Cheril Lee

Omaha’s KANEKO has a new board chairman and new plans for programming.

In March, then-Executive Director Hal France stepped down. Jim Linder, Incoming Chairman of the Board, says France stepped down as part of a planning process.  Linder says the board believed a different structure was needed for KANEKO as it looked at integrating administrative leadership, fundraising and programming.

KANEKO’s mission, to promote creativity and explore innovation will not change.  What will change, according to Linder, is that programming in the new season will follow four major themes.

Nebraska Appleseed and the National Health Law Program filed a class action lawsuit last Friday in Lancaster County District Court over services provided to disabled children. 

James Goddard, a staff attorney for Nebraska Appleseed, says the suit was filed on behalf of two children who were denied necessary behavioral health treatment.  

A Creighton University oncologist is critical of an announcement by the United States Preventive Services Task Force about PSA-based screenings.

The Task Force announced this afternoon its recommendation against prostate-specific antigen or PSA-based screenings for all men regardless of age. Dr. Henry Lynch is the Director of the Hereditary Cancer Center at Creighton. 

Mahatma Gandhi’s grandson was the guest speaker at Creighton University’s Asian World Center Presidential Lecture.

Rajmohan Gandhi's lecture, “Larger than Politics, the World of Lincoln, King and Gandhi,” took place last month in the Harper Center. 

Gandhi says when he picked the title of his talk; he didn’t intend to talk about the three leaders’ capacities in areas other than politics.  

But he says the goals of these three men went beyond capturing office or power.

Douglas County is replacing two vehicles with Compressed Natural Gas or CNG ones.

In April, the Douglas County Board of Commissioners voted to replace two high mileage vehicles with CNG vehicles. Chairman Marc Kraft says CNG vehicles are more efficient and run cleaner than gas or diesel vehicles.  

He says the vehicles pay for themselves within 2 ½ to 3 years after purchase.  Kraft says the purchase is part of Douglas County’s efforts to find environmentally friendly solutions.

Former Omaha mayor Mike Fahey is putting his support toward the University of Nebraska Foundation and UNO’s Department of Political Science.

Randall Adkins, Chair of the Political Science Department, says Fahey’s gift will allow the department to do three things.  He says the department will develop a course in Omaha city government and politics.  

John Ewing has won the democratic nomination for Nebraska’s 2nd Congressional District, defeating Gwen Howard.

Ewing is the Douglas County Treasurer and a former Omaha police officer who entered the race last summer. 

I caught up with Ewing during his celebration and he says he’s excited to win the nomination and gives a lot of credit to his hard working staff. But he says championship teams don’t celebrate during half time.

Paul Landow, a professor in the Political Science department at UNO, says the economy is the main issue on voters’ minds.  Landow says people are concerned about their jobs, their bank accounts and what direction things are heading in terms of their personal financial life.  

He says anything voters can do to better their own personal financial life at the ballot box is what they’ll do...and if that means voting for new leadership in the House and Senate, they will.  Landow says turnout should be above average for the primary.

Polls are open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. today. 

Today is Nebraska’s Primary Election and Dave Phipps, Douglas County Election Commissioner, says they predict a turnout of 21%.  He says that would be about 66,500 people voting, with early ballots and votes cast today. 

Phipps says he doesn’t expect voters to have many issues with the new polling places.  He says the election commission sent cards in March advising people of their polling places.  Phipps says the election commission has been busy with a higher than usual rate of early votes.

The Malcolm X Birthday Celebration features three days of events this week.

Walter Brooks is the Administrative Director for the Malcolm X Memorial Foundation.  He says the festivities kick off Thursday night with a program called “Verbal Gumbo.” 

The evening features spoken word artists and live music at the House of Loom.  Brooks says that’s followed by a presentation from a dynamic African-American motivational speaker on Friday called “Mental Liberation.”  

The guest speaker Friday is Nationally-acclaimed poet and author Basheer Jones.