Published by maggie@omahadai... on Tue, 09/29/2026 - 12:00am
Gambling has exploded in the United States. American casinos and sportsbooks earned US$79 billion in 2025, up nearly 20% from the $66.5 billion just two years earlier. That doesn’t include the enormous sums earned by prediction market companies, which are technically not considered gambling but instead help forecast future events.
Regrettably, but not unexpectedly, the widespread ability to gamble is also causing major scandals.
For example, the chief of police in New Haven, Connecticut, allegedly embezzled government funds to bet almost $4.5 million on sports.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Tue, 09/22/2026 - 12:00am
Rushville residents: Don’t be surprised if unannounced, out-of-town visitors come calling.
That’s what happens when a Hollywood writer inserts your community into the storyline of a DC Comics superhero – in Rushville’s case, the Green Lantern. “Don’t underestimate the dedication of the superhero comic fan,” said Alex Grand, comic book historian and author of “Understanding Superhero Comic Books.” “People will come.
They want to experience what their superheroes experience.”
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Tue, 09/22/2026 - 12:00am
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate on Thursday took another step forward on a sweeping bipartisan bill to overhaul the college sports world.
The measure, clearing its second procedural hurdle on a 77-22 vote, would set national standards for college athletes’ compensation, provide certain antitrust protections to the NCAA, establish a five-year eligibility timeline for athletes and bar professional athletes from competing in college athletics.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Tue, 09/22/2026 - 12:00am
From mortgages to auto loans to credit cards, borrowing is set to get even pricier.
But the Federal Reserve’s decision on Sept. 16, 2026, to hike its baseline interest rate also highlighted an increasingly confounding dilemma: It can raise the price of money across the economy, but it can’t determine which sectors are most affected.
That means the rate increase may further slow the weaker parts of the economy, such as housing, while barely affecting the strongest, namely the relentless investment in artificial intelligence.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Tue, 09/22/2026 - 12:00am
NEW YORK (AP) — America: land of possibility. And also: land of suckers.
Our enduring belief that anything is possible — whether based in reality or not — has helped the nation become the world’s largest economy. It has also led us to fall head over heels for hucksters and charlatans, again and again.
If so much is possible here in America, who is to say it’s not possible that the next new supplement, device or scheme might make you young, strong, rich or all of the above, all at once?
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Tue, 09/15/2026 - 12:00am
Robert Thayer looked up from his computer as a churning weedwacker-like sound interrupted the silence of his west Omaha home. As he noticed his grass swaying, he thought: That must be the drone.
The tech worker walked out his front door to find a blue-and-white robot hovering above his yard.
He watched with amusement as the drone dropped a brown box containing the allergy medicine he had ordered 90 minutes earlier. Then, the machine’s powerful propellers blew the box from his lawn into the street.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Tue, 09/15/2026 - 12:00am
LINCOLN — After 26 years working in Nebraska’s Department of Economic Development, former director of field operations Sheryl Hiatt said she didn’t want to retire, but she felt she had no other option.
According to Hiatt, changes made within the department — most of which came after Gov. Jim Pillen’s appointment of Maureen Larsen as interim director in July 2025 — made her time working there unpleasant enough that she chose to leave earlier than she previously planned.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Tue, 09/15/2026 - 12:00am
LINCOLN — On the eve of new negotiations beginning for their next two-year contract, members of the largest union representing Nebraska state employees gathered near the state Capitol to share what terms they’re seeking.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Tue, 09/08/2026 - 12:00am
Growing up on the Omaha Reservation in northeast Nebraska, Roslyn Saunsoci had heard the name Susan La Flesche Picotte but knew nothing else. She grew excited upon learning in school that the famous tribal member was a doctor. The school day ended and soon her excitement exploded into near disbelief.
“I went home to share that with my grandmother and she was like, ‘Yeah, that was one of your great-grandmothers,’” Saunsoci recalled.