—From Pilot Knob, NY.

Death Takes a Holiday: The Nebraska legislature yesterday acted on its word and voted to override Gov. Pete Ricketts’ veto, ending the state’s death penalty. Nebraska is the 19^th state and the first Republican state to do away with the death penalty.

The 30-19 vote had supporters from both parties. The debate over the past few months pitted the legislature against the governor, law enforcement, and the families of murder victims.

Red Card: Attorney General Loretta Lynch says there may be more indictments of officials who run the world soccer organization, FIFA. Lynch said of the 14 already indicted, “These individuals and organizations engaged in bribery to decide who would televise games, where the games would be held, and who would run the organization overseeing organized soccer worldwide.”

The criminal investigation has drawn attention to a technically non-profit organization that wields its power to dictate terms to national governments competing to host the World Cup every four years.

FIFA made more than $2 billion last year, a stunning increase from $749 million in 2006. It has $1.5 billion in reserves.

The organization makes fortunes from deals with international companies like McDonald’s, Coca Cola, and Adidas. The burger chain announced yesterday that “McDonald’s takes matters of ethics and corruption very seriously,” and “we will continue to monitor this situation very closely.” McDonald’s expressed similar horror four years ago but has not altered its relationship with soccer’s governing body.

Comedian John Oliver has been credited with accurately dissecting FIFA calling it “A comically grotesque organization.” Oliver said, “There are now allegations that some FIFA executives took bribes to put the World Cup in Qatar. And I hope that’s true, because otherwise it makes literally no sense.”

He said that a year ago.

The Gathering Crowd: Former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum announced his candidacy for president yesterday, joining the jockeying pack of Republican hopefuls. He’s posing himself as a champion of the little guy and enemy of big government. “Working families don’t need another president tied to big government or big money,” he said. Despite winning the Iowa caucuses four years ago, he’s low enough in the polls that he might not make the 10-candidate cutoff for the August 6 Republican debate.

The Obit Page: Hugh Ambrose, son of the historian Stephen Ambrose, who completed his father’s book “The Pacific” after his death, has died of cancer at age 48. The younger Ambrose, who worked for years as a researcher for his father, became a successful author himself when the book was published and went on to become an HBO mini-series.

The Playoffs: The Golden State Warriors beat Houston last night to win a spot in the NBA finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers and LeBron James. Game 1 is next Thursday, June 4.

Both semi-final series in the National Hockey League are tied 3-3. The NY Rangers and Tampa Bay play their last match tomorrow night; the Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks finish Saturday.

Pow!! Thawunk!!: Hillary Clinton, the comic book version in which the pantsuit power woman saves the world, is hitting the newsstands. A company called Bluewater Productions has released “Hillary Clinton: The Road to the White House.” Also in the Bluewater library are “Insane Jane,” “Pistolfist,” and “Wrath of the Titans: Revenge of Medusa.”

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