UPDATE: The University of Nebraska has closed ALL campus offices to non essential employees for the next two weeks.
UPDATE: Case-New Holland is halting production at their Grand Island plant due to coronavirus. The plant will shut down Friday.
UPDATE: The American Legion baseball World Series in August along with the regional qualifying tournaments have been cancelled due to the Coronavirus. Many states also canceled their regular seasons yesterday. Nebraska is not one of those states. Legion baseball Officials in Nebraska continue monitoring the situation and are looking at options to play the season with an adjusted schedule.
All Nebraska counties are in a Directed Health Measure enforcing limits on gathering sizes, among other restrictions.
Nebraska State Patrol troopers have ramped up their efforts to ensure that residents are following the state’s new social distancing rules to fight the coronavirus. The patrol has redirected some of its troopers from traffic enforcement because there aren’t as many motorists on the road.
Grand Island High School has moved their May 17th graduation to online. Go to www.gips.org
CHI Health locations in Kearney and Grand Island have officially gone to a No Visitor policy until further notice. Only the Emergency Room Entrance remains open at this time.
The University of Nebraska at Kearney announced that a combined commencement for both spring and summer 2020 graduates will occur at UNK Health and Sports Center on July 31. With a scheduled May 8 commencement for spring graduates and uncertainty over allowed crowd sizes, combining spring and summer exercises enables maximum opportunity for graduates who are able to join in a celebration ceremony and walk across the stage. All May 2020 graduates will be listed in a traditional commencement program that will be downloadable and posted on a special commencement website, and also mailed to the graduates – along with their diploma. May and July graduates can get direct access to information about the ceremony and how to report their planned participation by visiting the website unk.edu/about/commencement.
UNL, UNMC, and UNO have canceled Spring Commencement. UNL’s was scheduled for May 8-9. This year’s college graduates will be given the option to participate in future commencement ceremonies, including the Aug. 15 summer commencement and the Dec. 18-19 winter commencement ceremonies, also slated for Pinnacle Bank Arena. Graduates will also have the opportunity to participate in spring 2021 commencement events. For those wanting to still participate this year, UNL will hold an online livestream with the originally scheduled speaker — Husker volleyball coach John Cook — and allow graduates to tell the university how they feel about completing their degree.
The Nebraska National Guard is providing tents to help with COVID-19 testing in Kearney. NTV News reports tents are being added at Family Practice and Buffalo County Emergency Management has requested tents for Kearney Regional Medical Center. Gov. Pete Ricketts has added 12 panhandle counties to his DHM shutting down dining areas and enforcing limits on gathering sizes. 30 Nebraska counties are now under Directed Health Measures.
The Nebraska game and Parks commission has suspended the sale of nonresident spring turkey permits.
The April 9th Granger Smith concert at UNK has been canceled. Those who have purchased tickets will receive refund. Inquire at 308.865.1563 or lopertickets@unk.edu.
Nebraska State Tax Day moved back to July 15th
Live horse racing at Fonner Park has resumed without spectators. www.fonnerpark.com for more.
Kane Brown’s May 7th concert in Lincoln has been postponed to September 10th.
The Big Ten has suspended ALL athletic activities now until May 4th. This affects the University of Nebraska Lincoln athletic department.