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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Aug 7&8

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