Howdy, Omaha – it’s Jeremy.
Everyone loves a captivating comeback story. As readers, listeners and viewers, we’re hard-wired to root for the Rocky-esque protagonist who falls down but then rises up to find glory.
An entire comeback narrative arc can play out in a span of seconds, like earlier this week when Team U.S.A. sprinter Noah Lyles surged to claim Olympic gold in the 100-meter dash after a slow start out of the blocks.
For the owners of Bellevue’s Falconwood Park, weathering the biblical calamities that afflicted the budding music and wedding venue took a bit longer, freelance writer Tim McMahan reports in this week’s feature story.
First, a pair of tornadoes ripped through the grounds. Next, a catastrophic flood. Then, a global health crisis.
Each time, the Miller family rebuilt and bounced back. And starting tomorrow, Falconwood Park will host the third annual Outlandia music festival. Quite the comeback indeed.
Read Tim’s story here (or click the photo above).
— Jeremy Turley, Flatwater Free Press
Top-notch strip mall croissants
Sometimes, it’s the atmosphere that makes a restaurant. Sometimes, it’s the service or a signature dish. At Reis’ Bakery, a small family-owned startup that began as a cottage bakery, it’s the ingredients. Owners Judith and Aires Reis insist on it: French butter and flour. Only the best Belgian chocolate. And the time — and effort — to match, truly making it one of the best European-style bakeries in the city.
Read about their dedication to craft (and their croissants) this week in Just Add Salt.
Sarah Baker Hansen is an award-winning writer who has covered Omaha’s food scene for more than a decade. She posts restaurant reviews and food news on her blog, sarahbakerhansen.com.
At the Regional Planning Advisory Committee on Aug. 2, the City of Omaha’s Planning Department updated the “We Make Omaha” comprehensive planning process. The panel emphasized the need for a cohesive plan due to natural development boundaries and encouraged community survey participation. The committee also hosted presentations highlighting local growth, connectivity and greenhouse gas reduction strategies. Read our full summary for more details on these discussions and decisions. Read the full meeting notes on the Documenters website.
Want to help inform your community and create better journalism while getting paid? Become a Documenter today.
— Leah Wambui Keinama, Nebraska Journalism Trust
It’s very on brand that my first Omaha “What I’m Into” is to encourage Omahans to … get out of Omaha and explore the rest of Nebraska. You can take the boy out of Red Cloud, but you can’t take Red Cloud out of the boy. Or something.
This weekend I’m headed to Valentine, which is, yes, a five-hour commute from here. But Highway 20 is such a pretty drive!
Stay at or visit the Heartland Elk Ranch. Play Frederick Peak, a scenic and very affordable 10-hole public golf course designed by PGA legend Tom Lehman while he was hanging out in town and designing the even nicer (and very pricey) 36-hole Prairie Club.
There’s Bolo Brewery, one of my top brewery experiences in the state. There’s the Peppermill, a steakhouse and lounge that feels like the no-frills Sandhills version of Johnny’s Cafe. Stop on the way there or back for breakfast at the Bassett Lodge. Get up close and personal with a bison. Go to nearby Norden for an honest-to-goodness barn dance. Visit a great local bookstore. Kayak the Niobrara!
As you can tell, I’m excited. No, I’m not being paid by a Sandhills-based tourism bureau, though I should be. And yes, KC or the Rocky Mountains or Okoboji in the summer are all great. But try a little Cornhusker road trip, too. You’ll have a good time, I promise.
— Matthew Hansen, Flatwater Free Press
Thousands of Omahans remained without power as temperatures hit triple digits, KETV reported. Powerful winds caused OPPD’s biggest ever outage last week as more than 200,000 residents lost power. An unlucky few still won’t have power until later this week, OPPD CEO Javier Fernandez announced.
Cereal maker Kellogg’s announced it will be closing its southwest Omaha plant over the next two years, WOWT reported. The facility employs roughly 600 workers, most of them union-affiliated, according to ex-union leader and U.S. Senate candidate Dan Osborn, who led a strike at the plant in 2021.
As the school year approaches, some Omaha-area schools are devising new policies for restricting students’ cellphone use in classrooms, The World-Herald’s Lauren Wagner reports. Omaha Bryan High School will be one of the latest to ban phones in classrooms. (A subscription may be required to read this article.)
The Omaha City Council approved a proposed code of conduct for their own members and a related ballot measure that would allow them to oust a colleague for violating the code. The Examiner’s Cindy Gonzalez reported that a state lawmaker, the ACLU and several community activists worry the tool could be used to boot North Omaha Councilwoman Juanita Johnson, who has frequently clashed with Mayor Jean Stothert and city staff. Voters will get a say on the ballot measure in November.
A new project at UNO is mapping important sites in Omaha’s queer history, WOWT’s Erin Sullivan reports. The researcher building OurMap hopes it shines a light on these important, but long obfuscated, stories.
Omaha’s own Terence “Bud” Crawford continued his dominance of the boxing world, and this time, he climbed a weight class to do it, Yahoo Sports reported. Crawford beat Israil Madrimov on Saturday to claim his fourth title in as many divisions.
The Flatwater Free Press is published by the Nebraska Journalism Trust, a 501(c)(3) public charity