THE READER APRIL 2022 OMAHA by PioneerMedia.Me

A P R I L 2022 | volUME 29 | I SSUE 2

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Saving Planet Omaha What Omaha Needs to Do to Build a Greener Future by Regan Thomas

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OMAHA JOBS: They Want a Helping Hand, Nebraska Turns Them Away

COVER: How Omaha Is Counteracting Climate Change: City Takes First Step to a Greener Future by Implementing a Climate Action Plan

FEATURE: Bad Landlords Face Few Consequences in Omaha; Tenants Pay the Price

NEWS: Truancy: Are Absentee Interventions Reaching the Students Who Need Them Most?

THEATER: Here Comes a Stage on Wheels

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“With the exception of the last Maha I haven’t shot a real concert in two years. Maybe this is why I felt the need to shoot over a thousand photos of just one band. That band, The Bedrock, and I were both making our first appearance in the newly christened Shakedown Street Tavern (formerly Barley Street) in Benson. It felt good to be in a packed venue seeing and shooting live music again. I don’t know if the nightmare of the last two years is over yet, but tonight it kinda felt like it.” — Mike Machian

April 2022

O M A H A

J O B S

In-Need Nebraskans Banned from Food, Family Assistance Need a “Helping Hand” Because She Went to Prison on Drug Charges, Melinda Jacobs’ is sober, pregnant and trying to work, but her criminal past disqualifies her from help by Leah Cates This story is part of a series, published in The Reader and on omahajobs.com, THAT spotlights the experiences of low-income, working families in Omaha. This is also part of a larger series about inequity in Omaha, titled “(DIS) Investment” (read more on page 14).

Gallup, Inc. seeks Lead Java Developers in Omaha, NE.

To lead team in designing, developing, unit testing and maintaining web-based applications with a focus on Java. Work with relational databases or analytical processing systems. Participate in team meetings to discuss architecture of web-based applications. Min. req. Master’s degree in Computer Science, MIS, Engineering or related degree or foreign equivalent plus 2 years of work experience as Computer Programmer or Software Developer or related IT occupation and completion of coursework and/or at least three months of experience in XML, SQL, JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Core Java, Restful API design skills, continuous integration and deployment, multithreaded programming and Unit Testing using Junit or Mockito frameworks.

Gallup is an EEO/AAP Employer Minorities/ Women/Disabled/Veterans. Please apply online at http://careers.gallup.com or MAIL RESUMES TO: Lisa Kiichler, 1001 Gallup Drive, Omaha, NE 68102

April 2022

hen Melinda Jacobs learned she was disqualified for welfare, the- 32-year-old wanted to return to doing and selling drugs –– the reason she was disqualified in the first place. Then Jacobs thought of her five daughters, plus the baby boy in her stomach.

She’s also barred from accessing SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), which provides money to purchase food, for the rest of her life –– nevermind that she’s sober now. Enacted federally in 1996 during the War on Drugs, the SNAP ban has since been dropped by some states.

“I don’t understand why [my drug felony] would affect my kids”

“[Being disqualified] was heartbreaking,” the single mother said, “but I took a step back and realized I need to be healthy and sober for this baby. And get my kids back.” Jacobs went to prison on drug charges. As a result, she’s permanently banned from accessing Aid to Dependent Children (ADC), which offers direct cash assistance to in-need families with minor children. And she’s not the only one. Nebraska rejected 90% of its welfare applications in 2020, the third-highest rate in the nation (see the March Omaha Jobs column).

“I don’t understand why [my drug felony] would affect my kids,” said Jacobs, who can get some SNAP benefits only for her 9-year-old, the sole child living with her), but no ADC. This isn’t Jacobs’ first time not being able to get welfare. In 2010, Jacobs said, she was a certified nursing assistant working night shifts to make $2 extra an hour. When that wasn’t enough for her and her children to scrape by, she applied for welfare but was rejected because her $15.26/hour wages were over the income cutoff, which,

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ProKarma, Inc. (dba Concentrix Catalyst) has mult. openings for Software Development Engineer in Test in Omaha, NE; travel and/or reloc to various unanticipated locations throughout the U.S. is required. Responsible for developing and writing computer programs to store, locate, and retrieve specific documents, data, and information.

ProKarma, Inc. (dba Concentrix Catalyst) has mult. openings for Project Manager in Omaha, NE; travel and/or reloc to various unanticipated locations throughout the U.S. is required. Responsible for analyzing data processing problems, identifying informational or process requirements and needs, providing technical advice or consultation and develop logical solutions to problems for medium to large projects. Req. a Master’s degree in Comp Sci, Engg (any), or any tech/analytical field, plus 2 years of exp in an IT/Comp-related position.

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O M A H A

J O B S been fraught with tragedy. Her child’s father was murdered, Jacobs said, the person who killed him was stalking her, and soon after that, she caught her drug charges and, she said, went to prison for five years. Jacobs is now out of prison but has only her 9-year-old daughter with her; the other girls are cared for by family in Colorado. And, to top it off, Jacobs’ youngest child, her “baby,” died.

Volunteers assist at a food distribution drive-through, led by Nebraska food banks, in 2021. According to Megan Hamann, economic justice community organizer for social justice nonprofit Nebraska Appleseed, food banks and pantries are essential for underserved community members such as Melinda Jacobs, who can’t access key welfare benefits. Photo courtesy of Nebraska Appleseed. for ADC, is currently $881 per month for a family of three. “You’re searching for help, and you’re not getting it,” Ja-

cobs said, “so you regress back to your old activities and who you used to be.”

Now Jacobs doesn’t have a job. She doesn’t think she can return to being a certified nursing assistant because of her criminal record. She’s tried to get into telemarketing, something she used to do, but she’s struggling to afford the phone and minutes. And Jacobs’ doctor discourages

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To be responsible for leading a team of .net Application Developers in the design, development and implementation of software applications, write application code in the Microsoft .net environment according to functional specifications defined, develop unit testing around said code, and participate in team meetings discussing the architecture of the system.

SEEKS AN SR. JAVA DEVELOPER IN OMAHA, NE

Experience must be post-bachelor’s and progressive. Completion of coursework and/or at least three months of experience in XML, SQL, Java Script, HTML, CSS, Core Java, Restful API design skills, continuous integration and deployment, multithreaded programming and Unit Testing using Junit or Mockito frameworks. Please apply online at http://careers.gallup.com or mail resumes to: Lisa Kiichler, 1001 Gallup Drive, Omaha, NE 68102

Jacobs, who was in foster care growing up, believes her 2010 welfare denial contributed to her selling drugs to make money. Since then, her life has

“I get very depressed,” she said. “I just want to sleep because it feels like everything is on my shoulders. I’m trying to hold my little family together as much as possible.”

April 2022

SEEKS LEAD .NET APPLICATION DEVELOPERS IN OMAHA, NE.

Responsible for managing large development tasks, disseminating to other programmers on the team, and participating in and leading code reviews. Min. req. Master’s degree in Computer Science, MIS, Engineering or related degree or foreign equivalent plus 2 years of work experience as Computer Programmer or Software Developer or related IT occupation and completion of coursework and/or at least three months of experience in C#, ASP.NET, MVC and the .NET framework and SQL programming. Gallup is an EEO/AAP Employer Minorities/ Women/Disabled/Veterans. Please apply online at http://careers.gallup.com or mail resumes to: Lisa Kiichler, 1001 Gallup Drive, Omaha, NE 68102

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Data Analyst #488923 ProKarma, Inc. (dba Concentrix Catalyst) has mult. openings for Data Analyst in Omaha, NE; travel and/or reloc to various unanticipated locations throughout the U.S. is required. Conduct requirements gathering sessions and requirements hand-off/review sessions with Business stakeholders and technical development team. Generate business impact by creating new business intelligence and analytics. Provide technical problem-solving and innovative design of analytics solutions with the constraints of data and time. Req. a Master’s degree in Comp Sci, Engg (any), or related tech/analytical field, plus 2 years of exp in an IT/Comp-related position.

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seeks Lead SQL Database Developers in Omaha, NE.

To lead a team in writing API’s and ETL processes within data warehouses; completing data transfer process for multiple applications; analyze user needs and develop software solutions; creating data models and design diagrams and owning the data transfer process for multiple applications and participate in team meetings discussing the architecture of processes. Responsible for managing large development tasks, breaking down the task into smaller tasks, disseminating to other programmers on the team, and participating and leading code reviews. Min. req. Master’s degree in Computer Science, MIS, Engineering or related degree or foreign equivalent plus 2 years of work experience as Computer Programmer or Software Developer or related IT occupation and completion of coursework and/ or at least three months of experience in using SQL in Oracle or Sybase or Greenplum database writing SQL queries; stored procedures; maintaining and debugging database applications; testing of programs or databases; correcting errors; planning and implementing security measures to safeguard information; production support; and/or ETL and Data Modeling for client facing platform; using Jira; Code handling using GIT or Tortoise SVN. Gallup is an EEO/AAP Employer Minorities/Women/Disabled/ Veterans.

To apply, email Resumes to

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postings@prokarma.com

ProKarma Inc. (dba Concentrix Catalyst) UX Designer #487144

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ProKarma Inc. (dba Concentrix Catalyst) Data Engineer #416546 ProKarma, Inc. (dba Concentrix Catalyst) has mult. openings for Data Engineer in Omaha, NE; travel and/or reloc to various unanticipated locations throughout the U.S. is required. Write, update, and maintain software applications; perform production maintenance of code; gather solutions requirements. Own technical commitments to clients and work with the team to successful delivery of solutions.Req. a Master’s degree in Comp Sci, Engg (any), or related tech/analytical field, plus 1 year of exp in an IT/Comp-related position. To apply, email Resumes to

postings@prokarma.com with Job Ref #416546 in subject line. April 2022

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Software Engineer #485736 ProKarma, Inc. (dba Concentrix Catalyst) has mult. openings for SoftwareEngineer in Omaha, NE; travel and/or reloc to various unanticipated locations throughout the U.S. is required. Responsible for designing, programming, coding, and analyzing new computer programs and data structures in accordance with specifications and user needs. Req. a Bachelor’s degree in Comp Sci, Engg (any), or related tech/analytical field, plus 5 years of exp in an IT/Comp-related position. To apply, email Resumes to

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ProKarma Inc. (dba Concentrix Catalyst) Data Engineer #489106 ProKarma, Inc. (dba Concentrix Catalyst) has mult. openings for Data Engineer in Omaha, NE; travel and/or reloc to various unanticipated locations throughout the U.S. is required. Write, update, and maintain software applications; perform production maintenance of code; gather solutions requirements. Own technical commitments to clients and work with the team to successful delivery of solutions. Req. a Master’s degree in Comp Sci, Engg (any), or related tech/analytical field, plus 2 years of exp in an IT/Comp-related position. To apply, email Resumes to

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April 2022

O M A H A

J O B S

her from labor-intensive work because her pregnancy is high risk. But Jacobs wants to work –– just like other welfare recipients, according to Megan Hamann, economic justice community organizer for the social justice nonprofit Nebraska Appleseed.

Nebraska Legislature. And last year, LB108 passed, adjusting the SNAP income eligibility level so people working extra hours could take a small raise and continue to stay on the program –– which would’ve helped Jacobs immensely in 2010.

“Folks [tell me] they’d rather not be on benefits,” Hamann said, “[because it’s] not easy or comfortable. Ideally, they would have a job that would allow them to afford the things they need. Most everyone I talk to is working, [often] two jobs, [but] their income still doesn’t make the cut.”

But expanded eligibility, funded via the American Rescue Plan Act, expires in 2023. According to Hamann, there isn’t legislation in the works to stop the expiration.

Without a living wage, however, Nebraskans are often forced on welfare. Hamann said there’s legislation in the works to get people like Jacobs the help they desperately need, such as LB121, which would get rid of the lifetime ban on SNAP benefits for Nebraskans with certain drug convictions and, at press time, is being considered in the

And families like Jacobs’ continue to suffer. She said her kids hold “grudges and resentment” toward her because of her involvement with drugs and don’t trust that she won’t return to the streets. But Jacobs stays determined to maintain her sobriety and reunite with her children. “[People like me] want to do better for ourselves,” Jacobs said, “but doing better for ourselves [necessitates] a helping hand.”

GALLUP, INC. SEEKS LEAD PYTHON DEVELOPERS IN OMAHA, NE.

To lead team in designing, developing, unit testing and maintaining web-based applications with a focus on Python. Min. req. Master’s degree in Computer Science, MIS, Engineering or related degree or foreign equivalent plus 2 years of work experience as Computer Programmer or Software Developer or related IT occupation and completion of coursework and/or at least three months of experience with Python; SQL; Github; open-source statistical programming languages; data structure and algorithms; object oriented programming. Gallup is an EEO/AAP Employer Minorities/ Women/Disabled/Veterans. Please apply online at http://careers.gallup.com or mail resumes to: Lisa Kiichler, 1001 Gallup Drive, Omaha, NE 68102

N E W S

How Omaha Is Counteracting

Climate Change City Takes First Step to a Greener Future With Approval of Climate Action Plan

he water flooded into the small elevator as people stuck their heads barely above the murky gray water. As they took videos and called for help, flood waters consumed the streets of downtown Omaha, carrying cars down the road. On Aug. 9 of last year, business owners in the largest city of this triple landlocked state woke up to shops full of tree branches and debris and 18,000 homes without power. Thick trees in Elmwood Park snapped like sticks in 60 mph winds carrying quarter-sized hail. The flash flood brought torrential rain and a stubborn reminder for Omaha: Climate change is here. But while most of America’s cities have plans to deal with that reality, Omaha’s city government does not.

by Regan Thomas | Photos CHRIS BOWLING emissions. The plans were a response to an Obama administration initiative in 2008. To date, 417 cities, including 35 of the 50 largest, have some form of plan to address adverse weather effects. Today, about one in three Americans live in a place that has a Climate Action Plan. The City of Omaha did not respond to The Reader’s request for comment on its Climate Action Plan work. The approval passed by the Omaha City Council is a halfpage document outlining why councilors want to pursue the plan.

But in late November 2021, the Omaha City Council took the first official step toward responding to climate change, giving Mayor Jean Stothert’s office the green light to research

the city.

a Climate Action Plan for

A Climate Action Plan lays out blueprints to reduce climate change effects and decrease greenhouse gas

“I do think this will require some resources upfront for implementation, but I also think these efforts — when they’re done well — typically do save money anyway, in addition to being the right thing to do for our environment and our climate,” Council President Pete Festersen said then.

April 2022

N E W S Clouds plume from the smokestack of a South Omaha packinghouse on March 22, 2022. photo by Chris Bowling

inspire the people of Omaha and Omaha officials to fight for a greener city. “Setting that goal of net-zero carbon by 2050 establishes a timeline and a numerical metric to what we want to achieve,” Williams said.

As recent years have made clear, whether it’s the flash floods of 2021 or flooding along the Missouri River two years before, the effects of climate change are here. Omaha has started to see the effects, long periods of drought, wetter winters, drier summers, dangerous thunderstorms and extremely inconsistent weather patterns. For Omaha to catch up to other cities like Des Moines, Lincoln and even Crete, which all have or have started a Climate Action Plan, city officials need to work effectively, said Craig Moody, managing principal at Verdis Group, a sustainability and climate planning consultancy in Omaha. Moody’s organization has long helped cities like Lincoln build their own plans, and one week after last August’s flash foods, Moody published a blog giving cities a how-to guide for “one of the most important things a community can do to accel-

erate climate action,” saying these documents are meant to be used, not sit on a shelf. Moody said one of Omaha’s primary focuses should be talking to citizens, because these aren’t temporary fixes but long-term adjustments. “It’s really important that when these plans are done that they involve extensive, inclusive public engagement,” Moody said. “What do we want Omaha to look like in 2050? You don’t want to set a community-wide vision for where we want to be without involving the community.” While Omaha’s local government doesn’t have a specific outline for climate change, the city does address it in the environmental element of its master plan, passed in 2010. That document calls for the city to make buildings more energy efficient, expand transit options and use water sustain-

April 2022

ably as heat-wave frequency increases.

Omaha’s public transportation, METRO, has also made strides to address climate change, introducing electric vehicles to its fleet and increasing service through the new rapid bus line ORBT. According to a 2010 U.S. Department of Transportation study, using private automotives produced 33% more carbon emissions than taking the bus. If a planned light-rail system from downtown to midtown takes off, Omahans could be reducing that carbon footprint by 62%, according to the study.

However, other entities in the metro have made concerted efforts to shrink their carbon footprint. The Omaha Public Power District, which serves nearly Local stores 850,000 people like Exist Green across 13 counin Dundee also ties, has taken play a part, action into its offering zeown hands. In ro-waste op2019, OPPD tions for people set a goal to to buy grocerbe net zero in ies, home goods carbon emisand more. sions by 2050 and have repur“We don’t posed methane have all the angas produced swers, but to at the Douglas have a place — Eric Williams County landfill where people into energy. Eric can come and Williams, OPPD learn about zero Board of Directors vice chair, waste can help,” store manager hopes his team’s actions will Mary Range said.

“We can’t change what we did or did not do in the past. All we can do is make decisions now about what we will do in the future....

N E W S But some say for this plan to work, it has to be inclusive of all Omahans. From the Missouri River to the Elkhorn River, suburbs to the crowded city center, people in this city have different needs and abilities to change in their lives, said Ryan Wishart, an assistant professor of environmental sociology at Creighton University. While a carbon tax could be used to lower emissions, it may negatively affect low-income communities. And while transit is a huge opportunity to lower the amount of gas we pump into the atmosphere, access in areas like North and South Omaha can be limited.

bottom of the class structure access to basic needs,” Wishart said.

“We live in such a dysfunctional and unequal economic system, that if you try and just incorporate those prices without doing anything else, you’re going to deny people at the

“What stands out is Lincoln had the ability to recognize that climate change is a problem that needs to be addressed, along with all the other immediate issues that a city

Fortunately Omaha doesn’t have to look far for guidance on taking action against climate change. Lincoln implemented its action plan in 2021 after two years in development. Among its goals are to increase recycling, keep water and air clean, preserve natural resources and reduce emissions. Martha Shulski, director of Nebraska’s State Climate Office and a professor at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, said the way Lincoln set up its plan pushes the city to make fast, effective changes.

must address in keeping up with roads, park systems and infrastructure, all the different aspects that the city has to think about,” Shulski said. But just because Lincoln has a plan and Omaha doesn’t, doesn’t mean one city is in front of the other. While Lincoln doesn’t offer recycling, Omaha recently boosted its recycling program from small green bins to 96-gallon cans. But having a citywide plan to inform decisions through the lens of climate change makes a huge difference — still Omaha has time to catch up. “A Climate Action Plan is a long-term vision and it will require programs and projects and implementation that will take a very long time,” Williams said. “If some of the timelines that we’re talking about are

2030, 2040, 2050, or even longer, is the two-year head start a huge difference? Probably not.” Omaha is still in the early stages of its Climate Action Plan. Last year, the city said it would solicit requests from companies to research and propose a plan in the near future. Moody said developing an environmental plan is a long process — from approval to implementation could take two or more years. But with climate change becoming a reoccurring, unavoidable problem for the city, advocates say it’s not time to wonder if Omaha’s too late. “We can’t change what we did or did not do in the past. All we can do is make decisions now about what we will do in the future.”

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April 2022

( D I S ) I N V E S T E D Tenant photo from 40th and Dodge, 2019.

near 108th and Dodge, 2019 tenant photo, reported repairs had not been made.

2019 tenant photo from unit at 51st and NW Radial Hwy Tenant photos submitted to We Don’t Slum, wedontslum.com Used with permission.

Slumlords

Understaffing and Lack of Accountability Put Landlords in Charge in Omaha Story by Chris Bowling | Tenant photos: we dont slum T h i s s t o r y i s pa r t o f (DIS)INVESTED, an ongoing series from The Reader and El Perico investigating the solutions and o b s tac l e s to s o lv i n g SYSTEMIC inequality in Omaha through housing, e d u c at i o n , c r i m i n a l justice and family issues.

isa Salinas tried to do everything right. In 2021, the 50-year-old with blue eyes and wisps of red in her hair moved back to Omaha to help her parents. Her father, now 82, was in assisted living. Her mother needed help. “You don’t know how much time you have with them,” Sa-

linas said, looking toward an overcast February sky in northwest Omaha. But finding a place to live wasn’t easy. She had no income besides monthly Social Security and disability payments (about $800 in total, she said), her credit was bad, and she had four cats, all service animals. She did find one place — a one-bedroom near downtown Omaha in an old apartment building that, from the outside, seemed nice. Her mom met the landlord and handed him a check for $1,400 to cover the security deposit and first month’s rent. But less than a year later, the building made local headlines when the city condemned it after Salinas and 13 others had

April 2022

lived through winters with no heat, apartment fires, holes in the ceilings, rodents and shoddy plumbing.

owners break building codes. But advocates, and even the city’s own inspectors, say there’s not enough accountability.

Now Salinas just wants to see her former landlord face the consequences.

“I do think someone with some authority needs to actively monitor the housing situation and clean these places up,” said Dave Pantos, a housing attorney and candidate for Douglas County attorney who’s representing Salinas and other tenants in a suit against their former landlord, Bill Stanek. “This is why he’s been able to do it, because he’s just been slapped on the wrist in the past.”

“Go to jail. Live in your own building, and see how you like it,” she said. “I want him to pay for that.” In Omaha a lack of quality affordable housing leaves many, especially in neighborhoods with more people of color and poverty, at risk of health issues, housing instability and stunted childhood development. City housing inspectors are meant to keep housing safe by serving fines and threatening legal action when landlords or home-

Stanek, a disbarred lawyer and property owner with many code violations over the past several years, did not answer the door of his home, return re-

( D I S ) I N V E S T E D quests for comment or respond to questions from a Reader reporter after an eviction hearing in Douglas County court for another tenant in a different building. But he’s not the only one racking up violations. An analysis by The Reader found 40 individuals and companies, less than a percent of property owners cited, account for about 13% of Omaha’s code violation cases since 2015. They include companies with headquarters in the Bahamas and Switzerland, a person found guilty of sexually harassing tenants in 2004 who still owns properties, a former landlord with a reality show, and a company with a Westside address that owns 171 properties almost entirely in North Omaha. When landlords break building codes, Omaha’s 13 inspectors can fine them $125 per inspection and give them between 30 and 120 days to fix it — more if they get extensions, less if the violation is immediately dangerous. If they don’t, they can face up to a $500 fine and/ or six months in jail. Some say the penalties are too minor, and the legal system favors landlords too much. “It’s not a level playing field,” said Seth Cope with Omaha Tenants United, a local housing advocacy group. “If you weren’t showing up to work on time or doing what your boss asked you to do, you get fired. If your landlord doesn’t fix the light, doesn’t get the heat repaired and steals money from you [they’ll likely get away with it].” More cities are leaning toward proactive solutions, such as rental registries, which allow for regular inspections. Omaha implemented a registry in April 2019 to keep up with more than 19,000 rental properties. Amanda Reddy, executive director of the National Center for Healthy Housing, said most

Americans agree safe housing is a necessity. Generally, landlords, tenants and code enforcers want to do the right thing, she said. What’s lacking is enough programs to fix buildings, tools to keep bad landlords in check and resources for enforcers. “This is a problem we can fix,” Reddy said.

Confronting Chaos Scott Lane has a sweeping view of Omaha through his office windows 10 floors up in Omaha’s City Hall. The former Douglas County Sheriff’s deputy is approaching four years as the city’s chief housing inspector, but another title scribbled on his desk placard describes it better: Chief Director of Chaos. “If there is any division in the city, or in government period, that has more ‘What If’ scenarios than this division, I would be surprised,” he said. In the last few years, Lane has had to rebuild the department from the ground up. In 2015 the Metropolitan Omaha Property Owners Association (MOPOA), an advocacy group for area landlords, and the City of Omaha settled a lawsuit by changing city code to bar inspectors from investigating homes unless they’ve received a direct complaint. “The frustration level of not having enough teeth to truly enforce and conduct this job is one of the No. 1 complaints I get from the inspectors,” Lane said. But Lane says the department has grown, from six people to 13 today, and Omaha’s rental registry has increased its authority. The registry requires landlords to submit contact information to schedule inspections once every decade. If the prop-

Lisa Salinas stands in front of Pine Tower, a 13-story public housing apartment complex Salinas moved into after being forced from her apartment at 2557 Jones St. due to unlivable conditions. Photo taken on March 29, 2022, by Chris Bowling. erty has had recent code violations, landlords must pass two years of clean annual inspections. Technical issues and understaffing have slowed down implementation, Lane said, and only a few landlords have gone through two rounds of annual inspections. By the end of this year, he said, the city should know how well the registry works. “I think it’s an incredible tool,” Lane said. “We’re really trying to be fair to the landlords, specifically the good ones, yet really capture which ones are not doing what they’re supposed to be doing.” The registry is the only requirement people have to become landlords outside of following Nebraska’s Landlord-Tenant Act, which covers rules for eviction, how rent should be paid and other basic landlord and tenant responsibilities. MOPOA has challenged the registry in court and lost twice. The organization does help landlords get out of inspections, though. They provide waivers for residents, prompting them

to agree to not allow city officials in their homes. The organization claims the inspections are a violation of landlords’ Fourth Amendment rights. Some landlords also threaten to charge tenants if they allow inspectors into the home. MOPOA did not respond to a request for comment. Even with increased accountability, the enforcement team’s power is limited. Every inspection, regardless of the number of violations, carries a $125 fee. Lane said that’s probably not enough when landlords are netting hundreds more on a monthly basis from just one tenant. Lane’s inspectors can also vacate a unit, but that displaces people and sometimes the landlord will just fill the unit with someone else, even though that’s technically illegal. If a landlord does that, or refuses to fix a problem, code enforcement can send the Omaha Police Department to charge them with a misdemeanor. Lane said it’s not uncommon to see a few landlords sent to jail in a

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( D I S ) I N V E S T E D month. But some high-profile landlords have avoided jail time. In 2018, Kay Anderson of AB Realty faced 85 misdemeanors for hundreds of code violations at the Yale Park Apartments in North Omaha. He was found guilty of four, sentenced to pay a $1,080 fine and spend two years on probation, according to the Omaha World-Herald. In the Reader’s analysis of landlords with the most code enforcement cases, there are plenty who have faced pressure related to their conduct. The list includes offenders with 89 code violation cases down to 10. It also includes large property owners with more than 1,000 units in Omaha and small guys with far less. Entities like the Omaha Housing Authority and Habitat for Humanity also place high on the list. And while patterns of underfunded public housing and Habitat’s commitment to rehabbing housing stock separate them from the private market, they’re nonetheless contributing to gaps in safe housing. Dave Paladino, who owned Landmark Management Group until his death in a plane accident in 2021, sparked controversy when he requested tax

breaks despite having outstanding code violations. Paladino also became known for signs posted outside his storage locker facilities with epigraphs like “ANYONE THAT REFUSES TO WORK SHOULD NOT EAT.” He also parlayed his job into a cable reality show called “The Super.” Other repeat offenders include Jerry Wojtalewicz, whose former Westside address is listed on code violations for AMP Enterprises’ properties located almost entirely in North Omaha. VCM Global Asset Management has the most code violations of any landlord but doesn’t technically own properties in Omaha. Instead, VCM manages limited partnerships overseeing rentals. The company is headquartered in Colorado Springs with offices in the Bahamas, Switzerland and Toronto. But when CEO Tom Vukota appears on code violations, his address is 45 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City. For some, the system is too out of whack to trust local government with fighting back. Instead they trust organizing and educating tenants about blatant violations of Nebraska’s landlord-tenant laws to pressure landlords.

Tenant photo, 2019. Tenant has been trying to get the landlord to fix the roof for two months. After this tenant reported these issues to Omaha’s City Code department, the landlord attempted AN EVICTION. “We’re not maximalist in any of our demands,” said Jade Krivanek, a member of Omaha Tenants United. “We’re not asking for damages. Most of the time it’s like, ‘Pay me the money that is mine, legally,’ ‘Fix this window that is making my apartment below the legally allowed temperature in the winter.’” Sometimes it works out well. Sometimes it doesn’t. Huma Haq worked with the group after living without heat for a year. Her apartment near downtown Dundee averaged 40 degrees one day in the middle of January. Ten days after sending a demand letter, she was asked to vacate.

Huma Haq stands in her apartment on March 28, 2022. Photo by Chris Bowling.

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While it shocked her, she didn’t regret standing up for herself. Omaha Tenants United

also stepped up, raising $1,500 for Haq through GoFundMe. “I was mind blown,” she said. “I want to cry just thinking about it … Like I remember shivering in my bedroom under layers of clothes. The only way [I got out] was with the help of Omaha Tenants United.” Retaliatory evictions are illegal under Nebraska law, but that doesn’t stop them from happening. It’s also a legal gray area for landlords to have tenants sign waivers promising they won’t allow city inspectors inside. But Erin Feichtinger, director of advocacy and policy at Together, an Omaha nonprofit dedicated to ending hunger and homelessness, has enough examples of that to fill a thick folder on her desk.

( D I S ) I N V E S T E D white counterparts, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rental registries are the best way to catch problems early, Reddy said, although Omaha’s 10-year schedule is on the long end — most cities opt for a three- to five-year schedule. “A big message that we have is how can we stop using ourselves, our children, our families, our residents as detectors,” Reddy said. “We don’t want to wait until a child has been poisoned with lead to be able to find and fix a lead hazard in our home.” Reddy also said while cities need to invest in stronger enforcement — which federal dollars can support through the American Rescue Plan Act — they also need to figure out how to partner instead of punish.

2019 tenant photo from unit near 48th and Boyd. “People presume that everybody has a choice,” Feichtinger said. “They don’t. When it comes to housing in Omaha, the free market does not exist for people who are severely cost burdened, for people who have been evicted, for people who have larger families, for people with disabilities, for low-income seniors — none of these people have access to the market in the same way you or I do. And that’s not OK. Because you cannot have a thriving community when you’re leaving all these people behind.”

“We Don’t Want to Wait” The connection between housing and health is not up for debate.

“It is undeniably the most important environment that we find ourselves in,” said healthy housing advocate Amanda Reddy. “It is the most well-documented social determinant of health for a reason and one of our most powerful platforms for actually helping people to realize their full potential.” Failure to replace lead pipes and paint causes brain damage and stunts children’s growth. If moisture gets into a building, it can grow mold and attract bugs. Studies also show substandard housing increases children’s risk of asthma, a top reason kids miss school. Black children have it the worst, being twice as likely to have asthma and seven times as likely to die from it compared with their

Omahans can access several programs to fix their homes or buildings. Funds come from the City of Omaha, Douglas County, nonprofits such as Habitat for Humanity and Omaha Healthy Kids Alliance and area utility providers, spanning issues like lead, rental rehabs and much more, offering sometimes thousands of dollars. But not enough people take advantage of the programs, according to Lane. Code enforcement can be seen as strictly punitive, but Lane is trying to build relationships with landlord associations, neighborhood groups and nonprofits to send the message that they’re here to help, and hopefully spread the word about these programs. Compounding the problem is the city’s scarcity of affordable housing, which a recent report put at 80,000 units. The shortage means less pressure on landlords to make costly repairs and renters have to settle for bad options. And if they complain, it’s not hard for a landlord to find another tenant.

Crime and Punishment As Lisa Salinas stared out the window of the La Quinta Inn off Highway 680, she knew the clock was ticking. The local nonprofit Together had paid for her motel room, as well as other former tenants of the Flora Apartments, but she only had a few days left. She applied for new apartments, but many were too expensive. Things got worse when her medical transport to the doctor arrived late. Now she had no medication refill to keep her mental health under control. Today she is finally moving into her own place, but she and other tenants are still waiting for legal proceedings to continue against their former landlord. Lane said one thing to be hopeful about is people won’t have to worry about renting from Stanek in that building any longer. Recently another property management company, with plans to turn it around, bought the place. Stanek himself won’t face further consequences however, Lane said. When asked to renovate or sell the building, he cooperated with the city. Stanek and his wife still own seven buildings in Omaha, some of which also have code violations. It’s a happy ending for the building, and probably future tenants. But for people like Salinas the damage is done. All she wants now is to see the system a little fairer. “I really don’t care about money,” Salinas said. “The main reason why I’m suing him is because I want him to pay somehow. Everybody’s like, ‘Why didn’t you just get up and leave?’ It’s not that easy. Some people can’t.”

April 2022

N E W S YUSEFF BEASLEY, A 7TH-GRADER AND GOALS PARTICIPANT, POSES WITH HIS SISTERS AND DOG IN HIS FAMILY’S HOME ON MARCH 24, 2022. Photo by Bridget Fogarty.

Tackling Truancy

Are Absentee Interventions Reaching the Students Who Need Them Most? by Bridget Fogarty, REPORT FOR AMERICA CORPS MEMBER T h i s s t o r y i s pa r t o f (DIS)INVESTED, an ongoing series from The Reader and El Perico investigating the solutions and o b s tac l e s to s o lv i n g SYSTEMIC inequality in Omaha through housing, e d u c at i o n , criminal justice and family issues.

hen 13-year-old Yuseff Beasley learned the Omaha Public Schools would return to in-person classes in October 2020, he wasn’t too excited. Yuseff, who at that time lived in a foster care home and attended sixth grade at OPS’s Liberty Elementary School, had

gotten used to avoiding classes during remote learning. “I would take a picture of myself and put it as my homescreen and walk away from the camera, and it would look like I’m there,” he said. “The teacher never really called on me, so I didn’t really have to worry about that.” In the fall, Yuseff moved out of foster care and back in with his mother, Olivia Beasley. When it came time for in-person classes, she grew concerned about his behavior — before foster care, he would never have skipped school. “He felt confident enough to just walk out of class,” she said. That escalated to walking out of

April 2022

school, and when school let out for summer, losing interest in sports and hobbies he used to love.

periencing trauma before and during foster care, he still hadn’t been connected with mental health support.

Yuseff is one of more than 19,000 OPS students who was chronically absent in 2020-2021, or missed 10% or more of the school year, according to The Reader’s analysis of Nebraska Department of Education data. Of those students, more than 10,000 missed 20% or more of the year.

His mother had hoped his school or the OPS district would offer support. But it was her own therapist who suggested Yuseff speak with the team at GOALS, the Greater Omaha Attendance and Learning Services Center, a nonprofit addressing attendance and truancy issues for students in metro schools, including all 11 public schools districts of Douglas and Sarpy counties.

Like other students who miss school regularly, Yuseff didn’t accumulate absences simply due to a desire to skip classes. Returning to in-person learning during the pandemic caused him anxiety, and despite ex-

“It was such a relief when she made that referral,” Beasley said. “GOALS provided a mediation between my son and the teachers.”

? o m fo

Fear of missing out on time with friends and family? Get vaccinated now! The COVID-19 vaccine is widely available throughout the state, but younger people are still getting coronavirus at the highest rates. Let’s all do right to reach community immunity and get the good life back.

Get COVID-19 vaccine information at DoRightRightNow.org DRRN P3 The Reader_FP_June_VF.indd 1

April 2022

6/17/21 4:23 PM

N E W S The GOALS Center was created through state legislation that called for an out-of-school strategy to minimize referrals to the court system for attendance issues. GOALS family advocates work one-on-one with students to identify the barriers keeping them from going to school, connect them with resources and advocate for them to get back into the classroom without system involvement. Chronic absenteeism is not a new problem, but rates have jumped considerably due to the pandemic: from about 28% of OPS students in 2018-2019 to 37% in 2020-2021. Students of color and low-income students struggle most with severe levels of absenteeism. But GOALS referral data show the students most impacted are not always the ones receiving help. Despite being outnumbered nearly three-to-one by students of color in absentee data, more than half the students referred into GOALS in recent years were white. And OPS, the largest public school district in the area with the highest rates of students of color and low-income students, refers students to GOALS at the lowest rates. In the 2020-2021 school year, OPS referred 29 students out of 8,352 who missed 20% or more

of the school year. That same year, Millard Public Schools referred students at 17 times the OPS rate, according to The Reader’s analysis of NDE data. These disparities illuminate larger, systemic problems rooted in the city’s segregation that have impacted Black, Latino and other students of color, as well as low-income Omahans for years, said Nicole Seymour, executive director of GOALS. “This isn’t just about attendance, but this shows how resources are disseminated,” she said. GOALS stands out as a key solution for the large number of chronically absent or truant students, as a strategy of the Learning Community’s Community Achievement Plan. But it is not the only organization in Omaha that works to alleviate chronic absenteeism, and it’s not meant to be, Seymour said. The program fits into the second or third level of a tiered intervention framework rooted in classroom-level interventions, according to research by Attendance Works, an organization focused on closing equity gaps by increasing attendance. “Case management alone will not long term fix this problem: It’s a community problem; it’s a

Olivia Beasley and her son Yuseff. Photo by Bridget Fogarty. community fix,” Seymour said. “We have to work together.” Prevention starts at that first intervention tier: in the classroom with teachers and in schools with attendance teams often made up of the principal, social workers, nurses and other staff members who track absences. If the issue persists, or a student needs more one-on-one help beyond school resources, school staff or another adult may refer them to a program outside of school, including GOALS. GOALS family advocates talk often with caregivers and students, connecting them with community-based services offer-

GOALS Center is a solution for chronically absent or truant students. Photo provided by the GOALS Center

Nicole Seymour, executive director

Jasmine Renchie, family advocate April 2022

Lydia Turner, community navigation

ing mental health support, transportation, meals, after school programs and other resources that could address the root causes of a student’s absence. “You can change the trajectory of an entire family’s dynamic in our work if we’re given the opportunity to do so,” Seymour said.

A narrow path for students to get help Serving students in 11 public school districts doesn’t come without its challenges. GOALS staff may take up to 20 referrals at a time. They check in regularly with students, and risk for employee burnout is real, Seymour said. The pandemic also intensified students’ needs — the amount of class missed by the average student referred to GOALS jumped from 10% in 2019 to 44% in 2022, according to staff members. Even if OPS fully utilized the program, GOALS would not have capacity to serve every student referred; it’s not uncommon for GOALS to run a waitlist. That’s why collaboration and partnerships with schools and local programs are so important, Seymour said.

N E W S effort to avoid the court system for truancy. With her mother, the school and Turner, they worked out a way to keep Mayalyn in the building rather than sending her home when she didn’t want to be at school in the first place.

Mayalyn Thompson. Photo by Bridget Fogarty “It’s unrealistic and unfair to expect the school districts to do this on their own,” she said. “You have to have a community at the table and parents, and providers, and everybody leaning in.” But OPS’s low referral rates and limited referral pathways restrict some of the most impacted families from accessing help, said Lydia Turner, a family advocate and the community navigation coordinator with GOALS. An OPS alum herself, Turner was hired in 2019 to address OPS students’ attendance needs. But the lack of OPS referrals hamstrung her work; she didn’t receive nearly enough to fill her caseload. “Students are not getting access to available resources,” Turner said. “Those families need the services most.” In 2018, OPS set a goal to improve attendance by 2% each year as part of its strategic plan, according to Lisa Utterback, the chief officer for student and community services at OPS. But in doing so, the district chose only four schools with high absentee rates to refer students to GOALS, significantly narrowing the referral route for OPS students into the program. ”For any student struggling to attend on time each day, we rally a team of school staff to identify obstacles and deliver solutions,” according to a statement shared via email by Omaha Public

Schools. “Beyond school teams, we have many outside partners to assist. That could include the GOALS Center if a student meets their eligibility criteria. OPS also has several other community partners who help students and families remove attendance barriers.”

“Everybody should have the resources I have” National data shows students of color are more likely to be disciplined than their white counterparts, and research suggests educators’ implicit and explicit biases against Black students perpetuate that gap, starting as early as preschool. While Black students represent 25% of the OPS district, they made up nearly half of the students suspended and more than half the students expelled in the 2020-2021 school year. “The school is the first system that every person in America pretty much enters into,” said Turner. “So when students feel demonized, and they feel that they’re pushed out, and that everything is a punitive thing, it’s a setup for later on in life.” Mayalyn Thompson, a 15-yearold Black student who attended an OPS high school, was referred to the GOALS Center as a final

Now Mayalyn spends most days after school with MAYS, the Metro Area Youth Services, and she is currently enrolled at the Omaha Street School. She’s noticed the difference in herself that she credits to the after school program, her job and other activities that have kept her from returning to old habits and feeling too bored at school. “I feel everybody should have the resources I have, especially if you’re involved in the juvenile justice system,” she said. “Not all kids get what I get.” According to the GOALS Center’s annual report, 90% of families who worked with the program in 2020-2021 were diverted from the court system. Without getting involved in GOALS, Yuseff, who is also Black, said he is almost certain he would have been put on probation at some point. When he moved to OPS’s King Science and Technology Magnet School in 2021, Yuseff was placed in a Behavior Support Program, or BSP, which means he is in one room with the same teacher and paraprofessional all day. He brought with him the trauma he endured before and during foster care, and one day, in a moment of frustration, Yuseff lashed out at his teacher. “I flipped my lid,” he said, “I finally had enough.” Yuseff has an Individualized Education Program, or IEP, which is a legal document that details the special education instruction, supports and services schools and educators should provide to help students make progress in class and thrive. But instead of following the IEP, the school called the police.

Staff then designed a safety plan for Yuseff, requiring him to come to school an hour late each day so that a police officer could give him a daily pat down, according to Yuseff and his mother. “There was a lot of fear with the staff, and that fear got into the way of really supporting him, and really helping him,” his mother said. “They were not educated on why a child who comes from trauma could behave this way.” Connecting with GOALS family advocate Jasmine Renchie not only helped Yuseff get back on track attending classes, but also helped his mother feel empowered to ask why staff wasn’t following his IEP. When she asked, the school admitted that no one there had read the document, according to Beasley. Soon after, the daily police pat downs ended. “Parents need help,” Beasley said. “They need that advocate by their side to make them feel confident that what they’re thinking just might possibly be right.” Since GOALS has come into the picture, Beasley believes the staff has changed its perspective and become more receptive to her son’s needs. “Now I feel like we’re all actually a team, instead of me having to go to bat against King Science,” she said. Yuseff comes to school regularly now, and he’s passing every class. “I’m still kept in one classroom all day, but at least it doesn’t feel like I’m in prison anymore,” he said. As one of the oldest in his class, he said he wants to be a role model for other students. “Knowing I have a lot of people in my corner — my mother, my therapist, GOALS — just helps.”

April 2022

T H E A T E R

Here Comes a Stage on Wheels A Box Truck Is Being Converted to Deliver Free, Live Performances to Omaha Neighborhoods by Courtney Bierman

performing arts. The organization and the Omaha Mobile Stage (OMS) are built on the philosophy of creative placemaking: The integration of arts and culture into communities to promote a sense of belonging and encourage economic development.

year into Covid, Jessica Scheuerman missed live entertainment more than ever. She missed the city parks she visited on work trips, their amenities such as clean bathrooms and running water that are absent from many of Omaha’s public greenspaces. Most of all, she missed the sense of community that comes with public space and performance.

Placemaking is part of Scheuerman’s ethos. She has a master’s in urban studies from the University of Nebraska-Omaha and was previously vice president of Partners for Livable Communities, a Washington, D.C., nonprofit working to improve arts access and quality of life in communities around the country.

If only there were a way for Omaha to safely gather in person again for live events. Scheuerman saw a need not just for a new outdoor venue, but one that could be shared by the entire city. “ There’s gotta be a way that we could activate public space with live entertainment. Like, this shouldn’t be too difficult,” Scheuerman said. “We just need a stage. Like, we just need a stage on wheels. No big deal, right? And so it just seemed like a very simple way to address social isolation.” A stage on wheels is exactly what Scheuerman and her collaborators came up with: A box truck converted

into a showcase that can be driven around the city. The Omaha Mobile Stage, launching in May, is the flagship program of Partners for Livable Omaha as well as its first major project. Scheuerman envisions the stage as a multidisciplinary venue for free, live performances that highlight a neighborhood’s culture and bring

people together from all over the city. The project’s mission is similar to the bygone Goodfellows Show Wagon. Scheuerman, a native Omahan, is the founder and executive director of Partners for Livable Omaha, a nonprofit she founded at the height of the pandemic to support local, live

“I knew that there was a need, and I knew the power of public space: The power of gardens, parks, schools,” Scheuerman said. “If you think of my career and everything I’ve done, this is like everything thrown together. It’s an expression of me as a placemaker.” The stage is under construction at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s Innovation Campus. A team of UNL architecture students, some

The Omaha Mobile Stage truck is under construction at the Nebraska Innovation Studio on the UNL campus.

April 2022

T H E A T E R

Omaha Mobile Stage rendering shows its potential as a means of community engagement. truck & event renderings: FACT of whom also helped to design the stage, is building the stage under the supervision of UNL architecture professor Jeff Day, who’s also one of the project’s main collaborators. The vehicle that will become OMS began as an 18-foot box truck used as a mobile knife-sharpening business. When it’s done, it will be a state-of-the-art, 16-by-14-foot platform with adjustable side panels that can be unbolted and opened for a width of nearly 35 feet. Huge cabinets built into the back provide storage and a place to hide electrical wiring. The platform’s front half can be tiered into risers for choral performances. The back of the truck has a wheelchair lift that can also be used for heavy equipment. The ceiling has an optional canopy for especially bright or rainy days. “It’s not a perfect stage for any one art form, but it fits almost all of them,” Scheuerman said. OMS is reminiscent of another traveling Omaha venue. The Goodfellows Show Wagon was started in 1952 by the City of Omaha Parks Department as a youth talent competition. Before ending in 2010, the Show Wagon stopped in parks around the city for neighborhoods to showcase their young talent. Omaha’s JoJo Siwa, a dancer, singer and YouTuber who appeared on “Dance Moms” for two seasons, participated in the Show Wagon as a little girl. “We hear people describe it as a time where, essentially, the neighborhood’s coming out to see itself,” Scheuerman said. “It has these components of neighborhood life that you rarely see at that scale.”

Musician Dereck Higgins has fond memories of performing with the Show Wagon in the 1960s when it visited Miller Park and Adams Park. Higgins, his sisters and a friend choreographed song-and-dance routines to tunes by The Temptations, James Brown, Sly and the Family Stone — whatever happened to be

Day said a critical aspect of placemaking is listening to the needs of the community. The Omaha Mobile Stage is meant to be a tool offered to Omaha neighborhoods — not forced upon them — to express their own interests and culture. “We’re trying to be sensitive to the wishes of the community, as

gramming. Dancer Kat Fackler of tbd. Dance Collective suggested the flooring be versatile enough to accommodate different kinds of choreography. Higgins proposed investing in quality stage monitors so performers can hear themselves over the crowd. Marcey Yates is the founder of North Omaha community hub Culxr House, which is also a community partner of the Omaha Mobile Stage. Culxr House hosts summer block parties on North 24th Street with live music, food and dancing — exactly the kind of environment OMS was meant for. “I hadn’t seen nothing like [Omaha Mobile Stage] before,” Yates said. “We always have to hire … or rent staging, so why not? You can get, like, almost an all-in-one thing.”

Jessica Scheuerman is the founder and executive director of Partners for Livable Omaha, the parent nonprofit of the Omaha Mobile Stage. Photo Credit: Brandon Rial/Animorum

Dancer and internet celebrity JoJo Siwa participated in Show Wagon events as a child. Photo Credit: Jessalyn Siwa

Higgins, who is Black, says he hopes the utilitarian nature of the venue means it will be an opportunity for children — children of color in particular — to access the performing arts scene.

opposed to sort of saying, ‘Hey, we’re going to throw this great stage in your neighborhood,” Day said. “Suddenly the neighborhood changes in a way that the community isn’t interested in. So it’s really important that those partners are there from the beginning.”

“If the Show Wagon, in this effort, can be part of something that’s real, and trying to do something good for the community and actually focused on the kids, I’m all for that,” he said.

Scheuerman says she’s reached out to about 250 people and organizations in Omaha and surrounding areas for input on the design of the stage and community pro-

their favorite song at the time.

Much of OMS’s summer programming is under wraps. The first confirmed event is a stop at the Millwork Connect Spring Open House on May 7. It will be at the Gifford Park Neighborhood Market the first two Fridays in June with performers from Great Plains Theatre Commons, first for a puppet show, then for an international karaoke night. Tbd. Dance Collective, another community partner, has a performance slated for June 25 at Joslyn Castle. “It just seems like a natural to get people together for an event, you know, a family friendly event, and especially with all the accessibility that [Scheuerman’s] adding to it,” said Chris Foster, an OMS community partner through the Gifford Park Neighborhood Association. “We didn’t have that in the Show Wagon, you know, 15 years ago.”

April 2022

W PICKS W Freddy, a curated project space in an old church in Harris, NY. More info at baader-meinhof.org. — Janet L. Farber

April 9-10 RBR Gallery features an exhibit in April of fine art lithographs by regional, nationally and internationally known artists printed at The Lawrence Lithography Workshop (lawrencelitho.com) by founder and director Michael Sims.

NETWAR 40.0 Baxter Arena

The print exhibit will include a discussion and demonstration by master printer Sims on April 27, 7 p.m. The artworks, 32 prints by 14 artists, have been included in numerous museums and private collections.

April 8

Big Dopes The B. Bar

Through April 25

Godfather of Glass Hot Shops Art Center

(Hot Shops does not have a mask mandate or COVID viewing policy.) Like many artists who begin in a garage, glass master Ed Fennell went from his first furnace in 1982 to a distinguished career as co-founder of Hot Shops Art Center. About 40 years ago, determined to pay forward all that he learned, Fennell created his iconic Crystal Forge, earning the title Omaha’s “Godfather of Glass.” Despite the larger-than-life recognition, the “Godfather” has never lost sight of his mission. Hot Shops Art Center will return the favor with a tribute exhibit, “Omaha’s Godfather of Glass: Ed Fennell,” which unites the titular artist with more than 15 colleagues and peers who benefitted from time spent in the Crystal Forge. The exhibit opens April 1 with a reception on Friday, April 8, from 6-8 p.m. Go to hotshopsartcenter.org. — Mike Krainak

The fourpiece unit based 500 miles from Omaha recently opened for indie band Tokyo Police Club and released its 2021 sophomore album “Destination Wedding” to DIY buzz, with praise directed at the group’s blend of ’90s alt-rock with ’70s folk sensibilities. Their debut release, 2019’s “Crimes Against Gratitude,” was voted a top 10 Colorado record of that year.

A gallery talk is scheduled for April 9, 1:30 p.m., and the exhibit continues through May 6. The gallery, at 1806 Vinton, is open Wednesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. — Kent Behrens

April 8-May 27

Joshua Abelow: 1982-2022 Baader-Meinhof

— Matt Casas

April 8 – May 6 Lawrence Lithography Workshop:

Michael Sims and TLLW’s 42 Years of

Printmaking The Roberta and Bob Rogers Gallery

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Event proceeds will go to donate GO Karts to area pediatric hospitals. These portable, medical-grade video game kiosks enable hospital staff to easily provide bedside recreation to kids who are unable to leave their rooms. NETWAR has enabled kids in Omaha Children’s Hospital, Madonna Rehabilitation Hospitals, and UNMC to play on GO Karts. NETWAR staff also maintains the units to keep them in working order.

Supporting acts include local Omaha artists SweetStreak and Jack McLaughlin of Specter Poetics. The show is at 8 p.m. Tickets are $8. Go to thebbaromaha.com for more info.

Gamers, it’s your moment. Now in its 20th year, NETWAR is a 29hour LAN gaming marathon featuring 736 seats for all skill levels. BYO computers or consoles for fun, casual tournament competition and fellowship.

Check www.netwar.org for FAQs. (Baader-Meinhof requires masks.) One way to understand an artist is to see the work from its birth to the present. And that is the nearly literal aim of the retrospective “Joshua Abelow: 1982-2022,” opening at Baader-Meinhof on Friday, April 8, from 6-10 p.m., with the artist present. Revealing Abelow’s idiosyncratic humor are his “self-portraits,” cartoonish logos and word-based paintings, which suggest at more curious sentiments he’s expressed as an art blogger and poet. A big fan of artist-run spaces like Baader-Meinhof, Abelow is founder of

Doors open at 10 a.m., all skill levels are welcome and tickets are $60 plus tax. — Lynn Sanchez

April 13

Musing: A Storytelling Series BlueBarn Theatre

A new series illuminates the BlueBarn Theatre at no cost to the public.

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W PICKS W April 14-16

The Guadalupes “Musing” presents empowering true stories from the people who lived them, and for the program’s third installment, it’s time for Tom Becka to share his.

Holy Family Community Center

The free event is at 7:30 p.m. More info at bluebarn.org/musing. — Matt Casas

April 14

Mogwai

Scottish post-rock legends Mogwai will take the main stage at the Waiting Room Lounge, supporting their 2021 No. 1 UK album “As The Love Continues.” Since 1995, the band has released lengthy instrumental music adored by critics and fans alike. Their discography includes ten studio albums, all acclaimed across the board. Mogwai’s live shows take audiences on sprawling journeys under these terms, blurring the lines between rocking tunes and all-out scores reminiscent of a new-age orchestra. Folk singer-songwriter Nina Nastasia will open the show, which starts at 8 p.m. Tickets are $25-$28. More info at waitingroomlounge. com. — Matt Casas

April 15 – May 8

You, your friends, your kids and your dog are all “vítejte” at Omaha’s beloved Czechfest, returning in full force on April 23 with beer, polka and a traditional Czech dinner from noon to 5 p.m. You must pre-purchase an Eventbrite ticket if you want that roast pork and dumpling dinner, which OF COURSE YOU DO.

Omaha Community Playhouse

Enjoy the outdoor Pivo (beer) Garden from noon to 8 p.m. featuring the Lil Boh Czech Pilsner. Stop by the Shot Station to sample the Czech national drink, Becherovka.

— Matt Casas Great Plains Theatre Commons is a training ground and springboard for area playwrights, among them Noah Diaz. The Yale School of Drama graduate returns for a PlayFest production of his autobiographical work about a multi-generational South Omaha Mexican family. This meta-theatric exploration of history, memory, family, sadness and the importance of naming things cuts closer to his life than anything he’s written. “It’s this deeply personal play about being both white and Hispanic and the irreconcilable differences between the two,” he said.

Waiting Room Lounge

Attendants can choose from several panels, compete in the costume contest, crush at the open mic, and more during the three-day event. The opening ceremony kicks off at 2 p.m. Friday, with the closing ceremony concluding by 6 p.m. Sunday. Tickets are $20-$30. More info at kanpaicon.com.

Becka is a Fox 42 commentator, real estate agent, and drummer who dubbed his event “Life and Death: Stories about Starts and Stops, Beginnings and Endings, Renewal and Letting Go.” It could be the story you need to hear to one day tell your own.

Guests include voice actors Greg Ayres, Kiba Walker, Rob Mungle, Gareth West, Bryan Massey, Cole Feuchter, and the band V is for Villains.

The project, a partnership of the Neighborhood Tapestries Commission and Holy Family Community Center, is making its regional premiere. Diaz stars opposite Presciliana Esparolin and Jonathan Purcell. Kevin Lawler directs. The free event is at 7 p.m. — Leo Adam Biga

April 15-17

Kanpai Con

The Giver

From noon to 3 p.m., you can dance off your “smažený sýr“ (fried cheese) polka-ing to The Kenny Janak Orchestra. Sokol Polka Hall of Famer Barry Boyce Band closes the night playing from 4-8 p.m. A stage adaptation of “The Giver” comes to the Omaha Community Playhouse in a string of performances. Its story introduces what seems like a perfect world with no war – but peace comes at a price. The strange truth unfolds through the eyes of Jonas, a kid who accepts a frightening responsibility. Eric Coble wrote the adaptation based on the Newbery Award-winning source material by Lois Lowry. Fans of the novel and newcomers alike should take this wild ride.

Festivities run from noon - 8 p.m. Free admission. Dinner tickets are $15 through Eventbrite. — Lynn Sanchez

April 24

Anjelah JohnsonReyes

The Holland Performing Arts Center

Performances at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $25-$35. Go to omahaplayhouse.com for more info.

Hilton Hotel DoubleTree

— Matt Casas

April 23

(Masks strongly encouraged.) The fifth annual Kanpai Con will unite fans of all ages to celebrate Japanese anime, manga, and more at the Hilton DoubleTree downtown.

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Little Bohemia Czechfest Dinner

Infusion Little Bohemia Beer Hall

(Masks are recommended.) Anjelah Johnson-Reyes brings her brand of comedy excellence to the Holland Center. Johnson-Reyes is an ALMA-nominated comic/actress many will recognize. Her viral videos (see her

W PICKS W “Nail Salon” bit), 22 television/film appearances, and four comedy specials prove her staying power. Her new tour entitled “Who Do I Think I Am?: Stories of Chola Wishes and Caviar Dreams” pulls no punches. In it, the comedian explores race, gender, and dreams with uproarious wit and characteristic heart. Get ready to laugh in style. The show is at 6 p.m. Tickets are $49.50-$169.50. Go to o-pa.org for more information. — Matt Casas

April 24-May 15

Bagels & Sometimes Bach Sunday Music Series

(Masks are optional for vaccinated guests.) Round out your weekend with chill vibes at Gallery 1516, applying a balm of classical music and complimentary nosh in a beautiful, airy environment. Whether you’re nursing a post-Saturday night hangover or simply over 50 (or both), enjoy new performances by some of Omaha’s best musicians and performers over complimentary bagels, fruit, coffee and juice.

April 29-July 3

Nebraska: Flatwater Gallery 1516

(Masks are optional for vaccinated guests. Unvaccinated guests are required to wear masks).

Gallery 1516 presents “Nebraska: Flatwater” by cinematographer Adam Larsen, an immersive video installation celebrating Nebraska’s landscapes. The film was produced

Closed Easter Sunday. The next performance is April 24 featuring guitarist Ron Cooley (Mannheim Steamroller) and Dr. Darryl White, recording artist and UNL professor of Trumpet and Jazz Studies. Food is served in individual portions to limit contact among guests. The events take place from 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Admission is free. RSVP at info@gallery1516.org. For more at www.gallery1516.org/ calendar-of-events.

1516 Gallery

— Reader staff

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W PICKS W by the gallery and directed by Larsen. Composed of plains, sandhills, and nearly 80,000 rivers, Larsen’s film captures Nebraska’s landscapes through the four seasons. The gallery will have a series of projections wrapping around the exhibition space and displaying scenes of the state’s landscapes and weather. Visitors will be subsumed by scenes of blossoming flowers, bison and wheat fields, among others. “Nebraska Flatwater” opens at Gallery 1516 on April 29 and runs through July 3. Gallery 1516 is at 1516 Leavenworth St. Gallery hours are by appointment only. For more information, visit www.gallery1516. org/opening-5. -- Jonathan Orozco

April 30

Dance Gavin Dance

The Admiral Theater

Tooth. Doors open at 6:30 p.m., show at 7:30. Tickets are $34-$67. Go to facebook.com/theadmiralomaha for more info. — Matt Casas

April 30

Derek Christensen March marked the grand unveiling of The Admiral, formerly Sokol Auditorium – and Dance Gavin Dance will christen the venue in the way only a beloved post-hardcore band can. The six-piece endured several lineup changes, notably among the group’s “clean” vocalists. But lead guitarist Will Swan and drummer Matt Mingus carried DGD across nine studio albums since 2005, with their latest, 2020’s “Afterburner,” topping Billboard’s album sales chart. Supporting acts include Memphis May Fire, Volumes and Moon

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(with Box Eats Miah) Down Under Lounge

Early adopters alert: Self-described “DIY pop punk/indie punk, ska” artist Derek Christensen is making his inaugural Omaha appearance April 30, part of the ten-state “Seasick Tour.” The Salt Lake City three-piece includes drummer Ryan Shreeve and guitarist Bob Godden. Christensen’s early efforts at writing were influenced by bands he loved, he said, “from Jeff Rosenstock, PUP, Mom Jeans and Hot Mulligan.” His 2021 release, an

easycore song called “Seasick,” was his heaviest to date. His heavy pop punk song “Hell in July” drops on April 15. Tracks from his latest release, “Seasick” are available to stream or purchase on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube and BandCamp. Box Eats Miah is a punk band from Omaha. The show opens at 7 p.m. See Facebook Event page. — Lynn Sanchez

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G e t R eady Oma h a LoCo is owned and operated by local independent restaurants. The ultimate goal of LoCo is to offer delivery from the best local restaurants in town, provide great service, and enhance the local dining scene. Support local and download our app today.

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D I S H

Five New Spots to Explore by Sara Locke

maha chefs and restauranteurs continue to rise to the challenge of providing new and exciting menus for diners to sink their teeth into. This month, The Reader visits five new establishments keeping food fun and the culinary culture competitive in the most trying of times.

Everett’s

8807 Maple St. Opened by Tyler Theisen in September, Everett’s has quickly become Omaha’s go-to for elevated family friendly pub fare. The menu is focused, but fun, and features a creative twist on all your favorite casual plates. House-brined wings, Hawaiian-style tacos, and loaded handcut fries are deliciously messy,

ranges from small, fresh bites to rich, authentic recipes. Anticuchos and chuzos are served with chimichurri and potato wedges, while the Ceviche is bright and light topped with mango and cilantro.

Saffron Urban Indian Kitchen while the French onion soup and pulled chicken sandwiches “Everett’s Way” will remind you that the chef is a pro to take seriously. Open Tuesdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m.

Saffron Urban Indian Kitchen 6706 Frances St.

Everett’s

This Aksarben Village newcomer is anything but green. Chef Diwesh Bhattarai has been dazzling Omaha audiences with his richly spiced plates for over a decade. The sprawling space is furnished with cozy and intimate seating, as well as banquet-style seating for larger groups. The recipes are traditional, but the décor is contemporary, and the vibe is fully fresh. While the dishes are

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serious, the cocktails at the adjacent Bombay Bar are seriously fun and delicious. Enjoy a whiskey and wine tasting or a craft cocktail to cool the tongue or heat up an evening out. Open Tuesday through Sunday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Cumbia Tapas Bar and Restaurant 329 S 16th St.

Come for the Picada, stay for the party. Cumbia is a celebration six days a week. The name comes courtesy of a dance that began among enslaved Africans on the Caribbean Coast and through Colombia. The dance is believed to take its root in a courtship ritual and was later adapted with European instruments and has evolved into a celebrated musical genre. The menu is an adventure that

Open Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday from 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. to midnight.

Gather in Omaha 1108 Howard St.

Modeled on sister restaurant Gather in Jackson Hole, Gather in Omaha’s modern-eclectic menu takes inspiration from its hyper-locally sourced ingredients. An indoor vertical hydroponic garden provides picked-freshdaily produce for the artisan dishes, which honor their ingredients in inventive and unexpected ways. Sakura Tartare features Wagyu steak from Sakura Farms, caper-shallot relish, and beet mustard topped with a bacon fried egg. A Mediterranean burrata salad showcases Gather’s homegrown basil beside grilled turmeric naan, hummus, and fig jam. The Bolognese utilizes elk, bison, and Wagyu and is served with house pasta. Local craft beer, signature cocktails, and a dizzying whiskey and tequila list mean the

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Good Evans bar menu is just as thoughtfully crafted as the dining menu. Sundries and staples are available for purchase, meaning you can make many of Gather’s signature dishes at home. Open Monday through Sunday at 5 p.m.

Good Evans

unexpected in every dish. A humble mac and cheese becomes the mac daddy when pork belly and bacon parmesan breadcrumbs find their way into the bowl. The crab and cream cheese omelet requires a cold mimosa to balance the rich flavors and creamy texture.

Thanks Omaha for voting us

BesT BrewpuB, AgAin Proud pioneers of the fermenter-to-table movement.

Open Monday through Sunday from 6:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

1040 S. 74th Plaza

Before opening the Omaha location, Good Evans tested its menu at its Lincoln and Kearney locations. This clearly gave the team time to perfect its service, as Good Evans has taken Omaha by storm. You’ll find something

These five establishments have found a following sure to solidify them in the Omaha dining scene. The Reader is excited to see what else is new in 2022.

It would be wrong to say the freshest beer is automatically the best beer. But the best beer almost always tastes its best when it is, in marketing speak, at the peak of freshness. And it’s hard to get any fresher than beer brewed thirty feet away from your table. And it’s doubly hard to get any better than when that table is here at Upstream. But we suspect you already knew that.

Celebrating Over 30 Years Of Making Ice Cream Th e Old Fashioned Way

Two Omaha Locations:

Old Market

Downtown • 1120 Jackston 402.341.5827

Benson

6023 Maple 402.551.4420

tedandwallys.com

Home of America’s Most Premium Ice Cream Ted & Wally’s Ultra-Premium 20% Butterfat Made from Scratch with Rock Salt & Ice APRIL 2022

F I L M

Baby, I’m Gonna Block Your Buster

No Summer Movie Preview Should Be This Sexy… by Ryan Syrek

f the Roaring ’20s reboot we’re living through had a tagline, it would probably be “Expect bad things.” Yet, in a brazen act of optimistic double hubris, you’re about to read a summer movie preview in April. That’s right, we’re going to assume that (A) the next Armageddon-adject event won’t disrupt our cinematic fun this year and (B) summer now starts when your taxes are due. That last one may be climate-ically and climactically accurate, am I right Al Gore? For two years running, blockbusters have fled the dog days like billionaires fleeing Earth. Theaters and mainstream movie lovers are both feening for overbudget flicks to once more be injected into eyeballs. Should these release dates hold, we could be in for a shockingly solid season. No possible way I’ll regret those words. You may as well add the release dates for my top 10 summer movies of 2022 in permanent ink to Pete Davidson’s chest.

“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (May 6) Nobody tell any arthouse directors with enlarged prostates, but Marvel movies remain mustsee events. Although certain to fall short of “Spider-Man: No Way Home’s” box office take of “literally all the money,” director Sam Raimi looks to have infused this suddenly hotly anticipated sequel with a proper sense of ooky. The slam against the “sameness” of Marvel live-action products is increasingly less fair, but if Raimi can

drop some truly cosmic horror in this, I will shuma my gorath. Plus, who knows which characters from other films will appear? Fingers crossed for Shrek. Not because I want him to appear, I’m just worried about him.

“The Innocents” (May 13)

Oh, this list won’t be all spandex and smiles, y’all. Like no one has ever said in the bedroom, “Let’s add a little Norwegian horror into the mix.” Writer/director Eskil Vogt, who just cowrote “The Worst Person in the World” with Joachim Trier, brings us a tale of supernatural children wreaking havoc in the Nordic sun. It’s a little bit “Chronicle” and a little bit Björk, which is a combination I never knew I always wanted. This one is likely to drop on VOD, if you prefer watching your Norwegian-tween horror films at home.

“Top Gun: Maverick” (May 27) This movie has shifted release dates so many times, it’s like it was waiting for people to really hate Russia. Tom Cruise is back as badass fighter pilot Maverick, who I’m pretty sure also has a normal human name. Is it Paul? He seems like a Paul. Or is the name Paul just reserved for hardcore science-fiction now? Anyway, the aging Paul Maverick has to teach a new generation of flyers which button is the trigger or the Russian wins. We’re all just excited to see how they top the volleyball scene. Spoiler: Slutty, greasy shuffleboard.

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If you name your film “The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future,” it’s going to make a list of the top 10 summer movies I am most looking forward to seeing. That’s just a rule.

“Jurassic World: Dominion” (June 10)

“The Black Phone”

The latest “Jurassic Park” series has lasted long enough for folks to have gone from “Oh, Chris Pratt is in this!” to “Oh, Chris Pratt is in this?” to “Oh. Chris Pratt is in this …” After the events of the last film, the title of which I dare you to remember without Googling it, dinosaurs are running rampant everywhere, not just in Congress. Nobody sees these for the plot, but I am legitimately curious how they hope to achieve a satisfying conclusion here. Kill all the dinosaurs? Audiences mad. Put all the dinosaurs on an island again? We’ve seen that movie (five times). Build a time machine and send dinosaurs into the past? Solved it. Don’t need to see it now.

A ’70s-era serial-killer thriller about a phone that lets ghosts call long distance featuring Ethan Hawke, this feels more Stephen King than most actual Stephen King adaptations. Oh, right, it was written by his kid, Joe Hill. Given what happens to children in most King novels, Joe simply winding up as a horror novelist feels like a big win for him. Directed by Scott Derrickson, who did great work with “Sinister” and directed “The Day the Earth Stood Still” remake, “The Black Phone” could be a sleeper hit, provided today’s youths comprehend the terror of a landline.

(June 24)

“Thor: Love and “Lightyear” (June 17) Thunder” (July 8)

When the trailer dropped for this sincere take on Buzz Lightyear, most people were flummoxed. Not by the premise, but fictional square-jawed ’toon took many libidos to infinity and beyond. Everyone else saw that reaction, right? Either way, I’m inappropriately excited for this sincere-looking, sci-fi saga that follows an astronaut doing space stuff with a cat. Taika Waititi does one of the voices, as if this honey pot needed further sweetening. If “Turning Red” is any indication, Pixar is hella back on its game.

I will tolerate a lot of sass-mouth about Marvel products but will brook no dissent on the sequel to “Thor: Ragnarok,” which I’m probably rewatching again as you read this. If they just play that one Zeppelin song over goofy creatures getting smote with a hammer for 90 minutes, I’m prepared to award it a Pulitzer. The return of Natalie Portman, this time as Thor herself, was met with manbaby tears from some of the worst people in the world, which means you know it’s a gloriously good move. After the last few years, let’s pray to Odin that this is the good time we all desperately crave.

F I L M “Nope” (July 22) Writer/director Jordan Peele’s first two movies were perfect. No pressure. Plot details remain scarce, despite having released a full trailer, but this appears to be an alien invasion horror flick. Daniel Kaluuya, Keke Palmer, and Steven Yeun being tortured by UFOs sounds like a riot, although I’m sure there will be more meaning and thematic resonance than just “Good actors vs ETs.” I would like to add that it’s OK if Peele just makes a wicked first-contact movie, as not every single thing he does for the rest of time has to be laden with symbolism. “Laden with symbolism” is my new screenname, nobody take it.

“The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future” (TBD) A Chilean film laden with symbolism, this dollop of magical realism shot to the top of my mustsee list on title alone. From what I can decipher about the plot, it’s mostly a family drama but also involves resurrection, fish and cows that make music, and environmental catastrophe. If I know my people, half of you are Googling when this is released and the other half stopped reading after the word “Chilean.” I love you all, but I love those of you who have read this far more.

“The Whale” (TBD) Why am I cautiously optimistic about a Darren Aronofsky movie after “mother!”? We all make mistakes, and, more importantly, D-train didn’t write this one. Penned by Samuel D. Hunter, who wrote the play of the same name, the plot of this also sounds troubling! A 600-pound man (Brendan Fraser) tries to reconnect with his daughter (Sadie Sink). D-Aron made me ugly cry at “The Fountain” and “The Wrestler.” Can he do it again here, or will I get as mad as I did after “mother!”? Either way, I prefer processing emotional reactions to film and not life!

No One Will Invent Time Travel Because Nostalgia Is Too Profitable

If Aliens See This Movie, They’re Never Gonna Call Us Back by Ryan Syrek

The year is 2050, and Ryan Reynolds is still doing the same smarmy, one-liner schtick. He is nothing if not consistent. Nothing.

e don’t deserve Jennifer Garner. Sorry, I know this is a review for a Ryan Reynolds vehicle, so I’m supposed to wax rhapsodic over his quippy roguish charm. Come on. That dude’s basically done the same bit since he was hanging out with another guy and a girl in a pizza place in 1998. He’s like Jack Black but he can’t even inward sing. Meanwhile, Garner straight-up brings it in every role, while having to routinely interact with Ben Affleck in real life. So no, she’s not the lead in “The Adam Project,” but she’s without a doubt the heart of the film.

nerspace” was a thing but now vaguely remember enjoying it? Glimpse into your future, “The Adam Project.”

In addition to Garner (and Reynolds, I guess), the film features Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldaña, and Catherine Keener. Keener plays the friggin’ main villain! What I’m trying to say before even saying anything really is that “The Adam Project” should have been much better than what it is. Because what it is perfectly adequate, nostalgia-fueled sci-fi that wants to be “Back to the Future” or “E.T.” but is closer to “Innerspace.” What’s that? You had forgotten that “In-

“The Adam Project” feels exactly like what it is: A movie written a decade ago that has worked its way through draft after draft. At one point, Tom Cruise was going to be Adam. Finding someone to play a young version of him would have been as easy as unzipping a scientology cloning pod. Speaking of cloning, nothing here feels original, from the weapons – which even the younger Adam says are basically a lightsaber – to the thematic message, which is some vari-

All that really happens here is that Adam (Reynolds) travels from the year 2050 and encounters Adam (Walker Scobell), a younger version of himself. Elder Adam is attempting to rescue his wife, Laura (Saldaña), and thwart Sorian (Keener) with the help of his father (Ruffalo) and the encouragement of his mother (Garner). Obvious jokes are made, the specifics of time travel are avoided, and Garner does not nearly get enough screen time.

ation of “Maybe get therapy?” It’s all perfectly fine. Netflix has finally done it. It cracked the code. It’s not about budget or big-name stars. Crafting a mainstream blockbuster is about being maximally inoffensive and, as much as humanly possible, encouraging audiences to huff nostalgia like lead-based spray paint. Despite the fact that it has time travel and could literally comment on our obsession with the past, “The Adam Project” doesn’t. It can’t. It’s too busy given Reynolds space to make a family friendly penis joke or say something like “that did not go good.” Recently, and over the next few months, you’re going to hear people say, “Have you seen ‘The Adam Project?’ It’s pretty good.” And then you’ll never hear about it again. It’ll go into the cultural void that swallowed “Innerspace.” Which is fine. The void can have Reynolds. It just can’t take Garner.

Grade = B-

Other Critic al Voices to ConsideR Proma Khosla at Mashable says: “The low point is a needlessly de-aged Keener, intended to look 30 years younger but also deeply uncanny. Sometimes we can just cast younger actors or ignore the laws of aging.”

Radheyan Simonpillai at Now Toronto says: “Reynolds, who seems to be getting soft as his own children are getting old enough to watch movies, doesn’t know his way around sentimental. His smarmy quips can be an armour to vulnerability. The character wears that as a trait. That leaves Garner to do the heavy lifting when it comes to emoting during the movie’s poignant moments. She knocks it out the park.”

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Catalina Combs at Black Girl Nerds says: “‘The Adam Project’ knows its place and even mentions a few of its predecessors in the process. It’s fun to watch a movie that talks about the rules of time travel based on other movies and just dismiss it.”

B A C K B E A T

‘I Dare You to Embrace the Unknown’

Guitar Legend Carlos Santana Plays Omaha in April Photo by Roberto Finizio

by Virginia Kathryn Gallner and on his new album, the recently deceased Chick Corea. Improvisation rewards musicians with an abundance of possibilities. Santana said that Shorter calls jazz “I dare you” music. “I dare you to embrace the unknown and hang around without predictability,” Santana recalled from their sessions.

egendary guitarist Carlos Santana feels ready to “stand onstage, tall with humility, and manifest something beyond” when he arrives to the CHI Health Center on April 9. For over 50 years, Santana has transcended musical boundaries, from Woodstock to the Grammys, and from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame to the Kennedy Center. He continues to influence musicians of all generations. Omaha-based blues guitarist Héctor Anchondo said that part of Santana’s legacy is paving the path for Latino musicians. Anchondo was inspired as a young musician seeing a Latino guitarist onstage, and he has tried to follow in Santana’s footsteps. “Blessings and Miracles” was recorded during the pandemic and released Oct. 15, 2021. Santana’s new album brings together several of his family members: His wife Cindy Blackman Santana on drums, his daughter Stella on vocals, and

his son Salvador on vocals and keys. In an interview with The Reader Santana said it is “delightfully delicious” to play with his family. “We can just close our eyes and it becomes one breath.” Collaboration among musicians of different styles is just as natural for him as playing with family. For Santana, moving through genres is like “taking a deep breath and trusting that the air will caress your lungs.” On his latest album, Santana collaborated with musicians from a wide range of genres, including Matchbox Twenty’s Rob Thomas, Metallica’s Kirk Hammett, country musician Chris Stapleton, and rapper G-Eazy. Santana has also collaborated with various jazz legends over the years, including Wayne Shorter, Alice Coltrane,

April 2022

Local jazz guitarist Jacob “Cubby” Phillips admires this curiosity and willingness to explore. He started playing jazz guitar when he was young, and over time, he began performing with rock and R&B ensembles. His jazz skills were important in playing rock, but he said “there’s a certain aesthetic objective in that music … I had

to adjust my hands and my vision and become more fluid.” For Anchondo, moving between blues and rock has been fairly seamless. The biggest learning curve was moving into a different niche of the industry. Traditional blues continues to inform his playing, having recently won the solo/duo category in the 2020 International Blues Challenge through the Blues Foundation in Memphis, as well as having been nominated for a Blues Music Award. Visions for the future are different from one generation to the next. In the rise of virtual and livestream performances, Santana prefers the magic of records, eight-tracks and cassettes. Anchondo, on the other hand,

Jacob “Cubby” Phillips — Photo by Bruce Noble.

B A C K B E A T believes the next generation of musicians needs to embrace the technology — especially smaller and mid-level artists. Most in-person shows for Anchondo have 100 or 200 fans, but when he creates TikToks, he gets thousands of views. The exposure is great, he said, but the money is still in playing in-person shows. “I think in the future you’ll be able to play on the street and have people pay in crypto and get hired to play a show in the metaverse, just hanging out in your office,” Anchondo said. Looking toward the future sometimes means turning to the past. As a young guitarist, Phillips wants to continue developing a personal relationship with the traditions he cares about and finding ways to manifest that relationship in his playing — even when it means going against the grain

or sacrificing commercial success. Authenticity is key for Santana as well. Santana’s advice for the next generation of musicians is listening to Billie Holiday. “You learn how she phrases, how she feels. There’s a symmetry when you look at works of art, Picasso or Leonardo Da Vinci … If you want to be outside of time, if you want to hang around with the infinity, [that’s] what you need to create music that doesn’t go out of style.” Santana says that “musicians are the ones who open the door to the future, different than politicians or religious people.” ***** On April 8, Anchondo will play The Jewell with his full

Héctor Anchondo — Photo by Laura Carbone. band. He will also play the Slowdown on May 13. Phillips is working with several ensembles, including Omaha Beat Brigade and singer-songwriter Miwi La Lupa’s band. He is working with Kan-

sas City jazz musicians Ben Tervort, Zak Pischnotte and Brian Steever toward releasing an album. They will perform at the Omaha Under the Radar festival in July.

Together again! Back Sundays IN PERSON @ 10:50 am ONLINE via Facebook

We WILL NOT be resuming other activities. Masks & social distancing will be required. 7020 Cass Street 402.556.6262 www.fumcomaha.org

April 2022

C R O S S W O R D

OK Computer

AnswerS in next month’s issue or online at TheReader.com

— each has an integral component — by Matt Jones

Across 1. When quadrupled, a Crash Test Dummies hit 4. “Dog Day Afternoon” chant 10. Crypto art initials 13. 2010 health law, for short

13 17

20. “The Usual Gang of ___” (Mad Magazine group) 21. Screen that may loop until you start the movie 23. Heat, in Honduras 24. “Night” essayist Wiesel

10 15

21 24

23 27

31 36

29. Tick off 32. Getting some air 33. Vegan coffee shop order 34. Nicholas Sparks’s “Nights in ___” 35. 9-digit no. issuer 36. Bars in supermarkets

37. Time out 40. Telly watcher

43. Commotion

55 58

46. Chrissy of “This Is Us” 62

47. Game show giveaways

48. Taken dishonestly 52. Tackle box line

27. Entity that manages composers’ intellectual property

42. Pressure-driven apparatuses

30. Prepare a slingshot

49. Last half of a ball game?

32. It’s south of Leb.

50. Alley group 51. “Fiddlesticks!”

35. 1998 Matthew Lillard 53. One of Paul Revere’s signals film set in Utah 38. 6-pointers, briefly

55. Possible choice

39. Complete beginners, 56. “Addams Family” cousin slangily 41. It may offer couples packages

44. Van ___ Mungo (‘30s-’40s baseball player with a novelty song named for him) 45. Tarnished

26. It is, to Iglesias

31. River painted by van Gogh

25. Groups indiscriminately 28. Hall-of-Famer Ripken

16. Gp. with auditors

19. ___ au vin

14. Umpire’s error

17. Paste that can be used in breads and meat dishes

57. Nurikabe, Masyu, or sudoku

April 2022

60. Advanced degree in math?

Down

61. More racy, as humor

1. Specialty of the late Amazing Johnathan

62. Snakelike fish 63. Garage opener? 64. Decorated again 65. Source of the skit “Word Crunch,” where players find inappropriate words in a word search

2. Engineer for whom a type of paving is named 3. Henner of “Evening Shade” and “Taxi” 4. “Roll to Me” group Del ___

8. “Bodak Yellow” rapper 9. Sussex secondary school exam 10. Compliment from a tennis opponent

11. User interface 12. Drafting tools 15. Was winning

5. Eyelid twitches, e.g.

18. “Happy Birthday” playwright Anita

6. Cough syrup amt.

22. Blend together

7. “ER” setting

24. “Lawrence of Arabia,” for one

AnsweR to last month’s “These Go To Eleven” C L A W S

H O M I E S

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L I E S A N A L M A R I W L O C A A P U T A J E L O

L O S A L T O S

L O E W S

E L A M I

D I M A S

A M E N T

B I R N E Y G E T S E M I G O U S A L D O R F L I T E R A K E M I N E L A N T R O N G

S T E E R E R S

T R O Q U S H U I D P O

M C X I

S A N E S

N A T U R E

R A R E A S

P L U T O N

Z A Y N

D I O F T S

D E S D E

C O M I C S Garry Trudeau

JeffREY Koterba

Jen Sorensen

April 2022

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M E M O R I A M

Ron Stander

Gene J. Cammarota

October 17, 1944 – March 8, 2022

June 3, 1958 - March 2, 2022

Decades before Terence “Bud” Crawford put Omaha on the prizefight map, would-be Great White Hope Ron Stander challenged champion Joe Frazier for the heavyweight title at a packed Civic Auditorium on May 25, 1972. The journeyman brawler stood the proverbial slugger’s chance but lacked the skill to pose a serious threat. Smokin’ Joe’s pin-point power shots made Stander’s face a bloody fright mask. The bout was stopped on cuts in the fifth round. The Sports Illustrated headline read: “The Bluffs Butcher Gets Tenderized.” Growing up, Stander caught for future MLB hurler and fellow Council Bluffs, Iowa, native Stan Bahnsen. A multisport athlete at Abraham Lincoln High School, Stander played some small-college football. After taking up boxing, he trained under Leonard Hawkins, developing a following as two-time Omaha City Golden Gloves heavyweight champion. Dick Noland managed his early pro career. Stander brought a 23-1-1 record, including a KO of Earnie Shavers, into his “Rocky” title shot shown on closed-circuit television. SI’s Mark Kram dismissed the mismatched Stander with, “He should seek gainful employment elsewhere.” The fighter’s then-wife, Darlene, disparaged her husband as a “Volkswagen” in the Indy 500. Years after their tussle, Frazier and Stander reunited for an Omaha charity event. The old warriors and former foes turned friends. The latter part of Stander’s career saw him lose more than he won. Ken Norton and Jeff Merritt brutalized him. A highlight was KOing Terry Daniels. The Omaha Press Club honored Stander as a Face on the Barroom Floor. He stayed in the fight game as a referee and colorful gym presence. Despite the battering he absorbed, he retained his wits, which made him a popular bodyguard for Hollywood stars (Liza Minnelli, Gene Hackman) and rock acts (The Eagles, The Stones). He chilled with Muhammad Ali, Mike Tyson, Evel Knievel and Maurice “Mad Dog” Vachon. He shared a scene with Burt Young in the film “The Mouse” about fellow Omaha sports character Bruce Strauss. Stander was also a machinist at Vickers Manufacturing. This habitué of bars once owned one, The Sportsman’s Club. In life as in boxing he led with his chin and heart. Overindulgence led to health issues, yet he was a caregiver to hard-luck friends who remembered him as a standup guy with a ready smile and fountain of stories. From 2008 until his death, he was married to Toddy Ann Stander, who nurtured his legacy. — Leo Adam Biga

APRIL 2022

When Gene Cammarota issued his invitation, “Come on into my kitchen,” he expected everyone to join his culinary passion. He put the phrase to practice when he owned the Brass Grille in the Old Market, with a setup that allowed customers to sit at the bar and watch him cook. He made the invitation formal when he opened his restaurant, Come On Into My Kitchen. As a professor of culinary arts, he welcomed his students at Iowa Western Community College to expand their culinary talents. Cammarota trained and inspired many up-andcoming chefs in the OmahaCouncil Bluffs area. His enthusiasm filled the airwaves on Boomer Radio when he invited listeners to explore culinary tips interspersed with personal adventures. He extended his reach as head chef at Stanley’s Snack Shack in Honey Creek, Iowa, where customers listened to his stories and songs. He was a fixture at the Aksarben Farmers Market, where he invited all who passed by to stop for a treat and a story. He loved to entertain in his “kitchen,” however you define the term. A Queens, N.Y., native, Cammarota’s culinary journey began at the Hilton Las Vegas. Although his mother was his main culinary inspiration, he graduated from the California Culinary Institute. In 2019, he was inducted into the Omaha Culinary Hall of Fame. One of his most memorable experiences was jamming at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame to the tune – what else? – Robert Johnson’s blues classic, “Come On in My Kitchen.” In addition to cooking, his passions included family and friends, horse racing, being a radio DJ and goat farming. All that — and planning his worldwide tour on the release of his first album, already in the works. He was a larger-than-life presence whose legacy will ripple through the local restaurant scene for decades to come. — Julie Mierau (longtime friend of Gene Cammarota) Photo courtesy of the Omaha Hospitality Hall of Fame.

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To place In Memoriams in The Reader (print & website), go to TheReader.com/in-memoriam

H O O D O O

Stars Turn it Up

EXCITING SHOWS ARE HITTING LOCAL STAGES WITH SUCH ARTISTS AS TOMMY CASTRO & THE PAINKILLERS, MARK HUMMEL, BILLY FLYNN AND RUSTY ZINN AND HAYES CARLL — Plus Summer Festivals by B.J. Huchtemann

ome big shows highlight the month of April, starting with the Monday, April 11, 6-9 p.m., show from Tommy Castro & The Painkillers at Lincoln’s Zoo Bar. Castro is celebrating a milestone as a blues bandleader with a 30th anniversary tour. Castro’s latest CD is “A Bluesman Came to Town,” on Alligator, and he was nominated for six Blues Music Awards this year. See tommycastro.com. Pennsylvania duo Soulful Femme opens. Keep up with the rest of the historic Zoo Bar’s schedule at zoobar.com and facebook. com/zoobarblues.

Mark Hummel, Billy Flynn & Rusty Zinn West Coast jump-blues harmonica player, vocalist and bandleader Mark Hummel returns with two local shows, featuring the knock-down guitar power and skillful finesse of two top-flight blues stars: Billy Flynn and Rusty Zinn. Both are accomplished bandleaders in their own right as well as in-demand sidemen. Hummel and the band play Wednesday, April 13, 6-9 p.m., at Lincoln’s Zoo Bar. They plug in at The Jewell on Thursday, April 14, 6-9 p.m., as part of the BSO Presents weekly series.

Hayes Carll at Slowdown Popular Americana singer-songwriter-guitarist Hayes Carll has a show at Slowdown on Thursday, April 14, 8 p.m. Caleb Caudle opens. Carll’s latest album is “You Get It All” (Dualtone).

BSO Presents Series There’s a new venue in the mix for the Blues Society of Omaha’s BSO Presents weekly Thursday concert series: The Philly Backroom Entertainment Venue inside Philly Sports Bar and Grill, 8116 S.

“They don’t just lay it down; they knock it down and kick it.” See skylaburrell.com. Thursday, May 5, the celebration is on with Tony Meza & Chupacabra at Philly Sports Bar, 6-9 p.m. The band is a mix of Lincoln and Omaha roots musicians that is a crowd-pleaser at Lincoln’s Zoo Bar. The BSO also has a hand in the Friday FAC early shows at The B. Bar, weekly at 5:30 Mark Hummel leads an all-star blues p.m. Shows coming band for shows at Lincoln’s Zoo Bar up include The Mezon April 13 and Omaha’s The Jewell cal Brothers CD on April 14. Photo markhummel.com release party Friday, April 8. See omahth 84 St., in La Vista (in the Brent- ablues.com for the full schedule wood Square shopping center and a curated list of other area between Brentwood Drive and blues shows. th Giles on S. 84 ). Thursday, April 7, 6-9 p.m., The Rex Granite Band featuring Sarah Benck share the bill with Héctor Anchondo Tickets are on sale for notable in a celebration of their respective shows, including the double bill of OEAA recognitions. The GranChris Isaak and Lyle Lovett at the ite-Benck Band took home the Holland Performing Arts Center Outstanding Blues Award while on Friday, July 22, 8 p.m. Tuesday, Anchondo was chosen Artist of Aug. 2, 6 p.m., Bonnie Raitt and the Year, on the heels of his 2020 Mavis Staples perform at Lincoln’s International Blues Challenge win. Pinewood Bowl in Anchondo is also a nominee in the an outdoor show. Acoustic Blues Album category There are tickin the Blues Foundation’s nationets available for al Blues Music Awards this year. blues guitar star As mentioned above, Mark Hum- Buddy Guy on mel and his touring band are up Friday, May 6, 8 at The Jewell on Thursday, April 14, p.m. at Lincoln’s 6-9 p.m. Popular Nashville-based Royal Grove. Find rockin’ blues trio Too Slim & out more at theThe Taildraggers play Stocks n royalgrove.com. Bonds on Thursday, April 21, 6-9 Festival season p.m. The Skyla Burrell Blues is on the horiBand is up at Philly Sports Bar on zon with the Thursday, April 28, 6-9 p.m. The Zoo Bar’s anNashville Blues Society raves that nual Zoo Fest Burrell has “one of those perfect, anniversary celwhisky-soaked-with-honey voices ebration Friday that is full of the passion and con- and Saturday, viction,” while Blues Biscuits says, July 8 and 9.

Hot Notes

The Soaring Wings blues festival is Saturday, June 4, with the John Nemeth Band headlining. Watch for a full announcement at soaringwingswine.com under events. Playing With Fire has announced two weekends of free live music with details to come. Mark your calendars for Friday and Saturday, July 15 and 16, plus Friday and Saturday, Aug. 12 and 13. Watch for updates at facebook.com/ playingwithfireomaha. Promoter Jeff Davis’ other concert series, Music for the City, will also be back with four dates of free music scheduled May 21, June 11, July 23 and Aug. 20 at The Dam Bar on the River City Star landing. In the Market for Blues, the brainchild of Héctor Anchondo, now with support from the Blues Society of Omaha and other sponsors, is set to expand to two days this year, Friday and Saturday, Aug. 5 and 6. The multi-venue, multi-band event takes place in sponsoring Old Market clubs and other participating downtown venues. Watch for further announcements at facebook.com/inthemarketforblues. The Outlandia Music Festival has been announced for Falconwood Park in Bellevue on Friday and Saturday, Aug. 12 and 13. Wilco headlines. Other artists on the schedule include The National, Silversun Pickups and Margo Price. See onepercentproductions.com. Maha also returns to Stinson Park for a two-night affair July 31-Aug. 2 featuring Beach House, Car Seat Headrest and Saddle Creek artist Indigo De Souza. Tickets available at mahafestival.com.

April 2022

O V E R

T H E

E D G E

The Newsroom War

The Battle for the Future of Journalism in Nebraska Is Happening Right Under Your Nose by Tim McMahan

’m always surprised when people tell me they’ve read my column in The Reader — whether in print or online. Actually, I’m surprised anyone reads anything that isn’t a tweet, a post, a gram, whatever.

Examiner has the great benefit of having two of the OWH’s most-respected reporters on staff, Cindy Gonzalez and Paul Hammel.

How people get their news has obviously changed amazingly over the past 20 years. No more so than how we get our local news. It’s hard to explain to people in their 20s that the Omaha World-Herald once was a media giant. “That printed thing their grandparents read” was our most credible source for local news, as well as our community’s cultural bellwether. Here’s a familiar stat I learned at J-school in the ‘80s: The Sunday edition of the Omaha World-Herald once had the highest local saturation of any newspaper in the United States on a per capita basis. Everyone around here read it, and most read the daily editions as well, either at home or at the office. That’s all gone. Just ask the 20-something person in line next to you at the grocery store or in your office. They don’t read the Omaha World-Herald online and definitely not in print. In fact, they don’t read anything in print. Those of us of a certain age watched the OWH rapidly become thinner and thinner with the advent of the internet and social media, and certainly since Berkshire Hathaway sold its share of the paper to Lee Enterprises a few years ago. The reporting staff was decimated, and now it’s only a matter of time before its remaining readers literally die off. So what’s filling the news void the OWH is leaving behind? I’d love to tell you it’s The Reader … Oh, The Reader definitely plays an important role in local media, but

Photo courtesy of Unsplash.com it’s not replacing the great, gray Herald, at least not yet. Instead, three new online publications are jockeying for that role. First and least likely to succeed is Nebraska Sunrise News (NSN), the new online website with the credo, “News, not Narrative,” which makes no sense since most written news is in narrative form. Maybe it meant, “News, not Opinion” or “News, not one-sided reporting by the liberal Fake News monopoly.” While the NSN website doesn’t have a traditional staff box (the first sign something’s wrong here), digging around on the web I discovered its CEO is prominent Republican Suzanne Geist, who has connections to the Ricketts family. The site’s contributors include right-wing talkshow host Chris Baker. Out of the box, NSN has a mountain to climb in regard to credibility. (Yes, I know Fox News has the largest viewership of any cable “news” channel but that’s because it’s the only outlet for rightwing-slanted, Trump-humpin’ propaganda. The combined view-

APRIL 2022

ership of legitimate cable news organizations vastly dwarfs Fox’s audience.) Next, the Flatwater Free Press, an online publication developed by Matt Wynn, a former editor on the investigative desk of USA Today, and Matthew Hansen, a former OWH reporter and columnist. The Flatwater Free Press’ focus is on long-form investigative journalism, the kind of stories that take months (even years) to report and write. Operating as a nonprofit entity, the Free Press has hired a talented staff and (I’m told) acquired three years’ worth of operating funds. So the Free Press has three years to win its Pulitzer (something the OWH never managed to do for its reporting) because that’s what it’s going to take for the Free Press to break through to a larger audience. Finally, there’s the Nebraska Examiner, part of the States Newsroom nonprofit network of state-based outlets with a national bureau in Washington, D.C., reportedly funded by left-leaning foundations with ties to billionaire George Soros. Run by former OWH editor Cate Folsom, The

Both the Free Press and the Examiner follow creative commons policies in which their stories can be republished by anyone as long as proper attribution is provided. I discovered this while reading an article posted on the KMTV website about the proposed new Mutual of Omaha headquarters building. Most “written” articles on local TV news websites read as if they’d been translated from another language via Google Translate, but this article virtually sang. I scrolled up and discovered it was a Nebraska Examiner story written by Gonzalez. Four things are needed for one of these publications to win the war, because in the end, only one will survive: 1) solid, unbiased reporting on a daily basis, 2) broad re-publication of their content, 3) a strong, credible web and social media presence. And maybe most important of all: A terrific, daily, direct-to-yourinbox subscription newsletter, similar to what Axios, The New York Times and other successful national news outlets provide. Because those morning e-newsletters are what are replacing the daily newspaper. Of all three publications, Nebraska Examiner does these things the best. It’s only a matter of time until people (other than journalism wonks) take notice. Over The Edge is a monthly column by Reader senior contributing writer Tim McMahan focused on culture, society, music, the media and the arts. Email Tim at tim.mcmahan@ gmail.com.

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LEAH MORENO ABRE CENTRO DE ARTE HISPANO

LEAH MORENO OPENS HISPANIC ART CENTER. P. 8

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CREAN FORO COMUNITARIO EN EL SUR DE OMAHA. P.14 SANTANA SE PRESENTA EN OMAHA EN ABRIL (ONLINE)

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