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HERE’S YOUR RUNDOWN
Happy National Garlic Day
Reed Moore doesn’t mind the odor as long as it keeps the vampires away.
Today’s news: Masks are now optional at Eppley Airfield, Brad Ashford — a former state senator and U.S. congressional representative who hails from Omaha — dies at age 72 from cancer complications, and Gov. Pete Ricketts signs legislation for big water projects, in addition to $335 million in support of recovery efforts in North and South O, according to the Omaha World-Herald.
REED MOORE’S FEATURED STORY
Saving Planet Omaha
The city takes its first steps toward a greener future. But challenges remain.
By Regan Thomas. Published in The Reader.
COVID-19 UPDATE
‘Rona roundup:
The U.S. mask mandate on public transit is voided by Trump-appointed Florida Judge Kathryn Kimball Mizelle. Masks are now optional at Eppley Airfield. Check out this list of airlines ditching mask mandates. Meanwhile, the number of positive COVID-19 cases in Douglas County since March 2020 is greater than 150,000. And Nomi Health is sponsoring $1 million to support the mental health of frontline workers, according to KMTV.
By the numbers:
AROUND OMAHA
- Brad Ashford — a former state senator and U.S. congressional representative who hails from Omaha — dies at age 72 from cancer complications. Click here to read his family’s statement on Facebook.
- Westwood Cinemas 8, one of the city’s final “dollar theatres,” according to WOWT, shuts its doors after three decades.
- Do you vote in Douglas County? Here are upcoming deadlines.
- Omaha Public Schools unanimously moves forward with revisions to the student Code of Conduct. To learn more about what happened at the OPS Board of Education meeting, check out these live tweets from The Reader’s Bridget Fogarty, a Report for America Corps member.
- “You should be freaked out”: Local experts get candid about the climate crisis.
AROUND NEBRASKA
- “If you’re a Christian imagine trying to listen to a sermon … when there are hundreds of cars and trucks rolling by [with] fumes from their exhaust pipes … choking you. This is the reality we’re facing”: Native American communities in Lincoln rally against a proposed development project that would get in the way of a purification ritual.
- Latest in the Legislature: Gov. Pete Ricketts signs legislation for big water projects, including his controversial Colorado canal and a potential lake between Omaha and Lincoln. He also signs a bill to give $335 million in support of affordable housing, infrastructure improvements and other recovery efforts in North and South O. And state lawmakers are trying to steer clear of another St. Francis Ministries fiasco as they look for entities to give health care benefits to Nebraskans served by Medicaid, according to the Nebraska Examiner.
- Gov. Pete Ricketts doesn’t like claims that the Republican “establishment” is responsible for eight women alleging sexual misconduct by GOP gubernatorial candidate Charles Herbster, according to the Nebraska Examiner.
- This is what school looks like inside a juvenile detention center.
- University of Nebraska-Lincoln graduate students get minimum stipends of $10,930 for the entire academic year. Students say this isn’t enough, and they’re pushing for greater compensation, according to the Daily Nebraskan.
REED MOORE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT
The City Council and Douglas County Board of Commissioners are not meeting this week.
FACTS OF THE DAY
From Harper’s Index
Minimum number of people who reported relatives
to the FBI for participating in the Jan. 6 U.S. Capitol riot: 15
Sources: National Public Radio (Washington)/CBS News (NYC)/The Independent (London)
DAILY FUNNY
To see the full funny by Jen Sorensen,
plus more daily funnies, click the image or below link.