10/4/21 • Nebraska vaccine data • Nationwide case trends
Reefer Sadness: The Promise of Nebraska Hemp Farming Runs Into Harsh Reality
The market for hemp products, while rapidly growing, is still small and unstable. And there’s a continuing misperception that what hemp farmers are growing is illegal marijuana instead of what they are actually growing — a perfectly legal crop.
Story by Lori Potter, Flatwater Free Press contributor. Published in The Reader.
Reed Moore’s Daily Rundown
Happy National Taco Day!
Today’s news wonders why this celebration falls on a Monday: Late Creighton baseball administrator remembered, fentanyl crisis hits Nebraska hard, and a House Republican says he’s facing federal prosecution.
Harper’s Index Facts of the Day
- Minimum percentage of federal funds for pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure last year that went to roads, bridges, and highways : 15
- Percentage by which the wealthiest neighborhoods in U.S. cities have more trees than the poorest : 65
Source: 1. Rails-to-Trails Conservancy (Washington); 2. American Forests (Washington)
Around Omaha
- Longtime educator and North High School Principal Gene Haynes celebrates his retirement.
- As Afghan families resettle in Omaha, refugee-serving organizations receive an overwhelming response of support from hundreds of volunteers.
- Learn how an Offut-based Air Force doctor led efforts to treat tens of thousands of Afghan refugees in Qatar.
- Creighton and Omaha communities remember Christopher Gradoville, the Creighton University baseball administrator who was shot and killed.
Around Nebraska
- The fentanyl crisis is hitting Nebraska, following a disturbing national trend of opioid overdoses.
- Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, the top Republican on the state’s House Appropriations Committee’s agriculture panel, says he’s facing federal prosecution.
- A ransomware attack knocked Lincoln-based business Sandhills Local offline.
- More than 230 people are arrested in Nebraska’s anti-gang operation that focused on reducing and dismantling gang activity in the Omaha metro area.
This Week in Your Local Government: City to Spend on Development, Accept Grants
By Reader government reporter Anton Johnson.
- TIF: The Omaha City Council will vote on two tax-increment financing (TIF) requests Tuesday after public hearings were held last week. The City Council will also hold public hearings on three more TIF projects Tuesday. They are a $167,623 loan for a five-unit townhome at 406 Woolworth Ave., and two $310,000 loans for East Side Bungalows to construct 25 rowhomes in North Omaha.
- Criminal justice grants: The City Council will hold public hearings on ordinances to accept three criminal justice-related grants. They are $6,019 to help Omaha police prevent gun and gang violence, $110,471 for the Douglas County Attorney’s Office to hire two full-time employees to prosecute domestic violence cases, and $169,821 to fund law enforcement equipment, prosecutor and corrections programs and technology improvements.
- County board: The Douglas County Board of Commissioners will meet Tuesday to receive a weekly update from Douglas County Health Director Lindsay Huse, hear a presentation from OPPD on renewable energy and conservation projects, and recognize October as Youth Justice Awareness Month.
Every week, The Reader‘s Anton Johnson picks noteworthy agenda items from the Omaha City Council and Douglas County Board of Commissioners. See the full Omaha City Council and Board of County Commissioners agendas for Tuesday, Oct. 5, and tune in here to the Douglas County Board at 9 a.m. and the Omaha City Council at 2 p.m. Tuesday.
Reed Moore’s Thing To Do
Best Shops in Omaha’s Old Market
From finding your next big read at Jackson Street Booksellers to visiting perhaps the craziest convenience store called Cubby’s, you can’t go wrong when exploring the stores of the Old Market. Take a look at Reader contributor Jonathan Orozco’s guide to the neighborhood.
As the delta variant spreads through the community, remember to get fully vaccinated
and mask up when visiting around town.