Daily Minute: Voter turnout down; affordable housing project celebrated; state volleyball underway

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

Voter turnout down

About 74% of the state's registered voters showed up to the polls Tuesday to vote on federal, state and local races, slightly lower than in 2020. Turnout in Lancaster County also was lower than it was four years ago.

Among the consequential races were several seats in the Nebraska Legislature. While both parties lost incumbents and flipped seats, it appears Republicans will have 33 members in the nonpartisan body, giving them a veto-proof supermajority if they can vote as one bloc.

Affordable housing project celebrated

Local and state officials and community and neighborhood leaders gathered in front of a large, muddy lot at 13th and E streets Wednesday morning to celebrate the affordable housing project it will become — and all the moving pieces it took to get there.

Jake Hoppe, a managing partner at Hoppe Development, said the Center Terrace project — which will include 125 apartments and be the new home for Clinic With a Heart — didn't just combine various and complicated funding mechanisms but involved the neighborhood in a way his business wants to continue with other projects.

Said Hoppe: "We had the opportunity to steward a vision that the neighborhood had really created around a transformative project."

State volleyball underway

The Nebraska high school volleyball tournament got underway Wednesday in Lincoln with a number of area teams playing first-round matches.

In Class B, two Lincoln-area schools advanced to the semifinals, with Norris defeating Lincoln Pius X and Waverly taking down Bennington.

Check out coverage of Wednesday's matches on our website or in Thursday's paper.

That's it for Thursday, Nov. 7. Stay in the know with Lincoln's longest-standing news source at JournalStar.com and we will see you back here tomorrow.