The Missouri River Historical Development group annually gives out its largest financial grant of up to $1 million to a deserving area project.
On Thursday, MRHD gave a $1 million grant to Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Sioux City, in order to address the shortage of mental health services for children and families.
Catholic Charities officials are planning to build a $3.2 million wing covering 7,200 square feet onto their existing facility on Military Road in Sioux City. Catholic Charities over the last three years has seen a substantial increase in the needs for mental health services for children from ages 4 to 18.
The Angeline Wing will enable Catholic Charities to reach more than 100 children annually with youth mental health and substance use disorders outpatient services.
The MRHD Economic Development Match Grant is a competitive grant opportunity that provides awards ranging from $250,000 up to $1 million for projects within Woodbury County that show high levels of collaboration.
MRHD is the non-profit organization that holds the license for gaming in Woodbury County with Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
*Additionally, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion offices in Siouxland public universities keep closing down, and the one at the University of Nebraska is the latest.
University of Nebraska Chancellor Rodney Bennett said UNL will dissolve its Office of Diversity and Inclusion and eliminate the vice chancellor position that directed its efforts. That step received praise from Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen on Wednesday said in a statement that he agrees with that step.
Further, Pillen said the office should never have opened in the first place.
“The University of Nebraska should be open and equally welcoming to people of all races and creeds, focused on discipline, excellence and integrity, not race-based DEI,” he said.
Such DEI offices have drawn much criticism nationally from Republican leaders such as Pillen. Supporters of diversity initiatives in colleges say it encourages open-mindedness and a level of cultural competence needed to develop inclusive, safe, and equitable environments for all students.
The presidents of Iowa’s three public universities in late April announced they will fully follow Iowa Board of Regents directives on diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
The board in November 2023 called on universities to abandon DEI programming deemed unnecessary for accreditation or compliance. All three universities closed their DEI offices by July 1.
*In other news, the Nebraska Legislature concluded its special session this week, approving a much slimmed-down plan for property tax relief, amid calls for lawmakers to address the subject again next year.
Governor. Jim Pillen had called the state lawmakers together to consider his plan, which he said would cut property taxes in half.
What they approved instead after four weeks of talks will cut property taxes overall by about 3 percent, and would not affect most people. Still, Pillen said for those it would affect, it was good news, so he signed the bill on Wednesday.
The bill would expand an existing property tax credit to replace an income tax credit.
Currently, property owners pay their bill, then they can get a credit for part of it when they file their income tax, which reduces how much they owe. The bill the Legislature passed, LB34, would reduce property tax bills when they’re sent out, rather than making people file for a credit later.
The expanded credit would cost about $185 million, paid for by taking unused cash from state agency budgets.
Originally, Pillen had proposed a much larger cut, paid for by imposing sales tax on currently untaxed goods and services ranging from pop and candy to car and home repairs, as well as increased taxes on liquor and cigarettes. But that was met with a wave of opposition.
State Senator Danielle Conrad, a leading critic of Pillen’s proposal, said the burden of new taxes would have fallen on people who could not afford them.
