Tagged: omaha

The Douglas County Election Commission will reopen some of the 179 polling places closed prior to this year’s primary election.

Election Commissioner Dave Phipps says the polling places will reopen before the November general election. How many polling places will reopen has yet to be determined. Primary election turnout, along with general election results from the past two presidential elections, will determine which polling places reopen.

A half-cent increase in Omaha’s sales tax could generate $45 million for the city.

Nebraska lawmakers last week overrode Governor Dave Heineman’s veto of legislation allowing cities to raise their sales tax rate. Doing so would require supermajority approval from both the city council and voters.

Omaha’s current sales tax rate is 7 percent, with 1.5 percent of it local. Mayor Jim Suttle says there are no plans to put the sales tax initiative on the November general election ballot.

A new report on county health rankings in Nebraska shows Douglas County’s STD rate and percent of children living in poverty are on the rise.

The County Health Rankings report was discussed at this week’s Board of Health Meeting.  Douglas County had 540 reported STD cases per 100,000 population, according to the 2012 rankings. The percent of children living in poverty climbed from 15 percent to 21 percent.

A foundation seeking to expand the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail will have its headquarters in Omaha.

National Park Service officials on Thursday announced the formation of the Lewis and Clark Trust. Meriwether Lewis and William Clark’s two-year expedition from Illinois to Washington is documented along what is now the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail.