Free Republic

BASRA, Iraq – A congressional delegation visited the Multi-National Division – South East headquarters in Basra, Iraq, July 21 while on a fact-finding mission during a trip through the area.  Senators Jack Reed, D-R.I., Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and Barack Obama, D-Ill., arrived at Basra Air Station on an Air Force C-130. They were escorted by Lt. Gen. Lloyd J. Austin III, commander, Multi-National Corps – Iraq, and Command Sgt. Maj. Joseph R. Allen, command sergeant major, MNC-I.   The senators met with MND-SE leaders and Iraqi Army leaders, Lt. Gen. Mohammad, commander, Basra operations, and Maj. Gen. Aziz, commander, 14th Iraqi Army...

OMAHA — A Nebraska city is the latest community to try its hand at regulating illegal immigration — a job traditionally reserved for federal officials. A proposed ordinance introduced by the Fremont City Council earlier this month and set for decision in late August would force prospective renters to prove they’re not illegal immigrants before becoming tenants in the city. A city councilman also has asked to make the measure prohibit hiring illegal immigrants. Supporters say the law is needed to enforce federal rules they believe are falling by the wayside in the city of 25,000. Opponents of the measure...

Omaha, NE - Nebraska Senator Chuck Hagel's Vice-Presidential stock has jumped again. Hagel's move up the ladder comes as he sets off for a Mid-East road trip with Barack Obama. According to CBS News Hagel is now third in the Obama Veepstakes, behind Kansas Governor Kathleen Sebelius and Indiana Senator Evan Bayh. A week ago Hagel was fourth. All this comes as several sources tell Action 3 News that Hagel's been snubbing the Nebraska's Republican Party. Last week-end at the annual GOP State Convention in La Vista, Hagel was a no-show. State Chairman Mark Quandahl says Hagel did not make...

ASHLAND, Neb. - Presidential candidate John McCain may have differences with Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel, but he made it clear Wednesday that he respects his fellow Republican's views on the Iraq war. McCain said that Hagel's criticism of the war, unlike Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's, amounts to an "informed decision" because of the time Hagel has spent in Iraq and studying the issue, McCain said. This was McCain's first campaign trip to Nebraska. The Arizona senator, here to raise money for his presidential bid, praised Hagel and declined to talk about speculation that his Republican colleague and fellow Vietnam...

Subject: Learning Over the Years How to Balance Family and Work in an Industry Not Even Their Own Company Executives Understand By Renee E. Taylor (ATAW/AR) To you, my husband is a truck number, just a large, blue or red metal object that mysteriously gets your freight from point A to point B. One of thousands of tiny dots that appear on your computer screen as you sit in your air conditioned office which you leave each night to return to your wife, children and pets. A large, blue or red metal object that dispatchers and planners seen as an...

Sen. Chuck Hagel said Sunday he views his upcoming trip to Iraq and Afghanistan with Sen. Barack Obama as a means of helping build bipartisan consensus in foreign policy. Nebraska’s Republican senator acknowledged for the first time he’ll be traveling with the Democratic presidential nominee into the war zones by issuing a brief written statement. “U.S. policies in Iraq and Afghanistan are at the center of America’s national security,” Hagel said. “These critical issues must be addressed in a bipartisan manner that builds consensus for a bipartisan American foreign policy.” In a joint statement, Hagel and Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I.,...

Sen. Barack Obama is heading to Iraq later this month with two Senate colleagues, Republican Chuck Hagel and Democrat Jack Reed, according to two sources familiar with the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee's plans. The sources said the official Congressional delegation trip, known as a CODEL, will occur around the time Obama heads overseas for a previously-announced campaign trip to France, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, and Jordan to help beef up his foreign policy credentials. Officials are keeping the precise dates of Obama's trip under wraps, however, for obvious security reasons. The inclusion of Hagel on the official portion of the...

The agreement between Attorney General Jon Bruning and the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission seems to be missing an important provision. The signed document should have included a stipulation that Bruning cease and desist from further grandstanding in NEOC cases. Bruning’s behavior in the controversy won acclaim from immigration hardliners — and an appearance on the Lou Dobbs show on CNN — but it has thrown a monkey wrench into actual governing. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development suspended its contract with Nebraska in April because of inadequate performance on cases of housing discrimination. While Bruning was milking the...

An official from the aptly-named group By Any Means Necessary is quoted today in the Omaha World-Herald, on why her group is trying to disrupt the signature-gathering efforts of Ward Connerly, who is leading an effort in Nebraska (and Colorado and Arizona) to pass a ballot initiative that would ban preferences based on race, ethnicity, and sex: "The key to defeating the initiative is to keep it off the ballot in the first place. That's the only way we're going to win.” The Left, as you know, favors democracy, power to the people, and nondiscrimination, except when it doesn’t.

What is an "Obamacon?" The phrase surfaced in January to describe British conservatives entranced by Barack Obama. On March 13 the American Spectator broadened the term to cover all "conservative supporters" of the Democratic presidential candidate. Their ranks, though growing, feature few famous people. But looming on the horizon are two big potential Obamacons: Colin Powell and Chuck Hagel. Neither Powell, first-term secretary of state for George W. Bush, nor Hagel, retiring after two terms as a U.S. senator from Nebraska, has endorsed Obama. Hagel probably never will. Powell probably will enter Obama's camp at a time of his own...

Barack Obama has already made history in this campaign, but what if he does it one more time by picking a Republican as his V.P.? Salon.com reports about the buzz surrounding GOP Sen. Chuck Hagel of Nebraska as a potential choice for Obama. Hagel admittedly is a long shot for the job. Just imagine the symbolism: Obama could truly hit home the message that he’s serious about changing the way Washington works by running with a Republican. And there’s no better Republican for him to run with than Chuck Hagel. Hagel is retiring at the end of his term. He...

The media, now focusing on the general election, have taken to naming likely vice presidential candidates and frequently include a surprising choice on Sen. Barack Obama's list. Nebraska Republican Sen. Chuck Hagel found his way onto that list after repeatedly clashing with the Bush administration and fellow Republicans over the Iraq War, the No Child Left Behind law and the prescription-drug plan under Medicare. Hagel, who is not running for re-election, spoke to a crowd of about 150 at the libertarian-minded Cato Institute Thursday to promote his book, "America: Our Next Chapter." He said he isn't saying yes to the...

I received a gift in the mail today - an honorary certificate along with a citizenship card for Boys Town. I am now an official Honorary Citizen of the famous Nebraska village which was started by Father Flanagan over 90 years ago. Boys Town is one of the charitable organizations that my wife and I have donated to through the years. I first became aware of it, probably like most people, through the 1938 MGM movie starring Spencer Tracy and Mickey Rooney. My citation reads as follows: "In appreciation of Assistance Rendered Father Flanagan's Boys' Home Presents Mr. Greg Crosby...

A possible tornado has struck the Litle (spelling from site?) Sioux Scout Camp in Iowa. Very large response is being reported by media. Large number of injuries.

A California group is running a radio ad that uses Barack Obama’s former minister and Nebraska’s only black state senator to take aim at affirmative action in the state. The ad, which includes a clip of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright saying “God damn America,’’ says Wright and Nebraska Sen. Ernie Chambers believe in race preferences, but most Nebraskans don’t... The American Civil Rights Initiative, which is sponsoring the ad, is pushing measures in several states, including Nebraska, that oppose affirmative action, which the group says gives preferential treatment on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity or national origin. The...

NEW YORK LAMBS OF CHRIST PRESS RELEASE Contact: Mary E. Quinn  Please pray for A just outcome Our founder, Father Norman U. Weslin, O.S.  will appear in Sarpy County Court House , 1210 Golden Gate Dr., Room 3  Papillion Nebraska at 1 p.m. Central Time for a bench trial.  His crime: Entering the security vestibule of notorious late term abortionist, LeRoy Carhart’s Nebraska killing center to pray with and counsel pregnant mothers in April.  Charges are trespass, refusal to leave when told, counseling pregnant women and telling employees that he will find them better jobs than participating in the killing...

PUBLIC SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 0354 AM CDT THU JUN 05 2008 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OUTBREAK EXPECTED FROM THE EASTERN HALF OF THE PLAINS INTO THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER IN NORMAN OK IS FORECASTING WIDESPREAD DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS...STRONG TORNADOES AND LARGE HAIL OVER A LARGE PART OF THE EASTERN PLAINS AND THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT. THE AREAS MOST LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE THIS ACTIVITY INCLUDE MUCH OF IOWA CENTRAL AND EASTERN KANSAS SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL MINNESOTA WESTERN AND NORTHERN MISSOURI CENTRAL AND EASTERN NEBRASKA...

SPIEGEL: Senator Hagel, your friend and Republican presidential candidate John McCain says that the United States Army has a moral obligation to stay in Iraq. Is he right? Hagel: We have responsibilities, no doubt about it. We invaded Iraq, we are occupying Iraq and we have made Iraq dependent on us. By our actions we have done terrible damage to our own country and undermined our interests in the world. SPIEGEL: What are the consequences? Hagel: Our first moral obligation is to our own people whom we keep sending back to Iraq again and again. Four-thousand US soldiers have given...

5/16-18. Likely voters. MoE 4.1% (No trend lines) All CD1 CD2 CD3 McCain (R) 49 44 48 57 Obama (D) 40 43 43 33 In Nebraska, two electors are chosen via the statewide vote, while the other three are given to the winner of each congressional district. Republicans can no longer take all five of Nebraska's EVs for granted.

Come November, voters will decide on more than half a million federal, state and local officeholders and ballot initiatives. Ninety-nine percent of these decisions will matter less than will the five civil rights initiatives that might be on the ballots in Arizona, Colorado, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Missouri. If the initiatives qualify for those states' ballots, all probably will pass. But the initiatives must surmount ferocious opposition from defenders of racial preferences, such as the politicians who administer and benefit from Missouri's racial spoils system. The crux of the Missouri Civil Rights Initiative (MoCRI) would amend that state's constitution to say:...

WASHINGTON - Sens. John McCain and Chuck Hagel have long been friends. Fellow Republicans and Vietnam War veterans, their Senate offices are just across the hall from each other. But at least during the presidential primary, Hagel's wife, Lilibet, is helping McCain's likely Democratic rival, Barack Obama. According to Federal Election Commission records, Mrs. Hagel donated twice to Obama's campaign in February for a total contribution of $500. The contributions were first reported by the Washington Post The contribution came a month before Sen. Hagel, a sharp GOP critic of the war in Iraq, appeared on ABC's "This Week" and...

Public Severe Weather Outlook ZCZC SPCPWOSPC ALL WOUS40 KWNS 291438 IAZ000-NEZ000-SDZ000-292245- PUBLIC SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 0938 AM CDT THU MAY 29 2008 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED OVER PARTS OF THE CENTRAL PLAINS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER IN NORMAN OK IS FORECASTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FEW STRONG TORNADOES OVER PARTS OF THE CENTRAL PLAINS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THE AREAS MOST LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE THIS ACTIVITY INCLUDE WESTERN IOWA EASTERN HALF OF NEBRASKA FAR SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA ELSEWHERE...ORGANIZED SEVERE STORMS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE SURROUNDING THE HIGH RISK FROM WESTERN...

PUBLIC SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 0938 AM CDT THU MAY 29 2008 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED OVER PARTS OF THE CENTRAL PLAINS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER IN NORMAN OK IS FORECASTING THE DEVELOPMENT OF A FEW STRONG TORNADOES OVER PARTS OF THE CENTRAL PLAINS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THE AREAS MOST LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE THIS ACTIVITY INCLUDE WESTERN IOWA EASTERN HALF OF NEBRASKA FAR SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA ELSEWHERE...ORGANIZED SEVERE STORMS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE SURROUNDING THE HIGH RISK FROM WESTERN KANSAS TO SOUTHERN WI. VERY WARM...MOIST AND BUOYANT AIRMASS IS SPREADING NORTHWARD...

(Political Animal) HAGEL HEARTS OBAMA....Chuck Hagel (R–Neb.) sure does seem to like the presumptive Democratic nominee for president. Not too surprising given their personal relationship, I suppose, but I wonder how many other Republicans secretly agree with him? More than few, I'll bet.

In the race to become Nebraska’s next United States Senator, Mike Johanns (R) leads Scott Kleeb (D) by fifteen percentage points. The first Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of the race shows Johanns earning 55% of the vote while Kleeb attracts support from 40%. The two men are seeking to replace Republican Senator Chuck Hagel who decided against seeking re-election. Johanns is supported by 78% of Republicans, Kleeb by 72% of Democrats, and unaffiliated voters are evenly divided. Johanns is viewed favorably by 65% of the state’s voters, including 27% who have a Very Favorable opinion of the Republican candidate. Kleeb...

Chuck Hagel as Barack Obama’s running mate? Obama could “make this gauzy idea of consensus politics concrete” by choosing Nebraska’s Republican senator or independent New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to fill his vice presidential slot, David Ignatius wrote in the Washington Post last week.“Hagel would be an especially interesting choice for Obama,” he wrote. “As a decorated Vietnam veteran, he would add some national security heft to the ticket.”In addition, Hagel was “an early and courageous GOP critic of the Iraq war,” Ignatius wrote. “At the same time, although Hagel agrees with Obama on the need for withdrawal from Iraq,...

Confronting Lion Was Breathtaking Experience. “I was walking this trail I had made, hunting for mushrooms, when I came across a deer carcass which hadn't been there before,” said Ron Olson... “I kind of looked around and didn't see anything. When I turned around, just to my left, there stood a mountain lion.” The lion sighting was officially confirmed Friday by officials from the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. It is the state's first confirmed sighting in four years. About 90 minutes after they set up the camera, four shots were taken of the mountain lion eating on the carcass....

In the race to become Nebraska’s next United States Senator, Mike Johanns (R) leads Scott Kleeb (D) by fifteen percentage points. The first Rasmussen Reports telephone survey of the race shows Johanns earning 55% of the vote while Kleeb attracts support from 40%. The two men are seeking to replace Republican Senator Chuck Hagel who decided against seeking re-election. Johanns is supported by 78% of Republicans, Kleeb by 72% of Democrats, and unaffiliated voters are evenly divided. Johanns is viewed favorably by 65% of the state’s voters, including 27% who have a Very Favorable opinion of the Republican candidate. Kleeb...

Democrat Scott Kleeb, a Yale-educated ranch hand turned history teacher, easily won Tuesday's Nebraska Senate primary over industrialist Tony Raimondo. Kleeb, 32, will face former U.S. Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns in the November contest to replace Republican Chuck Hagel, who isn't seeking re-election. The 57-year-old Johanns, also a former Nebraska governor, has already raised more than $2 million, to about $400,000 for Kleeb. Kleeb said Tuesday the victory showed a willingness among Nebraskans to recommit to the future and a new brand of politics. "Politics at its best gets people involved for their own reason, not only for their candidate,...

Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning on Monday defended his refusal to prosecute housing discrimination cases on CNN’s “Lou Dobbs Tonight,” again couching his stance in the nationwide debate over illegal immigration. “In Nebraska, like every other state, our taxpayers have had enough, and they don’t want to see their state attorney represent illegal immigrants,” Bruning said on the show, which Dobbs has often used as a platform to protest illegal immigration. “My office isn’t going to be the free lawyer for illegal immigrants,” Bruning said. The attorney general has been in the spotlight recently for refusing to prosecute cases of...

This year’s long and contentious Democratic presidential battle will end with Barack Obama and a healed party, former Colorado Sen. Gary Hart said Saturday night. In fact, he suggested, it actually may be the Republican Party that splinters before the November election. Presumptive Republican presidential nominee John McCain “seems to have a free ride” for now, Hart said in a Lincoln interview. “But there’s a real struggle for the soul of the Republican Party under way.” That clash pits a party tied to the religious right, personal social issues, neoconservative foreign policy and libertarian taxpayers against a traditional GOP that...

A lesson of Vietnam that applies to Iraq is “the deeper you bog down in a morass, the more difficult it is to get out,” Sen. Chuck Hagel said Friday. “The more troops you put in, saying you need another six months or another year, a surge, five more combat brigades.” All of that runs counter to the reality that “we’re going to have to unwind,” Hagel said. “No foreign policy, no war policy can be sustained without the support of the American people,” he said. “Most of them say (Iraq) was a mistake and we want out.” Hagel’s remarks...

LINCOLN — Attorney General Jon Bruning said Friday that the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission cannot be represented by outside attorneys — even if they do not seek payment. Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning in Lincoln, Neb. Bruning refused to investigate a complaint of possible housing discrimination because it involved illegal immigrants. Bruning said he will not use taxpayer dollars to file lawsuits for illegal aliens. Bruning, whose dispute with the commission over housing discrimination cases has led to the suspension of federal funds, also said lawyers who talk to the commission could be violating professional ethics. The attorney general is,...

KEARNEY — A Guatemala man has been sentenced to 20 to 32 years in prison for stabbing his girlfriend and her sister in their northwest Kearney apartment. Mauro Yos-Chiguil pleaded guilty in March to second-degree murder and felony second-degree assault charges in Buffalo County Court. Authorities have said the 33-year-old Yos-Chiguil stabbed his girlfriend and mother of his twin sons in her head, shoulder, chest and stomach. She was released after treatment at a local hospital. Also injured was the girlfriend’s teenage sister. After he completes his sentence, Yos-Chiguil could face deportation. Authorities have said he is an illegal immigrant.

The Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission has no way to pay for outside legal advice in its dispute with Attorney General Jon Bruning. But a Lincoln law firm that handles civil rights cases might step in to help the state agency that investigates employment, housing and public accommodation discrimination cases. “This issue needs to be decided. We would be willing to file suit so a judge can order Jon Bruning to do his job,” said Kathleen Neary, an attorney with Vincent M. Powers & Associates. Neary said she and Powers would be willing to represent the NEOC in court if the...

LINCOLN, Neb.—Anne Hobbs was angry. The head of the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission had just learned of a Hispanic couple who said their landlord asked for their driver's licenses—but didn't ask the same of non-Hispanic tenants. Hobbs said it sounded like the couple were "treated differently than everybody else because of national origin," and sent the case to the state's top prosecutor, hoping he would sue on their behalf under fair housing laws. When Attorney General Jon Bruning received the case, he was angry, too—for a different reason than Hobbs. "I'm not going to use taxpayer dollars to file lawsuits...

Recently I asked a group of future leaders in a rural Nebraska community whether they were familiar with the term “rule of law.” A couple of hands went up, half-heartedly. The theme for Law Day 2008 is “The Rule of Law: Foundation for Communities of Opportunity and Equity.” The importance of the rule of law is apparently not well understood, lacks support and there even may be hostility toward it. For some, notably politicized faith communities, the rule of law means the loss of their values agenda. So I posed this to a friend: Suppose you had a strong values-based...

LINCOLN, Neb. (Legal Newsline)-Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning's failure to pursue cases on behalf illegal immigrants has cost the Cornhusker State federal funding aimed at fighting discrimination, an official said Monday. Ann Hobbs, executive director of the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission, told Legal Newsline the commission has essentially lost $240,000 in annual funding it received for investigating discrimination complaints-all because of the attorney general's stance against illegal immigration. "Whenever people's personal opinions begin to trump state and federal law you can almost guarantee you're going to have a big mess," she said in a telephone interview.

OMAHA — A Nebraska commission hoping to win back federal funding was scrambling to negotiate with federal officials and the state attorney general, who said Wednesday that it might be better to let federal investigators handle the cases instead. The Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission voted Wednesday to hire outside attorneys for the negotiations and possibly sue Attorney General Jon Bruning in order to retain its responsibility for the cases. If the commission were to permanently lose federal backing, discrimination cases in Nebraska wouldn’t be abandoned. The cases would be investigated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and...

National immigrant rights groups are blasting Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning's stance against giving legal aid to illegal immigrants and are laying the groundwork for a possible lawsuit. The Mexican American Legal Defense Fund says it is investigating the issue but stopped short of saying that it would definitely try to sue Bruning.Raul Gonzalez with the National Council of La Raza, a Hispanic rights group, called Bruning's position "legal gymnastics" and that "taxpayers should understand they're going to pay for his politicking," because it will likely be challenged in court.Bruning cites a section of the 1996 national welfare reform act...

AG's refusal to take illegal immigrants' case threatens federal funding LINCOLN, Neb. (Legal Newsline)-Nebraska Attorney General Jon Bruning's failure to prosecute a case on behalf of two illegal immigrants could cost the state federal funding aimed at fighting discrimination. Earlier this month, after the Nebraska Equal Opportunity Commission forwarded him the latest case involving the illegal immigrants, Bruning said the state should consider shutting down the commission entirely. Taxpayer money, he added, should not be used to pursue a case on behalf of an illegal immigrant, even if there was a legitimate complaint.

Nebraska will express no regrets about slavery this legislative session. Sen. Dwite Pedersen of Elkhorn took a point of personal privilege Tuesday afternoon to tell senators he would withdraw a resolution that would have expressed regret — not an apology — for slavery in the Nebraska territory and condemned racial discrimination in any form toward African Americans. “I do not do it with anger, without thought or without hurt,” Pedersen said. The Judiciary Committee’s taking the word “apology” from the resolution has weighed heavily on him the past four days, he said. “I cannot take up the time of the...

LINCOLN, Neb. -- A jail inmate who recently filed more than 60 lawsuits in a day will no longer be able to flood Lancaster County courts with lawsuits. All six Lancaster County District judges signed off on an order limiting Eric Lewis to six filings a year unless he can show he faces immediate harm. Lewis, 36, has filed 149 cases since January 2007. Many of Lewis' filings ask for protection orders against people who work at the jail or oversee his custody. The judges said most cases can be denied without hearings, but the filings can create significant work...

Though an immigration bill didn’t make it to the full Legislature this year, the issue was debated Wednesday as senators discussed a National Guard education-related bill. Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers used the time to correct the record. Omaha Sen. Brad Ashford used the time to point out the importance immigration will have in legislative races. And Lincoln Sen. DiAnna Schimek used the time to encourage Congress to work out a humane and compassionate solution for the immigrant issue. Twenty-eight students — illegal immigrants because their parents brought them illegally to the U.S. — attend University of Nebraska campuses and pay...

Regrets would be expressed. A condemnation of racial discrimination toward African-Americans would be declared. But no apology for slavery and its effects on the state’s African-American residents would come from the Nebraska Legislature if a resolution advanced Wednesday from the Judiciary Committee is debated and adopted by the full Legislature. The committee debated the resolution for about an hour in the late morning and could not agree on the wording for an amended version of Sen. Dwite Pedersen’s resolution, the subject of a public hearing on Monday. A few minutes into the debate, Omaha Sen. Ernie Chambers left the meeting...

Nebraska officials warn of the driver's license scheme OMAHA, Neb. — State officials in Nebraska were warning Monday of a scheme to sell fake driver's licenses to illegal immigrants, under the promise that the documents will let people legally drive, buy and sell cars. A Houston-based company has taken out ads in newspapers and distributed fliers to Hispanic businesses in Omaha, Grand Island and Lincoln, offering so-called international licenses and state ID cards for about $200, Angel Freytez, of the Nebraska Mexican American Commission, said. Private companies do not sell documents that grant legal driving privileges in the United States,...

Bob Edgar is a man of many hats. A pastor at 19, a member of Congress at 31. Edgar represented a Pennsylvania district in the House for six terms, served as general secretary of the National Council of Churches from 2000 to 2007, became president of Common Cause last May. No wonder the interview over coffee at The Mill on Wednesday moved so freely from the dominance of money in politics to the war in Iraq to Pastor Jeremiah Wright. Let’s start where the conversation ended, with the retiring pastor of Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago. Sen. Barack...

Hagel: Who says we have to win Iraq? Sat, 29 Mar 2008 19:19:47 Republican Senator Chuck Hagel says some of the top politicians in Washington hold regrettable views on how the Iraq war should end. In a Thursday interview with CNN, Hagel criticized Republican nominee-in-waiting John McCain for framing the situation in Iraq as one that the US must 'win'. "John (McCain), the President and the others have put the Iraqi situation in the wrong context. This isn't a win or lose," said Hagel. "We shouldn't frame this up as a win-or-lose because, when we do that - and this...

They are crimes some say are becoming all too common: shootings on college campuses. Just Thursday in Texas police say a gunman shot 2 students near an off–campus dorm. Now, a new group popping up at schools across the country says it wants to take action and prevent these tragedies. The group is called "Students for Concealed Carry on Campus" or SCCC. You can find members at over 200 colleges, including the University of Nebraska and Hastings College. As their numbers continue to grow, they hope to convince state lawmakers that change is needed and that concealed weapons should be...

LINCOLN, Neb. -- A 10-year-old girl has died, just a day after her wish to see her father was granted. Jayci Yaeger's imprisoned father, Jason, went to her bedside Wednesday -- a visit federal authorities allowed only after being deluged with letters and phone calls from across the nation.