Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 05/08/2025 - 1:28pm
Eleven inmate deaths in less than two months. More than 4,000 staff vacancies. A $3 billion repair backlog.
And now, a stunning directive from President Donald Trump for the crisis-plagued federal Bureau of Prisons to “REBUILD, AND OPEN ALCATRAZ!” — the notorious penitentiary on an island in San Francisco Bay that last held inmates more than 60 years ago.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 05/08/2025 - 1:25pm
Construction costs have surged in recent years, pushing homeownership further out of reach for many Americans. But this isn’t a new concern: In 1978, the U.S. Government Accountability Office warned that rising costs were threatening the American dream – at a time when the median home price was just US$44,300, less than three times the median household income. Today, that figure has climbed past $419,000, more than five times what the median American makes.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 05/08/2025 - 1:22pm
LINCOLN — State government is paying about 37% more to lease commercial office space for employees today than five years ago — a hike from $16 million to $22 million that the Nebraska state auditor described Monday as “far more than necessary.”
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 05/08/2025 - 1:16pm
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Campgrounds, boat ramps and other facilities in at least 30 locations at federal lakes and reservoirs in six states will be closed or have their hours curtailed as of mid-May as the Trump administration tries to rapidly shrink the U.S. government.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 04/24/2025 - 7:00am
OMAHA — Public transit options emerged as a top complaint about the Omaha region in a survey aimed at gaining intel on how to hold onto young professional talent.
Good salary, flexible scheduling and paid time off for sickness and vacation were identified as the most important workplace attractions.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 04/24/2025 - 6:00am
Right now in the U.S., it seems that people are more divided than ever, and that sort of notion seems to be the same notion that is had every year. “This year was worse than the last." etc. While that might be true, the things that divide people each year are…. flimsy. Or, rather, people are flimsy themselves, with a short memory that only recalls anger, rather than what exactly happened.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 04/24/2025 - 5:00am
DETROIT (AP) — Arborists are turning vacant land on Detroit's eastside into a small urban forest, not of elms, oaks and red maples indigenous to the city but giant sequoias, the world's largest trees that can live for thousands of years.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 04/24/2025 - 3:00am
LINCOLN — An assessment of restoring the historic Mayhew Cabin and John Brown’s Cave site in Nebraska City estimates it would cost in excess of $20 million to make it a viable attraction again.
Most of the cost, the report indicated, would be demolishing several of the seven existing structures on the site, which have been damaged by flooding and neglect.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 04/17/2025 - 6:00am
Folks can get animated when it comes to discussions of climate science and energy production. Rather than the facts alone, confirmation bias and ideological rigidity can creep in to one’s seemingly common-sense position.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 04/17/2025 - 5:00am
MANSFIELD, S.D. (AP) — Jared Bossly was planting soybeans one spring night in 2023 on his 2,000-acre farm in South Dakota when he spotted a sheriff’s vehicle parked at the corner of his property. He had a hunch it wasn’t a social visit.
“I’m like, ‘Well, I doubt he’s just being a friendly neighbor, giving a guy a beer at eight o’clock at night,’” said Bossly, 43.