ABC’s Jeff Zeleny (UNL Band Alum) moving to CNN

Jeff Zeleny, ABC News senior Washington correspondent, will join CNN’s Washington bureau and political unit as CNN senior Washington correspondent next Monday to cover the 2016 presidential race for both television and digital, according to industry sources.

The papers were signed Monday, letting Zeleny out of his ABC contract. ABC News President James Goldston and CNN Washington Bureau Chief Sam Feist plan a joint announcement later Tuesday morning. CNN poached Zeleny, 41, because he has become a polished on-air correspondent and can also write long-form pieces for CNN.com.

Jeff — a native of Exeter, Nebraska — sprinted from Lincoln Journal Star to The Des Moines Register to the Chicago Tribune (where he covered home-state Sen. Barack Obama) to The New York Times to ABC. He is covering his fifth presidential campaign.

Robert Barnett was the lawyer for the deal.

CMB Alumnus, Matt Blomstedt, Named Nebraska Education Commissioner

The Nebraska State Board of Education today named Matthew Blomstedt of Central

City the new Nebraska Commissioner of Education.

Matt Blomstedt
Dr. Matt Blomstedt

Blomstedt was selected from a field of four finalists. Blomstedt currently is executive director of the Nebraska Educational Service Unit Coordinating Council. He received a Ph.D. in Educational Leadership and Higher Education from the University of Nebraska – Lincoln; a Master of Community and Regional Planning from UNL; and, a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from UNL.

The State Board of Education voted unanimously today for Blomstedt. The four finalists were interviewed Wednesday by the State Board of Education and also met with Nebraska Department of Education staff, legislative staff and representatives of Nebraska’s education partners and policy makers.

Several State Board of Education members noted Blomstedt’s experience with members of the education community statewide and, specifically, his experience working with rural Nebraska schools and developing statewide education and finance policy.

State Board President Pat Timm said the Board’s goal is to work in partnership with Blomstedt to ensure all students learn at high levels and the achievement gap among groups of students is narrowed. The Board’s focus will include the development of a new state accountability system focused on continuous improvement. The overarching goal, Timm said, is to ensure all Nebraska students graduate college and career ready.

A national search was conducted after former Commissioner of Education Roger Breed announced his retirement in July.

For more information about Blomstedt, visit http://www.education.ne.gov/.