Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 07/23/2026 - 12:00am
OMAHA — A proposed $181 million public safety headquarters that would bring together key administrative functions for both Omaha police and fire departments is to rise on a 3.2-acre site in central Omaha, pending voter approval.
Mayor John Ewing on Monday unveiled the design of the 275,000-square-foot facility between Cass and Chicago Streets, near 74th Street. It would be the first joint police-fire headquarters in the city’s modern history, officials said.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 07/23/2026 - 12:00am
Concerns are growing about a 5,000-head hog confinement barn being planned near Valentine, 2.7 miles from the scenic Niobrara River, one of Nebraska’s top tourist destinations.
Critics say the area’s sandy soils and shallow groundwater make it highly susceptible to contamination from hog manure leaching into groundwater or washing into the river, threatening float trips for the 60,000 paddlers who visit the Niobrara each year.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 07/23/2026 - 12:00am
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Residents of Kyiv’s historic Lukianivka neighborhood share a dark joke: Russian strikes hit the area so frequently, they ought to be issued military service documents as though they are living on the front line of the war.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 07/16/2026 - 12:00am
OMAHA — Nebraska’s longest serving lawmaker, former state Sen. Ernie Chambers, celebrated his 89th birthday surrounded by scores of faces: political figures, family, friends — and portraits of more than 70 Black local legends whose candles burned out before his.
The nostalgia-filled party organized by Chambers’ daughter, Gayla Lee-Chambers, had a multifold purpose. The Saturday evening event also marked the public reveal of the Ernie Chambers Legacy Library and an exhibit, “Walk Through Memory Lane with African American Activists of Nebraska.”
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 07/16/2026 - 12:00am
A sweeping housing measure, which became law on July 11, 2026, is being widely celebrated as a crucial step in addressing the nation’s housing crisis. The ROAD to Housing Act is one of the few substantive bills passed by Congress in recent years, and the first major housing bill enacted since the 1990s.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 07/16/2026 - 12:00am
NEW YORK (AP) — No large data centers can be built in New York for up to a year as the state creates rules to protect the environment and its energy grid from the power-hungry facilities fueling artificial intelligence.
Gov. Kathy Hochul signed an executive order Tuesday imposing the country's first statewide moratorium on hyperscale data centers, which house thousands of computer servers and require massive amounts of energy and a steady supply of water to keep cool.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 07/16/2026 - 12:00am
Farmers growing corn and soybeans for biofuels can now quantify the carbon intensity of crops grown with certain regenerative agriculture practices, due to a recently finalized federal rule.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Regenerative Feedstock Rule will allow farmers to “capture new value” from agricultural practices like cover crops and reduced tillage, according to a news release from the department.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 07/09/2026 - 12:00am
When Chuck Martens could no longer afford his rent, he came up with a solution. He negotiated with his landlords to swap his labor for a rent reduction. Now Martens does landscape work for his Omaha apartment complex. Seven days a week, he mows the grass, collects trash and wields a leaf blower. Hedge trimming is his favorite.
“It’s like you’re doing an ice sculpture, but with a trimmer instead of a chainsaw,” Martens, 77, said.
Published by maggie@omahadai... on Thu, 07/09/2026 - 12:00am
Dozens of public housing authorities, tribes, property owners and community groups have joined a new coalition organized by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to promote work requirements and time limits for people who receive federal housing help.
HUD is currently finalizing a rule that would allow public housing authorities and property owners who participate in federal housing voucher programs to impose work requirements and time limits on work-ready adults, or working-age adults (younger than 62) who are not disabled.