From Startups to Standouts

by Cheril Lee

Ken Moreano, Executive Director of Scott Technology Center and President of Scott Data Center, said the biggest creative risk he ever took was creating his own technology startup company. 

The company was based in Austin, Texas and Moreano said he had a four and a half year run but, “got my head kicked in pretty well doing the startup. It was a very expensive tuition, but then I came here in...

Embrace Your Creative Impulse

by Cheril Lee

The staff at Omaha Creative Institute knows it takes two to make art sustainable, the artist to create it and the audience to appreciate it. OCI is all about art and creativity accessible to people that aren’t necessarily a part of the arts scene.

“My background is unorthodox for the job I have,” said Susan Thomas, executive director.

Born in small-town Decatur, Thomas traveled quite a bit...

The Crime of the Modern Water User

by Kietryn Zychal

When environmental activist Erin Brockovich was a little girl, her father told her that water would become more valuable than oil because there would be so little of it. In the documentary Last Call at the Oasis, Brockovich and an array of scientists present a compelling case that that day may be dawning now, and not just in developing countries where water scarcity and water-borne illnesses...

The Debasing of Grandmother’s and Godfather’s

by Tim McMahan

Ever since we bought a new house and started remodeling it, weekends are spent doing things like examining backsplash samples and checking out flooring options at Lumber Liquidators. Consumerism as creativity. Hunting and gathering.

Last weekend before heading to whatever wholesale lumber barn was on the list, we headed to lunch. Since we were south near the industrial fringes of Omaha, there...

ACA, The Uninsured and Small Business

by Jessica Clem-McClaren

Nearly 237,000 Nebraskans do not have health insurance, close to 13 percent of the population. The Affordable Care Act passed Congress in March 2010 to help address this issue through health-insurance exchanges, pooling risk and offering subsidies, or for those eligible, an expansion of Medicaid reimbursed by the federal government.
Nebraska has applied for and accepted almost $6.5 million in...

The Difference in Every Election

by Kietryn Zychal

There is a big hole in Douglas County voting.

If residents in Ben Gray, Chris Jerram and Garry Gernandt’s east Omaha districts registered and voted at the same rate as Thomas Mulligan’s district in northwest Omaha, there would be an additional 35,000 votes – enough to make the difference in every city, state and federal election held in the last 20 years.

There are 83 days left until...

Maha Vs. Red Sky: Apples & Oranges

by Tim McMahan

First off, Saturday’s Maha Music Festival held at Stinson Park was nothing less than a success. Great bands. Record crowds. Good times had by all. But as I was pedaling my mountain bike back home through a break in the rain, I couldn’t help but wonder: Is this the best Maha will ever do?

With an attendance of 4,300 -- the highest in the event’s history -- Maha organizers can claim some sort...

Transportation Master Plan Changes

by Jessica Clem-McClaren

A small change has come to your morning commute. More drivers are noticing the blinking of bicycle lights, and the bus system is seeing a rise in activity.
“[There] is a dramatic increase in bike rack usage on Metro buses,” said Sloan Dawson, planner with the Metropolitan Agency Planning Agency (MAPA). “As of June 30, utilization nearly doubled the 2011 rate for the January to June time period...