News

OPPD officials say the Fort Calhoun Nuclear Station won’t reopen until they’re confident safety issues at the plant are resolved.

Utility leaders met in Washington, D.C., Wednesday with the NRC to update performance issues at the plant. Fort Calhoun Station has been closed since last April. Since then, the NRC has cited OPPD for multiple violations at the plant, including being ill-prepared for a flood. NRC officials say a fire at the plant last June also wasn’t reported within the required time frame.

The leader of the Corps of Engineers’ Omaha District believes the agency is better prepared in the event of flooding this year.

About 70 emergency managers and levee sponsors gathered Tuesday in Omaha for the annual Missouri River flood fight preparedness training. Last year’s Missouri River flooding inundated farms, businesses, and homes in western Iowa for more than three months.

Colonel Robert Ruch, Commander of the Corps’ Omaha District. He says last year’s flood provided some valuable lessons. “We’ve seen what sponsors do, what their closure plans are, and we see where the hiccups are because, you know, we have not had a major flood on this system in a very long time, especially north of the Platte River.”

Western Iowa residents forced out of their homes by Missouri River flooding may have another option for temporary housing.

Iowa Finance Authority spokeswoman Ashley Jared says flood victims can apply for a waiver to live in housing usually restricted by the federal government to low-income families.

Jared says the waiver applies to flood victims in Monona, Harrison, Pottawattamie, Mills, and Fremont counties. People who lived in those counties between May 25th and August first of 2011 can apply for the housing waiver.

Flood victims don’t have to be registered with FEMA to apply for the housing waiver. A list of eligible properties is available at www.iowafinanceauthority.gov/emergencyhousing.

Four Omaha Public Schools board members aren’t seeking re-election.

Last Wednesday was the deadline for incumbents to file for the 2012 election. Board members Mary Ellen Drickey, Kersten Borer, Sandra Jensen, and Nancy Huston did not file. Drickey, Huston, and Jensen are longtime board members.

Board president Freddie Gray and Subdistrict 6 board member Mary Morrissey are seeking re-election. Candidate information from the Douglas County Election Commission shows James M. English is running against Gray in Subdistrict 2. Morrissey is running unopposed.

The filing deadline for non-officeholders is next Thursday.

The Liverpool Legends will perform at Morton Magnet Middle School tonight at 7:00.

The group is comprised of musicians specially picked by Beatle George Harrison’s sister, Louise.  

Dan Mattran, Instrumental Music Director at Morton Magnet, says the concert will offer a complete Beatles experience with music that spans the Fab Four’s entire career.  He says the performance will feature Morton’s chorus and band on selected songs. 

"The students have been putting in time after school and during the rehearsals.  There’s a lot of buzz because it’s given us an opportunity to present Beatles music and the history of the Beatles and some of the things they did to change music.  So it’s been an educational experience.  It’s going to be a lot of fun.”

Researchers at UNMC are making strides in dealing with Her2. 

Dr. Kay Wagner says Her2 is an aggressive type of breast cancer.  He says there are several subsets and that each case must be treated differently. 

Dr. Wagner says in previous studies, it was thought that by inhibiting a certain protein called Cyclin D1, the growth of breast cancer cells could be stopped or slowed.  But he says his research indicated the opposite was true.

Omaha’s young professionals will gather next week for an event focused on their community.

The event happens next Wednesday, February 29,  at the CenturyLink Center. Last year, Forbes Magazine named Omaha as one of the top cities for young professionals. Omaha also made Forbes’ list of most affordable cities.

Among the topics are community development, leadership, building a a personal brand, and social media. Author and designer Bruce Mau is the keynote speaker.

More information is available at http://omahayoungprofessionals.org/YPSummit.aspx

Second District Congressman Lee Terry will seek an eighth term in the U.S. House.

Terry, an Omaha Republican, announced his candidacy Sunday afternoon. He was elected to the House in 1998. Terry faces four challengers in the GOP primary: former Husker quarterback and financial adviser Brett Lindstrom, UNO Mathematics Department professor and chairman Jack Heidel, Glenn Freeman, a former chairman of the Douglas County Republican Party, and Paul Anderson.

Prior to his election to the U.S. House, Terry served on the Omaha City Council.

Nebraska's primary election is May 15th.

Two more levee repair projects are underway south of Omaha following last summer’s Missouri River flooding.

The Corps of Engineers says a $43,000 contract was awarded for seeding along the levee from Bellevue to Plattsmouth. A $4.7 million repair project is also underway five miles south of Nebraska City.

Brett Budd, chief of the Omaha District’s Systems Restoration Team, says the work south of Nebraska City involves repairing scour holes and installing a seepage berm. He says the entire project will be complete by June first.

The city of Omaha ended 2011 with a $740,000 budget deficit.

City officials released the preliminary fourth quarter financial report Thursday. The report says Omaha’s lack of a new contract with the fire union cost the city two million dollars. The City Council rejected a new contract with the fire union last year. Since then, a ruling from the Commission of Industrial Relations cost the city of Omaha $3.2 million.