Hey Omaha,
Last year, The Joslyn invited us media folk to tour the soon-to-reopen art museum. I’d seen the “coming soon” signs for two years. I watched a curved glass facade emerge from the original building’s pink marble.
I was curious, but I had never been a frequent museum guest. I figured that $100 million check for renovations and expansion would probably benefit other people more than me.
I was very, very wrong.
I love the landscaping of native plants. The entrance, with its massive overhang designed to look like a storm cloud rolling over the prairie, is beautiful. And, of course, there’s the gift shop. I’ve bought a couple of prints there on my repeated return visits.
Apparently, I’m not the only one enjoying the new space. Flatwater contributor Charles Weak has a great story about how The Joslyn is set to pass 200,000 annual visitors, which has happened only a few other times in its history.
Hope you’ll check out his story here (or click the photo above).
— Chris Bowling, Flatwater Free Press
Japanese BBQ hits Blackstone
I think Japanese barbecue is a lot of fun, and there are just a few places in Omaha that do anything similar. Now you can cook your own meat, seafood and vegetables on a flaming hot grill in the Blackstone District.
Koen owners Brian and Inez Choi told me that a lot of Omaha diners have said they aren’t familiar with how Japanese barbecue works, but staff are good at ensuring guests understand the menu and know what to do.
The restaurant also serves ramen, Korean rice bowls and sushi, but the best of what I tried on two visits was what I cooked myself: high-quality, tasty beef.
Read my review here (or click on the photo above). See you soon.
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.
It started with a frivolous debate among friends at a holiday party nearly two years ago.
Two sides quickly formed: those who believed they could safely land a plane in an emergency and those who thought they were full of hot air.
The untrained but undeterred pilots, led by indomitable FFP reporter Destiny Herbers, laid out a series of unlikely hypotheticals.
Let’s say you’re on a flight and the pilot becomes incapacitated. You have to take the yoke and land the plane, but an air traffic controller is coaching you through it on the radio. The conditions are clear with no wind. It doesn’t have to be a perfect landing — just good enough that nobody dies …
Surely, a first-time flyer could put a plane down safely under those circumstances, they claimed.
The naysayers, myself included, argued it doesn’t matter who’s giving you directions or how good the weather is: There’s no damn way any of us could land a plane.
Do you know how many buttons and gauges there are in a cockpit? You couldn’t just “figure it out” during the scariest moments of your life. None of you can even drive a stick shift!
It went on like this for a while. The following week, we revisited the subject in the light of day at the office, but none of the combatants budged.
Greater Nebraska reporter Natalia Alamdari asked her pilot friend to weigh in. He said if you were calm during the landing “you could put it down pretty hard and still walk away,” but added that “taking off and landing are the most dangerous times.”
That didn’t change any minds, but we figured it was the closest we’d get to answering the question.
An unsatisfying agreement to disagree held until a few months ago when I ran into Sam Peshek at a lecture.
The mustachioed media relations boss for the University of Nebraska at Omaha mentioned in passing that his next appointment was at the Aviation Institute’s state-of-the-art flight simulators.
My ears perked up. I told him about the unresolved argument that had engulfed our newsroom, and to my delight, he graciously invited us to try the simulator.
After back-and-forth emails, we devised a plan. First, Destiny and I would try to land a plane in the simulator under the conditions specified during our debate. Then, we would sit in on a semester of private pilot theory at UNO. Finally, we would get another go at the simulator to see if we improved.
It was time to settle the score — and go back to school.
So, fasten your seatbelts and keep them buckled throughout the flight because you’re in for a bumpy ride.
Tune in to our new special section “Learning to Fly” next week when we’ll tell you about the first simulator test, UNO’s ace aviation teachers and our introduction to pilot humor.
— Jeremy Turley, Flatwater Free Press
Learn more about Flatwater Free Press sponsorship options »
I’ve known my whole life that an insidious cancer-associated gene may be stored in my DNA, but thanks to my participation in a local study, I understand what I’m up against for the first time.
Twenty years ago, joining a medical study for women with breast cancer susceptibility genes may have saved my mom’s life. Researchers detected cancer through initial tests, allowing her to start treatment before it metastasized into a late-stage case. She’s been cancer-free ever since.
Nebraska Medicine’s Genetic Insights Project tests participants for several genetic variants associated with breast, ovarian and colon cancers and heart disease. It also gives you some fun information on your ancestry and genetic traits, like whether you have the gene that makes cilantro taste like soap.
A blood test I took for the study confirmed that I inherited the BRCA-1 mutation from my mom. The great folks at the Genetics Insights Project set me up with a free genetic counseling appointment that helped me understand my risk of cancer (which, fortunately, is fairly low).
Enrolling in this study and telling your friends about it is something you can do for Breast Cancer Awareness month beyond wearing pink. They even have an at-home saliva test for the needle-phobic. Learn about your risk and help some Nebraska researchers in the process!
— Jeremy Turley, Flatwater Free Press
The Omaha City Council rejected a proposal that would have banned homeless encampments on public property and imposed criminal penalties on those who stayed in them, KETV’s Aaron Hegarty reported. Mayor John Ewing said he would have vetoed Councilman Brinker Harding’s proposal had it passed.
Police responded to a northwest Omaha day care after a child brought a loaded handgun for show and tell, KMTV reported. A teacher at Cadence Academy placed the gun in a tote bag and removed children from the area before office staff called 911. No one was hurt, according to a message sent to parents.
Dundee resident Mike Scofield has been delivering meals to TSA employees at the airport since they are not being paid during the government shutdown, KMTV’s Molly Hudson reported. Scofield said 40 donors have pitched in about $4,000 to pay for the food from local restaurants.
Before they compete for votes, the candidates vying to replace U.S. Rep. Don Bacon are competing for campaign dollars, and Democrat Denise Powell is leading the way with more than $700,000 in the bank, KETV’s Aaron Hegarty reported. Harding, the Republican city councilman, is second, and Democratic State Sen. John Cavanaugh is third. Six candidates have raised six-figure sums.
A flight bound for Los Angeles had to make an emergency landing at Eppley Airfield just after takeoff because pilots could not communicate with flight attendants, the Associated Press reported. A pilot reported hearing knocking at the cockpit door, which turned out to be flight attendants rather than a security risk.
World-famous Dutch designer Piet Oudolf is spearheading a project to transform an industrial block of Old Market into a garden, The World-Herald’s Marjie Ducey reported. The L-shaped garden will wrap around the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art and act as a “satellite” for Lauritzen Gardens. (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