This is NJT Assistant Editor Bob Glissmann, filling in for Matthew. Let’s get to it. This week’s law enforcement raid on hotels and salons around Omaha added to the scrutiny of a visa program created to encourage immigrant victims of crime, who otherwise may fear deportation, to cooperate with police.
Local immigration lawyers told Flatwater reporters Emily Wolf and Jeremy Turley that the visas, called U visas, already are hard to get. Fraud cases, such as the one alleged by the FBI, are rare and only serve to undermine a critical protection for vulnerable victims, the lawyers said.
But the program has faced criticism, including from the government itself, with a federal spokesperson calling the program’s effectiveness into question, “given the gross mismanagement and corruption that’s allowed these programs to be hijacked by fraudsters and criminal aliens, their attorneys, and corrupt law enforcement.”
Steak Town: I’d never thought about eating a candle until I read Sarah Baker Hansen’s review of Pivot Prime, a new steakhouse near 132nd Street and West Dodge Road. Sarah wrote about how the restaurant offers diners an appetizer consisting of a candle made out of beef tallow and a basket of bread. As the lit candle melts, you stick the bread in what looks like liquefied candle wax.
Sarah said it was maybe “the meatiest non-meat bite of food” she had ever had at an Omaha steakhouse. She notes that it’s an illustration of why she likes Pivot Prime, which she said is nailing steakhouse classics, taking some chances and “not taking itself too seriously.”
Pioneer Village: A once-popular carousel at Harold Warp Pioneer Village in Minden is up and running again thanks to a small but dedicated team of volunteers who spent more than four years repairing it. The carousel, which was powered by a steam engine at the time, had closed in 2005.
The volunteers, both locals and out-of-staters, repaired the carousel roof and mechanical systems, hung drywall, painted the building and repaired and renovated all the carousel figures, including horses, a camel, a goat, a reindeer, a giraffe, a zebra and two chariots. Correspondent Lori Potter details their work with a story, photos and a short video.
FlatFest: You can still get tickets to the Sept. 17 Flatwater Free Press Festival, or FlatFest, which will feature free afternoon sessions that will look to the future: the future of Omaha (including an interview with the mayor of Omaha); the future of our economy, philanthropy, journalism and Nebraskans in general; plus a look at Flatwater’s investigations into lead contamination around Omaha. That night, at the Kiewit Luminarium, people can grab food and drinks before Flatwater Executive Editor Matthew Hansen interviews longtime New York Times editor Dean Baquet. It should be a great time.
Learn more, RSVP and buy your tickets here.
Maternal health: Next week’s free “journalism on stage” event will focus on maternal health and Nebraska’s high infant mortality rate, especially for babies born to Black mothers. The community conversation, co-hosted by FFP and the Omaha Community Foundation, will start at 6 p.m. Aug. 21 at the Benson Theatre, 6054 Maple St. FFP reporter Sara Gentzler will interview three experts about the problem and solutions.
Survey time: We’re trying to make sure we’re doing work that reflects our readership, so we’ve posted a brief survey to get your input. As a thank you for your participation, we’ll enter your name into a drawing for an Amazon gift card or merchandise.
Questions wanted: If you have a question that our reporters need to look into, you can complete this form or reach our newsroom at [email protected].
Have a great weekend.
—Bob Glissmann, Assistant Editor
Here’s what we’re into this week: News from around Nebraska
Every week we like to share great Nebraska journalism, no matter who made it. Here’s what caught our eye this week:
- A federal judge ordered the release of two immigrant women arrested during the raid on an Omaha meatpacking plant in June, reports Dan Crisler at the Omaha World-Herald. (This story may require a World-Herald subscription.)
KETV’s Bill Schammert noted the judge set a Friday evening deadline for both parties to update the court. - Nebraska City, home to the annual AppleJack Festival, is proposing budget cuts due to lagging sales tax revenue. A local tourism official said people are spending less, and that reflects larger economic challenges, reports Dan Swanson with News Channel Nebraska.
- Nebraska farmers raised concerns over President Trump’s shifting tariffs during a meeting with the nation’s top ag official last weekend, reports Nebraska Examiner Editor-in-Chief Aaron Sanderford.
- Citing rising costs and decreasing government reimbursements, Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital is closing its child care center in Lincoln — the latest blow to an already beleaguered industry. Story by Neal Franklin at the Lincoln Journal Star. (This story may require a Journal Star subscription.)
- To people in McCook, he’s known simply as “Mr. Bill” — a symbol of summer, peddling candy and 25-cent snow cones from a van outside the local pool. But this summer may sadly be the last for Mr. Bill. A heartfelt story via the McCook Community Foundation.
- Amid a national environment becoming increasingly hostile to diversity work, the Greater Omaha Chamber’s Commitment to Opportunity, Diversity and Equity initiative was rebranded, and information was removed from its website. Did it make a difference, and what do business diversity efforts look like? Reporter Lev Gringauz, from our sister publication, Silicon Prairie News, talked to the people involved about what has changed.
- Despite a new state ban on cell phones in school, more than 90% of public school students in the state won’t notice any change … because their schools already bar phones in class, according to reporting by a University of Nebraska-Lincoln data journalism class published by Nebraska News Service.
- The amount of money Nebraskans lose to fraud each year has more than tripled since 2020, according to federal data. AI is likely helping field the surge in scams, reports Macy Byars with Nebraska Public Media.
- A Valley resident has submitted a recall petition seeking to oust the mayor and the City Council president. The filing came shortly after the city’s building inspector and administrator resigned, reports Philip Catalfamo with WOWT.
In case you missed it, we recently reported on Valley’s use of TIF to fund, among other things, private lakes. - Rep. Mike Flood’s raucous town hall in Lincoln gave the congressman a viral moment. It also earned him respect from some detractors, reports Andrew Wegley with the Journal Star. (This story may require a Journal Star subscription.)
