Daily Minute: Abortion petition spending; LPD license plate readers; county bilingual employee pay

Good morning, Lincoln. Here's what you should know today.

Record spending on abortion petitions

The fight over abortion access playing out on Nebraska's ballot this year is already the most expensive ballot question race in state history as the two groups vying to amend the state's constitution have combined to raise nearly $25 million ahead of Tuesday's election.

Billionaires and obscure nonprofits have poured millions of dollars into the fight in the last 10 days alone as Nebraskans become the first voters in the country to face an either-or vote on abortion access.

LPD expanding use of license plate readers

Lincoln Police Department Chief Michon Morrow on Friday announced that the department plans to mount license plate readers on all of its police cruisers.

During a seven-month trial, LPD was able to locate 30 stolen vehicles and a homicide suspect with help from the plate readers, the police chief said.

Currently 20 cruisers have plate readers installed. Plate readers can be used in many ways, such as checking to see if a registration has expired, but Morrow said LPD will only allow them to alert officers in cases of missing persons, homicides and stolen vehicles.

County may pay bilingual employees more

Lancaster County is considering a policy that would compensate bilingual employees who use that skill as part of their jobs.

The policy would require employees to pass a proficiency test in the second language. They would be paid an extra $100 a month.

The policy under consideration by the county would not include interpreters, whose job is specifically to interpret.

That's it for Monday, Nov. 4 Stay in the know with Lincoln's longest-standing news source at Journal Star.com and we will see you back here on Tuesday.