By Zach Wendling | Reporter
“I’ll feel I played a small part in bringing back that luster to this community.” - Damany “Dom” Rahn, chief executive of Heart Ministry Center, which is leading the charge for the new grocery store in North Omaha.
An outside view of the planned grocery store near 25th and Lake Streets, from the visitor parking area looking northwest. (Courtesy of Alley Poyner Macchietto Architecture)
LABOR & GROWTH
By Cindy Gonzalez
OMAHA — Carolyn Williamson’s thoughts rolled back to the glory days of the North Omaha historic business corridor, before the late 1960s riots when jazz clubs flourished and, she said, there seemed to be a grocery store on every block.
The then-leaders of Nebraska Medicine, including Dr. Michael Ash, the nonprofit’s CEO, at right, and Lance Fritz, now-former chair of the Nebraska Medicine Board of Directors, hosted a forum Thursday with dozens of state lawmakers ahead of a University of Nebraska Board of Regents vote to buy out the 50% share of Nebraska Medicine co-owner, Clarkson Regional Health Services, the next day. Jan. 14, 2026. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
HEALTH
By Zach Wendling
LINCOLN — In another curveball in the future of Nebraska Medicine, the University of Nebraska could tap the Omaha Community Foundation as an “equal member” of the nonprofit.
Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers. March 4, 2026. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
LABOR & GROWTH
By Juan Salinas II
LINCOLN — Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilger announced Thursday he is suing the city of Lincoln over its recently passed minimum wage rule that set a different rate than the state’s.
The University of Nebraska Board of Regents. Dec. 5, 2025. (Zach Wendling/Nebraska Examiner)
EDUCATION
By Zach Wendling
LINCOLN — The University of Nebraska Board of Regents voted Thursday to increase tuition rates across NU by about 4.25% this fall, the fourth straight annual increase at NU.
The Davis Global Center at the University of Nebraska Medical Center campus, which contains the National Quarantine Unit. (Courtesy of UNMC)
HEALTH
By Cindy Gonzalez
OMAHA — Two more people who were passengers aboard a cruise ship that was the site of a deadly hantavirus outbreak have returned to their home states following about five weeks of monitoring at the University of Nebraska Medical Center-based National Quarantine Unit, according to a Thursday update.
Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen, center, tours Howard County on May 18, 2026, one day after tornadoes tore through the community the night before. (Photo courtesy of the Office of Gov. Jim Pillen)
PUBLIC SAFETY
By Zach Wendling
LINCOLN — Nebraska Gov. Jim Pillen is requesting that President Donald Trump issue a major disaster declaration in the wake of severe storms that hit central Nebraska in mid-May.
Applause follows the unveiling of retired Justice Lindsey Miller-Lerman’s portrait in the State Capitol’s “Lawyers Room,” where about 70 photos of others who served on the Nebraska Supreme Court are displayed. Supreme Court Chief Justice Jeffrey Funke, shown here alongside Miller-Lerman, spoke about what he called her historic career. (Courtesy of Nebraska Supreme Court)
ICYMI
By Cindy Gonzalez
LINCOLN — For the century it’s been around, the storied “Lawyers Room” adjacent to the Nebraska Supreme Court chamber has been adorned with portraits of jurists who formerly served on the state’s highest court.
Vice President JD Vance speaks during a news conference at the White House on June 18, 2026. Vance is expected to travel to Lucerne, Switzerland, Friday for follow-up talks after President Donald Trump and Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian signed an agreement to end the countries’ war. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
D.C. BUREAU
By Ashley Murray
Final peace negotiations between the United States and Iran officially began Thursday, Vice President JD Vance said at a late morning press conference in Washington, starting a 60-day countdown for the Islamic Republic to safely open the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. to lift a blockade on Iranian oil, and for the two nations to hammer out a nuclear deal.
A man gets a checkup at a mobile health clinic in Parlier, Calif. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced it will implement more monitoring and oversight of state Medicaid demonstration waivers. (Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local)
HEALTH
By Nada Hassanein
The Trump administration told states last week it will exercise more stringent financial oversight of waivers that states use to design pilot programs under Medicaid, the state-federal program for low-income people and those with disabilities.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
COMMENTARY
OPINION: Rising childcare costs strain Nebraska family budgets, reduce business output | Katie Bass, Sara Brady
OPINION: Thoughts on Nebraska’s ballot petition process | George Ayoub
EDITOR'S CHOICE
Brinker Harding submits personal financial disclosures | Juan Salinas II
Petition seeks to require Lincoln to staff at least 450 police | Zach Wendling
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