In 2020 a little more than 12% of Nebraska kids — or 56,828 children — lived in poverty, down for the eighth consecutive year since the state’s child poverty rate neared 18% in 2013. But a new report shows while fewer Nebraska children live in poverty, children of color continue to grow up poor at […]
Posted inMultimedia
Everything We Saw at the Omaha Mobile Stage Youth Talent Show
Just as the golden hour sunlight hit the new Gene Leahy Mall amphitheater, young dancers and singers took the stage to perform in the Omaha Mobile Stage Youth Talent Show on Friday, September 9. While families sat in lawn chairs to cheer on their kids, and visitors to the new public space stopped to catch […]
Posted inMusic
Soul Connections
There are plenty of great club shows filling the early fall schedule, starting with the Blues Society of Omaha weekly shows that rotate among several venues this month. Thursday, Sept. 1, 6-9 p.m., Omaha’s own Nate Bray & The Soul Supremes perform at The Strut. Thursday, Sept. 8, 6-9 p.m., it’s the Brotherhood Tour featuring […]
Posted inNews
Omaha GED Classes Open Doors, Help Immigrant Parents Support Kids In School
This story was first published in El Perico, The Reader’s Spanish-English sister publication. Read the original story in English and Spanish. Patricia Paniagua drove home from Metro Community College in early May feeling nervous. After almost two years of studies, the 41-year-old mother of three had just taken an hour-long math test, the fourth and […]
Posted inNews
Omaha Opens Pandemic Rental Assistance to All, Regardless of Citizenship. Here’s How to Apply.
All Omaha renters hurt by the pandemic can now apply for emergency rental assistance regardless of their citizenship or U.S. legal status. The City of Omaha reversed its legal position last week Wednesday on who can receive the federal Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) money, removing citizenship as a qualification for the rental and utility relief […]
Posted inNews
For Some Latino Omahans, Solving Health Disparities Starts in the Garden
It’s 11 o’clock on a sunny June morning in La Vista, Nebraska, and four young women are admiring more than three dozen leafy green vegetables poking out the dirt on the south side of Zoraida Llasaca’s home. Llasaca, a woman born in Peru who has called Nebraska home for the past 18 years, smiles beside […]
Posted inCulture
Hot, Hot, Hot
If you are an Eastern Nebraska blues fan, chances are that Lincoln’s Zoo Bar had something to do with your discovery of the music. Even if you’ve never made it to the club. If you went to blues shows at Omaha’s old Howard Street Tavern or Kansas City’s Grand Emporium, you felt the impact of […]
Posted inNews
OPD Officer On Paid Leave, Investigation Into Use of Force In Juvenile Arrest
An Omaha police officer has been placed on paid administrative leave pending an internal investigation to examine his use of force during the arrest of a young boy Tuesday, according to the Omaha police department. Social media posts and witnesses say the child was 12 years old. Omaha Police Chief Todd Schmaderer said he placed […]
Posted inNews
OPS Board of Education Approves Proposed Stipends for Staff as Teacher Shortage Continues
This story is part of (DIS)Invested — a longterm Reader investigation into Omaha’s inequities. *** The Omaha Public Schools Board of Education has approved amendments to the district’s federal pandemic relief funds, including a proposal to put funds towards stipends for full-time staff and part-time staff in the 2022-23 and 2023-24 school year. At a nearly three-hour […]
Posted inNews
While Teachers Need Support Now, Programs Strengthen the Future of Teaching
This story is part of (DIS)Invested — a longterm Reader investigation into Omaha’s inequities. *** Editor’s note: At the time this story originally published in The Reader‘s June print issue, the Omaha Public Schools district had not allocated ESSER, or Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief, funds toward teacher pay. The online story has been updated to […]
Posted inNews
“We are Tired, We Feel Used”: Ahead of Staff Exodus, OPS Teachers Demand Action From Board
This story is part of (DIS)Invested — a longterm Reader investigation into Omaha’s inequities. *** Adam Byers didn’t have “a fraction of the support” he feels he should have as a first-year teacher in his Omaha Public Schools classroom this year. That’s why he’s resigning from the district, he told the board of education in a meeting […]
Posted inTheatre
Experts Say Students Need Help, Not Punishment as They Cope with Pandemic
While suspensions dropped in OPS schools during the pandemic, disproportionate suspension rates for Black students persisted.
Posted inEducation
OPS Board Approves Revisions to Code of Conduct to Address Serious Fights, Gender Neutral Language
Students in the Omaha Public Schools will have a revised code of conduct in the next school year. In an hour and a half long meeting at the OPS Teacher Administration Center Monday night, all nine members of the OPS Board of Education approved the second reading of the code of conduct. Under the revised […]
Posted inMultimedia
Building “The Good Life” For All Nebraskans, Not Just Some
Cammy Watkins and Maggie Wood believe honest conversations about equity and inclusion in Nebraska’s schools and businesses — and in everyday life — can help create The Good Life for all Nebraskans, not just some. They are the co-executive directors of Inclusive Communities, a nonprofit organization providing advocacy and education around diversity and equity in […]
Posted inNews
In Caring For Omaha’s Most Absent Kids, Many Still Fall Through the Cracks: “Everybody Should Have the Resources I Have.”
The GOALS Center addresses attendance and truancy issues for students in metro schools. But advocates say the absentee interventions aren’t reaching the students who need them most.
Posted inNews
How One Omaha High School Addresses Chronic Absenteeism
This story is part of (DIS)Invested — a longterm Reader investigation into Omaha’s inequities. *** Editor’s note: The Omaha Street School refrained from sharing students’ last names to protect their privacy. For the first half of her freshman year, Mercy had her routine down at Omaha South High School. She’d go to one class to be marked […]
Posted inNews
Omaha Public Schools Board Makes Masks Optional
The Omaha Public Schools Board of Education approved a resolution to drop the district-wide mask mandate at Thursday night’s board meeting, making it optional to wear masks in OPS buildings as of Friday. Teachers, students, parents and OPS staff sat in the Teacher Administration Center building, 3215 Cuming St., on Thursday to hear the board’s […]
Posted inNews
White Student Enrollment Slides in OPS, Nearby Districts
This story is part of (DIS)Invested — a longterm Reader investigation into Omaha’s inequities. *** When the pandemic shut down in-person and virtual classes for Omaha Public Schools in March 2020, Jenelle Emory would sit in her home with her daughters — a first grader and a kindergartener at Adams Elementary — and walk through the packet […]
Posted inNews
Photo Collection: We Made Ourselves at Home in Memorial Park
Among lawn chairs and picnic blankets spread across Memorial Park at last Saturday’s City of Omaha Celebrates America summer concert, one seat stood out— a couch. Our team at The Reader set up our “living room” and invited concert goers to stop by for a free portrait and a copy of our August issue. With […]
Posted inMusic
Fiery Music Forecast
Héctor Anchondo’s first trip to Memphis for the 2015 International Blues Challenge was the inspiration for In the Market for Blues, an Old-Market-based, multi-venue, multi-band event that has grown exponentially each year. The festival is now supported by the Blues Society of Omaha and a variety of sponsors. After a year off with pandemic closures, […]
Posted inNews
Ital Becomes Vital In North Omaha
In June, 22 year old Imani Murray opened Ital Vital Living, a drive-thru smoothie and juice store at 2323 N. 24th St., with her mother and sister by her side.
Posted inDining
Reimagine What Food Can Do: For These Omahans, It’s About Community
The pandemic pushed restaurant owners to their financial, emotional and mental limits. But from that same chaos rose a young, diverse slate of Omahans who either opened their own food businesses after March 2020, or found new meaning behind why they make their meals while in the COVID-19-induced solitude. Throughout the month of July, The […]
Posted inNews
Price Tag for Library Demolition Increases to $1 Million, and Douglas County Board Approves Tax Levy.
The city will spend another $393,000 on the demolition of the W. Dale Clark Library after approval from the Omaha City Council on Tuesday, Sept. 27. The original $678,000 agreement with Cox Contracting was amended to reflect additional services requested by the city. Jacquelyn Morrison, Mayor Stothert’s deputy chief of staff for economic development, said […]
Posted inNews
Prison system touts drop in staff turnover, while lack of medical workers remains a concern
This story was originally published in the Nebraska Examiner LINCOLN — The Nebraska Department of Corrections, long plagued by high turnover among protective services staff, is now projecting that the turnover rate among guards will be cut nearly in half. In a press release Tuesday, Corrections said it expects the turnover rate among custody staff — […]
Posted inNews
Plug Pulled on Multimillion-Dollar “Intersections” Project for South Omaha
This story was originally published in the Nebraska Examiner OMAHA — Developers have scrapped an ambitious plan that had aimed to turn a largely industrial 25-acre tract south of downtown into a multimillion-dollar wellness and sports complex. A spokesman for Community Health Development Partners told the Nebraska Examiner that there’s a chance the “Intersections” campus […]
Posted inDining
Reopening, Projected Opening, and a Food Day to Celebrate
Committee Chophouse More than a month after suspending service to complete kitchen repairs, The Committee Chophouse has reopened to the public and is celebrating in big ways. In addition to the menu diners know and love, The Committee will be adding a lunch menu to service beginning this November. The Fall Harvest Dinner is on […]
Posted inTheatre
“One-Act Gone Wrong” at Millard South High School
September 30 “One-Act Gone Wrong” By Henry Lewis, Jonathan Sayer, and Henry Shields Millard South High School The Nebraska premiere of “One-Act Gone Wrong” takes place at Millard South High School on September 30 at 7 p.m. It hits the stage by arrangement with Dramatists Play Service under license from Mischief Worldwide Ltd and is […]
Posted inCulture
PHOTOS: Dinosaur Jr. Play Omaha’s Waiting Room
Dinosaur Jr., the seminal grunge rockers from Massachusetts whose hits like “Feel the Pain” and “Freak Scene” combine thick, feedback-laden guitar and infectious melodies, stopped in Omaha on Sept. 25 to play the Waiting Room. The Reader spent the night with the three-piece, which includes underground rock pioneer J Mascis and his recognizable Fender Jazzmaster […]
Posted inMultimedia
1st Sky Omaha in the Morning, Reader guest: Chris Bowling, 9/26/22
Reader guest: Chris Bowling Live from Webberized studios in the Mastercraft building, 1st Sky Omaha is on air every Monday, Wednesday and Friday talking about the issues that matter to its listeners. The show features features Paul Beeee, Buddi3 Da Gawd and Star Trek Rich. 1st Sky Omaha partners with The Reader in print and […]
Posted inNews
More Money for Library Demolition and Vote on NOMA Facility: What’s Happening in Your Local Government on Sept. 27
Every week, The Reader picks out noteworthy agenda items from the Douglas County Board of Commissioners and the Omaha City Council. Visit the county and city’s websites to view the full agendas. W. Dale Clark Demolition: The Omaha City Council will vote on an amendment to the agreement with Cox Contracting for the demolition of the W. Dale Clark Library. The […]
Posted inTheatre
From ‘School of Rock’ to Christmas Stories: Fall Theatre Preview
Not quite a movie and not a book, theater starts and ends on the stage. The writers, producers, designers, and performers make each show an unrepeatable event. But audiences do not passively ingest a play, musical, opera, or set. We experience it, we can learn from it, and that journey taken together becomes something else […]
Posted inMovies
How Dare Pugh?
Florence Pugh gets to make precious few films in her lifetime. Why did “Don’t Worry Darling” have to be one of them? Her generational talent is a resource more finite than fossil fuels, albeit requiring fewer dino deaths. I’d straight-up shank a stegosaurus to give her a mulligan on director Olivia Wilde’s wannabe speculative fiction […]