Real Estate News

Omaha’s Unsheltered Homelessness Rising At Fastest Rate Of Any U.S. City

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 02/06/2025 - 7:00am

Melissa Neuenfeldt (left) and Todd Fleischer (right) examine a questionnaire for Omaha’s homeless population including Jonathan Martin (center) during the annual Point-in-Time Count. The nationwide survey provides data about the United States’ homeless population.
(Abioloa Kosoko / Flatwater Free Press)

The freezing wind swept across the asphalt. People clutching their coats hustled inside the midtown Omaha Target, scurrying past a shopping cart piled with blankets. Inside, Jonathan Martin sipped his Starbucks as he listened to the questions.

“What’s your birthday?” asked Todd Fleischer.

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Big Legislative Tasks Need Time

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 02/06/2025 - 6:00am

Eventually, the Nebraska Legislature will address this year’s impending deficit and the state’s annual property tax angst, the latter a required subject each session.

Smart money says it gets there soon. Besides, a keyword search indicates over three dozen related bills are already in the tax-and-budget hopper.

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Lawmakers Hear Testimony On Measure To Preempt Government-Imposed Rent Control

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 02/06/2025 - 5:00am

Erin Feichtinger, policy director of the Women’s Fund of Omaha.
(Courtesy of the Women’s Fund)

LINCOLN — Real estate representatives told state lawmakers Wednesday what they feel is coming: attempts by cities in Nebraska to control rent on private property.

“It’s not made up that this is a boogeyman,” said Dennis Tierney of the Metro Omaha Property Owners Association. “We’re trying to be proactive.”

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Surreal Prices For COP30 In Brazil's Amazon Leave Attendees Scrambling For Accommodation

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 02/06/2025 - 4:00am

SAO PAULO (AP) — Nine months ahead of this year's annual U.N. climate summit, known as COP30, lodging prices in the Brazilian host city of Belem are turning heads—and may soon turn off would-be attendees from the first such meeting in the Amazon rainforest.

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Bill Would Create New Donation Fund For Nebraskans With Disabilities

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Wed, 02/05/2025 - 3:00am

LINCOLN — Nebraskans with disabilities would be able to apply for expanded savings accounts propelled by tax breaks for private donations to a new state fund aimed at boosting them, under a new legislative proposal.

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Nebraska Can Provide A Roadmap For U.S. Energy And Tech Leadership

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 01/30/2025 - 7:00am

When President Trump unveiled his new Domestic Energy Council in November, he noted that, “with U.S. energy dominance, we will drive down Inflation, win the A.I. arms race with China (and others), and expand American diplomatic power.” To get a glimpse of how this would work in practice, look no further than Nebraska.

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Prisoner Turned Policy Wonk Gives Lawmakers Inside View Of Why Solitary Confinement Should Change

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 01/30/2025 - 6:00am

Jason Witmer, policy fellow at ACLU Nebraska, speaks to the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee on Friday about Legislative Bill 99, which, among other things, would restrict the consecutive days an inmate could be isolated in restrictive housing.
(Cindy Gonzalez / Nebraska Examiner)

LINCOLN — Jason Witmer has become a familiar face in the Nebraska Capitol, often testifying in suit and tie about state policies as a fellow for ACLU Nebraska.

On Friday his perspective turned personal, skipping remarks prepared for the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee to instead shed light on a lengthy prison stay — in which he spent many parts of his years there isolated “in the hole.”

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Ho-Chunk CEO Says Company Has Done Well Over 30 Years, But Can Do More

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 01/30/2025 - 5:00am

Despite major growth of Ho-Chunk, Inc., the economic development wing of the Winnebago Tribe, its longtime president and CEO Lance Morgan says there’s more work to do, ‘more mouths to feed.’
(Paul Hammel / Nebraska Examiner)

WINNEBAGO, Nebraska — Thirty years after Ho-Chunk, Inc., was launched in a spare bedroom in Lance Morgan’s apartment, the award-winning tribal enterprise has grown into an international corporation that projects revenue of $600 million and employment of 3,000 people by the year’s end.

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Pillen Budget Proposal Would Bury All ‘Good Life’ Districts, But Lawmaker Holds Out Hope For A Fix

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 01/23/2025 - 7:00am

All state-approved good life districts could be in jeopardy under Gov. Jim Pillen’s budget proposal. Here is a vision of the Gretna good life district proposed by businessman Rod Yates.
(Courtesy of Nebraska Crossing)

LINCOLN — All of Nebraska’s “good life” districts appear to be in a precarious spot — not just the embattled one in Gretna — as Gov. Jim Pillen’s proposed budget seeks to deny $5 million a year set aside for the new state incentive that had been committed for multiple years to boost the buildout of those destination sites.

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Facebook Decision Disrespects Truth’s Place In Society

Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 01/23/2025 - 6:00am

Among 70 million Facebook groups and pages, scores of them have something to do with Nebraska: Nebraska Bohemians, Nebraska History, Nebraska Girl Gang, I Grew Up in Nebraska, Mamas of Nebraska and many more, including Unicameral Update via the Clerk of the Legislature’s Unicameral Information Office.