By Chris Bowling, Originally printed in the Omaha Star The overcast February day melted into cold night as hours passed inside the Omaha City Council’s Tuesday meeting. Some of the community members in attendance shift in their seats, others prop their elbows to hold their heads up, but all take notice when Cindy Gains grips […]
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City Council Meeting, Jan. 12: Live Updates
About to get underway here at the Omaha City Council. Lots of things on the agenda, and will be tweeting all of them, but we’ve also got the confirmation of Colleen Brennan to the vacant District 5 seat. pic.twitter.com/JY1vJHn0XT — Chris Bowling (@ChrisMBowling) January 12, 2021 About to get underway here at the Omaha City […]
Hoodoo: Passion and Persistence
Let’s start with what’s new. The newly opened jazz club, The Jewell, in the Capitol District. The vision and efforts of Omaha transplant Brian McKenna are bringing world-class jazz artists to Omaha and giving some of our fine local talent that has been gigging at places like Jambo Cat in Dundee a new place to […]
Creighton looks to prove Big East critics wrong
At this time the past couple of years, Creighton basketball fans were downright giddy when discussing the team’s outlook. Stars Marcus Foster, Kyrie Thomas, Justin Patton and Mo Watson had the faithful dreaming big. Challenging for the Big East title and advancing to the Final Four didn’t seem like such a pipe dream. Injuries to […]
City Council Debates Increases to Street Maintenance Worker Pay, Votes Not to Pursue Changes to State Liquor License Laws. COVID-19 Cases Continue Spiking in Douglas County.
Both the Omaha City Council and Douglas County Board of Commissioners met Tuesday.
“This is home.” Omaha Organizations Help Low-Income Homebuyers as Obstacles Increase
This story is part of (DIS)Invested — a longterm Reader investigation into Omaha’s inequities. *** As Jose Castañeda walked into the living room, he shut the door behind him. He looked to his left, then his right. There were no couches or rugs on the fresh gray carpet. No pictures on the beige walls. In […]
Douglas County Corrections Struggles with COVID, but Health Director Says Declining Hospitalizations Provide Breathing Room. City Council Approves Extending Infrastructure into Northwest Omaha.
The Douglas County Board of Commissioners met Tuesday to receive reports on the corrections department and COVID-19, as the Omicron variant wave subsides. Douglas County Corrections Director Mike Myers said that the department experienced an “unprecedented” 95 staff members who missed time because of COVID throughout January. This resulted in nearly $600,000 being spent on […]
State Testing and Cases Spike: Weekly COVID-19 Roundup, Aug. 31.
Editors note: This is a weekly series from The Reader breaking down COVID-19 data from the state. In it, reporter Chris Bowling will look at the latest in COVID-19 numbers and news. See daily COVID-19 updates here Things were looking good. Douglas County finally had a mask mandate. Lancaster County had moved into risk-level “yellow.” Daily […]
2021 Music Year in Review
I know, I know… it’s only December, and anything can happen before the year is actually over, but I ain’t got that luxury, deadlines being what they are. Rather than wait until January after you’ve (hopefully) long forgotten and moved on from 2021, I thought I’d do the recap now while it’s fresh in your […]
With more immigrants on the way, how Ebrahim found his American Dream
This story originally published in Flatwater Free Press. It is a storybook summer night in Omaha, and Ebrahim Abdulsattar is sitting under a pink-striped sky in Aksarben, eating a chocolate crepe and considering his happy fortune. He is married to Lubna al-Sebaie, a woman who shares his Muslim faith, intellectual curiosity, and zest for road […]