Hunt vows to block Pillen's pick for DHHS CEO
A Nebraska lawmaker has vowed to try to block the governor's pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services over the appointee's engagement with anti-LGBTQ social media posts, among other concerns.
Sen. Megan Hunt on Tuesday highlighted Steve Corsi's engagement with homophobic and transphobic tweets as well as tweets that expressed COVID vaccine skepticism. In a tweet of her own, the lawmaker said the Legislature would reject Corsi's appointment to the position when they reconvene next year.
On his now-private Twitter account, Corsi engaged with tweets that suggested transgender people are mentally ill, homosexuality is sinful and COVID vaccines are ineffective.
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A spokeswoman for Gov. Jim Pillen said Wednesday the governor plans to move forward with Corsi’s appointment.
State removes COVID-19 tracking tool from website
State officials have removed tracking data for COVID-19 in wastewater just as cases have started to rise.
The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services has removed from its website a page that had provided weekly updates on concentrations of COVID-19 in wastewater from more than a dozen sites across the state.
A spokesman for the State Health Department said the state’s wastewater data was taken down due to President Joe Biden’s ending of the national emergency and public health emergency declarations for COVID-19 in May.
There were 379 confirmed COVID-19 cases statewide for the week ending Saturday, a 75% increase from the previous week and the most for a week since the end of April.
Omaha to get second pro volleyball team
Seven months ago, there were no professional women’s volleyball teams in Omaha. Suddenly, there are now two.
The latest professional volleyball startup league — League One Volleyball — announced on Wednesday that one of its teams will be based in Omaha.
League One Volleyball brings some Husker star power including Kelsey Robinson Cook and Justine Wong-Orantes.
The team doesn’t have a name yet. Omaha’s other team — the Supernovas — will play in the Pro Volleyball Federation.
That’s it for Thursday, Aug. 17. Stay in the know with Lincoln’s longest-standing news source at JournalStar.com and we’ll see you back here tomorrow.
