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    Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen says he'll keep his promise to call a special legislative session this summer to push lawmakers to find a fix for soaring property taxes. Pillen said Thursday on the last day of this year's regular session that he “will call as many sessions as it takes." The bill introduced at his request would have raised the state’s sales tax to 6.5%. It also would have expanded the number of goods and services taxed to items like candy, soda and digital advertising. The bill was pulled for a lack of support before a final vote could be taken.

      A video of people pulling bear cubs from a tree in North Carolina has prompted an investigation, but a state official says no charges will be filed. The North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission says staff responded to a report of people harassing bear cubs at an Asheville apartment complex on Tuesday. Staffers learned that the two cubs escaped after one bit a person. Officials say one cub was found later in a retention pond but the second wasn't found. In the video, people are not only seen pulling cubs from a tree, but one person poses for a photo while holding one of the wild animals, then drops the cub, who runs for a nearby fence.

        Complaints about pregnant women being turned away from emergency rooms spiked in the months after states began enacting strict abortion laws following the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade. The cases are detailed in federal documents obtained by The Associated Press and raise serious questions about the state of emergency pregnancy care in the U.S. Federal law requires emergency rooms to stabilize patients who are in active labor and provide a medical transfer to another hospital if they don’t have the staff or resources to treat them. The Supreme Court is set to hear arguments next week in an Idaho case that could weaken those federal protections.

          The Federal Aviation Administration says it will investigate after a flight at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport was instructed to cross a runway where another flight was starting its takeoff. The FAA says a JetBlue flight was starting its takeoff roll on Thursday morning, when an air traffic controller instructed a Southwest Airlines flight to cross the same runway. Southwest Airlines Flight 2937 was bound for Orlando, Florida, and JetBlue flight 1554 was bound for Boston. JetBlue says the flight aborted takeoff because of another aircraft trying to cross the runway, and it will work with federal officials as the event is investigated. Southwest says it’s working with the FAA to "fully understand the circumstances.”

            Zedan Racing Stables has appealed a Kentucky Circuit Court ruling that denied its request for a temporary injunction seeking to allow Bob Baffert-trained Arkansas Derby winner Muth to race in next month’s 150th Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Jefferson Circuit Judge Mitch Perry on Thursday denied the injunction and expressed concern about having to remove eligible horses from the milestone Derby on May 4 to accommodate the colt trained by the suspended Hall of Famer. The appeal stated that by excluding a horse for reasons other than qualifications and merit, Churchill Downs Inc. is “skewing the Derby and casting a cloud over the ultimate ‘winner.'’’

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