Theresa Toledo, 73, and her 45-year-old daughter, Angela Toledo Miller, died last Tuesday, morning when Theresa’s home exploded. According to the Omaha Police Department, Alexander Toledo, 28, died on Wednesday, December 9th in a burn unit in Kansas City, Missouri. The initial blast and fire leveled Theresa Toledo’s home at 4810 S. 51st St. and badly damaged neighbors’ houses.
Read MoreThe North Omaha Trail is set to begin construction in the spring/summer of 2021, with the aim of connecting North Omaha to the North Downtown area of Omaha. The project was developed from the City of Omaha Master Plan, the North Omaha Development Project, and many other resources, to create a local and necessary north-south route for transportation, recreation, and support of public health.
Read MoreThe fight is not over for the 25 protestors disputing their charges from a mass arrest over the summer. Last month, Douglas County Judge Marcena Hendrix struck down the ordinance used in the mass arrest of over 100 protestors, but Omaha City Prosecutor Matt Kuhse now says he will appeal the decision. Kuhse asserts it's appropriate to appeal a decision having such a great impact if it stands.
Read MoreThe protestors started with three demands: name the officers involved in the shooting, release the unedited body cam footage of the incident, and start an independent review board to investigate the incident and any others with transparency and clarity. To this date only the first demand has been met.
Each night protestors met a line of officers around Omaha Police Headquarters and launched a verbal assault on officers standing on the patio. Protestors did speak with some officers, making moral arguments to the police for the release of the footage. One night, Kenneth Jones’s family joined activists in pleading for the footage to be released.
Read MoreA graphic reminder that a building is more than its brick and mortar came during a November 16 Omaha Public Schools Board of Education meeting that decided the fate of the former Yates Elementary School at 3260 Davenport Street. The 6-1 vote to sell Yates to a local nonprofit interest group over a Colorado developer represented a major win for the Gifford Park Neighborhood Association (GPNA), whose Save Yates for Omaha campaign enlisted considerable community support.
The Omaha Opportunities Industrialization Center (OOIC) earned trust in the 1960s and 1970s as an adult education and employment training catalyst. Little by little its trades programs fell away and a host of financial and legal problems emerged. OOIC eventually closed in 2017, though its board remained intact.
The OOIC building, once a bustling community hub, sits empty and in disrepair today. A local nonprofit interest group hopes to acquire the site and to bring OIC’s adult education and job training back for the 21st century.
One day after an Omaha police officer shot and killed 35-year-old Kenneth Jones during a traffic stop at 27th and Harrison, about 100 people, including activists and angered community members, converged on the steps of the Omaha Police Headquarters at 15th demanding transparency from the department. This is within days of the city council's vote on the new police union contract. By the close of the protest and march, at least five people were taken into custody, some brought to the ground violently by officers before being detained.
Read MoreKenneth Jones, 35, was fatally shot by an Omaha Police officer during a traffic stop at 27th and Harrison on the evening of Thursday, November 19. Witness Charlene Rainey called the event “traumatizing” and said that she fears for her boys as they too are African American. Police reports indicate Jones may have had a gun on him which prompted one of the officers to shoot. Bodycam footage is being reviewed by OPD and the public calling for its immediate release.
Read MoreNebraska State Education Association (NSEA) has announced the results from a statewide survey given to educators at the end of October concerning teaching during the pandemic. (Image credit to NSEA)
Read MoreOmaha Public Schools turned down a bid from a regional property management company for $630,000 instead, placing trust in the Gifford Park neighborhood and their reputation for true grassroots change.
Read MoreThe Omaha city council held a public hearing today, November 10th, hearing testimony about a new police contract. The proposed ordinance would create a five-year-long collective bargaining agreement between the council and the Omaha Police Officers Association. The council met and listened to testimony from concerned residents. The council won’t vote on the ordinance until November 24th.
Read MoreThose who work in public health focused on Native and indigenous communities in the US warn of multifaceted gaps in data collection for tribes during this pandemic. Read the full article with insights from Dr. Desi Rodriguez-Lonebear director of the Data Warriors Lab and a member of the Northern Cheyenne as well as Dr. Talia Quandelacy of the Zuni Tribe and incoming professor at the Colorado School of Public Health.
Image credit: “Electric Jingle Dancer” by Nathaniel Ruleaux
Read MoreClose to 4,000 people buried in Omaha’s Potter’s Field were memorialized with a historical marker on Sunday, Oct. 25. The community group behind the dedication, Make Potter’s Proper, works to spread awareness about the historical significance of Potter’s Field, located on 5110 Young Street. The monument itself was made possible through a grant from the Hollis & Helen Baright Foundation in conjunction with History Nebraska.
Read MoreIn 1891, George Smith was arrested after being wrongly accused of raping 5-year-old Lizzie Yeates. On Oct. 10, a mob seized Smith from the county jail, brutally beat him, and dragged him to the Douglas County Courthouse, where he was then hanged from a streetcar wire at the northeast corner of 17th and Harney Streets. The Omaha Community Council for Racial Justice and Reconciliation (OCCRJR) honored the life of George Smith through a soil collection ceremony that took place on Friday, October 23.
Read MoreReview this listing of candidates on your ballot catered to Douglas County voters. Offices up for election are state senators, county commissioners, and educational positions, and more. Find details on ballot initiatives. It does not include candidates Donald Trump with Mike Pence and Joe Biden with Kamala Harris for the White House, though we think the list is extensive.
Read MoreDouglas County Board of Commissioners approved a resolution to give their support and trust to County Attorney Don Kleine, who was under fire through the summer for not immediately calling a grand jury to investigate the killing of James Scurlock by Jake Gardner.
Read MoreThe City of Omaha will no longer be working with the nonprofit in charge of the Love’s Jazz and Art Center (LJAC). After operating for 15 years, the LJAC’s lease has expired and the city is choosing to turn over management to the North 24th Business Improvement District, according to a press release from October 8, 2020. We spoke to former board members, the 24th Street BID president, and Preston Love to get the full story.
Read MoreBob Gibson, famed baseball player and North Omaha native, passed away at age 84 on October 2, 2020. Gibson, the most accomplished Nebraska-born athlete in Major League Baseball to date, died Friday night after a year-long battle with pancreatic cancer.
Read MoreSenator Ernie Chambers discussed his write-in campaign for Douglas County Commissioner District 3 with policy expert and racial/climate justice advocate, Anthony Karefa Rogers-Wright. The conversation was live-streamed on Facebook on Tuesday, Oct. 6. Key issues Sen. Chambers says he will cover if elected to the position include: the school to prison pipeline, gentrification, and climate change.
Read MoreThe Omaha City Council voted 5-2 to extend the city’s mask requirement to late November before Thanksgiving. Dr. Adi Pour, director of the Douglas County Health Department, said the county experienced “a very disappointing week” of rising numbers pertaining to COVID-19.
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