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about Nebraska’s wild turkeys, it always reminds me of bygone days when my boys were young—and we raised peacocks. HEN I HEAR
Our peacocks would roam throughout the yard’s five wooded acres. The birds stayed on the property and often flew to the treetops to roost. They meandered along the roof of the house and garage. They strolled in the yard and made themselves comfortable on the deck. I studied their eating habits to learn which flowers to plant, i.e., the kind they wouldn’t eat. At one time, we also had a couple of guinea fowl. There was one peacock and one guinea fowl who would spend entire days chasing each other around and around and around the house. During spring mating season, male peacocks fanned their ornamental trains of tail feathers for the ladies (the peahens). The males also called out for the females’ attention. I always thought it sounded like “RL-L-L-L, RL-L-LL-L,” my oldest son’s name (R.L.). After mating season, the peacocks shed their tails. I would gather the beautiful feathers from the yard for bouquets. A couple of times, a peahen would lay eggs under the glass-topped table on the deck off of the master bedroom. It must have been comfortable there. Watching a peahen teach her chicks to fly was fascinating. She would fly from the floor of the deck to the railing, then stand there and wait for the babies to follow, eventually flying from the railing to the roof. Peacocks are hardy birds, and they can survive the Nebraska weather. In the wild they can live to about 10-25 years, but have been reported to live up to 50 years in captivity. While our peacocks were the most beautiful creatures, the guinea fowl were hideous. We had to get rid of them all many years ago. But that’s another story. Now, as far as I know, turkeys rule the roost in the neighborhood. Read more about the recovery of the native Nebraskan bird on pages 94-97. Until next time. Cheers!
Contributing Editor
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FEATURE // STORY BY LEO ADAM BIGA // PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN // DESIGN BY DEREK JOY // ARTWORK BY WATIE WHITE
Phyllis Hicks
W
The Publisher and the Newspaper She Never Meant to Run HEN THE STORY OF the
city’s longest-running AfricanAmerican-owned newspaper, The Omaha Star, is written, three women will dominate its 80-year narrative. Founding publisher Mildred Brown ran the ship from 1938 until her death in 1989. Her niece Marguerita Washington (a career educator), who spent time working for her aunt growing up, succeeded her. Phyllis Hicks joined the paper in 2005 and took over more and more of its operations after Washington fell ill. Upon Washington’s 2016 death, Hicks officially became publisher and managing editor; in truth, she had been running things for some time. Hicks—the last survivor of this troika of black women journalists—never intended getting so deeply involved with the paper. Brown was only an acquaintance and Hicks’ association with the Star was limited to reading and submitting news items to it. She only joined the staff as a favor to her mother, who was close to Washington. Hicks studied journalism in school, but besides writing occasional press releases for her work in the public and private sectors (including her coaching of the Stepping Saints drill team), she had nothing to do with the Fourth Estate. Fate had other plans, and thus Hicks, like Brown and Washington before her, became the matriarchal face of the paper. She did it her way, too. Lacking the entrepreneurial and sartorial flair of Brown, Hicks nevertheless managed attracting enough advertisers to keep the Star afloat through troubled economic times and declining ad revenues and subscriptions. Without the publishing and academic background of Washington, Hicks still found ways to keep the paper relevant for today’s readers. // 90 //
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The Star is believed to be the nation’s oldest African-American paper owned and operated by women. Through the Great Depression, the late ’60s riots, the 2008 economic collapse, the death of publishers, and declining print ad revenue, it has never ceased publication. After more than a decade with the paper, Hicks—who turns 76 on March 7—is looking to step away from the paper due to her own declining health. She broke her ankle in 2017, and then, last year went to the hospital to be treated for pneumonia; she was discharged with a dysfunctional kidney requiring dialysis. She is eager for someone to carry the Star torch forward. As this issue of Omaha Magazine went to press, a management transition involving the Mildred D. Brown Memorial Study Center was in progress.
Whatever the paper’s future, Hicks is glad to have been part of its legacy of strong black women. That legacy extends to her late mother, aunts, and grandmother (Emma Lee Agee-Sullivan)—all independent achievers from whom she drew much inspiration. When Agee-Sullivan was young, she was a member of the church pastored by the Rev. Earl Little (Malcolm X’s father). AgeeSullivan was with the Little family when a lynch mob came looking for Earl Little. The family hid him and covered for him, and the Littles fled Nebraska the next day. As an adult, Hicks says, Agee-Sullivan was active in the Baptist church and started the state’s first licensed, black-owned home daycare. Hicks had aunts who worked in finance and another who was a championship golfer (who would have gone professional “if she had come at another time”), she says, adding that her paternal grandfather, the Rev. J. P. Mosley Sr., led a demonstration to integrate swimming pools in Chillicothe, Missouri, in 1954, and “built Mount Nebo Baptist Church from the ground up” in Omaha.
Phyllis Hicks modeled for artist Watie White’s public art mural series, 100 People. The woodcut image features Hicks with the Salem Baptist Church Stepping Saints drill team. Although a location for the mural has not been confirmed, White expects Hicks’ mural will be installed in Omaha during the spring.
// FEATURE //
When the challenge of the Star or anything else presented itself, she was ready. “I just did it because it had to be done,” Hicks says.
Hicks continued running the paper, she says, because “I just felt an obligation. When I take on something, I try to see it through.”
She followed the path laid out by other “black women taking the leadership role.”
The Star is believed to be the nation’s oldest African-American paper owned and operated by women. Through the Great Depression, the late ’60s riots, the 2008 economic collapse, the death of publishers, and declining print ad revenue, it has never ceased publication.
At a time when few black women owned businesses, Brown launched the Star only a year after moving to town. She originally worked for the city’s other African-American paper, The Guide. She left its employment for her startup, which competed against The Guide for advertisers and readers. The Star soon won out thanks to her entrepreneurial savvy and not-taking-no-for-an-answer grit. The publisher made her paper a bastion for civil rights and community pride. Following Brown’s death in 1989, Washington took command. By the early 2000s, the paper struggled. Meanwhile, Hicks’ mother, Juanita, befriended Washington. When Juanita fell ill, Washington helped care for her to allow Hicks to manage the Stepping Saints. Then, when Juanita’s house got flooded, she stayed with Washington for six weeks. “They kind of adopted each other and threw me in the mix,” Hicks says. Hicks was retired but, at the urging of her mother, she offered to assist Washington at the Star. Hicks soon took on editorial and business duties. “I went to do a little marketing for Marguerita, and I’ve been there ever since,” she says. “I discovered there was a lot of help she needed. The paper was in dire straits. And I just started doing some of everything.” Along the way, Hicks and Washington grew close. “It was a growing relationship that became more of a personal one than a business one,” she says.
Hicks admires how Washington took up the mantle after Mildred Brown died. “She wanted the paper to go on as a legacy to Mildred because Mildred put her all into the paper. Plus, Marguerita felt the paper needed to be in the community to allow the black community a voice. She felt the newspaper was another way to educate people. “She made the ultimate sacrifice and put her life on hold to keep somebody else’s dream alive,” Hicks says. With Washington and Brown as her models, she ensured the Star’s survival. “I take satisfaction in knowing I kept it from going under because it was close to going under,” she says. “With some personal sacrifices, I’ve been able to keep the doors open and pay people’s salaries. I paid off all The Omaha Star bills. There were several years of back taxes. All that’s been caught up to date.” Hicks came to believe, as Brown and Washington did, the Star serves an important role in its “ability to tell it like it is in the community, without it having to be politically correct.” Just don’t expect crime reporting.
“I’ve tried to keep the paper in the light that Marguerita and Mildred did in positive news,” she says. “We don’t report who got killed, we don’t report crime, we don’t report Together, they formed any of that, because the Mildred D. Brown “If I say I’m going to there’s a mess of that Memorial Study Center being reported already. do something, then as a fundraising and What we try to do is scholarship vehicle. paint a bright picture of I’m going to try to what’s going on in the As Washington’s health community—people’s see it to the end.” failed, Hicks became her accomplishments. We caregiver and eventually try to put information —Phyllis Hicks power of attorney. By the out there that builds the time Washington died of community up as well as multiple malignant brain inspires the community.” tumors in 2016, Hicks transitioned the paper from a weekly to a biweekly as a cost-savings move. She also got the paper’s archives digitized online.
The Star’s long been home to strong voices— from Charlie Washington and Preston Love Sr. to Ernie Chambers and Walter Brooks— calling for change. For many black Omahans, including those living elsewhere, it remains a main conduit to their shared community. Hicks wishes more young people used the paper as a resource and recognized its role in fighting injustice and championing black self-determination. “It’s a legacy for them,” she says. “It’s a part of this community’s history, and it’s a vehicle for them to tell their stories. We invite young people to submit stories.” The Star intersects with young people through internships it offers students and scholarships granted by the Study Center. Engaging with community youth has been a priority for Hicks for years. Long before joining the Star, Hicks made her community mark as co-founder and director of the Salem Baptist Church Stepping Saints drill team. The team was originally organized in 1966 to perform at a single event. But Saints dancers and drummers wanted something permanent, so the group became a fixture in area parades and at Disneyland, Disney World, Knott’s Berry Farm, and many other attractions across the nation. Hicks says, the last time she counted, the Saints had performed in 38 states and some 2,000 youths had cycled through the team’s ranks over time. Some veteran Saints have seen their children and grandkids participate, making it a multigenerational tradition. The Saints celebrated 50 years in 2017. The team is still going strong. Even though Hicks no longer takes an active hand in things, she’s still the matriarch. Just as she never meant for the Saints to be a long-term commitment, her Omaha Star gig turned into one. Her promise-keeping may be her enduring legacy. “If I say I’m going to do something, then I’m going to try to see it to the end,” she says. Hicks wants the paper to remain black-owned and managed and based in North Omaha, where its red brick building (at 2216 N. 24th St.) has landmark status on the National Register of Historic Places. Visit theomahastar.com for more information.
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NOSTALGIA // STORY BY JARED KENNEDY // PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN // DESIGN BY DEREK JOY
According to Retired Game Warden Dick Turpin // 94 //
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// NOSTALGIA //
I
F YOU’VE EVER GONE
turkey hunting in Nebraska, or seen one out and about, you should know that every turkey you have encountered in Nebraska is a miracle. The state’s tumultuous history of wild turkeys encompasses massive population declines, failed repopulation efforts, and what retired game warden Dick Turpin calls a “Cinderella Story” reintroduction that led to Nebraska nearly topping the list of best places to hunt turkey in America. Turkey hunting in Nebraska was nonexistent from about 1915 to 1961. Around the end of that time period, Turpin says Nebraska Game & Parks made a trade with the state of Wyoming to introduce wild turkeys back into Nebraska. Prairie chickens for turkeys, that was the deal, and the turkey population in Nebraska has—shall we say—soared with the eagles ever since. The decline of the turkey population in Nebraska is thought to be caused by overharvesting by pioneers moving into and passing through the state. Food could be scarce for these settlers, and turkeys offered plenty for the table. The Nebraska Game & Parks Department reports that wild turkeys in Nebraska were all but wiped out by 1915. “In ’58, we turned turkeys loose up in the Pine Ridge area. By 1961 or 1962, we had a season up there already because the turkeys did so well,” Turpin says. “These were the Merriam turkeys…the Merriam breed are really sought after and they are considered the Cadillac of turkeys.”
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Nebraska Game & Parks staff release Rio Grande turkeys in south-central Nebraska during the 1960s as part of efforts to restore wild populations. Photo provided by Game & Parks.
“We started trapping and transplanting them around the state because we were getting complaints from farmers saying they were getting turkeys in their feed bunks when they were trying to feed their steers and stuff,” Turpin says.
Turpin says Nebraska Game & Parks recognized the success of the turkey population and could see it was onto something. With the Pine Ridge flocks breeding turkeys so well, the biology department of Game & Parks decided to scout other locations to which they could move turkeys so the population could continue to grow. Halsey National Forest was chosen as the second location, but according to Turpin the turkey population was growing beyond having just two areas of containment. “We started trapping and transplanting them around the state because we were getting complaints from farmers saying they were getting turkeys in their feed bunks when they were trying to feed their steers and stuff,” Turpin says. Angry farmers aside, people were clamoring to get these turkeys in their locale; so much so that they were willing to take their local turkey population into their own hands.
“Game & Parks was slow getting birds released in the Niobrara area, so a group of outdoorsmen and land owners bought a bunch of Eastern turkeys [a different breed] and turned them loose themselves up in the Niobrara River country,” Turpin says. “Well, then we had a problem because our biologists didn’t want to introduce the Merriams there when the Eastern turkeys were there.” The people in the Niobrara River area continued to press Nebraska Game & Parks to bring Merriam turkeys—the department finally relented and combined Eastern and Merriam turkey populations in that area. “It was probably, this is no kidding, the best thing to ever happen to the state of Nebraska as far as wild turkeys are concerned,” Turpin says. “The Merriams and the Eastern birds began crossing, and all the sudden we had a hybrid population that just went wild; I mean there was a turkey under every leaf.”
According to the National Wild Turkey Federation, four Nebraska counties make the list of top-20 counties for turkey hunting in the United States. Dawes, Sheridan, Holt, and Sioux counties place 7th, 16th, 17th, and 20th, respectively, for counties with the most turkeys. The turkey federation also corroborates Turpin’s point that the Eastern/Merriam hybrid makes up most of the wild turkey population in Nebraska. The Nebraska Game & Parks website reports that the Nebraska hybrid bird can weigh more than 25 pounds, which is at least six pounds heavier than either the Eastern or Merriam varieties. Turpin says the hybrid bird has another big advantage over the other breeds in the state: they’re willing to mobilize. “The Rio Grande turkeys didn’t travel at all, and the Merriams didn’t go far either,” Turpin says. “But the hybrids, you turn them loose and the next morning they will be 20 miles south. They will seek out the best habitat they can for what they need.”
Turkeys in Nebraska went from a large native population journaled by Lewis and Clark, to over-harvesting that drove the bird to the brink of extinction in Nebraska. Now the Cornhusker State is one of the most populous turkey states in the U.S. The existence of turkeys here has been a fickle thing, but Turpin says if hunters continue to purchase tags, and thus put money into conservation, this Cinderella tale doesn’t have to see midnight—it would be a shame to fowl up such a good thing. Turpin retired from Nebraska Game & Parks as Chief of Law Enforcement in 1999 after serving as a conservation officer and the administrator of the Hunter Education Program. He served 40 years for the state agency, and he continues to be active in local and national organizations dedicated to hunting and conservation. He is a public speaker, hunting instructor, and creator of Dick Turpin Turkey Calls (handcrafted box turkey calls that Turpin creates himself). Visit turpincalls.com for more information. MARCH/APRIL 2019 • 60PLUS
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ACTIVE LIVING // STORY BY KARA SCHWEISS // PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL SITZMANN // DESIGN BY DEREK JOY
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“The nice thing about diving is that it’s all about relaxing,” she says. “There’s not a lot of stress put on the body.”
// ACTIVE LIVING //
She’s a scuba diver with master diver certification and approximately 600 dives under her (weighted) belt since she took up the activity in 1995.
N
ATIVE NORTH DAKOTAN SHIRLEY Ortman was 19 before
she learned to swim.
Water exercise classes and lap swimming are low-impact with minimal pressure on the joints, Hollis says, and the DiVentures pool is a warm 88 degrees. The center also offers snorkeling and scuba instruction, and trial classes for the hesitant or curious.
“I’m a pretty good swimmer, but I don’t enjoy it,” she says. “And I do not like to lie on the beach; I’m bored silly.”
“You can get in the pool and breathe underwater, and just see what it’s like to experience scuba,” he says.
Ortman isn’t happy next to the water or splashing around in it because the sweet spot for her is several meters beneath the surface, “where you see the most.” She’s a scuba diver with master diver certification and approximately 600 dives under her (weighted) belt since she took up the activity in 1995.
“You can get your toe wet, so to speak,” Ortman adds.
“I’ve been to a lot of places but my all-time favorite is the Galapagos,” she says. “It’s for advanced diving; it’s heavy currents and you have to drop down quickly and hang on to a rock to watch stuff go by.”
“The nice thing about diving is that it’s all about relaxing,” she says. “There’s not a lot of stress put on the body.”
She’s seen an incredible variety of flora and fauna, including countless species of fish and hammerhead sharks, but she especially enjoys seeing sea turtles in their element. “I get goosebumps thinking about it,” she says. Ortman was in her 40s when she tried scuba for the first time. At 68, she is still an active diver. “I’ve dove with people up to their mid-80s,” says Dean Hollis, who founded DiVentures, an aquatics and scuba center in Omaha (now with six locations in five states). “We offer a lot of aquatic activities suitable for older adults.”
Although scuba diving isn’t a practical regular fitness regimen, especially in the Midwest, it’s a great way to stay active and engaged at any age, Ortman says.
And there’s always more to learn. Ortman recently took a stress-and-rescue course to sharpen up. “You really need to hone your skills so you don’t get sloppy,” Ortman explains. “Now I feel that I have better ability to take care of myself. Or, if I see somebody else in distress, I could identify that and assist.”
“The water at the quarry was murky and cold, but I’m a little bit of a snob,” she says. Most of her dives have taken place in warmer ocean waters, like Hawaii, Tahiti, or the Bahamas. Ortman has booked group scuba excursions through DiVentures and companies like LiveAboard, where she can share stories with other scuba divers and enjoy the diving subculture. Landlubbers often ask how deep she’s gone (close to 130 feet, about the size of a 12-story building and the maximum depth for recreational diving), she says, but other divers understand that it’s more about what you see. “These are immersive trips,” Ortman says. “Everyone is always excited to talk about their experiences, and the trips are always fun.” Visit diventures.com for more information.
The quarry in Iowa where stress-and-rescue instruction took place was one of the few times she has dived inland—outside of the 14-foot pool at DiVentures.
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HEALTH // STORY BY GREG JERRETT // DESIGN BY DEREK JOY
S
UBSTANCE USE DISORDERS
occur when at least one substance or drug leads to distress or impairment that is clinically significant. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of opioid addicts in the United States is estimated to be in the millions. Exact numbers may never be known, as many people who are addicted to opioids try to keep it a secret or legitimately do not realize a problem exists. Some may fear the stigma and judgment that come with being an addict. A recent study by the CDC determined over 200,000 people died in the United States between 1999 and 2016 from causes related to prescription opioids. Nebraska saw 44 deaths in 2016. While less than the national average of 13.3 deaths per 100,000, according to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Nebraska still saw 2.4 deaths per 100,000 people. Those over 60 are not immune. The AARP has stated in educational literature that while bipartisan efforts, public awareness of prescription drug issues, and treatment have increased, fewer efforts have been geared to the older population, whose “unique characteristics may demand different or more nuanced solutions to these problems.”
Dr. Allison Dering-Anderson is the community pharmacist in the University of Nebraska Medical Center’s Department of Pharmacy Practice and a lecturer in pharmacy law and ethics. She agrees that older adults have more medical issues that put them at risk for substance use disorders. “People over 60 have any of a number of things that set them up in a circumstance where they need an opiate to treat pain,” Dering-Anderson says. “They are the ones most likely to have some chronic pain condition from an injury that never healed right, or arthritis that is ridiculously painful, and they need an opiate to control the pain.” Dering-Anderson is no stranger to pain or opiates. She was prescribed opiates after a painful knee operation. Post surgery, she said she would not have been able to do anything without significant pain control, but was lucky that her body chose to accept pain medication as that and nothing more. Not everyone is so lucky. Problems may occur when the body accepts the medication, but the brain becomes accustomed to, and craves, the euphoria associated with opiates.
The problem is the scientific method, DeringAnderson says, not one of intentional overprescription or market pressure to sell more drugs. For example, when Tramadol (a synthetic opioid) was introduced to the American market, it was to have no poten“People over 60 have any of considered tial for contributing to subuse disorder. But that a number of things that set stance changed after its release— them up in a circumstance as with many drugs new to market—when hidden side where they need an opiate effects and statistical outliers were discovered.
to treat pain,” DeringAnderson says. “They are the ones most likely to have some chronic pain condition from an injury that never healed right, or arthritis that is ridiculously painful, and they need an opiate to control the pain.”
“There have been some missteps in determining the potential for substance use disorder,” Dering-Anderson says, adding adamantly that deliberate misdirection is not the issue. “The FDA approved the Tramadol label based on studies that did not show this was a problem. Now it’s a problem, and they did all of the correct post-market things to send out new warnings to change their labeling.”
More often the problem is selective participation in treatment. Patients may avoid physical therapy or exercise, preferring the quicker results of opiates. Jessie Thompson works in the front lines of substance use disorder treatment as a counselor at Lutheran Family Services. Her observation is that older patients may have been prescribed opiates for so long they might not necessarily realize that they are addicted. “Sometimes I think they have pain and maybe the pain is not as bad as it was, or there are other treatment modalities that haven’t been prescribed because they’ve had chronic pain for so long,” Thompson says. Stretching, exercise, and rest are often part of any recovery plan, but may fall by the wayside while medication takes front stage. Thompson and Dering-Anderson agree that the pendulum has swung both ways and that, over the decades, doctors have been alternately leery of prescribing opiates for pain and then encouraged to do more to manage pain. Dering-Anderson says seniors should know they do not have to be in pain, that not all pain medications lead to substance use disorder, and that following a complete regimen of treatment can reduce a patient’s drug load. “If the prescriber and the pharmacists recommend ibuprofen [which is not considered addictive], give that a try, but do all of the other things that go along with pain management,” she says. “You need to rest, do your exercises, massage therapy, go to physical therapy, because it is with those professions that we have a chance at reducing your drug load and to keep you safe.” There are many variables that go into addiction. Life circumstances, relationship status, genetic predisposition, type of substance, and medical conditions can all be factors contributing to substance use disorder. But one factor in avoiding addiction is vigilance. Visit unmc.edu or lfsneb.org for more information about addiction resources at UNMC and Lutheran Family Services.
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