Profiles
It’s an open book – as well it should be. We’re talking about the design concept behind Omaha’s new Central Library – and at the heart of its very mission.
To provide a welcoming space for all people...
A fresh morning drizzle on Saturday either lended to or came from the heavy fog, priced by downtown Omaha’s few skyscrapers. The view from Cummings Street was thankfully unobstructed as I drove to...
It was a hard sell.
I was loitering around in that dark Omaha alleyway, one of those ones that still have those red bricks that bring more character than the unfilled potholes on old concrete. Next...
Omaha has many religious places of worship, but only one Temple of Beauty. Windowless walls of pink Georgia-marble reach high into the air as if to both catch as much sunlight as possible while also...
Walking into a New York City pharmacy, Scott LeRette had no idea how life was about to change for him and his family.
LeRette, author of "The Unbreakable Boy," mentioned to the pharmacist he was an...
Today’s News
(Shutterstock)
Recently, I found myself pouring my heart out, not to a human, but to a chatbot named Wysa on my phone. It nodded – virtually – asked me how I was feeling and gently suggested trying breathing...
EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — After driving through a downpour to take her son to day camp, Darleen Reyes told camp administrators the rain would have kept her away but her son insisted on going.
As...
The multitrillion-dollar bill that President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4, 2025, will change how the U.S. tax code treats charitable donations. It also has several tax provisions that...
Members of a search and rescue team embrace as they visit a memorial wall for flood victims, Sunday, July 13, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas. (Eric Gay / AP Photo)
Three thoughts …
Nebraskans know a mighty wind. We know whirling monsters tethered to a blackened firmament while wreaking havoc on fields and towns and lives.
Tornadoes are a fact of life here from...
Tanika Cannon remembers the excruciating pain of labor when she was a teenager, pregnant with her first child. She remembers learning at the hospital that her baby was OK, but the hospital was full....
This Week's News
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07/16/2025 - 12:00am
Recently, I found myself pouring my heart out, not to a human, but to a chatbot named Wysa on my phone. It nodded – virtually – asked me how I was feeling and gently suggested trying breathing exercises.
As a neuroscientist, I couldn’t help but...
07/16/2025 - 12:00am
EAST PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — After driving through a downpour to take her son to day camp, Darleen Reyes told camp administrators the rain would have kept her away but her son insisted on going.
As she marked her son's name present on a clipboard at...
07/16/2025 - 12:00am
The multitrillion-dollar bill that President Donald Trump signed into law on July 4, 2025, will change how the U.S. tax code treats charitable donations. It also has several tax provisions that affect some colleges, universities and other nonprofits...
Members of a search and rescue team embrace as they visit a memorial wall for flood victims, Sunday, July 13, 2025, in Kerrville, Texas. (Eric Gay / AP Photo)
07/16/2025 - 12:00am
Three thoughts …
Nebraskans know a mighty wind. We know whirling monsters tethered to a blackened firmament while wreaking havoc on fields and towns and lives.
Tornadoes are a fact of life here from March to the dog days of summer. When one touches...
07/16/2025 - 12:00am
Tanika Cannon remembers the excruciating pain of labor when she was a teenager, pregnant with her first child. She remembers learning at the hospital that her baby was OK, but the hospital was full. Staff suggested she go to the hospital where her...
(Shutterstock)
07/15/2025 - 12:00am
“My dedication was questioned.”
“Managers or upper management have looked down upon taking time off.”
“People think that maybe you’re not as invested in the job, that you’re shirking your duties or something.”
These are just a few of the responses...
07/15/2025 - 12:00am
At its heart, pizza is deceptively simple. Made from just a few humble ingredients – baked dough, tangy sauce, melted cheese and maybe a few toppings – it might seem like a perfect candidate for the kind of mass-produced standardization that defines...
07/15/2025 - 12:00am
WASHINGTON (AP) — As commerce secretary, Howard Lutnick oversees the U.S. government’s vast efforts to monitor and predict the weather.
The billionaire also ran a financial firm, which he recently left in the control of his adult sons, that stands...
07/15/2025 - 12:00am
CHADRON — The stories at the Olde Main Street Inn are as plentiful as the pine trees on the nearby rocky ridges.
Like the time actor Woody Harrelson came by but couldn’t get a room because the three-story bed-and-breakfast was full.
Or the time the...
(Shutterstock)
07/15/2025 - 12:00am
College Isn’t Camp. As Enrollment Drops, It’s Time to Take Higher Ed Seriously
White: Treat college as an investment in the future, let HS teens earn credits, use AI to keep graduating seniors on track, focus on in-demand skills
By Paula White
This...
07/15/2025 - 12:00am
The tyranny of the sun is only so without shade; on a hot Omaha day, wood chip paths wound under well-maintained tree-cover. Almost out of sight, birds somersaulted in tandem in their ever-dance under and above the outstretched branches holding back...
07/14/2025 - 12:00am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Hector Velasquez was playing cards with friends at MacArthur Park in Los Angeles early Monday when a young man with a megaphone walked through announcing federal agents were on their way. Another man drove past in a car, shouting...
A Social Security card is displayed on Oct. 12, 2021, in Tigard, Ore. At least one parent or guardian will need a social security number in order to quality for a child tax credit. (Jenny Kane / AP Photo)
07/14/2025 - 12:00am
This story was originally reported by Chabeli Carrazana of The 19th. Meet Chabeli and read more of her reporting on gender, politics and policy.
A new child tax credit is coming next year, bringing significant changes that will alter how much...
07/14/2025 - 12:00am
When congressional Republicans decided to cut some Biden-era energy subsidies to help fund their One Big Beautiful Bill Act, they could have pruned wasteful subsidies while sparing the rest. Instead, they did the reverse. Americans will pay the...
State Sens. Wendy DeBoer of Omaha and Jana Hughes of Seward, from left, take photos of the successful vote to move forward a School Finance Review Commission led by Hughes in 2025 and sought by DeBoer in earlier years, May 21, 2025. (Zach Wendling / Nebraska Examiner)
07/14/2025 - 12:00am
In a Nebraska legislative session better known for its sound and fury than for a lot of substantive accomplishments, at least one bill stands as an exception.
At the eleventh hour, the Legislature voted to create a School Financing Review Commission...
07/14/2025 - 12:00am
The U.S. Supreme Court late Tuesday lifted lower court injunctions that had blocked attempts by President Donald Trump and his DOGE Service to restructure the federal government.
Labor unions, advocates and local governments that sued to block the...
Attorney General Pam Bondi (left) listens as President Donald Trump (right) speaks during a cabinet meeting at the White House, Tuesday, July 8, 2025, in Washington. (Evan Vucci / AP Photo)
07/11/2025 - 12:00am
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump leaped to the defense of Attorney General Pam Bondi on Tuesday in the face of mounting criticism from far-right influencers and conservative internet personalities over the Justice Department's abrupt refusal...
This photo provided by John Hall Thomas shows Derrick Groves in New Orleans on Oct. 24, 2019 during a court appearance related to a 2018 shooting that killed two people and injured others. (John Hall Thomas via AP)
Convicted Murderer Derrick Groves Eludes Law Enforcement As Last New Orleans Jail Escapee On The Run
07/11/2025 - 12:00am
NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Nearly two months after 10 inmates escaped from a New Orleans jail by crawling through a hole behind a toilet, authorities have recaptured all but the man with the most violent rap sheet: Derrick Groves.
Following the May 16...
07/11/2025 - 12:00am
This story was originally reported by Barbara Rodriguez of The 19th. Meet Barbara and read more of their reporting on gender, politics and policy.
A pregnant physician is at the center of a new lawsuit against Health and Human Services Secretary...
The Nebraska Pardons Board: Secretary of State Bob Evnen, Gov. Jim Pillen and Attorney General Mike Hilgers talk before a Board of Pardons meeting, Aug. 20, 2024. (Aaron Sanderford / Nebraska Examiner)
07/11/2025 - 12:00am
LINCOLN — Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers on Tuesday announced that his office is suing General Motors for allegedly collecting and selling data on drivers without their consent for at least the past decade.
The 40-page lawsuit, filed Tuesday...
The Nebraska Pardons Board: Secretary of State Bob Evnen, Gov. Jim Pillen and Attorney General Mike Hilgers talk before a Board of Pardons meeting, Aug. 20, 2024. (Aaron Sanderford / Nebraska Examiner)
07/11/2025 - 12:00am
LINCOLN — Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers on Tuesday announced that his office is suing General Motors for allegedly collecting and selling data on drivers without their consent for at least the past decade.
The 40-page lawsuit, filed Tuesday...
George Wees in his dorm room at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. (Courtesy photo)
07/11/2025 - 12:00am
In June, we wished our United States Army a happy 250th birthday. It was a significant day for me, having grown up around the world among soldiers, sailors, airmen and their families.
My father, George Wees, was born in Omaha to second-generation...
07/11/2025 - 12:00am
For the past seven months, a top prosecutor in the Sarpy County Attorney’s Office, a lawyer making more than $140,000 a year, has been paid by the county to stay home.
The Sarpy County Board blocked him from offices in the courthouse and revoked his...
American Hunters and Anglers call out Interior Secretary Doug Burgum for pushing to sell off federally managed public lands with an unmissable projection at Western Governors Association venue on Monday June 23, 2025 in Santa Fe, N.M. (Kim Cook / AP Content Services for American Hunters & Anglers)
07/10/2025 - 12:00am
Utah Sen. Mike Lee Says Selling Off Public Lands Will Solve the West’s Housing Crisis. Past Sales Show Otherwise.
by Abe Streep
ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories...
The good life district designation in Kearney is to be located on 200 acres of vacant land surrounding the city’s SportsPlex facility, shown here. The district is to include retail, restaurant and destination attractions led by a private developer. The SportsPlex is a complex offering 209,000 square feet of indoor, multi-use athletic amenities. (Courtesy of the City of Kearney)
07/10/2025 - 12:00am
LINCOLN — Nebraska’s fifth and final “good life district” designation goes to the City of Kearney, city leaders announced on Monday.
Kearney’s district joins four other geographical areas designated as good life districts by the Nebraska Department...
Activists in Seattle gather signatures to put a social housing initiative on the ballot. In early 2025, voters passed the measure, which implements a payroll tax on high incomes to fund the program. (Courtesy of House Our Neighbors )
07/10/2025 - 12:00am
Seattle astounded housing advocates around the country in February 2025, when roughly two-thirds of voters approved a ballot initiative proposing a new 5% payroll tax on salaries in excess of US$1 million.
The expected revenue – estimated to amount...
U.S. Rep. Don Bacon speaks about his decision to retire from Congress and not run again in 2026 at Omaha’s Eppley Airfield. June 30, 2025. (Aaron Sanderford / Nebraska Examiner)
07/10/2025 - 12:00am
U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., has trained lots of eyeballs on Nebraska 2nd Congressional District, the “Blue Dot,” after he announced he would not seek re-election next year when we celebrate the nation’s semiquincentennial.
Yes, that’s the word....
07/10/2025 - 12:00am
Finding a home in Lincoln has never been simple for Shawn Fauver.
That’s because since 2013 Fauver has relied on federal housing vouchers, or Section 8, which expire if not used within 90 days. And as Fauver learned, not all landlords take Section...
