Howdy, Omaha, it’s Jeremy.
I’ll be honest with you — I’m dead tired as I write this.
For the last few weeks, my colleague Emily Wolf and I have been chasing down a knotty immigration story, and it’s kept me up most nights.
It started when we connected some dots days after a high-profile human trafficking bust at several Omaha hotels.
Immigration officials announced that, in addition to the five alleged traffickers, they had arrested 14 undocumented immigrants who were living alongside the victims and happened to be in the hotels that day. One of these “collateral” detainees stuck out to us: Eudis Cuéllar Martínez.
We had seen the name before. Cuéllar Martínez, a laborer from Venezuela, was cited as a source of information in the criminal complaint against his ex-bosses, the alleged traffickers. Weeks before the bust, he told police about the conditions in the southwest Omaha hotel where he was living and working. He also described his own exploitation by the hoteliers.
It made us wonder: How did someone who provided information that aided an investigation end up in jail and facing deportation because of it?
We maneuvered I-29, linguistic obstacles and a very confusing inmate messaging app to speak with Cuéllar Martínez, who remains in an Iowa jail. We also talked to ICE, immigration lawyers, advocates and experts to present you with a fuller picture of this strange case.
You can read the story here (or click the photo above).
— Jeremy Turley, Flatwater Free Press
We’re thrilled to present the third annual Flatwater Free Press Festival, a day where we come together to put Nebraska news center stage. And for the first time, it’ll all happen in Omaha!
We’re convening local leaders, policymakers, famed journalists, your favorite FFP reporters – and, most crucially, you – for a series of “journalism on stage” conversations and a kickin’ party.
The evening program at the Luminarium will feature live music from Parfait, a high-energy cover band, and food from House of Bah, an acclaimed caterer serving up modern African cuisine. We’ve written about both, so we know they’re good.
RSVP for the free afternoon event, and buy tickets for the evening portion, on our website.
Have ideas on how we can improve our newsletter? Got a gripe to share? Want to be entered to win a $50 Amazon gift card? If the answer to any of those questions is “Yes,” we would love for you to fill out a quick survey.
Surveys like this help us improve our newsletter and learn more about our readers.
Flatwater Free Press, in partnership with ProPublica, is working on a yearlong project about the the legacy of lead in Omaha. After decades and millions of dollars spent cleaning the toxic metal out of yards here, we’re taking a deeper look at how effective the cleanup has been — and we need your help to do it.
If you’d like to have your soil tested, fill out our online form. Please note: We’re prioritizing properties either in or near the Superfund site.
Have questions or a story to share about lead? Contact Chris Bowling.
The Omaha art scene’s September lineup delivers us artists and art from around the world, along with the last of our region’s art festivals and the 50th anniversary of one of Omaha’s oldest galleries.
54th Annual Rockbrook Village Art Fair
The 2025 summer art festival season wraps up with the Rockbrook Village Art Fair. This Omaha tradition continues to bring in more than 120 artists from across the country every year. Now in its 54th year, this intimate, outdoor art fair has something for everybody: live music, family activities and great art. Do not miss the last big art fair of the summer!
When: Saturday, Sept. 6, 10 a.m.-6 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 7, 10 a.m.-5:00 p.m.
Where: Rockbrook Village, 2800 S. 110th Court
The Artists’ Cooperative Gallery 50th Anniversary Exhibit
The Artists’ Cooperative Gallery celebrates its 50th year by curating this special exhibition of current and past artist members. Join the celebration of an Omaha legacy in the Old Market’s oldest gallery!
When: Opening reception: Sunday, Sept. 7, 1-4 p.m. Gallery hours: Tuesday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Friday-Saturday, 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Sunday, 11 a.m.-5 p.m. until March 29.
Where: Artists’ Cooperative Gallery, 405 S. 11th St.
This month, the Union for Contemporary Art brings us the multimedia works of Asaad Komi. Through paintings, drawings and sculptures, Komi celebrates his heritage growing up in the Nuba Mountains of Sudan. Come see this unique presentation of images on leather, wood and other materials.
When: Opening reception: Friday, Sept. 12, 6-8 p.m. Gallery hours: Tuesday-Thursday, 1-8 p.m., Friday-Saturday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m., until Oct. 25.
Where: The Union for Contemporary Art, 2423 N. 24th St.
Raiz Compartida: Mexican Art in Omaha as a Cultural Bridge
“Raiz Compartida” (Shared Root) curated by Hugo Zamorano and Daniel Teodoro, opens this month at Clover24. This international exhibition, featuring contemporary Mexican artists alongside Omaha artists of Mexican descent, strives to show the connections of cultural identity between our two countries through a wide range of media. “Shared Root” is a visual dialogue highlighting the diverse voices, identities and expressions of being Mexican in our contemporary society.
When: Opening reception: Friday, Sept 12, 5-9 p.m. Gallery hours: Monday-Friday, 9:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., until Sept 29.
Where: CLOVER 24, 2200 S. 24th St.
The University of Nebraska at Omaha celebrates art and the Asian diaspora through two exhibitions: “Solace in Painting: Reflecting on a Tumultuous Century,” featuring Chao Shao-An, Keisho Okayama and Ann Phong in the UNO Art Gallery; and “Recovery,” featuring Jave Yoshimoto and Laura Kina in the Criss Library. These two exhibits focus on lived experience through contemporary and traditional art.
When: Combined reception: Thursday, Sept. 18, 5-7 p.m. Gallery hours: Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m., until Oct. 24.
Where: UNO Art Gallery, Weber Fine Arts Building, & Criss Library Gallery, UNO Campus, 6001 Dodge St.
Now showing at the Nebraska Arts Council’s Fred Simon Gallery are the colorful works of Ilaamen Pelshaw and Oria Simonini. Pelshaw is well known for contrasting colorful palettes with everyday imagery, while Simonini has built a reputation as an accomplished muralist across the United States and Mexico. Don’t miss this playful yet thoughtful exhibition of two of the region’s most accomplished Latin American artists in the heart of downtown.
When: Gallery hours: Monday-Friday, 9 a.m.- 4 p.m., until Oct. 22.
Where: Fred Simon Gallery, Nebraska Arts Council, 1004 Farnam St, lower level.
— Bart Vargas is a visual artist, educator and advocate based in Omaha, Nebraska. He publishes a weekly list of local arts, culture and entertainment events on social media and operates an international studio with his wife Bekah Jerde.
The Benson Business Improvement District met last Friday to review finances, discuss 2026 project bids and share community updates. About $44,000 has been spent this year, leaving $38,000 in the budget, with plans to finalize landscaping, banners, snow removal and holiday lighting proposals by December. Upcoming events include the Oct. 3 Benson Parade, a Sept. 20 Gallagher Park cleanup and a mural tour during the Nebraska Art Teachers Association conference on Oct. 18.
Read the full summary here and 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
The year is 2007ish. The month, October. There’s a fall bite in the air. I smell like kettle corn, and my fluorescent orange shirt is heavy with frying oil. I just finished my shift at Pork Chop Annie’s, a walk-up food counter at Gretna’s legendary Vala’s Pumpkin Patch .
When I was a wee Gretna-ite, the patch was much smaller than it is today. A friend and I would brainstorm punny pig names and pitch them to the guy who ran the pig races. If I recall correctly, he gave us a dollar for our best ideas.
But our yearly visits to the fall fantasy world still felt like big adventures, and working there as a teenager felt like a rite of passage. Every one of my family members had done it: Dad gave hayrack rides, Mom worked in the back office, my brothers did all sorts of jobs — moving pumpkin carts, tending campfires, busing tables, manning the apple launcher.
These days, I’m a little intimidated by the place. I watched it grow rapidly from afar after moving to the Pacific Northwest, as it added shiny new attractions and gastronomic wonders much more advanced than the pork chops, hot wings and onion rings I served up at Pork Chop Annie’s (which apparently still exists but moved this year).
But I have to imagine the same fall fun and childhood memories are still at the heart of it. It certainly felt that way when I went back in 2021, to a celebration honoring the life of patch matriarch and all-around nice person Jan Vala (my only obit for The World-Herald).
We haven’t gone with our kids yet, but they’re already obsessed with the concept of Xander, the giant pumpkin-eating dragon. It opened Aug. 30, and this might be the year I buck up, join the line of cars snaking down Highway 370 and return to my roots.
— Sara Gentzler, Flatwater Free Press
The number of people living “unsheltered,” meaning in tents, cars or on the street, declined for the first time in seven years, Henry Cordes at The World-Herald writes. The population is still well above where it was a decade ago, prompting proposals for stricter fines from Omaha City Council member Brinker Harding, a Republican who’s also running for Congress. (You may need a subscription to read this story.)
Other news affecting the Omaha area’s unhoused residents includes a proposal in Papillion to outlaw “aggressive panhandling,” according to a story from Quanecia Fraser at KETV. And Douglas County Sheriff Aaron Hanson says he’s launching a new program to connect unsheltered people with volunteers who will take them in, according to Gina Dvorak at WOWT.
More Omahans are relying on food pantries, according to Melissa Wright at KMTV. Inflation and economic hardship have increased one local pantry’s daily traffic by 30% in the last two years. The Omaha City Council recently budgeted $150,000 for pantries from Keno revenue.
Deb Neary, an Omaha-area representative on the Nebraska Board of Education, won’t seek re-election, Zach Wendling at the Nebraska Examiner writes. Neary, a Democrat, advocated for health education standards in 2021 that ignited a political fight, deterring many tenured members from seeking re-election.
Apartment construction is accelerating in Omaha, even as it slows in other major U.S. cities, according to Julie Anderson at The World-Herald. Population growth, changing preferences and investments in downtown contributed to the trend. (You may need a subscription to read this story.)
The attorneys for Nikko Jenkins, an Omaha man convicted of killing four people over 10 days in August 2013, argue their client should not be eligible for death row because he “appears to be intellectually disabled now.” In a March letter, Jenkins wrote he wanted to end appeals, writes The World-Herald’s Dan Crisler. Jenkins’ next hearing is set for Oct. 20. (You may need a subscription to read this story.)
The Flatwater Free Press is published by the Nebraska Journalism Trust, a 501(c)(3) public charity