Nebraska Tidbits

I'm just posting two more news thingies for those interested:

First, most of you living in Nebraska probably already know this, but others don't: Our state made history during the presidential election this month. Nebraska is one of only two states (Maine is the other) that does not have to give all 5 of their electoral votes to the person who wins the majority in a presidential election. In all other states, if the state's popular vote is 51% to 49% then ALL of the electoral votes go to the person who got 51%. This year is apparently the first time that Nebraska's electoral votes were ever divided. You can read articles about this HERE, HERE and HERE and a lot of other places if you Google "electoral votes AND Nebraska".

Second, the horrible LB 157 that I blogged about a few weeks ago has continued to spiral downward. The most recent article, published just two hours ago, is: "NEBRASKA FEARS RUSH TO DROP OFF KIDS BEFORE HAVEN LAW CHANGE." A few interesting quotes from this latest article:

"Nebraska officials said they're concerned about an apparent rush by parents to drop their teenage children off at hospitals before lawmakers change the state's troubled "safe haven" law."

"Nebraska was the last state in the country to pass such a law. But every other state included an age limit."

"Of the 34 children who have been dropped off at hospitals, officials said not one has been an infant."

"All but six have been older than 10, according to a Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services analysis."

"Parents have traveled into Nebraska from Michigan, Indiana, Iowa, Florida and Georgia."

"On Thursday, a boy, 14, and his 17-year-old sister were dropped off at an Omaha hospital; the girl ran away from the hospital, officials said. A 5-year-old boy was left by his mother at a different hospital, officials said. The day before, a father flew in from Miami, Florida, to leave his teenage son at a hospital, officials said."

"Please don't bring your teenager to Nebraska," Gov. Dave Heineman told CNN. "Think of what you are saying. You are saying you no longer support them. You no longer love them."

And finally, the understatement of the century:

"I think this has spurred some really healthy conversations about how do parents get the help that they need when they are struggling with some of these parenting issues..."

May God bless all these precious children, young and old.