no charges in killing, but city is calmergyms and fitness centers, hair and nail salons,...
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Sourdough loaves are scored with love andgifted by bread maker to others. Living
OMAHA.COMAugust 2, 2020 • suNRIsE EDItION • REAL. FAIR. ACCuRAtE.
WEIGHING THE RISKS
Opting toretire overreturning toclassroom
By Joe DeJka
WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER
Mary Schlieder wasn’t planningon retiring until next year, butthe 62-year-old special educationteacher decided she couldn’t riskgoing back this fall into a class-room full of kids.
Despite what she said was herNebraska school district’s “heroic”efforts to create a safe reopeningplan during the coronavirus pan-demic, Schlieder retired from herpost at Norris High School after 28years in the profession.
“I just couldn’t see a scenariowhere I could be physically safe,”she said.
Concern over COVID-19 iscausing some Nebraska teachersto consider retirement or otheroptions because they believe thatteaching kids in person would putthemselves or a loved one at great-er risk. Some are asking for reas-signment to remote teaching thisfall. Others have asked for a leaveof absence under the Family andMedical Leave Act.
How many teachers will leavethe profession is not clear. Unionleaders say teachers have been in-quiring about their options.
Officials from several Omahametro area school districts saidthat the percentage of teacherswho won’t return is small, and that
COVID-19 concerns havesome Nebraska educatorsunwilling to return thisyear to in-person teaching
Lawmakers near compromise on property tax
By Paul Hammel
WORLD-HERALD BUREAU
LINCOLN — State lawmakersappear poised to saddle up a PlanB compromise to provide proper-ty tax relief in the waning daysof the 2020 session, abandoninga proposal that would have re-vamped the state’s system of dis-
tributing money to K-12 schoolsand boosted such state aid bymore than $500 million.
The new alternative, sourc-es say, would provide a state taxcredit against the local propertytax credits paid by rural and ur-ban landowners. The credit wouldbe similar to but not the same asthe state property tax credits that
now provide about a $156 reduc-tion of taxes on a $150,000 homeand $1,250 on $1 million worth offarmland.
Members of a “super seven”group of senators bartering thecompromise declined to providespecifics, saying it was still afragile deal. But all agreed thatprogress has been made in recentdays, and a compromise — withonly seven days left in the session— is close.
“We’re having very productive
discussions,” said State Sen. JimScheer of Norfolk, the speaker ofthe Legislature.
“There’s progress,” said Elk-horn Sen. Lou Ann Linehan. “Ithink when you’re doing bigthings, there’s always give andtake. But it’s not a done deal.”
Scheer pulled together sevenlawmakers, including Linehan,last week in hopes of striking alast-minute compromise amongthree issues: property tax relief,
New alternative would give state tax credit against localproperty tax credits paid by rural and urban landowners
ADDING THE ‘HEARTBEAT’TO THE HEARTWOOD PRESERVE
The first signs of a 40-acre town center — dubbed “The Row” — are to sprout on the west Omaha Heartwood Preserve
next year. As envisioned by Lanoha Real Estate Co., which is poised to buy the property from Applied Underwriters, the
estimated $500 million project will be done in four phases and bring four square blocks of offices, residences, retailers,
hotel rooms and more to the sprawling and emerging Heartwood Preserve near 144th Street and West Dodge Road. It is
designed to be the heartbeat and the most pedestrian-friendly piece of the former farmland. Story in Money
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Social distancing mattersIt makes the most difference incontaining the coronavirus, new
research finds. Page 8A
‘Going to be fantastic’With its baseball and softball
complex underway, UNO offers alook at what’s to come. Midlands
Kick-start at Werner ParkA crowd comes to see the homedebut of Union Omaha, the city’s
new pro soccer team. Sports
WeatherHigh: 79
Partly sunny, breezyLow: 55
Details: 10A
IndexClassifieds............6&7REJobs.......................6D, 8DObituaries.................5-7B
Opinion...................8&9BPuzzles .........................3ETV listings.....................7D
80 PAGES * $4.00
CORONAVIRUS CASESInfections Deaths
Nebraska 26,391 332Iowa 45,295 871U.S. 4,620,239 154,361
*As of 10 p.m. Saturday
WASHINGTON (AP) —Deep-pocketed and often anon-ymous donors are pouring over$100 million into an intensifyingdispute about whether it shouldbe easier to vote by mail, a fightthat could determine President
Donald Trump’s fate in the No-vember election.
In the battleground of Wiscon-sin, cash-strapped cities havereceived $6.3 million from an or-ganization with ties to left-wingphilanthropy to help expand vote
by mail. Meanwhile, a well-fund-ed conservative group best knownfor its focus on judicial appoint-ments is spending heavily to fightcases related to mail-in ballotingprocedures in court.
And that’s just a small slice ofthe overall spending, which islikely to swell far higher as theelection nears.
The massive effort by political
parties, super PACs and other or-ganizations to fight over whetherAmericans can vote by mail isremarkable considering the prac-tice has long been noncontrover-sial. But the coronavirus is forcingchanges to the way states conductelections and prompting activistsacross the political spectrum toseek an advantage, recognizing
Wealthy pour millions into fight over mail-in votingOften anonymous donors fuel intensifying disputeabout whether it should be easier to vote by mail
See Voting: Page 2
See Retirement: Page 2
See Property tax: Page 5
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Ta-Ha-Zouka ParkFree Park ‘N Ride from Elkhorn High
&NebraskaBalloon
Aug 7&8
Get tickets at: www.showofficeonline.com