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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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 […]
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Nebraska’s Reopening Push Forward Déjà Vu: The Reader COVID-19 Roundup, Sept. 14, 2020
Starting today, nearly every county in the state is no longer required to follow state-issued directed health measures. Under Phase 4, measures have been lifted that previously applied bars, restaurants, childcare facilities, churches, gyms, salons, barbers, tattoo parlors, weddings and more are lifted. Original guidance is still recommended, however. The only hard-and-fast limitation is that […]
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Stothert in Favor of Mask Mandate, Questions Effectiveness, Whether City Council Has Votes
By Chris Bowling The Omaha City Council will consider an emergency ordinance for a proposed mask mandate on Tuesday, Aug. 11 after the Douglas County’s health director folded under state legal pressure on July 31. Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert, who alone can not enact a mandate, said she’s in favor of one, but is not […]
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COVID-19 Cases Continue Climbing on The Eve of Election Day
By Chris Bowling Ah. Yes. Breathe that fresh fall air. There’s not a speck of snow on the ground here in Omaha and the weather’s looking unseasonably warm. I’m sure there’s no avalanche of existential fears and emotions looming over our heads, possibly pushing those of us more prone to anxiety even further into a […]
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Schools, schools, schools: COVID-19 Weekly Column from The Reader
By Chris Bowling Editors note: This is a weekly column breaking down COVID-19 data as well as the latest news for Nebraska. The big stories around COVID-19 have focused on schools, schools and more schools. At the University of Nebraska-Lincoln an entire sorority is under quarantine following the report of a small cluster of cases […]
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Solidarity in Solitude: Protester in Carter Lake Stands Up against Police Brutality
By Chris Bowling The smell of steaming asphalt mixes with the exhaust from cars traveling back and forth under a cloudless summer sky. In one direction is the volunteer fire department for this town, Carter Lake, Iowa where 3,000 Hawkeyes live on the Cornhusker side of the Missouri River. Not too far away from the […]
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Grand Island Health Officials Wanted to Close JBS Plant. Ricketts Said No.
This story was originally published in ProPublica by Michael Grabell, published May 7, 1:12 p.m. EDT On Tuesday, March 31, an emergency room doctor at the main hospital in Grand Island, Nebraska, sent an urgent email to the regional health department: “Numerous patients” from the JBS beef packing plant had tested positive for COVID-19. The plant, […]
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My COVID-19 Scare | The Reader’s Weekly COVID Roundup: Sept. 22, 2020
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 This week I had a COVID-19 scare. Someone I was with on Friday tested positive for the virus. Naturally as […]
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Not Even Death Escapes COVID’s Disruption
Funeral Director Jon Reichmuth. Photo by Sam Foo. The harsh reality of pandemic-restricted gatherings has cut attendance by about half from pre-COVID 19 services at Jon Reichmuth’s Funeral Homes in Elkhorn, Yutan and Bennington. This is by far the biggest instant change they’ve ever had to deal with, said Reichmuth, a 44-year tenured funeral director. “One day it was here […]
