General News

About 325 Nebraska children with developmental disabilities will have new services available to them.

Pride Month celebrates the LGBT community and the progress the community has made towards full equality.  Omaha is the site of the Heartland Pride event on June 30th.  

Staff and volunteers from One Iowa will have a booth at the event.  Communications Director Molly Tafoya says the group will share information and talk with attendees about the impact the organization has had on equality issues.  She says one of the things that makes Iowa so unique is their leadership in the movement for LGBT equality in the Midwest.

2.7 million children are in kinship care on any given day in the United States.  

Kinship caregivers are either extended family members or close family friends who take care of kids in their parents’ absence.

Rob Geen, Director of Family Services and Systems Policy at the Annie E. Casey Foundation, says often these caregivers are taking care of children without much advance notice. He says making their lives ready to be able to care for the kids is a challenge.  

The VA Nebraska-Western Iowa is combining its annual Veteran’s Welcome Home Event with its Veterans Freedom Music Festival on June 23rd.  Public Affairs Officer Will Ackerman says the VA united the two events for two reasons. 

He says the celebration offers the community a day to come out and honor the state’s veterans who have served and sacrificed for their freedoms.  Additionally, Ackerman says the event gives the state’s veterans a chance to learn about their benefits.

The city of Omaha could soon grow by 6,353 residents.

An open house Wednesday in Omaha gives residents in eight Sanitary Improvement Districts to be annexed a chance to ask questions and find out what services might change. The SIDs are Lakeview Heights, Pepperwood, The Colonies, Seven Pines, Walnut Lake, Standing Bear, Hillsborough Plaza, and Pegasus.