Profiles
It’s an open book – as well it should be. We’re talking about the design concept behind Omaha’s new Central Library – and at the heart of its very mission.
To provide a welcoming space for all people...
A fresh morning drizzle on Saturday either lended to or came from the heavy fog, priced by downtown Omaha’s few skyscrapers. The view from Cummings Street was thankfully unobstructed as I drove to...
It was a hard sell.
I was loitering around in that dark Omaha alleyway, one of those ones that still have those red bricks that bring more character than the unfilled potholes on old concrete. Next...
Omaha has many religious places of worship, but only one Temple of Beauty. Windowless walls of pink Georgia-marble reach high into the air as if to both catch as much sunlight as possible while also...
Walking into a New York City pharmacy, Scott LeRette had no idea how life was about to change for him and his family.
LeRette, author of "The Unbreakable Boy," mentioned to the pharmacist he was an...
Today’s News
American Hunters and Anglers call out Interior Secretary Doug Burgum for pushing to sell off federally managed public lands with an unmissable projection at Western Governors Association venue on Monday June 23, 2025 in Santa Fe, N.M. (Kim Cook / AP Content Services for American Hunters & Anglers)
Utah Sen. Mike Lee Says Selling Off Public Lands Will Solve the West’s Housing Crisis. Past Sales Show Otherwise.
by Abe Streep
ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up...
The good life district designation in Kearney is to be located on 200 acres of vacant land surrounding the city’s SportsPlex facility, shown here. The district is to include retail, restaurant and destination attractions led by a private developer. The SportsPlex is a complex offering 209,000 square feet of indoor, multi-use athletic amenities. (Courtesy of the City of Kearney)
LINCOLN — Nebraska’s fifth and final “good life district” designation goes to the City of Kearney, city leaders announced on Monday.
Kearney’s district joins four other geographical areas designated...
Activists in Seattle gather signatures to put a social housing initiative on the ballot. In early 2025, voters passed the measure, which implements a payroll tax on high incomes to fund the program. (Courtesy of House Our Neighbors )
Seattle astounded housing advocates around the country in February 2025, when roughly two-thirds of voters approved a ballot initiative proposing a new 5% payroll tax on salaries in excess of US$1...
U.S. Rep. Don Bacon speaks about his decision to retire from Congress and not run again in 2026 at Omaha’s Eppley Airfield. June 30, 2025. (Aaron Sanderford / Nebraska Examiner)
U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., has trained lots of eyeballs on Nebraska 2nd Congressional District, the “Blue Dot,” after he announced he would not seek re-election next year when we celebrate the...
Finding a home in Lincoln has never been simple for Shawn Fauver.
That’s because since 2013 Fauver has relied on federal housing vouchers, or Section 8, which expire if not used within 90 days. And...
This Week's News
American Hunters and Anglers call out Interior Secretary Doug Burgum for pushing to sell off federally managed public lands with an unmissable projection at Western Governors Association venue on Monday June 23, 2025 in Santa Fe, N.M. (Kim Cook / AP Content Services for American Hunters & Anglers)
07/10/2025 - 12:00am
Utah Sen. Mike Lee Says Selling Off Public Lands Will Solve the West’s Housing Crisis. Past Sales Show Otherwise.
by Abe Streep
ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories...
The good life district designation in Kearney is to be located on 200 acres of vacant land surrounding the city’s SportsPlex facility, shown here. The district is to include retail, restaurant and destination attractions led by a private developer. The SportsPlex is a complex offering 209,000 square feet of indoor, multi-use athletic amenities. (Courtesy of the City of Kearney)
07/10/2025 - 12:00am
LINCOLN — Nebraska’s fifth and final “good life district” designation goes to the City of Kearney, city leaders announced on Monday.
Kearney’s district joins four other geographical areas designated as good life districts by the Nebraska Department...
Activists in Seattle gather signatures to put a social housing initiative on the ballot. In early 2025, voters passed the measure, which implements a payroll tax on high incomes to fund the program. (Courtesy of House Our Neighbors )
07/10/2025 - 12:00am
Seattle astounded housing advocates around the country in February 2025, when roughly two-thirds of voters approved a ballot initiative proposing a new 5% payroll tax on salaries in excess of US$1 million.
The expected revenue – estimated to amount...
U.S. Rep. Don Bacon speaks about his decision to retire from Congress and not run again in 2026 at Omaha’s Eppley Airfield. June 30, 2025. (Aaron Sanderford / Nebraska Examiner)
07/10/2025 - 12:00am
U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., has trained lots of eyeballs on Nebraska 2nd Congressional District, the “Blue Dot,” after he announced he would not seek re-election next year when we celebrate the nation’s semiquincentennial.
Yes, that’s the word....
07/10/2025 - 12:00am
Finding a home in Lincoln has never been simple for Shawn Fauver.
That’s because since 2013 Fauver has relied on federal housing vouchers, or Section 8, which expire if not used within 90 days. And as Fauver learned, not all landlords take Section...
Vehicles drive over rumble strips that play Ludwig van Beethoven's Ninth Symphony on a highway in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates, Thursday, July 3, 2025. (Bassam Hatoum / AP Photo)
07/09/2025 - 12:00am
FUJAIRAH, United Arab Emirates (AP) — The humble road rumble strip, used around the world to alert drifting drivers to potential hazards or lane departures, can play Beethoven on a mountain highway in the far reaches of the United Arab Emirates.
For...
Medicaid and SNAP recipients are arrested during a protest of proposed cuts to social safety net programs in the Rotunda of the Russell Senate Office Building, Wednesday, June 25, 2025 in Washington. (Kevin Wolf / AP Content Services for The Debt Collective)
07/09/2025 - 12:00am
The legislative package that President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4, 2025, has several provisions that will shrink the safety net, including the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, long known as food stamps. SNAP spending will...
07/09/2025 - 12:00am
NEW YORK (AP) — The former Librarian of Congress abruptly fired by President Donald Trump has found a new position with the country's largest philanthropic supporter of the arts.
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation exclusively told The Associated Press...
(Shutterstock)
07/09/2025 - 12:00am
The world is ever-changing, and politics are along with it. These things are given; however, am I the only one who thinks that people are just getting dumber? It was a general feeling I had, and I wondered after it and chased it down.
Gathered...
07/09/2025 - 12:00am
LINCOLN — A new state law that took effect this week authorizes emergency medical services crews to provide care or transportation to Nebraska K-9s if one is ever injured in the line of duty.
Lawmakers, by a 47-0 vote in April 2024, approved a...
James Asbill (right) speaks with Will Etheridge, CEO of Southern Energy Management, as solar panels are installed on Asbill's home in Chapel Hill, N.C., Wednesday, July 2, 2025. (Allen G. Breed / AP Photo)
07/08/2025 - 12:00am
WASHINGTON (AP) — As Republicans in Congress rushed forward with a massive tax and spending cut bill, a North Carolina renewable energy executive wrote to his 190 employees with a warning: Deep cuts to clean energy tax credits were going to hurt.
“(...
A Microsoft sign and logo are pictured at the company's headquarters, Friday, April 4, 2025, in Redmond, Wash. (Jason Redmond / AP Photo)
07/08/2025 - 12:00am
Microsoft says it is laying off about 9,000 workers, its second mass layoff in months and its largest in more than two years.
The tech giant began sending out layoff notices Wednesday that hit the company's Xbox video game business and other...
(Shutterstock)
07/08/2025 - 12:00am
Something dangerous is happening to the U.S. economy, and it’s not inflation or trade wars. Chaotic deregulation and the selective enforcement of laws have upended markets and investor confidence. At one point, the threat of tariffs and resulting...
Dee Acklie (center), a family facilitator and home visitor in the Douglas County West Community Schools, leads young children in a game at a drop-in play group at the Valley Public Library. Acklie and a librarian set up different play-and-learn stations with a focus on reading. Play and socialization events are available to families through the Superintendents’ Early Childhood Plan and its School as Hub approach. (Courtesy of Buffett Early Childhood Institute)
07/08/2025 - 12:00am
As superintendents of the 11 school districts that make up the Learning Community of Douglas and Sarpy Counties, we want to take full advantage of the awe-inspiring early years when children’s brains develop most rapidly.
We want young children,...
07/08/2025 - 12:00am
Santoro, chef Jesus Rivera’s new higher-end Mexican spot, has been on my radar for at least a year.
Like so many Omahans, I was a big fan of his former restaurant, Rivera’s, which closed about two years ago. If my recent visits to Santoro, in a...
President Donald Trump holds a signed executive order relating to school discipline policies as Education Secretary Linda McMahon listens in the Oval Office of the White House, April 23, 2025, in Washington. (Alex Brandon / AP Photo)
07/07/2025 - 12:00am
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration has put on hold $6.8 billion in federal funds for K-12 schools, according to an Education Department notice obtained by States Newsroom.
The agency informed states on Monday that it would be withholding funding...
07/07/2025 - 12:00am
This story was originally reported by Grace Panetta of The 19th. Meet Grace and read more of her reporting on gender, politics and policy.
Women like the prominent 20th-century writer and activist Marjory Stoneman Douglas fought half a century ago...
07/07/2025 - 12:00am
States Fear Critical Funding From FEMA May Be Drying Up
by Jennifer Berry Hawes
ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.
Upheaval at the...
07/07/2025 - 12:00am
One of President Donald Trump’s first executive orders relating to immigration and immigrants is a direct attack on the long-standing constitutional principle of birthright citizenship. That’s the declaration in the 14th Amendment to the...
A ChatGPT logo is seen in West Chester, Pa., on Dec. 6, 2023. (Matt Rourke / AP Photo)
07/07/2025 - 12:00am
As the recent stench of war grew stronger, I noticed once again how much we love our machines, be they bunker-busting or surgical, life-saving or high-earning, analog, digital or artificially intelligent. But what happens when our doodads and...
07/07/2025 - 12:00am
LINCOLN — As the federal “one big beautiful bill” continues to move through Congress, one provision related to AI that Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen and 16 other Republican governors opposed has been removed, at least for now.
The ever-changing federal...
The CBS logo at the entrance to its headquarters, in New York Dec. 6, 2018. (Mark Lennihan / AP Photo)
07/04/2025 - 12:00am
NEW YORK (AP) — In a case seen as a challenge to American free-speech principles, Paramount has agreed to pay $16 million to settle a lawsuit by President Donald Trump over the editing of CBS' “ 60 Minutes” interview with then-Vice President Kamala...
Planned Parenthood South Carolina spokesperson Vicki Ringer speaks at a news conference about the U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing states to block Planned Parenthood from receiving money for health services on Thursday, June 26, 2025, in Columbia, S.C. (Jeffrey Collins / AP Photo)
07/04/2025 - 12:00am
Having the freedom to choose your own health care provider is something many Americans take for granted. But the U.S. Supreme Court’s conservative supermajority ruled on June 25, 2025, in a 6-3 decision that people who rely on Medicaid for their...
07/04/2025 - 12:00am
This story was originally reported by Jasmine Mithani of The 19th. Meet Jasmine and read more of her reporting on gender, politics and policy.
Last October, a 13-year-old boy in Wisconsin used a picture of his classmate celebrating her bat mitzvah...
07/04/2025 - 12:00am
OMAHA — Richard Randall Sr. was a fan of President Donald Trump’s crusade to beef up border security — that is, until a wrong turn onto a local military base left his “little buddy” in a big bind and Randall with a whole different perspective.
A...
