Tagged: General News

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.

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.

The Douglas County Health Department’s Chief of Community Health and Nutrition Services is in Washington DC for the Weight of the Nation Conference.

Mary Balluff says the purpose of the conference is to figure out how we as a community are going to combat the obesity issue.  A recent article in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine predicts an increase in the percentage of obese and very obese Americans over the next twenty years.  

Balluff says Douglas County has done a number of things locally to try to stem the tide of obesity in the Omaha area.

The Salvation Army's annual D.J.’s Hero Awards Luncheon happens Monday, May 14th.

Steve George, Chairperson for the event, says there are three goals of the event. One is to raise money for the Salvation Army’s programs. Another is to award scholarships to high school seniors who have overcome hardships in their lives, and the third is to feature a dynamic speaker. This year’s luncheon will be held at the Century Link Center.  George says there will be two guest speakers, Bob and Lee Woodruff.

The Omaha Farmer’s Markets kick off this weekend.  The markets offer attendees a variety of items, including local produce, flowers, meat, and cheese.  Project Manager Heidi Walz says there are also local vendors with non-food items, including handcrafted jewelry and wooden toys. 

This year’s downtown Omaha Farmer’s Market will feature 110 vendors. The Farmer’s Market at Aksarben Village has expanded to 75 vendors.  Walz says the mission of the markets goes back to community, and that’s why they accept SNAP cards at all their locations.