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
The CBS logo at the entrance to its headquarters, in New York Dec. 6, 2018. (Mark Lennihan / AP Photo)
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...
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)
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...
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...
Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb get emotional as he announces his retirement during a press conference at Eppley Airfield in Omaha, Neb. on Monday, June 30, 2025. (Chris Machian / Omaha World-Herald via AP)
Maybe it’s because of Brian Wilson's recent death, but when I heard that Don Bacon was leaving Congress, the Beach Boys song “I Just Wasn’t Made for These Times” popped into my mind.
In case you’re...
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...
This Week's News
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...
07/03/2025 - 12:00am
Her Family Needed Housing. They Spent Months in New York Hotels, Left to Fend for Themselves.
by Spencer Norris, New York Focus
ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories...
07/03/2025 - 12:00am
If there’s one thing that U.S. politicians and activists from across the political spectrum can agree on, it’s that rents are far too high.
Many experts believe that this crisis is fueled by a shortage of housing, caused principally by restrictive...
Nebraska’s congressional delegation visits the University of Nebraska-Lincoln from left: U.S. Pete Ricketts, U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, U.S. Rep. Adrian Smith, U.S. Sen. Deb Fischer and U.S. Rep. Mike Flood on June 19, 2023, in Lincoln, Neb. (Zach Wendling / Nebraska Examiner)
07/03/2025 - 12:00am
The partnership established by the federal government and universities to support high-level research has been a success story for our country.
That investment has produced a return — measured in technology, innovation and the nurturing of...
07/03/2025 - 12:00am
Justin Kennedy had long envisioned more than a cornfield when he gazed at the plot of family land a half-mile from where he grew up.
It was “the perfect setup” for building his dream retirement house in rural Stanton County.
He planted a...
07/02/2025 - 12:00am
The largest tract of public land in the United States is a wild expanse of tundra and wetlands stretching across nearly 23 million acres of northern Alaska. It’s called the National Petroleum Reserve in Alaska, but despite its industrial-sounding...
07/02/2025 - 12:00am
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — In the time before widespread vaccination, devastating infectious diseases ran rampant in America, killing millions of children and leaving others with lifelong health problems.
Over the next century, vaccines virtually...
07/02/2025 - 12:00am
Christopher Pelkey was shot and killed in a road range incident in 2021. On May 8, 2025, at the sentencing hearing for his killer, an AI video reconstruction of Pelkey delivered a victim impact statement. The trial judge reported being deeply moved...
07/02/2025 - 12:00am
In Mandi Sedlak’s world, everything seems to fit. Even in her worst moments.
It’s true of her golf game, her husband, her career and the prosthetic leg connecting these threads. The Kearney native will be relying on the list’s last item when she...
Cans of PAM cooking spray, a Conagra brand, rest on a supermarket shelf in Cincinnati, June 25, 2019. (John Minchillo / AP Photo)
07/01/2025 - 12:00am
Conagra Brands, the parent company of Duncan Hines, Slim Jim and other brands, is the latest big food company to say it’s discontinuing the use of artificial dyes.
In a statement released Wednesday – the same day as a similar statement from Nestle...
Visitors attend the Venture Miami Tech Hiring Fair at the Miami-Dade College, Wolfson campus, Wednesday, April 26, 2023, in Miami. (Lynne Sladky / AP Photo)
07/01/2025 - 12:00am
WASHINGTON (AP) — While completing a master’s degree in data analysis, Palwasha Zahid moved from Dallas to a town near Silicon Valley. The location made it easy to visit the campuses of tech stalwarts such as Google, Apple, and Nvidia.
Zahid, 25,...
Supporters of raising minimum wage hold signs in Illinois. (Seth Perlman / AP Photo)
07/01/2025 - 12:00am
The minimum wage will increase in 15 states and cities in July, though lawmakers in other states have worked to slow down wage hikes.
Wage floor increases beginning July 1 in Alaska, Oregon and Washington, D.C., will benefit more than 880,000...
The headquarters of Nebraska Public Media on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s East Campus. (Courtesy of Nebraska Public Media)
07/01/2025 - 12:00am
Nebraska U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., is the current owner of an IOU worth millions of dollars. The chit is the result of his vote for the small-minded, unattractive and unpopular bill working its way through Congress, part of which will cut funding...
07/01/2025 - 12:00am
The darkness of that 80’s cigarette-stained basement was ever suffocating. Pallid and lethargic in my seat, a savior approached.
“Come with me if you don’t want to suffer the feeling of being overfull!” The Afghan held out his hand, helping me rise...
06/30/2025 - 12:00am
A New Trump Plan Gives DHS and the White House Greater Influence in the Fight Against Organized Crime
by Tim Golden
ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one...
06/30/2025 - 12:00am
OMAHA — The Douglas County Board appears poised to appoint a retired chief deputy of the County Treasurer’s Office to fill the top spot in the office left open earlier this month after John Ewing Jr. was elected mayor of Omaha.
During its weekly...
06/30/2025 - 12:00am
Bob Benzel had quite a few people on his mind in 2019.
The students who the former Ralston High School art teacher watched drop out after becoming pregnant.
His mother, who, in her late 30s, earned her GED and associate’s degree while raising four...
