On the one hand, Bugonia is right up my alley. A genre-bending, tone-shifting “sci-fi black comedy” produced by Ari Aster and starring Landry from Friday Night Lights is basically a movie crafted using a Mad Libs written by my heart. And yet… On the other hand, Bugonia is my personal hell. It is essentially two […]
Posted inNews
Latino Center of the Midlands’ $10M expansion aims to meet community needs
Shovels hit the dirt inside a former bank building on South 24th Street Tuesday as one of the community’s largest nonprofits embarked on a $10 million expansion project. For decades, the Latino Center of the Midlands has brought educational support, workforce development and leadership opportunities to families in South Omaha. The group’s planned expansion will […]
Posted inFood
Anthony Warrior fights the good fight against food trauma
Anthony Warrior was making his way through thick green stalks when he video called me one day in early fall. “They’re grilling corn right now,” he said, gesturing toward an unseen fire where several of his friends, acquaintances, and fellow Native food defenders were enjoying some of the fruits of their labor. I asked where […]
Posted inUncategorized
Omaha mayor, food bank call for donations amid SNAP pause
The cutoff of a major federal food program will limit options in an increasingly hungry Omaha community. Mayor John Ewing and nonprofit leaders are looking to get ahead of it. Ewing partnered with the Food Bank for the Heartland, Community Alliance and other city leaders Wednesday to call for food and monetary donations. The plea […]
Posted inDining
In Blackstone, one of Omaha’s first Japanese barbecue spots lights its grills
If there’s one thing the owners of Koen, a new Japanese barbecue and izakaya spot in Blackstone, want you to know, it’s this: Don’t expect an all-you-can-eat buffet. That’s because Brian and Inez Choi, who opened Koen in July, want to focus their Japanese and Korean spot on quality. The equipment in the Japanese barbecue […]
Posted inMovies
Need more to worry about? A House of Dynamite has you covered
It has been too long. Too long since the innocent children of America were traumatized by TV shows and movies that dramatized the inevitability of nuclear annihilation. Netflix’s A House of Dynamite may have been slapped with an R rating, but maybe it should be a disquieting double-feature paired with Bluey. Not really, but maybe […]
Posted inVisual Arts
After reopening, Joslyn Art Museum breaks visitor records, earns acclaim
Jack Becker sees it when visitors lounge on the Joslyn Art Museum’s grand steps, built nearly a century ago, and gawk up at the museum’s new addition. He sees it on social media, when Nebraskans and museumgoers from around the country post Instagram-worthy photos in the soaring atrium and new pavilion. And the museum director […]
Posted inNews
City Council votes down proposed ordinance to ban homeless encampments
Omaha City Council members voted down an ordinance Tuesday that sought to ban homeless encampments on city property. The decision sets a clear course of action in a months-long discussion on how to address a rise in homeless encampments across the city. Introduced by Councilman Brinker Harding, the ordinance as originally drafted would have required […]
Posted inNews
A Nebraska food bank expected thousands of pounds of food. Cuts to a federal program meant it never arrived
Twenty-five thousand pounds of eggs. Thirty thousand pounds of pulled pork. Nineteen thousand pounds of 2% milk. And 434,000 lost meals. In recent months, tens of thousands of pounds of expected food items never made it to the Food Bank for the Heartland in Omaha. The canceled deliveries are a repercussion of recent cuts to […]
Posted inNews
Oma-Homers: Meet the Nebraska pigeon racers keeping a tradition alive
The beady-eyed athletes scan an unfamiliar wind-swept prairie from behind the starting gate. They’ve prepared for this day since birth. Pricey high-nutrient meals, early-morning training sessions, weekly competitions across the state — all of it intended to give them a chance at glory in the Grain Belt Classic. Suddenly, the gate cranks open, unleashing a […]