Grassroots Matt

At yesterday's campaign kickoff for Mark Martinez, Democratic candidate for Douglas County sheriff, Omaha Mayor John Ewing said in his endorsement, "We need someone who won't come into the city of Omaha like an occupying army." Read more here.

Democrats are pushing back against ICE and immigration enforcement, both at protests across the nation and in Nebraska. I got to ask Sen. Pete Ricketts about it yesterday. Read more here.

We took a family trip this weekend to see the Sandhill Crane migration near Kearney, Nebraska. While observing a large flock close to the Rowe Sanctuary, we spotted a rare Whooping Crane mixed in among them! There are only about 550–600 left in the wild.

The race for Nebraska's Secretary of State is heating up — and election integrity has taken center stage. Read about it here.

A few years ago, conservatives had a boycott against Bud Light for going woke. Now Democrats are having their turn with a beer boycott in support of a strike against Premier Midwest Beer & Beverage.

An actual Christian would recognize Galatians 2:20.

I met my wife at a swing dance back in 2006. This used to be such a normal, regular thing, and in some special places out there, it still is. Thank you, @OmahaJitterbugs.

@DoctorLemma Those heady days of YTMND were wild and glorious.

23 years ago, a Panamanian musician recorded a mumbled, gibberish placeholder vocal for a song. He planned to get back to it later to write actual lyrics, but the rough demo circulated online. Another internet user combined the audio with a looping video of actor Adam West dancing as Batman, which amplified the track into a full meme phenomenon. Seeing the massive viral reaction, the producers officially released the song with the original gibberish left completely intact. It became so popular that it made the top 20 on the official UK Singles Chart.

My latest for the @Plains_Sentinel x.com/Plains_Sentine…

At the Pachyderm Luncheon yesterday, Secretary of State Bob Evnen shared a photograph taken in Ogallala by his deputy secretary Cindi Allen. It shows a long line of semi-trucks, every trailer stacked with large hay bales. They're headed into the burned-out areas of western Nebraska affected by wildfires that burned through 700,000 acres — more than 1,100 square miles. Tens of thousands of head of livestock were killed. A woman lost her life trying to flee her home. Families lost their homes, their barns, their livestock, their livelihoods — everything. Nobody ordered those trucks. Nobody ordered that hay. Nobody was paid a dime. These are people who showed up and did this entirely on their own. "That’s the generosity of Americans, the generosity of Nebraskans, to take care of their neighbors when they're in trouble," Evnen said. "Seeing that photograph was restorative, gives you a little faith and confidence in humankind. We still have the values and the principles and the virtues in mind in our state with our kids. So, through this terrible catastrophe, I hope that you can take a little bit of comfort in the state of the world from what our people are doing to help our people."

If you've driven on I-80 just west of the Platte River, then you've probably seen the "Trump Barn." Yesterday, its Trump banner unexpectedly came down. I chatted with the owner to find out more.

The "Trump Barn" banner unexpectedly came down Sunday -- @rightcheer is on the case.

Property taxes remain a front-burner issue for voters every election cycle, yet little is being done about them outside of ballot initiatives from the "second house." Even those efforts are struggling to gain real momentum this year. Read my assessment in the @Plains_Sentinel.

At a town hall event on Monday, state senator and congressional candidate John Cavanaugh spoke about Social Security. In particular, he expressed concerns over reports of potential leaked data from the administration that he fears could be used for political retribution. Read more here: rightcheer.com/john-cavanaugh…

At the Pachyderm Luncheon on Monday, @BrinkerHarding expressed optimism about his road to the general election, particularly with a Democratic party fracturing in six or seven different pieces during the primary. Read my take here.

Harding Sees Opening with Dem Infighting in CD-2 plains-sentinel.com/p/harding-sees…

My latest piece for the @Plains_Sentinel today.

The rumor of Denise Powell filming ads this weekend is no longer just a rumor. A source confirmed today that her campaign rented the Scottish Rite Masonic Center in downtown Omaha yesterday afternoon, where they filmed a series of ads on its stage with a professional film crew.

The CD2 race is heating up, and in the Democratic primary, rumor has it that it may start getting ugly. Read my latest in The @Plains_Sentinel.

Lynne Walz, the Democratic challenger to Republican incumbent Gov. Jim Pillen, held a town hall in Millard yesterday. I had a one-on-one conversation with her afterward about the state budget deficit, property taxes, and culture-war issues in the Legislature. Read more here.