer Hamish Harding; and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

OceanGate Expeditions, the company that owned and operated the Titan, is based in the U.S. but the submersible was registered in the Bahamas. The OceanGate company in Everett, Washington, closed when the Titan was found. The Titan’s mother ship, the Polar Prince, is based in Canada.

The operator&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/titanic-tourist-sub-passengers-cost-ee2a6358b36e48326b3977090fd9311b">charged passengers $250,000</a>&nbsp;each to participate in the voyage. The implosion of the Titan has raised questions about the safety of private undersea exploration operations. The Coast Guard also wants to use the investigation to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/titan-submersible-investigation-91bde867ef100c769f1dbe293f2b3020">improve safety of submersibles.</a>

PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard says it has likely recovered human remains from the wreckage of the Titan submersible and is bringing the evidence back to the United States. The submersible imploded last week, killing all five people on board. The vessel was on a voyage see the wreck of the Titanic.

The return of the Titan debris to port in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador on Wednesday is a key piece of the investigation into&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/titanic-shipwreck-titan-submersible-search-deepsea-atlantic-implosion-90b9c54c3887c99099170a5afded15bc">why the submersible imploded</a>. Twisted chunks of the 22-foot submersible were unloaded at a Canadian Coast Guard pier.

The U.S. Coast Guard said late Wednesday it had recovered debris and evidence from the sea floor and that included what it described as presumed human remains.

“I am grateful for the coordinated international and interagency support to recover and preserve this vital evidence at extreme offshore distances and depths,” U.S. Coast Guard Chief Capt. Jason Neubauer said in a statement. “The evidence will provide investigators from several international jurisdictions with critical insights into the cause of this tragedy. There is still a substantial amount of work to be done to understand the factors that led to the catastrophic loss of the TITAN and help ensure a similar tragedy does not occur again.”

The Canadian ship Horizon Arctic carried a remotely operated vehicle, or ROV, to search the ocean floor near the Titanic wreck for pieces of the submersible. Pelagic Research Services, a company with offices in Massachusetts and New York that owns the ROV, said on Wednesday that it has completed offshore operations.

Pelagic Research Services' team is “still on mission” and cannot comment on the ongoing Titan&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/titanic-shipwreck-titan-submersible-search-deepsea-atlantic-a89dbd2f6d3edd7e4a52566e451a5e6d">investigation</a>, which involves several government agencies in the U.S. and Canada, said Jeff Mahoney, a spokesperson for the company.

“They have been working around the clock now for ten days, through the physical and mental challenges of this operation, and are anxious to finish the mission and return to their loved ones,” Mahoney said.

Debris from the Titan was located about 12,500 feet (3,810 meters) underwater and roughly 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the Titanic on the ocean floor, the Coast Guard said last week. The Coast Guard is leading the investigation into why the submersible imploded during its June 18 descent. Officials announced on June 22 that the submersible had imploded and all five people on board were dead.

The Coast Guard has convened a Marine Board of Investigation into the implosion. That is the highest level of investigation conducted by the Coast Guard.

One of the experts the Coast Guard consulted with during the search said analyzing the physical material of recovered debris could reveal important clues about what happened to the Titan. And there could be electronic data, said Carl Hartsfield of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.

“Certainly all the instruments on any deep sea vehicle, they record data. They pass up data. So the question is, is there any data available? And I really don’t know the answer to that question,” he said Monday.

Representatives for Horizon Arctic did not respond to requests for comment.

Ocean Gate CEO and pilot Stockton Rush was k&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/missing-titanic-submersible-passengers-6616175a166cda894a83d7ebe21a6aa4">illed in the implosion</a>&nbsp;along with two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood; British adventurer Hamish Harding; and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet.

Representatives for the National Transportation Safety Board and Transportation Safety Board of Canada, which are both involved in the investigation, also declined to comment. The National Transportation Safety Board has said the Coast Guard has declared the loss of the Titan submersible to be a “major marine casualty” and the Coast Guard will lead the investigation.

“We are not able to provide any additional information at this time as the investigation is ongoing,” said Liam MacDonald, a spokesperson for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.

A spokesperson for the International Maritime Organization, the U.N.’s maritime agency, has said any investigative reports from the disaster would be submitted for review. Member states of the IMO can also propose changes such as stronger regulations of submersibles.

Currently, the IMO has voluntary safety guidelines for tourist submersibles which include requirements they be inspected, have emergency response plans, and have a certified pilot on board among other requirements. Any safety proposals would not likely be considered by the IMO until its next Maritime Safety Committee which begins in May 2024.

OceanGate Expeditions, the company that owned and operated the Titan, is based in the U.S. but the submersible was registered in the Bahamas. The OceanGate company in Everett, Washington closed when the Titan was found. Meanwhile, the Titan’s mother ship, the Polar Prince, was from Canada.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1687279790385.png" alt="Debris from the Titan was located about 12,500 feet underwater and roughly 1,600 feet&nbsp; from the Titanic on the ocean floor-photo courtesy Oceangate" />
 <figcaption>Debris from the Titan was located about 12,500 feet underwater and roughly 1,600 feet&nbsp; from the Titanic on the ocean floor-photo courtesy Oceangate</figcaption>
 </figure>PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — Human remains have likely been recovered from the wreckage of the submersible that imploded on a voyage to view the wreckage of the Titanic, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.The announcement came hours after the announcement that debris from the Titan, collected from the seafloor more than 12,000 feet (3,658 meters) below the surface of the North Atlantic, had arrived in St. John's, Newfoundland. Twisted chunks of the submersible were unloaded at a Canadian Coast Guard pier.Recovering and scrutinizing the wreckage is a key part of the investigation into&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/titanic-shipwreck-titan-submersible-search-deepsea-atlantic-implosion-90b9c54c3887c99099170a5afded15bc">why the Titan imploded</a>&nbsp;last week, killing all five people on board. The multiday search and eventual recovery of debris from the 22-foot (6.7-meter) vessel captured the world's attention."There is still a substantial amount of work to be done to understand the factors that led to the catastrophic loss of the Titan and help ensure a similar tragedy does not occur again,” Coast Guard Chief Capt. Jason Neubauer said in a statement released late Wednesday afternoon.The “presumed remains” will be brought to the United States, where medical professionals will conduct a formal analysis, and the Coast Guard has convened an investigation of the implosion at the highest level, Neubauer said, noting that the Marine Board of Investigation will analyze and test evidence, including pieces of debris, at a port in the U.S.He said the evidence will provide “critical insights" into the cause of the implosion.Debris from the Titan, which is believed to have imploded on June 18 as it made its descent, was located about 12,500 feet (3,810 meters) underwater and roughly 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the Titanic on the ocean floor. The Coast Guard is leading the investigation, in conjunction with several other government agencies in the U.S. and Canada.Authorities have not disclosed details of the debris recovery, which could have followed several approaches, according to Carl Hartsfield, who directs a lab at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution that designs and operates autonomous underwater vehicles and has been serving as a consultant to the Coast Guard.“If the pieces are small, you can collect them together and put them in a basket or some kind of collection device," Hartsfield said Monday. Bigger pieces could be retrieved with a remote-operated vehicle, or ROV, such as the one brought to the wreckage site by the Canadian ship Horizon Arctic to search the ocean floor. For extremely big pieces a heavy lift can be used to pull the pieces up with a tow line, he said. Representatives for Horizon Arctic did not respond to requests for comment.Pelagic Research Services, a company with offices in Massachusetts and New York that owns the ROV, said on Wednesday that it is “still on mission” and cannot comment&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/titanic-shipwreck-titan-submersible-search-deepsea-atlantic-a89dbd2f6d3edd7e4a52566e451a5e6d">on the investigation</a>, said company spokesperson Jeff Mahoney.“They have been working around the clock now for 10 days, through the physical and mental challenges of this operation,” Mahoney said.Analyzing the physical material of recovered debris could reveal important clues about what happened to the Titan, and there could be electronic data recorded by the submersible’s instruments, Hartsfield said."So the question is, is there any data available? And I really don’t know the answer to that question,” he said Monday.OceanGate CEO and pilot Stockton Rush was&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/missing-titanic-submersible-passengers-6616175a166cda894a83d7ebe21a6aa4">killed in the implosion</a>&nbsp;along with two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood; British adventurer Hamish Harding; and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet.OceanGate Expeditions, the company that owned and operated the Titan, is based in the U.S. but the submersible was registered in the Bahamas. The OceanGate company in Everett, Washington, closed when the Titan was found. The Titan’s mother ship, the Polar Prince, is based in Canada.The operator&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/titanic-tourist-sub-passengers-cost-ee2a6358b36e48326b3977090fd9311b">charged passengers $250,000</a>&nbsp;each to participate in the voyage. The implosion of the Titan has raised questions about the safety of private undersea exploration operations. The Coast Guard also wants to use the investigation to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/titan-submersible-investigation-91bde867ef100c769f1dbe293f2b3020">improve safety of submersibles.</a>----------------PORTLAND, Maine (AP) — The U.S. Coast Guard says it has likely recovered human remains from the wreckage of the Titan submersible and is bringing the evidence back to the United States. The submersible imploded last week, killing all five people on board. The vessel was on a voyage see the wreck of the Titanic.The return of the Titan debris to port in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador on Wednesday is a key piece of the investigation into&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/titanic-shipwreck-titan-submersible-search-deepsea-atlantic-implosion-90b9c54c3887c99099170a5afded15bc">why the submersible imploded</a>. Twisted chunks of the 22-foot submersible were unloaded at a Canadian Coast Guard pier.The U.S. Coast Guard said late Wednesday it had recovered debris and evidence from the sea floor and that included what it described as presumed human remains.“I am grateful for the coordinated international and interagency support to recover and preserve this vital evidence at extreme offshore distances and depths,” U.S. Coast Guard Chief Capt. Jason Neubauer said in a statement. “The evidence will provide investigators from several international jurisdictions with critical insights into the cause of this tragedy. There is still a substantial amount of work to be done to understand the factors that led to the catastrophic loss of the TITAN and help ensure a similar tragedy does not occur again.”The Canadian ship Horizon Arctic carried a remotely operated vehicle, or ROV, to search the ocean floor near the Titanic wreck for pieces of the submersible. Pelagic Research Services, a company with offices in Massachusetts and New York that owns the ROV, said on Wednesday that it has completed offshore operations.Pelagic Research Services' team is “still on mission” and cannot comment on the ongoing Titan&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/titanic-shipwreck-titan-submersible-search-deepsea-atlantic-a89dbd2f6d3edd7e4a52566e451a5e6d">investigation</a>, which involves several government agencies in the U.S. and Canada, said Jeff Mahoney, a spokesperson for the company.“They have been working around the clock now for ten days, through the physical and mental challenges of this operation, and are anxious to finish the mission and return to their loved ones,” Mahoney said.Debris from the Titan was located about 12,500 feet (3,810 meters) underwater and roughly 1,600 feet (488 meters) from the Titanic on the ocean floor, the Coast Guard said last week. The Coast Guard is leading the investigation into why the submersible imploded during its June 18 descent. Officials announced on June 22 that the submersible had imploded and all five people on board were dead.The Coast Guard has convened a Marine Board of Investigation into the implosion. That is the highest level of investigation conducted by the Coast Guard.One of the experts the Coast Guard consulted with during the search said analyzing the physical material of recovered debris could reveal important clues about what happened to the Titan. And there could be electronic data, said Carl Hartsfield of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution.“Certainly all the instruments on any deep sea vehicle, they record data. They pass up data. So the question is, is there any data available? And I really don’t know the answer to that question,” he said Monday.Representatives for Horizon Arctic did not respond to requests for comment.Ocean Gate CEO and pilot Stockton Rush was k&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/missing-titanic-submersible-passengers-6616175a166cda894a83d7ebe21a6aa4">illed in the implosion</a>&nbsp;along with two members of a prominent Pakistani family, Shahzada Dawood and his son Suleman Dawood; British adventurer Hamish Harding; and Titanic expert Paul-Henri Nargeolet.Representatives for the National Transportation Safety Board and Transportation Safety Board of Canada, which are both involved in the investigation, also declined to comment. The National Transportation Safety Board has said the Coast Guard has declared the loss of the Titan submersible to be a “major marine casualty” and the Coast Guard will lead the investigation.“We are not able to provide any additional information at this time as the investigation is ongoing,” said Liam MacDonald, a spokesperson for the Transportation Safety Board of Canada.A spokesperson for the International Maritime Organization, the U.N.’s maritime agency, has said any investigative reports from the disaster would be submitted for review. Member states of the IMO can also propose changes such as stronger regulations of submersibles.Currently, the IMO has voluntary safety guidelines for tourist submersibles which include requirements they be inspected, have emergency response plans, and have a certified pilot on board among other requirements. Any safety proposals would not likely be considered by the IMO until its next Maritime Safety Committee which begins in May 2024.OceanGate Expeditions, the company that owned and operated the Titan, is based in the U.S. but the submersible was registered in the Bahamas. The OceanGate company in Everett, Washington closed when the Titan was found. Meanwhile, the Titan’s mother ship, the Polar Prince, was from Canada.The operator&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/titanic-tourist-sub-passengers-cost-ee2a6358b36e48326b3977090fd9311b">charged passengers $250,000</a>&nbsp;each to participate in the voyage. The implosion of the Titan has raised questions about the safety of private undersea exploration operations. The Coast Guard also wants to use the investigation to&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/titan-submersible-investigation-91bde867ef100c769f1dbe293f2b3020">improve safety of submersibles.</a>

US Coast Guard: Human remains found in wreckage of Titanic sub

KANSAS CITY (AP) —Hundreds of thousands of summer travelers suffered through another day of delayed and canceled flights Wednesday, a troubling glimpse into what could happen over the long July 4 holiday weekend as airlines struggle to keep up with surging numbers of passengers.

By early evening on the East Coast, nearly 5,800 U.S. flights had been delayed and 1,000 more were canceled, according to FlightAware.

United Airlines, which depends on the airport in Newark, New Jersey, canceled the most flights among U.S. airlines for a fifth straight day.

“We’re beginning to see improvement across our operation,” United said in a statement Wednesday night. “As our operation improves in the days ahead, we will be on track to restore our operation for the holiday weekend.”

The worst disruptions continued to be along the East Coast, which has been pummeled by thunderstorms this week. The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily held up Boston-bound flights on Wednesday. It stopped flights to all three major airports in the New York City area and two near Washington, D.C., at times Tuesday.

Huge crowds, bad weather, inability of some airline crews to reach their scheduling offices — even a Delta jet that made a belly landing in Charlotte, North Carolina — all contributed to the mess.

And it could be just the storm before the storm: The FAA predicted that Thursday would be the heaviest travel day over the July 4 holiday period. On top of that, some airline planes&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/buttigieg-airlines-5g-wireless-service-d24dbc4a1295538d51ee7da345cb6303">may be unable to fly in bad weather</a>&nbsp;starting this weekend because of possible interference with 5G wireless service.

Travel has picked up steadily every year since bottoming out during the pandemic. For the past week, about 2.6 million people a day on average have been flying in the United States, about 2% more than in the same period during pre-pandemic 2019, according to Transportation Security Administration figures.

The number of air travelers could set a pandemic-era record over the holiday weekend. The FAA expects Thursday to be the busiest, with more than 52,500 total flights.

People whose travel plans were disrupted took to social media to vent against the airlines. Some swore they would never fly again on whichever airline had done them wrong.

Tia Hudson was back at Newark Liberty International Airport for the fourth straight day, trying to catch a United Airlines flight home to Louisiana.

“My flight has been canceled like five times now. I slept at the airport two nights, I booked two hotels, I spent over $700 since I’ve been here and they said they’re not going to reimburse me because it’s weather-related,” she said. “It’s not weather-related. It’s a shortage of pilots and attendants.”

Hudson missed her mother’s wedding and caused her mother to skip her own honeymoon to pick up Tia at the airport near Dallas – only for the flight to be canceled.

“I just want to get away from this airport, but they say nobody is leaving until Saturday,” she said.

At Logan Airport in Boston, pharmaceutical company manager Rui Loureiro had to scrap plans to spend the rest of the week meeting clients on the West Coast when his flight to San Francisco was canceled. United told him the soonest he could get on another flight was Friday, and didn't offer to pay for a hotel room. He plans to fly home to Portugal instead – or at least give it a try.

“I am a little bit stressed, disappointed,” Loureiro said. “People were waiting for me. We had things arranged to do. Now I have to go back and rebook everything and come again another time.”

By early Wednesday evening, Chicago-based United had canceled more than 550 flights — one-fifth of its schedule — and 1,200 others were late. The airline vowed to reduce cancellations — and added it reduced the backlog of stranded bags in Newark by 30% since Tuesday. New York-based JetBlue canceled nearly one in 10 flights.

If large numbers of passengers are stranded or delayed this weekend, expect federal officials and the airlines to blame each other for the mess.

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whose department includes the FAA, has been beating up on the airlines for more than a year. He has accused them of failing to live up to reasonable standards of customer service and suggested that they are scheduling more flights than they can handle.

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby blamed a shortage of federal air traffic controllers for massive disruptions last weekend at its Newark hub.

“We estimate that over 150,000 customers on United alone were impacted this weekend because of FAA staffing issues and their ability to manage traffic,” Kirby wrote in a memo to employees on Monday night.

The Association of Flight Attendants, which represents United's cabin crews, said United was contributing to the situation. The union said employees were waiting three hours or longer when calling a crew-scheduling center for assignments because of “limited telephone lines and personnel.”

However, the FAA signaled earlier this year that it could struggle to keep flights moving in New York, the busiest airspace in the nation. Facing a severe shortage of air traffic controllers at a key facility on Long Island, the FAA persuaded airlines to trim their summer schedules to avoid overloading the system.

Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, where American and Southwest are based, took the airlines’ side in a series of tweets about delays at the New York City area's three big airports.

“Staffing at FAA’s air traffic facilities in NY is at 54%,” Cruz tweeted. “Yet (the Transportation Department) is blaming weather for delays. Nonsense.”

A Transportation Department spokesperson said the agency is working with airlines to fix things, but the combination of high traffic and bad weather reduces the rate at which planes can take off and land safely, leading to delays and canceled flights.

The FAA is training about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/faa-congress-spending-summer-travel-8b9c7cb54933fe0e5c591dab27e20b2a">3,000 new air traffic controllers</a>, but most of them won’t be ready anytime soon. Last week, the Transportation Department’s inspector general said in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.oig.dot.gov/library-item/39530">a report</a>&nbsp;that the FAA has made only “limited efforts” to adequately staff critical air traffic control centers and lacks a plan to tackle the problem.

Last week, Buttigieg issued a new warning to airlines, telling them that planes that aren't outfitted with new radio altimeters — devices that measure the height of a plane above the ground — won’t be allowed to operate in limited visibility starting this Saturday because of potential interference from new 5G wireless service.

American, United, Southwest, Alaska and Frontier say all of their planes have been retrofitted, but Delta Air Lines still has about 190 planes waiting to be updated because its supplier doesn't have enough altimeters. Delta said it will schedule those planes to avoid landing where the weather might be bad to limit disruptions.

Smaller airlines that operate regional flights could also be affected by the radio interference issue, as could flights operated to the United States by foreign carriers.

KANSAS CITY (AP) —Hundreds of thousands of summer travelers suffered through another day of delayed and canceled flights Wednesday, a troubling glimpse into what could happen over the long July 4 holiday weekend as airlines struggle to keep up with surging numbers of passengers.By early evening on the East Coast, nearly 5,800 U.S. flights had been delayed and 1,000 more were canceled, according to FlightAware.United Airlines, which depends on the airport in Newark, New Jersey, canceled the most flights among U.S. airlines for a fifth straight day.“We’re beginning to see improvement across our operation,” United said in a statement Wednesday night. “As our operation improves in the days ahead, we will be on track to restore our operation for the holiday weekend.”The worst disruptions continued to be along the East Coast, which has been pummeled by thunderstorms this week. The Federal Aviation Administration temporarily held up Boston-bound flights on Wednesday. It stopped flights to all three major airports in the New York City area and two near Washington, D.C., at times Tuesday.Huge crowds, bad weather, inability of some airline crews to reach their scheduling offices — even a Delta jet that made a belly landing in Charlotte, North Carolina — all contributed to the mess.And it could be just the storm before the storm: The FAA predicted that Thursday would be the heaviest travel day over the July 4 holiday period. On top of that, some airline planes&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/buttigieg-airlines-5g-wireless-service-d24dbc4a1295538d51ee7da345cb6303">may be unable to fly in bad weather</a>&nbsp;starting this weekend because of possible interference with 5G wireless service.Travel has picked up steadily every year since bottoming out during the pandemic. For the past week, about 2.6 million people a day on average have been flying in the United States, about 2% more than in the same period during pre-pandemic 2019, according to Transportation Security Administration figures.The number of air travelers could set a pandemic-era record over the holiday weekend. The FAA expects Thursday to be the busiest, with more than 52,500 total flights.People whose travel plans were disrupted took to social media to vent against the airlines. Some swore they would never fly again on whichever airline had done them wrong.Tia Hudson was back at Newark Liberty International Airport for the fourth straight day, trying to catch a United Airlines flight home to Louisiana.“My flight has been canceled like five times now. I slept at the airport two nights, I booked two hotels, I spent over $700 since I’ve been here and they said they’re not going to reimburse me because it’s weather-related,” she said. “It’s not weather-related. It’s a shortage of pilots and attendants.”Hudson missed her mother’s wedding and caused her mother to skip her own honeymoon to pick up Tia at the airport near Dallas – only for the flight to be canceled.On top of that, Hudson's bags were lost.“I just want to get away from this airport, but they say nobody is leaving until Saturday,” she said.At Logan Airport in Boston, pharmaceutical company manager Rui Loureiro had to scrap plans to spend the rest of the week meeting clients on the West Coast when his flight to San Francisco was canceled. United told him the soonest he could get on another flight was Friday, and didn't offer to pay for a hotel room. He plans to fly home to Portugal instead – or at least give it a try.“I am a little bit stressed, disappointed,” Loureiro said. “People were waiting for me. We had things arranged to do. Now I have to go back and rebook everything and come again another time.”By early Wednesday evening, Chicago-based United had canceled more than 550 flights — one-fifth of its schedule — and 1,200 others were late. The airline vowed to reduce cancellations — and added it reduced the backlog of stranded bags in Newark by 30% since Tuesday. New York-based JetBlue canceled nearly one in 10 flights.If large numbers of passengers are stranded or delayed this weekend, expect federal officials and the airlines to blame each other for the mess.Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whose department includes the FAA, has been beating up on the airlines for more than a year. He has accused them of failing to live up to reasonable standards of customer service and suggested that they are scheduling more flights than they can handle.The airlines are punching back.United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby blamed a shortage of federal air traffic controllers for massive disruptions last weekend at its Newark hub.“We estimate that over 150,000 customers on United alone were impacted this weekend because of FAA staffing issues and their ability to manage traffic,” Kirby wrote in a memo to employees on Monday night.The Association of Flight Attendants, which represents United's cabin crews, said United was contributing to the situation. The union said employees were waiting three hours or longer when calling a crew-scheduling center for assignments because of “limited telephone lines and personnel.”However, the FAA signaled earlier this year that it could struggle to keep flights moving in New York, the busiest airspace in the nation. Facing a severe shortage of air traffic controllers at a key facility on Long Island, the FAA persuaded airlines to trim their summer schedules to avoid overloading the system.Sen. Ted Cruz, a Republican from Texas, where American and Southwest are based, took the airlines’ side in a series of tweets about delays at the New York City area's three big airports.“Staffing at FAA’s air traffic facilities in NY is at 54%,” Cruz tweeted. “Yet (the Transportation Department) is blaming weather for delays. Nonsense.”A Transportation Department spokesperson said the agency is working with airlines to fix things, but the combination of high traffic and bad weather reduces the rate at which planes can take off and land safely, leading to delays and canceled flights.The FAA is training about&nbsp;<a href="https://apnews.com/article/faa-congress-spending-summer-travel-8b9c7cb54933fe0e5c591dab27e20b2a">3,000 new air traffic controllers</a>, but most of them won’t be ready anytime soon. Last week, the Transportation Department’s inspector general said in&nbsp;<a href="https://www.oig.dot.gov/library-item/39530">a report</a>&nbsp;that the FAA has made only “limited efforts” to adequately staff critical air traffic control centers and lacks a plan to tackle the problem.Last week, Buttigieg issued a new warning to airlines, telling them that planes that aren't outfitted with new radio altimeters — devices that measure the height of a plane above the ground — won’t be allowed to operate in limited visibility starting this Saturday because of potential interference from new 5G wireless service.American, United, Southwest, Alaska and Frontier say all of their planes have been retrofitted, but Delta Air Lines still has about 190 planes waiting to be updated because its supplier doesn't have enough altimeters. Delta said it will schedule those planes to avoid landing where the weather might be bad to limit disruptions.Smaller airlines that operate regional flights could also be affected by the radio interference issue, as could flights operated to the United States by foreign carriers.

Airline travel nightmare: Could get worse as holiday approaches

By AARON SANDERFORD <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/woman-who-shouted-shame-following-critical-gun-bill-passage-is-banned-from-nebraska-capitol/">Nebraska Examiner</a>

LINCOLN — U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., kicked off her third campaign for the Senate on Wednesday at the Nebraska State Capitol, where she discussed how she has helped Nebraskans secure federal funding for infrastructure projects, including roads, bridges and broadband.

Flanked by more than a few dozen current and former elected officials, including Gov. Jim Pillen; U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb.; and former Govs. Kay Orr and Dave Heineman, Fischer highlighted her Senate work on national defense, including helping secure funding for a new runway at Offutt Air Force Base and for new levees to protect the base in the event of flooding.&nbsp;

She pointed to work with public and private partners to build a VA health clinic in Omaha. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, she mentioned the importance of upgrading the nation’s nuclear arsenal.

The senator said she knows Nebraskans, “who we are and what we stand for,” because she comes home and hears from them. She touted a voting record that right-wing broadcaster Glenn Beck recently described as more conservative than U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri.&nbsp;&nbsp;

The reference to Beck appeared aimed at some factions within the Republican Party who have echoed former President Donald Trump’s criticisms of GOP House and Senate members who backed the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, including Fischer and Bacon. The bill included at least $1.2 billion for Nebraska projects.

Nebraska is expected to receive $405 million on broadband infrastructure because of the bill, the White House announced this week. Fischer also mentioned new investments in drinking water quality and wastewater treatment. Last week, during a visit to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, she highlighted important research that the federal government helps fund at Nebraska colleges and universities.

Fischer said she has focused much of her work on confronting China with military strength and economic independence. Like her Senate cohorts, she drew attention to a humanitarian and security “crisis” at the southern U.S. border.

She also said she was “proud to support President Trump’s three nominees to the Supreme Court,” which overturned Roe v. Wade and sent decisions on regulating abortion back to individual states.&nbsp;

I’m proud of my record,” Fischer said. “There’s no question I’m a conservative. … But I also get the job done for Nebraska and take care of our people.”&nbsp;

No challenger to Fischer has filed so far, although the Nebraska Democratic Party has said it is actively recruiting one.&nbsp;

Fischer was elected to the Senate in 2012 and re-elected in 2018. In 2024, both Fischer and the state’s junior senator, Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb, will be on the ballot. Pillen appointed Ricketts in January to replace former Sen. Ben Sasse, who quit to run the University of Florida.

Ricketts has to win in 2024 to serve out the remaining two years of Sasse’s term. The seat will be open again in 2026 for a regular six-year term.&nbsp;

Former 1st District House candidate John Glen Weaver, a Republican, has announced he will oppose Ricketts. Two others — Republican Charles Herbster and Democrat Paul Theobald — have said&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/06/27/herbster-theobald-mull-u-s-senate-bids-against-pete-ricketts/">they are considering runs</a>.

<figure>
 <img src="https://media.eaglewebservices.com/public/2023/6/1687995164421.png" alt="U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., announces her reelection bid for U.S. Senate in the Nebraska State Capitol on Wednesday, June 28, 2023. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)" />
 <figcaption>U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., announces her reelection bid for U.S. Senate in the Nebraska State Capitol on Wednesday, June 28, 2023. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)</figcaption>
 </figure>By AARON SANDERFORD <a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/briefs/woman-who-shouted-shame-following-critical-gun-bill-passage-is-banned-from-nebraska-capitol/">Nebraska Examiner</a>LINCOLN — U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer, R-Neb., kicked off her third campaign for the Senate on Wednesday at the Nebraska State Capitol, where she discussed how she has helped Nebraskans secure federal funding for infrastructure projects, including roads, bridges and broadband.Flanked by more than a few dozen current and former elected officials, including Gov. Jim Pillen; U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb.; and former Govs. Kay Orr and Dave Heineman, Fischer highlighted her Senate work on national defense, including helping secure funding for a new runway at Offutt Air Force Base and for new levees to protect the base in the event of flooding.&nbsp;She pointed to work with public and private partners to build a VA health clinic in Omaha. As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, she mentioned the importance of upgrading the nation’s nuclear arsenal.The senator said she knows Nebraskans, “who we are and what we stand for,” because she comes home and hears from them. She touted a voting record that right-wing broadcaster Glenn Beck recently described as more conservative than U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Missouri.&nbsp;&nbsp;The reference to Beck appeared aimed at some factions within the Republican Party who have echoed former President Donald Trump’s criticisms of GOP House and Senate members who backed the $1.2 trillion bipartisan infrastructure bill, including Fischer and Bacon. The bill included at least $1.2 billion for Nebraska projects.Nebraska is expected to receive $405 million on broadband infrastructure because of the bill, the White House announced this week. Fischer also mentioned new investments in drinking water quality and wastewater treatment. Last week, during a visit to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, she highlighted important research that the federal government helps fund at Nebraska colleges and universities.Fischer said she has focused much of her work on confronting China with military strength and economic independence. Like her Senate cohorts, she drew attention to a humanitarian and security “crisis” at the southern U.S. border.She also said she was “proud to support President Trump’s three nominees to the Supreme Court,” which overturned Roe v. Wade and sent decisions on regulating abortion back to individual states.&nbsp;I’m proud of my record,” Fischer said. “There’s no question I’m a conservative. … But I also get the job done for Nebraska and take care of our people.”&nbsp;No challenger to Fischer has filed so far, although the Nebraska Democratic Party has said it is actively recruiting one.&nbsp;Fischer was elected to the Senate in 2012 and re-elected in 2018. In 2024, both Fischer and the state’s junior senator, Sen. Pete Ricketts, R-Neb, will be on the ballot. Pillen appointed Ricketts in January to replace former Sen. Ben Sasse, who quit to run the University of Florida.Ricketts has to win in 2024 to serve out the remaining two years of Sasse’s term. The seat will be open again in 2026 for a regular six-year term.&nbsp;Former 1st District House candidate John Glen Weaver, a Republican, has announced he will oppose Ricketts. Two others — Republican Charles Herbster and Democrat Paul Theobald — have said&nbsp;<a href="https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2023/06/27/herbster-theobald-mull-u-s-senate-bids-against-pete-ricketts/">they are considering runs</a>.Nebraska Examiner intern Zach Wendling contributed to this report.