Read past Reed Moore daily newsletters
HERE’S YOUR RUNDOWN
Happy National Barbershop Quartet Day
Reed Moore wants us to know this celebration does not include getting a haircut.
Today’s news: State senators across the political divide agree that their salaries — less than half the median income in Nebraska, according to KOLN — are too low, OPS Superintendent Cheryl Logan was one of two finalists for superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia until she removed herself from the running, and during the next few months, The Missouri Independent and NPR’s Midwest Newsroom are working together to investigate elevated blood lead levels in Midwestern children, particularly Black kids in low-income neighborhoods.
REED MOORE’S FEATURED STORY
In Omaha, Bad Landlords Get Off Easy and Tenants Pay the Price
Advocates and experts — plus the city’s housing inspectors — say more must be done to ensure people have safe housing.
By Chris Bowling. Published in The Reader.
COVID-19 UPDATE
‘Rona roundup:
U.S. Secretary of Agriculture and former Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack tests positive for the coronavirus. This is what case and vaccination rates look like on a national scale, and here’s where you can get vaccinated in Douglas County this week.
By the numbers:
AROUND OMAHA
- The University of Nebraska Medical Center’s primary care program ranks seventh in the most recent U.S. News & World Report list of best graduate schools. Click here to see how UNMC stacks up in other categories.
- A nonprofit is planning for the construction of an inpatient behavioral health facility for kids, with an estimated cost of $50 million, in the north-central part of the city.
- Omaha Public Schools Superintendent Cheryl Logan was one of two finalists for superintendent of Fairfax County Public Schools in Virginia. Then she removed herself from the running, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
- Reader reporter Leah Cates talks about how Nebraska welfare benefit denials fail community members who desperately need assistance with Paul Beeee and Buddi3 Da Gawd on 1st Sky Omaha.
- “We all grew together, like a sisterhood with each other … this is my family”: Heavi Hitters is Benson’s first barbershop owned by Black women, according to KETV.
AROUND NEBRASKA
- On the Campaign Trail: The state Republican Party chooses Mike Flood as the special election candidate who’ll run against Patty Pansing Brooks to complete the final six months of former Rep. Jeff Fortenberry’s term. And Donald Trump Jr. is coming to Nebraska to support Republican gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster during a three-city tour of western and central parts of the state, according to the Nebraska Examiner.
- Lead Poisoning: Nebraska, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri have high rates of elevated blood lead levels in kids. During the next few months, The Missouri Independent and NPR’s Midwest Newsroom are working together to investigate the high levels, which disproportionately harm children in low-income neighborhoods, including Black children.
- Latest in the Legislature: A bill moves forward that would give treatment priority at the Lincoln Regional Center, a psychiatric hospital, to defendants deemed incompetent. State senators across the political divide agree that their salaries — less than half the median income in Nebraska, according to KOLN — are too low and create barriers to diversity in the Legislature. And time’s up for a proposal that would bulk up the penalties for assaulting a bus driver, according to the Nebraska Examiner.
- Ukraine: CNN covers the unprecedented decision by nationwide police departments — including Nebraska’s — to send Ukraine protective gear. And Nebraska Public Media shares stories about Lincoln community members helping Ukrainians.
- Fire Chief Darren Krull of the Elwood Volunteer Fire Department dies in a car crash while attending to a wildfire that’s burned almost 30,000 acres in south-central Nebraska, according to the New York Times.
REED MOORE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
This week:
- City Charter Convention: The Omaha City Council will vote on creating a 15-member charter study convention to review how the city government is functioning and recommend potential changes. Mayor Jean Stothert chose eight members, and the City Council selected the seven others.
- TIF: Noddle Company is requesting a $1.5 million TIF loan for Elmwood Townhomes at Leavenworth and South 54th Street. The project plan proposes the construction of a 19-unit townhouse development.
- County Board: The Douglas County Board of Commissioners will meet to allocate funding from the American Rescue Plan Act. Commissioner Roger Garcia proposed $50,000 to the Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance for an education program to address poor health outcomes from home conditions and $50,000 to Generation Diamond Corporation to provide services for low-income residents and individuals experiencing homelessness in South Omaha.
Every week, 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 Commissioners agendas for Tuesday, April 12, and tune in here to the Douglas County Board at 9 a.m. and the Omaha City Council at 2 p.m. Tuesday.
FACT OF THE DAY
From Harper’s Index
Percentage by which U.S. landlords are less likely to respond
to applicants whose names sound Black rather than white: 10
Source: Peter Christensen, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
DAILY FUNNY
Comic by Koterba. Support him on Patreon.