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Today’s Highlights:
- Nebraska’s teachers’ union is organizing to challenge the opportunity scholarships bill, although it hasn’t yet been approved by the Nebraska Legislature.
- The new downtown library has an opening date after multiple delays.
- The Omaha Police Department receives federal money for DNA testing of evidence held in cold-case homicides.
Things Will Get Loud on Vinton Street
The inaugural Noisefest is set to blast off Friday at Project Project.
By MarQ Manner. Published in The Reader.
Around Omaha
After multiple delays, Omaha’s new downtown library branch, 1401 Jones St., will open to the public May 21 at 1 p.m.
The Obama Foundation recognizes Omaha as a model for its gun violence reduction program and awards North Omaha’s Empowerment Network an $800,000 grant.
The Omaha Police Department receives a $500,000 federal grant for DNA testing of evidence held in cold case homicides. “We have over 200 unknown profiles that are over at the DNA lab that this money will allow us to do retesting,” said OPD homicide Det. Chris Spencer.
Metro voters approve big school bonds in the Westside Community School District and the Papillion La Vista School District. KETV reports what the money will pay for and how it will impact residents’ property taxes.
An author discovers Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s harshest and most famous criticism of Omaha native Malcolm X appears to have been fabricated.
Upcoming Events
- May 11: Buddy Guy: Damn Right Farewell
- May 12-14: Cinco de Mayo Omaha Festival
- May 19 – July 12: Shabnam Jannesari
Be sure to get the updated booster shot before heading to any of these events.
Around Nebraska
Legislature:
- In a new amendment to LB 574, lawmakers would authorize the state’s chief medical officer and the Nebraska DHHS to set provisions and rules for minors seeking puberty blockers and gender-affirming surgeries.
- Could a state constitutional requirement of bills to contain only a “single subject” trip up the pairing of a 12-week abortion ban into a proposal to ban minors from having gender-affirming surgeries? State senators, legal scholars and a veteran lobbyist weigh in.
- Nebraska’s teachers’ union organizes a committee to hold a referendum vote to challenge the opportunity scholarship bill, a not-yet-approved school choice bill that advanced to final-round debate last month.
- A conservative group’s poll finds the majority of Nebraska voters support ID requirements for in-person voting and early voters returning ballots by mail. Voting rights advocates have argued that requiring a photocopy for early voting would put some at an unfair, if not illegal, disadvantage.
A Platsmouth High School librarian resigns over a controversial book removal policy crafted by school board member Terri Cunningham-Swanson. The librarian spoke out against the ban at a school board meeting alongside student and adult opponents, including D’Shaun Cunningham, Cunningham-Swanson’s son.
A bill was passed in 2021 to ease the process for paying crime victims’ medical expenses by allowing providers to send bills directly to the state. But, two years later, the state hasn’t reimbursed a single provider through the process, Flatwater Free Press reports.
Local Government
The Douglas County public defender requests a larger budget than expected while the county jail director says the facility is fully staffed for the first time in 15 years. The Omaha City Council approves a contract to begin planning a new headquarters for both the Omaha Police Department and Omaha Fire Department.
Read Anton Johnson’s article for The Reader. Follow Anton and Omaha Documenters on Twitter for more local government coverage.
Fact of the Day
From Harper’s Index
Percentage by which U.S. women are more likely to think infidelity is wrong for married men than for women: 22
American Enterprise Institute (Washington)
DAILY FUNNY
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