Paul Hammel, Nebraska Examiner

That is, if someone can determine who actually owns the monument erected in 1923 to commemorate Hugh Glass, who crawled, limped and rafted 200 miles after being mauled by a bear and left for dead.

This week, a relative of famed author/poet John Neihardt, who led construction of the monument a century ago near Lemmon, South Dakota, pledged to make an ownership claim and seek permission to break into the concrete marker.

That way it could be determined if a time capsule and “original manuscript” left by Neihardt, along with other items of value, are inside.

‘We all love a mystery’

“Let’s do it,” said Coralie Hughes, a granddaughter of Neihardt — who died in 1973 and is Nebraska’s poet laureate “in perpetuity” as well as a member of the Nebraska Hall of Fame.

“We all love a mystery, and this is a good one,” Hughes added from her home in Indiana.

Neihardt wrote an epic poem about “the crawl” as he called it, and led a group of students and professors from the Nebraska Normal College (now Wayne State College) to northwest South Dakota in 1923, near the site where Glass was attacked a century earlier.

The author wrote in 1923 that he left a time capsule and an “original manuscript” in the “bosom” of the monument. He then challenged members of the “Neihardt Club” of the Nebraska Normal College to return in 100 years to open it, read passages from his poem and celebrate like mountain men would.

But in June, a group from Wayne State College that took up the challenge was rebuffed in its effort to discover what’s inside the Hugh Glass monument.

‘Can’t dig without permission’

“It would still be interesting to find out what’s in there, but you can’t dig without the state archeologist’s permission,” said Joseph Weixelman, the Wayne State Western studies professor who led the group to Lemmon in June.

Cassie Vogt, the South Dakota state archeologist, told the Examiner that there are two conundrums to resolve: who really owns the monument, and whether permission should be granted to crack into something with such historical value.

The monument was originally placed on a private ranch, but the land was acquired later by the federal Bureau of Reclamation to build a reservoir. The monument now sits on a campground managed by the South Dakota Game, Fish and Parks Commission.

But who owns the monument?

Neihardt, who led its construction, and his descendants? Wayne State College, whose club (now long disbanded) helped to build it? Or possibly the Neihardt State Historic Site, which was established to preserve and promote his legacy and works?

On Tuesday, Neihardt’s granddaughter said she’s ready to step up to see if her family can obtain permission to dig into the monument.

Important to discover what’s inside

“If it was important enough for my grandfather to put something in there, it is important enough to find out what it is,” Hughes said.

Hughes said one possible document to help confirm ownership by the Neihardt family would be papers creating the Neihardt Trust, which declared that anything produced by her grandfather would be property of the trust.

There are also photographs showing Neihardt leading the construction of the Hugh Glass monument, as well as Neihardt’s writings in the student newspaper describing what was done and challenging students to revisit it in 2023.

But when asked if that would be enough proof of ownership, an official with the South Dakota State Historical Society didn’t know.

The 1923 monument is not recorded by the Historical Society, said spokesman Kevin Larsen, so it’s clear the society does not own it.

“Someone interested in opening the monument would need the appropriate permissions to access it,” Larsen said.

Vogt, the South Dakota state archeologist, said it would ultimately be up to the Bureau of Reclamation and South Dakota parks agency — who own and manage the land on which the monument sits—- to jointly decide whether someone should break into the monument.

‘Sad to see it wrecked’

Not everyone is crazy about the idea.

LaQuita Shockley, the owner/editor of the Dakota Herald, based in Lemmon, said it would be a shame to destroy the monument only to find that what’s inside wasn’t that valuable.

There are also questions about whether flooding at the reservoir ruined any papers inside the time capsule.

“Is what’s encased in there worth destroying the monument?” Shockley asked. “It would be sad to see it wrecked.”

Lemmon plans to commemorate the 200th anniversary of the Hugh Glass story with a mountain man rendezvous, from Aug. 22-28.

Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Cate Folsom for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com. Follow Nebraska Examiner on Facebook and Twitter.

Terry Poland, 34, of Fremont, resigned as police chief in Oakland after the purchases were made public. He was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael Nelson for misuse of public funds.

The Nebraska Auditor’s Office, in a June 2022 audit, found that Poland had used 27 gift cards purchased with city funds to buy a series of personal items, including ice-fishing equipment, a wake surfboard and a $950 glass basketball backboard.

He had told Oakland officials that he was using the gift cards to buy ammunition for the police department.

Poland, according to the U.S. Attorne’s Office, also provided phony invoices about the purchases — invoices that were not issued by the store, with item numbers and item descriptions that did not match the store’s records.

Poland previously surrendered his state law enforcement license and paid $14,631 in restitution. He also agreed to not to work as a law enforcement officer in the future, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Cate Folsom for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com. Follow Nebraska Examiner on Facebook and Twitter.

Jeffrey Stenstrom, 42, and a now deceased associate, Brett Cook of Fremont, stole more than $5 million from clients of Darland Properties, an Omaha property management company, to fund lavish lifestyles, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Eugene Kowel, the special agent in charge of the Omaha FBI office, called it “a clear-cut case of greed.”

Stenstrom owned and operated commercial remodeling and repair businesses, and Brett Cook, the vice president of Darland Properties, directed jobs to Stenstrom’s firms, which, in turn, hired subcontractors to do the work.

But Stenstrom billed for work that was not done, overbilled other jobs and submitted inflated invoices to obtain insurance proceeds to which Darland was not entitled.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office, in a press release, said the fraud allowed Stenstrom to purchase expensive cars and homes, including a home in Queen Creek, Arizona, valued at $1 million, a Ferrari 488 Coupe valued at $200,000 to $300,000, a boat, a Jeep and a lake home in Fremont valued at $450,000.

U.S. District Court Judge Brian Buescher sentenced Stenstrom to 30 months in prison for income tax evasion and 78 months for conspiracy to commit money laundering, terms to be served concurrently.

Stenstrom was also ordered to pay $5.1 million to victims who were clients of Darland Properties and $1.9 million to the Internal Revenue Service.

Cook killed himself in May 2022, shortly after the FBI searched his home.

Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Cate Folsom for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com. Follow Nebraska Examiner on Facebook and Twitter.

In a report released Tuesday, Doug Koebernick, the inspector general for corrections, said the use of force was excessive and unnecessary in dealing with a mentally ill inmate, with whom prison staff had previous experience.

“This was a disturbing event,” the inspector general wrote. “Although this event took place in 2021, it was important to release it in order to promote accountability within the system and to assist with identifying any possible reforms related to this incident and similar incidents.”

Acting director shared concern

In January, Diane Sabatka-Rine, then the acting director of state corrections, wrote a formal response, saying that she shared the IG’s concern about the mishandling of the disturbance. She said that the actions of staff do not represent the mission or values of the department.

State prison administrators, Sabatka-Rine said, were not made aware of an earlier incident involving the inmate, in December 2020, and had they been, matters “would have been addressed.”

Koebernick, in a 26-page report, said he was unaware of the incident until meeting the inmate, who was covered in welts and bruises, about two months afterwards in a special management unit cell at Tecumseh.

He learned of an earlier excessive force incident involving the inmate in December 2020, in which staff fired more than 100 rounds of rubber bullets, pepper balls and chemical agents in an attempt to bring the combative inmate under control.

The report said there was a lack of leadership and a violation of policy in the June 2021 incident, and despite the inmate’s history of mental illness, there was “minimal” involvement of mental health staff. Three rubber bullets became lodged under the inmate’s skin in the disturbance which lasted “several hours.”

Involve mental health staff

The December 2020 incident, the report said, should have resulted in a better response months later.

Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Cate Folsom for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com. Follow Nebraska Examiner on Facebook and Twitter.

Pillen, in a press release Tuesday, said the aim of the billboards was to “destroy Nebraska’s way of life by shutting down our state’s largest industry – livestock.”

“As the Governor of Nebraska, I will always stand and defend our businesses, farmers and ranchers against radical activists who value cheap stunts over bettering the lives of Nebraskans,” he said in the release.

The billboards were erected by the Washington, D.C.-based Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine beginning two weeks ago. Pillen and his family own the Pillen Family Farms hog complexes.

They criticize Pillen for the “suffocating stench” generated by “factory farms” and call on him to shift the state to more plant-based, climate friendly agriculture.

The physicians group, which says it has 35 members in Nebraska, promotes a vegetarian diet on its website.

Pillen, in his press release, said the physician’s group failed to acknowledge the “significant economic benefits” from cattle, hogs, dairy and poultry production in the state.

Nebraska has more cattle than people and ranks No. 2 in the nation for cattle on feed. In 2017, the state’s agricultural sector contributed $25.7 billion to Nebraska’s gross state product, or 21.6% of the total, according to the University of Nebraska.

Pillen is the first active farmer elected governor in more than a century.

In 2000, 18 residents who lived near some of Pillen’s hog-confinement operations in Nance and Boone Counties filed a lawsuit, alleging that the hog sites were a nuisance that generated “unbearable” odors. A judge ordered Pillen to take steps to mitigate the odors.

The Examiner reached out to the governor Jan. 9 but he had no comment at that time.

Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Cate Folsom for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com. Follow Nebraska Examiner on Facebook and Twitter.

LINCOLN — First Lady Susanne Shore is doubling down on her support for the Democrat in the 1st Congressional District race, State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks.

In a video released Tuesday, Shore — who doesn’t share her husband’s Republican Party affiliation — formally endorsed the Lincoln legislator, highlighting their shared passion for children.

‘A person in their corner’

“I’m passionate about helping all of our children thrive and succeed: mine, yours and those across Nebraska,” Shore said in the video. “I want to make sure those who can’t always advocate for themselves have a person in their corner fighting for them.”

“Patty is exactly the type of leader I would be proud to call my congresswoman,” Shore added.

Shore, a trained nurse, has been an advocate for child welfare even before her husband, Gov. Pete Ricketts, was elected in 2014.

The two are backing opposing candidates in the race to replace U.S. Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, who resigned this spring after being convicted of lying to federal agents investigating illegal, foreign campaign contributions.

Endorsed in June

In June, Shore, a registered Democrat, endorsed Pansing Brooks via Twitter and contributed financially to her campaign.

That came five months after Ricketts, as well as former GOP Gov. Dave Heineman, had endorsed State Sen. Mike Flood of Norfolk, a former speaker of the Legislature, in the 1st District race.

In Tuesday’s video, Shore said that Pansing Brooks, a lawyer, was a legislator who “has proven that she will always use her voice to fight for not only those kids and their families, but for all Nebraskans.”

Shore cited the senator’s work to guarantee legal counsel for young people in the juvenile justice system and her advocacy for survivors of heinous sex trafficking crimes.

Child welfare work

Shore, a native of Oklahoma, earned a master’s degree in business, along with a nursing degree. She worked as a nurse at Omaha’s St. Joseph’s Hospital before staying home to raise her children.

During the past decade, she has served on the board of the Child Saving Institute, including two years as chair. More recently, she has been a board member of the Nebraska Families Collaborative and a volunteer, court-appointed special advocate for at-risk children in Douglas County.

Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Cate Folsom for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com. Follow Nebraska Examiner on Facebook and Twitter.

NOW WATCH: 'The GOP is reaching into the American people's pockets and stealing their hard-earned benefits': Threats to US social networks

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Loren Lippincott was helping his father clear some land with a bulldozer out in the Sandhills when suddenly, a F-4 Phantom jet roared overhead.

They waved to get the pilot’s attention, and the pilot, likely based out of Lincoln, obliged, cutting a tight turn and performing an aerial roll overhead, before blasting off over the horizon.

“He was so low we could see his helmet,” Lippincott said. “I said, ‘That is what I want to do.’”

The native of a Central City farm realized his dream and then some.

Lippincott joined the Air Force after graduating from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He passed the rigorous exams and training required of a fighter pilot and became a Top Gun — a real Top Gun for his squadron out of Germany, with the call name, “Lips.”

“I will never forget the feeling I had when strapping into the single seat F-16 for my first solo flight in a $20 million jet,” Lippincott said. “I thought, ‘The government of the U.S.A. is trusting me with this jet. Do it right.’”

Movie done well

Now 67, “Lips” recently saw the new movie, “Top Gun: Maverick.” He said it was well done, depicting many of the sensational training maneuvers required of fighter pilots as they work to achieve the highest scores, and Top Gun status, in skills such as dogfighting and bombing accuracy.

But Hollywood strayed from real life, Lippincott said, in depicting rivalries, clashes of ego and fights between the elite fighter pilots — conflicts that took a larger role in the original Top Gun film in 1986.

“There is no combative camaraderie, there is harmony in camaraderie,” he said. “You are fighting together as brothers.”

“It’s one for all and all for one,” said Lippincott, who has returned to the family farm north of Central City after retiring as a pilot for Delta Airlines.

Dogfights now long range

He added that while the close-contact dogfights depicted in “Top Gun: Maverick” do happen, much aerial combat these days is done at long range, up to 30 miles away, with radar-guided missiles.

How do you become a real Top Gun?

It takes perseverance, tenacity, discipline and some restraint, he said.

“Do not give up … do not listen to naysayers. Go after it,” he said.

For Lippincott, it started with his parents, Dick and Rosalie Lippincott, who decided later in life to learn how to fly.

He was 9 years old when his dad, who hadn’t yet earned his pilot’s license, took him on a “taxi” ride around the Central City airport.

Dad taught him

Eventually, Lippincott’s father was teaching his son how to fly a Cessna 182 the family purchased along with the local doctor.

The family regularly took trips to area air shows. An airstrip was established on an alfalfa field at the home place. By age 14, he was skydiving out of the Cessna with an older brother, Randy, who went on to become a Green Beret, as well as a skydiving instructor.

At UNL, Lippincott studied broadcasting and worked his way through college by working at Lincoln radio and TV stations. He also worked for then-Secretary of State Allen Beermann and hawked snacks during NU football games.

He didn’t think he could qualify as a pilot, believing that you needed to be a math “genius.”

‘Grueling’ training

But Lippincott eventually learned that wasn’t quite the case, and by 1980, he took the pilot’s test amid a push by the Air Force for more pilots. He said he passed, in part, because he already knew how to fly..

To become a military pilot, you must be an officer and must pass 50 weeks of training that Lippincott described as “grueling” and “drinking from a fire hose.” Only 39 pilots in his class of 63 graduated.

After qualifying over four months on a T-6 Texas training plane, he said he advanced to a two-seater supersonic jet, a T-38.

After training, he became an instructor pilot at Vance Air Force Base in Oklahoma before joining a fighter pilot squadron at Ramstein Air Base in Germany. He underwent a year of training, on T-38s and F-16s, to learn basic bombing and fighter maneuvers, before joining his squadron.

‘Slinging’ a nuke

Lippincott said you learn how to hook up with a refueling tanker at 25,000 feet, drop bombs at various steep and shallow angles, and fire the 20 millimeter guns on an F-16, which spit out 100 rounds a second.

There’s a lot of extra training, he said, on how to drop and activate atomic bombs. One maneuver involves “slinging” an atomic bomb three to four miles away when it’s released, Lippincott said, to give your jet more distance to escape the blast zone.

Another skill was dealing with the extreme gravity forces in a supersonic jet fighter. So-called G-forces can reach 9Gs in a jet, compared to 3G or 4G on a roller-coaster ride, Lippincott said, which makes your head and helmet feel like they weigh 135 pounds instead of 15.

“After an hour of dogfighting, your flight suit is sweaty and stinky, and you are physically tired,” he said. The new Top Gun movie depicts pilots grunting and groaning, Lippincott said, to increase their blood pressure.

Keep from passing out

“It keeps you from passing out. Obviously important,” he said.

Fighter pilots, as the movie showed, also wear “G-suits” which, when inflated, compress the legs and lower torso to keep blood from pooling there. That diverts the blood flow to the head, torso and eyes, to avoid unconsciousness or losing your vision, Lippincott said.

For 20 months, he was the “Top Gun” of his 24-plane fighter jet unit at Ramstein, meaning he was the best in dogfighting and in accuracy of test bomb runs.

He left the Air Force in 1990 as a captain, seizing an opportunity for better pay and family life as a pilot for Delta, based out of Dallas-Fort Worth and Atlanta.

Lippincott returned to the family farm after retiring from Delta two years ago, and is now a candidate for State Legislature.

Running for Legislature

He advanced from the May primary and will face Michael Reimers of Central City in the November election to replace State Sen. Curt Friesen of Henderson, who was term-limited.

Just as in becoming an elite fighter pilot, there’s a lot to learn as a politician, he said.

The Nebraska tax system, Lippincott said, “makes the wiring diagram of an F-16 look easy.”

Overall, he said he misses flying the fast jets. He expects the new Top Gun movie to inspire others, as he was inspired, to pursue a career as a military pilot.

What’s his advice for aspiring Top Guns?

“Just keep your nose to the grindstone and work to be your best, and you will be your best,” Lippincott said.

Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Cate Folsom for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com. Follow Nebraska Examiner on Facebook and Twitter.

A sometimes fiery debate erupted Wednesday in the State Legislature over whether Nebraska schoolchildren are learning enough about slavery and genocide.

The discussion was spiced by complaints about the power of the governor.

The dialogue came over the last bill to be considered for passage by state lawmakers in the 2022 session, a measure designed to ensure that the state’s students are taught about “the Holocaust and other acts of genocide.”

State Sen. Jen Day of Gretna said that Legislative Bill 888 was the culmination of years of work designed to make sure that Nebraskans are aware of the horrors of the Holocaust, the murder of 6 million Jews at the hands of the Nazis during World War II.

Wayne seeks amendment

But just before the final vote on the bill was taken Wednesday, Omaha Sen. Justin Wayne objected. He sought to delay the vote so that lawmakers could re-attach his amendment to also include education about “slavery in America” and “massacres of Native Americans.”

Wayne had won 31-0 approval of a similar amendment to the bill April 7, but the amendment was stripped out of the bill Monday after Day said that she had been told the governor would veto LB 888 if the Wayne amendment was included.

There was also a procedural problem, Day said: Bills deemed speaker priority bills cannot be amended, and the Speaker of the Legislature, Sen. Mike Hilgers, told her LB 888 would not be scheduled for approval if the Wayne amendment remained.

The Gretna senator said that she supported what Wayne was trying to accomplish but that she was unwilling to let the Holocaust bill die because of his amendment. She tearfully described the stories of two Jews executed by the Nazis during the war.

Custom to withdraw amendment

Several other senators sided with Day, saying Wayne could come back next year and win passage of legislation about slavery and genocide of Native Americans. Others said it was customary for a senator to withdraw an amendment if it threatened the underlying bill.

Fremont Sen. Lynne Walz, who chairs the Education Committee, added that Nebraska schools are already teaching kids about the Holocaust, slavery and Native Americans and that LB 888 ensures only that they won’t drop such instruction.

But Wayne said that it was wrong to “pick winners and losers” among races subjected to genocide. He said it was cowardly of the Legislature to bow down to the threat of a veto by Gov. Pete Ricketts.

“When things get tough, it seems like people always disappear,” Wayne said.

The biracial senator added that he had once been called the N-word by some schoolchildren visiting the State Capitol and another time was mistaken for Hispanic and told to “go back to where you came from,” illustrating the need for education about racism.

When asked about the controversy earlier in the day, Ricketts said the decision to strip out the Wayne amendment was a procedural matter decided by the Speaker of the Legislature, Sen. Mike Hilgers.

The governor did say that his aides had pointed out the procedural problem.

Ricketts denied that his opposition to the racism amendment was inspired by his campaign against teaching of critical race theory in Nebraska schools and universities.

CRT, the governor has written, is an attack on the American goal of a “more perfect union” and should be banned from being taught. Defenders of CRT say it is a theory, taught only in graduate-level college classes and not in K-12 schools, that acknowledges racism is embedded in institutions and the history of the country.

‘Ridiculous political talking point’

Omaha Sen. Megan Hunt defended Day’s bill, saying it would strike a blow against white supremacists. Sen. Machaela Cavanaugh said she was disappointed by “the reach” of the governor’s office and the ”ridiculous political talking point of CRT.”

“We should be treating our history for what it is and acknowledge the mistakes of our past,” Cavanaugh said.

North Omaha Sen. Terrell McKinney spoke in favor of reattaching the racism amendment, saying “we will never learn unless we get the full history of our nation.”

But in the end, the goal of saving the Holocaust bill won out, and senators voted down Wayne’s attempt to reinstate his amendment, giving LB 888 final approval, 40-1. Henderson Sen. Curt Friesen was the sole “no” vote. Wayne was present but not voting.

Other bills given final-round approval on Wednesday included:

• LB 876, which allows casinos initially to be established at the state’s six existing horse racetracks. Any other communities seeking to open a casino would have to conduct a comprehensive study on the impacts of more gambling and an additional racetrack, a study that could take months to complete. The communities would also need approval from the State Racing Commission.
• LB 921, which would give higher priority to be admitted to the Lincoln Regional Center for treatment for criminal defendants deemed incompetent to stand trial. Omaha Sen. Steve Lathrop has labeled it “inhumane” to let such mentally ill defendants languish in county jails.
• LB 1173, which ends Nebraska’s failed experiment with privatizing management of child welfare services in the Omaha area. The privatization effort culminated in the cancellation of a contract last year with St. Francis Ministries. The Nebraska Appleseed Center, which had sued to halt the experiment, hailed the bill as “historic.”
• LB 927, which will double the state’s investment in paying off debts incurred by the CHI Health Center arena in Omaha and the Liberty First Credit Union Arena in Ralston. The two arenas are seeking to build parking structures to replace the loss of surface parking lots. The bill ups the amount of state “turnback” sales taxes generated in the vicinity of the Omaha arena from up to $75 million to $150 million. The Ralston arenas turnback goes from $50 million to $100 million.

Editor’s note: This story has been revised to correct the details of the final vote.

Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Cate Folsom for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com. Follow Nebraska Examiner on Facebook and Twitter.

A seven-week investigation into actions of former State Sen. Mike Groene of North Platte has concluded that his behavior was “boorish, brainless and bizarre,” but not illegal.

Groene, who had served six years in the Nebraska Legislature, resigned in February shortly after allegations surfaced that he had allegedly taken sexually inappropriate photographs of a female legislative aide.

A report issued Wednesday concluded that the Groene’s actions were “wholly unprofessional and inappropriate,” and while all photos of the aide pictured her fully clothed, one labeled “rear tight” appeared to have been zoomed in on her buttocks.

Senator apologized

Groene, an often outspoken and fiery populist, has denied that photos were sexual in nature. He said that he had apologized to the aide, Kristina Konecko, for taking pictures of her without her permission and deleted the photos.

In a statement issued later Wednesday, Groene said that he did “nothing unlawful” and that an aide and legislative staff had “broken into my personal work computer” and invaded his privacy.

“I was given bad advice from the Executive Board Chairman, Speaker, and Governor to consider resigning without due process,” Groene wrote. “In retrospect, I should not have.”

“Americans have rights to their privacy, but apparently not in the Nebraska Legislature,” he wrote.

24-page report

On Wednesday, State Sen. Anna Wishart of Lincoln stood up on the floor of the Legislature to read an executive summary of an investigation undertaken by a Lincoln attorney hired by the Legislature to look into the matter.

The Nebraska Examiner later obtained a 24-page report prepared by the attorney, Tara Paulson.

Paulson interviewed 10 witnesses — legislative employees and state senators — after being hired Feb. 28 to determine whether Groene’s actions were “unlawful sexual discrimination or harassment.”

No evidence photos were shared

The attorney also reviewed 50 photographs Konecko had discovered while working on Groene’s laptop computer.

The photos, which were not included as part of the report, all pictured the aide fully clothed, according to Paulson, and were taken, with one exception, in Groene’s legislative office. They contained “cryptic” subject lines like “Blondie” and “Pageboy,” but another was labeled “legs.”

Focused on buttocks

One image, labeled “rear tight,” appeared to the aide “to have been zoomed in and focused on her buttocks,” the report stated. It was among some of the images sent from Groene’s legislative computer to his personal email account.

Paulson concluded that Groene took the photos without the knowledge or consent of his aide but found no evidence that he had shared the pictures with others.

Paulson said she found no evidence that Groene engaged in any “inappropriate touching or sexual propositions,” yet they were clearly “unprofessional predilections” that he unsuccessfully tried to keep private. His conduct, she wrote, was something that in the private sector would have resulted in some sort of reprimand, up to termination.

‘Boorish, brainless, bizarre’

“Mr. Groene’s actions … can be described as “boorish, brainless and bizarre. But they do not rise to the level of sexual harassment under applicable law or the policy,” Paulson concluded.

Had the 66-year-old senator not resigned, he would have faced a “reprimand, censure or expulsion” by his colleagues, Paulson said.

The report stated that that Groene did not respond to questions from Paulson. Grone’s attorney, J.L. Spray of Lincoln, citing his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination. The report also stated that Groene had not participated in workplace harassment training provided by the Legislature.

State Patrol probe ongoing

Paulson added that the Nebraska State Patrol is conducting a parallel investigation that is looking at evidence that she was not permitted to view or evaluate.

Because of that, she said, she reserved the right to reopen her probe and “re-evaluate my conclusions.”

A spokesman for the Nebraska State Patrol said Wednesday that its investigation is ongoing.

‘Objectifying and demeaning’

Konecko had first verbally complained Feb. 4 about Groene’s actions, after discovering the photographs on his laptop computer.

She had described the photos as “objectifying and demeaning” to reporters and said some were “zoom-closeups of provocative body parts with explicit subject lines.”

Yet, according to Paulson’s report, she initially desired to keep an investigation of the matter confidential and to seek an “informal resolution” of her complaints, which is allowed under legislative workplace harassment policies.

But Konecko, according to the report, changed her mind after Groene filed as a candidate for University of Nebraska regent on Feb. 15, feeling that the senator “was not taking the informal resolution process seriously.”

That led to stories in the Nebraska Sunrise News, Nebraska Examiner and other news media.

Konecko, in a statement to the Nebraska Examiner Wednesday evening, said that filing the complaint was one of the “most difficult things I’ve ever done.”

“It was like betraying a friend,” she said. “I appreciate and am grateful to Mr. Groene hiring me all those years ago. Earning his trust was like a badge of honor for me.”

Paulson’s report said the chairman of the Legislature’s Executive Board, Sen. Dan Hughes, had responded appropriately once he learned of the complaint, immediately launching a confidential investigation.

Once the news media reported the complaints and Konecko’s name became public, Hughes asked the aide to file a formal complaint.

In her report, Paulson made several recommendations on how to improve the workplace harassment policies of the Legislature, including centralizing human relations functions for legislative workers.

Nebraska Examiner is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Nebraska Examiner maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Cate Folsom for questions: info@nebraskaexaminer.com. Follow Nebraska Examiner on Facebook and Twitter.