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Family Find

2013-05-08T16:41:47+00:00

Arelatively new boutique in West Omaha is creating jobs not only for the employees but for vendors who just need a place to sell their work. NJ & Co. is run by a duo consisting of mother and daughter. Nicole Leathers handles the business while Jane White, her mother, manages merchandise and displays. Leathers said the store’s demographic ranges from college-aged girls to women in their 70s. NJ & Co. opened...

Four Artists Featured at Art Bar

2013-04-17T20:26:58+00:00

Katie Kros can sum up quickly why she uses art as expression. “I’ve never been good with words," Kros says, "so I let my art speak for me.” Kros will be one of four artists, including Jenny Suing, Joe Stickman and Paul Heft, who will be showcasing their artwork at the latest installment in the art series, Art Bar, Wednesday, April 24, at the Old Market Tavern. The purpose of Art Bar is to give new and emerging...

Irish Tradition on the Move

2013-03-15T20:58:37+00:00

Sullivan’s bar, a long-time St. Patrick’s Day tradition, has served the midtown community since 1954, and the current owner is planning to continue that trend in a new location across the street. Owner Dan Houlihan has managed the establishment since 2001 when the chance presented itself. Houlihan had been working his way up in bars and restaurants for years before that. “I thrive on the high energy, fast-paced...

Green Day

2013-03-13T14:53:00+00:00

St. Patrick’s Day is just around the river bend. Usually, I would rant about the absurdity of starting a drinking binge at 7 a.m. and wearing ridiculous leprechaun hats and plastic shamrock beads, but my health and image concerns aside, St. Patty’s Day is an occasion to be festive! But there’s no need for you to look like a walking advertisement for Oriental Trading Company (okay, maybe the image concerns are...

Showing Up

2013-03-11T19:58:11+00:00

“Attendance is one area where 90 percent does not equal an A,” according to Sharif Liwaru, Elementary Schools Director at UNO’s Attendance Collaborative. That is because a 90 percent attendance rate equals 20 days of absence -- the number that triggers a referral to the County Attorney as mandated by LB 933. “A kid missing a couple days of school every couple of weeks may not seem like a lot of days gone, but...

My Two Moms

2013-03-04T14:22:03+00:00

With gay marriage being assailed during an Iowa House Judiciary Committee public hearing in 2011 Zach Wahls offered counter testimony that not only charged the proceedings but the national dialogue about the issue. Raised by same sex partners, Wahls made the case that sexual preference has nothing to do with effective parenting. He used himself as a case in point. The 21-year-old University of Iowa student and...

Omaha Fashion Week

2013-02-28T16:35:19+00:00

Omaha Fashion Week, now in its sixth year, has new tricks up its sleeve. New designers are expected this year, including Kate Walz, who just returned from New York, and Jeff Hanson, who will be showing his line of hand-painted dresses. Sixteen designers will be present in all. About 400 models show up each year with 1,000 hands in total putting on the show. Of note is opening night’s Cancer Survivor Show, which...

Man of the Moment

2013-02-28T16:14:46+00:00

Christian Shuster, the designer of the christianMICHEAL menswear label is the name on the tip of all the fashionable tongues right now. He was the talk of the runways at Omaha Fashion Week last year when he made his Omaha debut; now he is back for round two with a whole new approach. The self-taught Kansas City native is known around his hometown and the Midwest for the necktie label he launched in 2000, and since...

It Takes a Village

2013-02-27T21:40:06+00:00

Chevy, or Siobhan Naughton Kozisek, owns Sirens salon and is ready to take on Fashion Week for the sixth year. She graduated from Capitol in 1997, where she took a liking to doing makeup over anything else. She’s been at it for over 14 years, often with makeup and waxing being her calling. She started working with media and film, too, so maybe she found just the right combination. “I’m glad I never knew it would...

The Neal World

2013-02-27T18:09:44+00:00

Neal Duffy is the guy making your concerts sound crisp and pristine. He’s making every instrument and vocalization reverberate across the auditorium. Currently, he’s on tour with Neon Trees, who will open for Maroon 5 in Omaha March 3. He’s been with Neon Trees for two years since he caught his big break. Duffy received his education in sound at the School and Audio Workshop in Ohio, then transferred to Iowa...

Lux On Leavenworth

2013-02-20T17:46:57+00:00

Tucked away in a little brick building in a most unassuming spot, Spruce, an interior and gift boutique, is almost discreet enough to pass by without knowing. But the little shop on 50th and Leavenworth manages to burst enough personality from the front windows to pique the curiosity of passersby. Spruce is a treat for the senses. Entering the store, I was greeted with an abundance of colors, patterns, and the...

Down with OPP

2013-02-14T19:41:41+00:00

If I had a nickel for every time I overheard someone mutter the phrase “there’s nothing to do in Omaha”, I’d have enough nickels right now to buy an Hermes Birkin bag. And yet, on any given weekend, I’ll wind up with a Facebook event invite list so long that I could probably read ‘Crime and Punishment’ from start to finish in less time than it takes me to actually sort through all of them. (Granted I only own the...

If it feels hotter, that’s because it is

2012-07-17T15:10:30+00:00

After the hottest start to a year ever recorded in the United States, local activists gathered to point out the obvious from a symbolic spot. Career National Weather Service meteorologist John Pollack is devoting his retirement to educating the public about climate change, suggesting ways to lower carbon emissions. Standing in front of the “high and dry” Salute to Labor statue on the riverfront that was...

Anatomy of an Election

2012-06-05T18:00:50+00:00

It takes months of planning, last minute details and tight organization to make an election go smoothly. “Election Day is the part that everybody sees,” said Election Commissioner Dave Phipps in his office at the Douglas County Election Commission on 115th and Davenport Streets. “Nobody wants to really know what happens and how you get to that point.” “They just want to know that they can go to their polling...

2012 Douglas County Poll Closing Analysis: Process, Methodology And Analysis

2012-06-05T18:00:09+00:00

Read the full story here. 2012 Voter File: The initial voter data for 2012 obtained by The Reader was not useable for this initial analysis because it did not have polling location for each voter listed. It did have a large amount of voting data that would prove useful later. The Reader obtained a new file with voters and polling places linked below. This file contained 314,969 voters and the date suggests...

Regenerative Medicine Helps the Body to Heal Itself

2012-02-15T17:51:57+00:00

Regenerative medicine is a new way of treating injuries and diseases, using specially-grown tissues and cells, along with artificial organs. The goal is helping the body to regenerate itself. It’s an emerging field with great potential, according to the McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh. “These approaches can amplify our natural healing process in the places it's...

Environmental Alchemy

2011-04-05T21:53:01+00:00

When it rains in Omaha, it pours raw sewage, industrial waste and toxic chemicals into nearby waterways. The city’s century-old sewer system is designed to either put it there or into your basement. Neither is an inviting option. But that design is changing thanks to a federal mandate from the Environmental Protection Agency. The oldest part of the city — nearly everything east of 72nd St. — currently works...

Cutting Room for May 17

2013-05-17T21:32:49+00:00

Even the movie news this time of year is all block-blustery: Avengers 2 in peril? With reports of Robert Downey Jr. making a play for more pay (not just for him, but for his co-stars too), people are freaking out! They are failing to realize that, come hell or high water, a film that makes $1.5 billion gets a sequel. No matter what, it looks like Jeremy Renner is out as Hawkeye, as he’s been badmouthing his...

Kobayashi Magoo

2013-05-17T20:54:11+00:00

Not quite "boldly," but this sequel still "goes" pretty far. If modern nerd culture has a “patient zero,” it was Mr. Trekkie (or Miss Trekker, if you’re nasty). Their legendary attention to detail is exceeded only by their willingness to speak Klingon in the most intimate of settings. And they’re really, really going to hate Star Trek Into Darkness. Director JJ Abram’s 2009 reboot got a surprising free pass from the community despite a twisted-pretzel-logic attempt to...

No Bull! Shh…

2013-05-15T18:34:24+00:00

A silent, Spanish retelling of Snow White with bullfighting is better than it sounds... A silent film reimagining Snow White shot in black and white and set in Spain, in which the heroine is a bullfighter, is not an easy sell. Who knows what lengths writer/director Pablo Berger had to go through to secure financing for this gothic reworking of a famous fairy tale, set in 1920s Seville. But whatever he did was worth it. Blancanieves is what The Artist wants to be when The Artist grows up. It’s proof...

Twisty Pig Tale

2013-05-15T18:13:48+00:00

An abstract-but-understandable romance/thriller/sci-fi/mystery. Writer/director Shane Carruth’s 2004 film, Primer, isn’t just a great time-travel movie; it’s one of the best science fiction films in the history of ever. But, hey, no pressure on the follow-up or anything, Shane. For nearly a decade, cinemaphiles waited for omni-hyphenated actor-editor-musician-producer to create something else, anything else. And just when all hope seemed lost, here comes Upstream Color to act...

Local & National Winners

2013-05-15T13:40:56+00:00

The national Blues Music Awards were announced Thursday, May 9, in Memphis, Tenn. Awarded annually based on votes by Blues Foundation members, the event honors excellence in blues music. Oregon’s Curtis Salgado, a local favorite with many ties to Omaha, took home the prestigious B.B. King Entertainer of the Year Award. Salgado also received the Soul Blues Male Artist of the Year award and the Soul Blues Album of...

‘Family Portraits’

2013-05-14T17:00:00+00:00

It may be a surrogate for the absent human figure, but clothing is something that Christina Renfer Vogel has been mastering for years. Yet never better than in her current exhibit at Fred Simon Gallery, Family Portraits, which continues until June 7. This show seems personal where not only her skills with painting textiles are highlighted, but also we are able to get a glimpse into her mind and thoughts of the...

Millennial Fever is Back

2013-05-14T13:44:24+00:00

This happened a few years ago. I was called into the office because a new YouTube video had just been placed online that unveiled the secrets of the “Millennial Generation,” and my boss wanted to show it to the head of our HR department on my just-acquired iPhone -- my iPhone 1.0. We rushed up to her office, and I slid my iPhone across her desk while telling her how to watch the video. “Just touch the screen,” I...

Crumbs

2013-05-14T11:51:55+00:00

Dropping in to Omaha’s historic downtown is Dishcrawl Downtown on Wednesday May 22nd at 7:00 p.m. All in one night, dine at four restaurants in the downtown area. You won’t know which ones until that night. The secret is kept except for clues you may receive leading up to your eating tour. There are vegetarian options if that is a concern. Dishcrawl Omaha contributes to strengthen the bond within Omaha’s food...