The June 4th Weekly Market Report

Nicole Buntgen, Contributing Writer

Red Door Woodfired Grill officially opened this week at 6680 Center Street in Aksarben Village. The 8,000 sq. ft., corner space was previously occupied by Spirit World. Red Door has six Kansas City locations and is known for its scratch-made food and signature smoky pecan, oak and hickory blend. The company is also building a restaurant near 192nd & Highway 370 in Gretna.

7 Brew Coffee opened its Council Bluffs location earlier this week at 2901 West Broadway. The site was formerly a U.S. Bank office, which was torn down. Based in Fayetteville, Ark., 7 Brew has an existing Omaha location at 182nd & West Maple and others planned for 132nd & I Street and 168th & Harrison Street. 7 Brew locations are drive-thru only.

Springfield Soda Fountain has relocated from 205 Main Street to 129 Main Street in Springfield. The 49-year-old business, formerly known as Springfield Drug and Old-Fashioned Soda Fountain, now focuses on ice cream and espresso after ending its pharmacy operations several years ago.

Hurrdat Sports Bar & Grill closed its Gretna location at 10746 South 204th Avenue, Suite #1. The space will soon be home to Thirsty’s Pub, which will relocate from its current Gretna spot northeast of Highways 6 & 370. The move is scheduled to take place in mid-July. Hurrdat Sports Bar’s La Vista location remains open at 12744 Westport Parkway.

Fiiz Drinks plans to open its first Nebraska location this Saturday – June 6th – in Gretna. The “dirty soda” shop will operate in a 2,400 sq. ft., former Tropical Smoothie Café space at 10215 South 168th Street. The Salt Lake City-based chain has 75 locations with the closest existing ones in Oklahoma City and Denver.

Cassidy’s Wine & Spirits liquor store is reopening under different management this Friday – June 5th – at 6610 South 168th Street. The 2,800 sq. ft. store closed last August. The new owner is Dilip Sathu, who owns other liquor stores in the Omaha area.

Frame & Focus Optical will hold its grand opening June 23 at 10914 Elm Street in Rockbrook Village. The luxury optical boutique is founded “on the belief that eyewear should be as unique as the person wearing it.” Frame & Focus Optical will feature independent designer collections, a customization studio and an art gallery-inspired interior design. The business will help patients find frames that “complement their facial features, lifestyle and personal style.”

Ra’s Emporium has opened inside The Beautique at 12115 Pacific Street. The shop is part of a collection of women-owned businesses and offers crystals, metaphysical goods, tarot readings and products from local women-owned businesses.

Iron Decor and More plans to close its retail storefront at 1120 Jackson Street after 24 years in the Old Market. The shop specializes in Mexican metal decor and pottery. Ted & Wally’s plans to expand its kitchen into the space, while the wholesale side of the business will continue.

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Yoshitomo Shows Why Omaha Belongs on the National Culinary Stage

By Chris Corey

Yoshitomo opened in a former Subway restaurant at 6011 Maple Street in Benson in 2017, the first of three highly acclaimed restaurants from chef and owner David Utterback. Ota is Yoshitomo’s intimate omakase counter, tucked into a small side room inside the restaurant, while Koji is a Japanese izakaya restaurant in Countryside Village.

Utterback is an Omaha culinary legend with national recognition from The Washington Post, which called one of his sushi restaurants one of America’s best. He has been a James Beard Award finalist for Best Chef: Midwest multiple times, including 2023, 2025 and 2026.

It didn’t start out that way.

Utterback got his first sushi job more than 20 years ago after a roommate told him a local restaurant was hiring. He figured it would be a way to make a little money and get some free food. He had no idea it would become a career.

“I took my first trip to Japan, maybe two or three years in, and I thought, you know, I didn’t know anything about nice restaurants or fine food,” Utterback said. “And I thought that I kind of knew everything about sushi. And so on this trip, I Googled ‘best sushi restaurants in Tokyo,’ as a true professional does.”

He wound up eating sushi at the counter made famous by the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi, an experience he said blew his mind.

“I’d never had fine food before,” Utterback recalled. “I’d never been in a fine dining restaurant. I’d never eaten food by somebody who had chosen that profession before. And it just sort of changed everything.”

When Utterback returned to Omaha, he committed himself to becoming a cook. He went on to join Flagship Restaurant Group, where he helped open more than a dozen restaurants. He learned how to build teams and run kitchens before deciding it was time to do his own thing. A few months later, Yoshitomo was born.

Utterback describes Yoshitomo as casual fine dining, a bridge between a sushi restaurant with a menu diners have come to expect and a more intentional experience. The back of the menu is traditional sushi, while the front of the menu is where the restaurant gets creative.

Snacks, bites and plates allow sushi to be a starting point rather than a fixed set of rules. Even the sushi rolls are developed with intention. They come with their own sauces, meant to be eaten as composed and not drowned in soy sauce, as I’m guilty of doing.

During our tour of the menu, we heard a couple of servers mention the hotate XO, from the snacks portion of the menu, as the dish Utterback is preparing for the James Beard reception. Utterback said it began as a larger plate inspired by carbonara with scallops standing in for pasta, yuzu yolk in place of egg and XO sauce filling the role of cured pork.

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Construction on The Elowen Hotel Begins this Fall in Heartwood Preserve

Lanoha Real Estate plans to break ground this fall on The Elowen, a four-star boutique hotel in “The Row,” a 40-acre, mixed-use, pedestrian-oriented district. The Row is the center portion of the sprawling 500-acre Heartwood Preserve development southwest of 144th & West Dodge Road.

The Elowen will be part of the Marriott Autograph Collection and is slated to open in 2028. The 6-story building will have 160 hotel rooms as well as a ground-floor restaurant and rooftop bar. Lanoha is working with Colorado-based Greenwood Hospitality to design the bar and restaurant. Both spaces are being designed as gathering places for hotel guests and the local community, offering elevated food and beverage experiences in the heart of The Row.

The name “Elowen” was chosen, because it reflects Lanoha’s deep roots in Omaha and the company’s longstanding connection to growth, nature and place.

“The name is inspired by the American Elm, a tree native to Nebraska,” said Jenny Galley, marketing manager at Lanoha. “We were drawn to the name, because it is elegant, memorable and meaningful, a subtle nod to both the natural beauty surrounding the project and our Nebraska heritage.”

The Elowen will provide 9,000 sq. ft. of meeting and event space, including flexible meeting rooms and a ballroom suitable for weddings, corporate events and community gatherings. A 3,000 sq. ft., outdoor terrace will overlook both The Row and Heartwood Park.

“There are very few venues in West Omaha capable of accommodating groups of this size and caliber, making The Elowen a unique addition to the market,” Galley said. “Additional amenities will include a fitness center, lobby lounge and thoughtfully curated guest experiences that reflect the character of both Omaha and The Row.”

In addition to Greenwood Hospitality, Lanoha is working with Holland Basham Architects of Omaha and Dallas-based Flick-Mars Hospitality on the project.

While the hotel groundbreaking won’t take place until this fall, The Row is already home to a completed building. Olsson moved into its brand-new office building at 14500 Heartwood Row earlier this week. Olsson, an engineering and design firm, occupies two floors of the 4-story building. The ground floor has retail space available for lease.

The hotel will be constructed immediately west of Olsson’s building. Just to the south of the hotel, construction is slated to begin this fall on a 5-story structure that will have 168 luxury rental apartments. That building is being designed for “successful professionals and discerning downsizers.”

It will feature a resort-style pool and lounge, fitness and wellness spaces, a resident clubhouse and indoor and outdoor gathering and lounge areas.

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Isaiah Ang, Contributing Writer

The Omaha Planning Board voted in agreement with a City of Omaha Planning Department recommendation to deny the Tax Increment Financing and Enhanced Employment Area applications for a Drury Plaza Hotel proposed for a long-vacant, grassy lot southeast of 10th & Harney Street downtown. The project site is south of the Brickline apartments and north of Embassy Suites. Drury purchased the land last year and plans to build a $55 million, 210-room hotel with 2,000 sq. ft. of conference space, a pool and onsite restaurant and bar. The 8-story building would be built over a two-level, 175-space parking garage.

In 2018, the City of Omaha adopted a recommendation from a private consultancy firm that identified an oversaturation of hotels in the downtown market that were less than the luxury or upper-upscale levels as defined by the STR hotel chain rating system. The STR rating system is primarily based on average daily rates, meaning the higher the rates, the greater likelihood of a higher STR rating.

To promote the development of luxury and upper-upscale hotels downtown, the city created a policy to restrict awarding TIF and EEA to hotel projects unless they are luxury or upper-upscale brands. The planning department recommended to deny the TIF and EEA applications, because the Drury Plaza brand does not fall into either the luxury or upper-upscale hotel designations. The recommendation was upheld by the planning board on a 4-1 vote despite assurances from the developer that it would build the hotel with finishes and accommodations equal to upper-upscale brands.

Possible next steps are not yet publicly known. The hotel developer might take the request straight to the city council. In addition to the proposed project site, the same developer also owns the northwest corner of 10th & Harney Street.

Foundations Development plans to build affordable housing in Midtown. The Planning Board this week approved rezoning of a 14,300 sq. ft. site at 1039 Park Avenue on the northeast corner of Park Avenue & Pacific Street to accommodate the project. Additionally, the board approved the developer’s $650,000 Tax Increment Financing request to help finance to $10 million project. Plans call for a single, 4-story building with 50 apartment units and integrated parking in the basement. The apartment units will be reserved for resident 55 and older. Construction will begin this fall and is projected to be completed by Spring 2028.

B&B Sports Academy is expanding in north Omaha. The organization presented its redevelopment project to the Planning Board yesterday, showing a modern sports, recreation and community facility to be built north of its current facility at 3034 Sprague Street. The board approved the redevelopment plan, which includes a conveyance from the city to the B&B for a 1.74-acre parcel of land south of the North Omaha Transit Center. The redevelopment project will use that parcel, as well as another 1-acre parcel already owned by B&B.

The 88,560 sq. ft. building will have basketball and volleyball courts, an elevated 200-meter track, boxing gym, wrestling area and other amenities. B&B was founded by Terence Crawford and his coach, Brian McIntyre. Their current facility, a reused industrial building, provides space for boxing training and mentoring for youth.

Crews poured the concrete deck this week for the rebuilt Farnam Street bridge over Interstate 480. The multimodality bridge is specially designed to accommodate motor vehicles, pedestrians, bikes and streetcars. Read details in Eric Miller’s recent article.

Installation of the Mutual of Omaha logo atop the company’s downtown headquarters building is set to take place over the next two weeks, leading up to the NCAA Men’s College World Series. The milestone represents one of the most prominent exterior features of the skyscraper currently under construction at 14th & Farnam Street.

Signage components are arriving on site this week, with installation scheduled over the coming days as weather conditions allow. Crews from JE Dunn will carefully hoist the letters into place, with the goal of completing and illuminating the sign in time for the NCAA Men’s College World Series. In addition to the signage, exterior work on the building is nearing completion, with final glass curtain wall panels now being installed.

As this phase nears completion, construction will shift primarily to interior work for the remainder of the year. In addition to the signage, exterior work on the building is nearing completion, with final glass curtain wall panels now being installed. As this phase nears completion, construction will shift primarily to interior work for the remainder of the year.

Sara Hoogeveen, a local stay-at-home mom, entreprenuer and “urban farmer,” is a quarter-finalist in the National Super Mom Competition. The competition is focused on fundraising goals for the Children’s Miracle Network. Hoogeveen hopes to rally votes in Omaha to ultimately win the contest and create as much fundraising as possible for the Children’s Miracle Network. The cut for the next round is tonight at 9 p.m. CDT.

Votes can be contributed daily for free as well as funds donated for additional votes. Each dollar donated to the Children’s Miracle Network is a vote cast in the competition. The winner will be recognized with a family vacation, $20,000 cash prize and a feature segment in New Beauty magazine.

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Berkshire Hathaway agreed ‌to buy Taylor Morrison Home Corp for $6.8 billion in cash, according to Reuters, expanding the Omaha-based conglomerate’s housing business in Greg Abel’s first multi-billion-dollar acquisition since replacing Warren Buffett as CEO. The transaction valued Taylor Morrison at $72.50 per share, a 24 percent premium over the Scottsdale, Arizona-based company’s closing price last Friday. Taylor Morrison’s enterprise ​value was set at $8.5 billion.

Olsson has moved into its recently completed office building at 14500 Heartwood Row. It’s the first building in The Row, a mixed-use area in the middle of Heartwood Preserve. More than 300 Olsson employees now occupy the second and third floors of the 4-story building. Retail space is available on the ground floor. Olsson is an engineering and design firm with more than 2,300 employees nationwide.

Kwik Trip, Inc., a La Crosse, Wisconsin-based chain of convenience stores and gas stations, plans to expand into the Nebraska market, according to ConvenienceStore News. The Nebraska stores will operate under the Kwik Star brand. No specific sites or timelines have been announced. The company has locations in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Michigan, North Dakota and South Dakota.

Dingman’s Collision Center will hold a ribbon-cutting ceremony June 23 for its Gretna location at 20227 Husker Drive near 204th & Highway 370. The local auto body repair company has served the Omaha metro for more than 25 years and operates four other locations.

Union Pacific unveiled its latest commemorative locomotive, the No. 4547, which honors President Donald J. Trump and commemorates America’s 250th anniversary. The locomotive’s first mission started earlier this week in Corinne, Utah, as it hauled space launch system solid rocket motor segments for NASA’s Artemis III lunar exploration program. Union Pacific’s other commemorative locomotives are No. 1616, honoring President Abraham Lincoln and No. 4141, honoring President George H.W. Bush, who was a noted rail enthusiast.

Creighton University’s Mid-America Business Conditions Index, a leading economic indicator for the nine-state region stretching from Minnesota to Arkansas, moved above growth neutral for the fourth straight month, pointing to solid economic growth in regional manufacturing. The index, which ranges between 0 and 100 with 50.0 representing growth neutral, declined to a still-solid 54.4 from 56.0 in April.

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Salvation Army Omaha has begun serving free dinnertime meals out of trucks parked at various parks around the metro as part of its Family Meals of Hope program. This is the program’s second summer, with the first serving more than 8,000 meals. Trucks will be serving each weeknight at Miller Park, Benson Park, Hitchcock Park, and the Community Bible Church parking lot.

The latest cohort of the Omaha Municipal Land Bank’s Ambassador Program graduated this week. The program is designed to teach a diverse cohort of potential board applicants and community advocates, provide information and experience regarding the Land Bank’s programs and potential impacts, and connect the Land Bank with community members. The Land Bank is currently accepting applicants for the 2026-27 Ambassador Program.

World Speaks, a nonprofit which offers language classes and works to remove language barriers in Omaha, is hosting Language Access Week June 8 to12. This year, the week will feature a social media education campaign showcasing organizations throughout Omaha that are incorporating language access into their work, a “Let’s Chat about Cancer” presentation in Spanish presented with the University of Nebraska Medical Center and a community cooking course offered entirely in Arabic.

The Omaha Children’s Museum celebrated its 50th anniversary last weekend with special celebrations and programming. The museum was first housed in the City/County Connector Building before moving to 18th & St. Mary Avenue. It moved into its current location at 20th & St. Mary’s Avenue in 1989.

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Cole Young, Contributing Writer

Omaha baseball named Rob Fournier as its seventh head coach Monday. Fournier joins Omaha after four seasons as assistant coach and recruiting coordinator with Western Kentucky. Fournier helped assemble two nationally recognized recruiting classes for the Hilltoppers (2024 and 2026), including the signing of six top-ranked junior college prospects in 2024. Over the last three seasons, WKU posted a 112-63 (.640) record, highlighted by the team’s 2025 Conference USA Championship, the first in program history, and fifth NCAA tournament appearance.

Union Omaha defeated FC Naples on Saturday, 2-1, to improve to 9-2-1 on the season. On Saturday, Omaha will face fellow USL League One club Fort Wayne FC for its third USL Cup match at Morrison Stadium at 7 p.m. Next Wednesday, June 10, Omaha opens a three-match road trip at Charlotte Independence with a match kicking off at 6:30 p.m.

USL League One announced its Team of the Week for Week 13 on Tuesday, and Union Omaha defender Ryen Jiba earned a spot on the squad. He scored the winning goal in Saturday’s victory over FC Naples and completed 62 of 76 passes and won a penalty kick in Omaha’s pair of victories during the week.

Creighton softball’s Keegan Mayhue was named a Second Team Freshman All-American by D1Softball last Thursday. Mayhue is one of two freshmen in program history to earn All-American honors, and joins pitcher Tara Oltman, who was named an All-American by Easton Sports in 2007. The Big East Freshman of the Year hit .336 this season with 11 doubles, 13 home runs and a freshman program-record 53 RBI.

Creighton men’s basketball will play Iowa at the Casey’s Center in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sunday, Nov. 15. Creighton and first-year head coach Alan Huss will face an early-season test against the Hawkeyes, who were ranked No. 15 in the final Associated Press poll after advancing to the Elite Eight in last season’s NCAA Tournament.

The Omaha Supernovas have re-signed six players from last season’s squad through free agency so far, marking the largest returning group in franchise history. Among the six returners are Merritt Beason, Kiara Reinhardt, Emily Londot, Allison Holder, Norah (Sis) TeBrake and Leyla Blackwell.

Omaha also announced nine new signings, bringing its active roster to 15 members. Major League Volleyball allows a maximum of 16 players for each team’s active roster, leaving one roster spot still available. More information on the Supernovas’ current roster and new signings can be found HERE.

The Omaha Storm Chasers are facing the Columbus Clippers for a road series this week, and trail 2-0 prior to Thursday’s 11:05 a.m. matchup. First pitch on Friday is at 6:05 p.m. The Chasers return home next week for a series against the Las Vegas Aviators beginning on Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.

Upcoming Events

• Omaha Storm Chasers at Columbus | June 2 – 7 | 6:05 p.m. Friday
• Union Omaha vs. Fort Wayne FC | Saturday, June 6 | 7 p.m.
• Union Omaha at Charlotte Independence | Wednesday, June 10 | 6:30 p.m.

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Omaha’s Century-Old Santa Lucia Festival

By Patrick Wyman

Few American cities share as deep a connection to a sister city as Omaha does to Carlentini, Sicily. This weekend’s Santa Lucia Festival, now in its second century, is a reflection of that bond.

Over the course of a decade starting in 1900, the Italian population of Omaha exploded from around 500 to more than 2,000. Much of the credit belongs to brothers Giuseppe and Sebastiano Salerno. Born in 1873, Giuseppe was convinced to leave his native Carlentini by brother-in-law Antonio Marfisi.

Giuseppe arrived in 1895 and opened a shoe repair shop at 6th & Pierce Street in the area that would become known as Little Italy. He was joined by his brother, Sebastiano, just two years later. He opened a shoe shop of his own in addition to a secondhand clothing store.

By 1904, Sebastiano began working as an agent for a steamship company, tasked with increasing traffic between Sicily and the United States. He convinced family, friends and neighbors to leave everything behind and settle in Omaha. Sicily had long struggled with poverty and political instability, so many were anxious for better opportunities.

In the community, the brothers were referred to as “Benevolent Padrones” or middlemen who helped arrange passage, housing and jobs for immigrant workers. While the padrone system could be exploitative, the benevolent title set them apart, as they were seen as acting in good faith and looking out for their fellow residents rather than strictly profiting off them.

When the Carlentinians arrived, they found temporary housing in rooming houses established by the brothers and jobs arranged at the railroad or meatpacking plants. They also found plenty of familiar faces, as nearly 3,500 residents of the town of 13,000 eventually made their way to Omaha. The brothers also established the Bank of Sicily in 1908, which allowed immigrants to save money to send back home, create businesses or save toward buying a five-room house for $2,000 with just $100 down.

Giuseppe passed away in 1921 after suffering injuries when his automobile was struck by a streetcar. The bank closed in 1924 after overextending itself through risky investments. That same year, the Immigration Act of 1924 ended large-scale Italian immigration to the United States. The last of the Salerno brothers, Sebastiano, was tracked down in California by a disgruntled customer who had lost his savings in the bank’s failure and fatally shot in 1931.

Grazia Bonafede Caniglia arrived in Omaha with her husband, Rosario, and their children in 1908. Born in Carlentini in 1865, the mother of six children was a woman of deep faith and attended church daily while her husband operated one of the city’s first Italian bakeries. It would later become its first pizzeria and a steakhouse, while her children went on to open some of the city’s most beloved restaurants including Piccolo Pete’s, Mister C’s, and Venice Inn.

She made it her mission to strengthen the community’s connection to their former homeland while also deepening their faith. She sought to do so with the establishment of the Santa Lucia Festival. Dating back to 1621, it was the town’s most important religious festival. Santa Lucia is the patron saint of sight and the blind.

In 1925, Grazia and others formed a committee that hosted a ball to raise money for the first Santa Lucia Festival in Omaha. It drew 2,000 people, including Mayor Jim Dahlman. The neighborhood in which Little Italy sits was later named in his honor. For the festival, she envisioned a statue of Santa Lucia. Designed in Italy, she and other volunteers went door-to-door to collect money to pay for it.

During the festival, there is a procession of the statue through the streets, starting at St. Philomena’s Church (present-day St. Frances Cabrini) and ending at 6th & Pierce Street. Beloved in the community and well known for her charity work, Grazia passed away in 1931.

It wasn’t until the 1920s that the festival acquired a permanent home at Santa Lucia Hall, 725 Pierce Street. The former fire station was built in 1891 and purchased from the City of Omaha for $1,235. A 2015 restoration replaced the doors, windows and roof and repaired original woodwork, with preservationists incorporating bricks salvaged from demolished Little Italy landmarks including Venice Inn, the Original Caniglia’s Steakhouse and red brick from Seventh Street.

The hall also serves as a museum housing historical photos, cultural artifacts and decades of festival banners, and is available as a rental venue with proceeds supporting the festival committee.

The Santa Lucia Festival remained at its original location at 6th & Pierce Street from 1925 until 1981, after which it moved several times before returning to Little Italy at 10th & William Street in 2020. Among the city’s oldest summer festivals, it is free to attend and features Italian cuisine including a Sicilian-style pizza by the Pizza Boys of Santa Lucia, as well as sausage and peppers, meatball sandwiches, mostaccioli, gelato, cannoli and more.

Activities include a bocce ball tournament, live music by the Santa Lucia Band and others, dancing and a fun zone for the kids. The festival concludes on Sunday with the traditional procession of Santa Lucia through the neighborhood and an evening fireworks display.

What makes the Santa Lucia Festival unique is that while the saint is from Sicily, most Americans associate the tradition with Sweden, as her feast day falls near the winter solstice. Her name, which derives from the Latin word for light, made her a perfect fit to represent the return of the sun after the long, dark Scandinavian winters.

Here in Omaha, however, the festival’s deeply Sicilian roots make it one of the most distinctive in the country. In fact, it may be the only place in the country to host a large-scale, multi-day outdoor Sicilian-based Santa Lucia Festival. This may be the biggest impact the Caniglia family has made on Omaha, even more than its famous restaurants.

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Friday Night Concert Series returns to Rockbrook Village plaza for the summer starting on June 5 from 7 to 8 p.m. The first concert will feature Delta 88’s performing Blues Hits. Attend early and enjoy dinner on the outdoor patios at Pasta Amore, Miranda’s or Jaipur, as well as drinks at the Public House or Corkscrew Wine & Cheese. The event is free to attend.

The Global Sounds Music Festival comes to South Omaha at Upland Park on Saturday, June 6 from 4:30 to 10:00 p.m. Sponsored by Omaha Performing Arts and Canopy South, this free festival includes live music, free family activities and fireworks at the end of the event. There will also be several food truck vendors, such as Kona Ice, Edgar’s Cuban Kitchen and more. The musical lineup includes, McCarthy Trenching, Omaha Street Percussion, Ozone Creations and more performing throughout the evening. Upland Park is located at 3104 Jefferson Street.

The Reverb Lounge will present Belles on Thursday, June 11 at 8 p.m. for a one-night show. Originally from Omaha, Kelli Belles is a rising country artist and songwriter who now resides in Nashville. She initially began her career with her mother, Jayme Jones, as part of a country duo known as “Belles.” She has transitioned to a successful solo career and has gained recognition for her most recent collaboration with Dolly Parton, “Son of Jolene.” She is coming back to her hometown for one show before she makes her Opry Debut in Tennessee later in July. Visit their website for more information.

Steelhouse Omaha will present Five For Fighting and Edwin McCain on Sunday, June 21 at 7:30 p.m. These two are one of the most definitive piano-rock and acoustic-pop hitmakers of the late 1990s and early 2000s and have teamed up for a summer co-headline tour bringing hits to theaters and amphitheaters across the nation. John Ondrasik, of Five For Fighting, is a one-man moniker of piano driven pop-rock, known for his 2001 Grammy-nominated song “Superman (It’s Not Easy).” McCain is known for being a soulful acoustic guitarist with his 90s hit “I’ll Be” and is dubbed the “great American romantic.” Visit Steelhouse’s website for tickets and more information.

The Omaha Community Playhouse has announced that applications for the 2026-2027 Directing Fellowship are now open. For a whole season, emerging and developing directors go through hands-on experiences, professional mentorship and opportunities to develop artistic and leadership skills to navigate the theatre world today.

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Did you know Omaha ranks #24 among the nation’s 182 largest cities on WalletHub’s list of best places to raise a family in 2026?

Did you know that the 70,000+ University of Nebraska at Omaha graduates have an annual economic impact of $2.44 billion on the metro area?

Did you know one in 29 Omaha jobs exist because of visitor spending?

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Benson First Friday — Happening June 5
Benson’s monthly First Friday celebration returns with local art, live music, pop-up vendors and special programming throughout the neighborhood. It’s a great excuse to explore one of Omaha’s most creative districts while supporting local artists and businesses.

UnShakeable — Happening June 5–7
Opera Omaha’s Family Opera Series presents UnShakeable, a one-act production that follows two survivors reconnecting through Shakespeare after a mysterious epidemic leaves the world struggling with memory loss. With multiple performances and a special Shakespeare-themed double-feature experience, it offers a unique blend of music, storytelling and theater.

Midwest Tacos & Tequila Fest — Happening June 6
Falconwood Park hosts a full day of tacos, tequila, live music, local vendors and festival fun. From Lucha Libre wrestling and mechanical bull riding to taco contests and craft cocktails, this event packs plenty of flavor into one summer Saturday.

The Dinner Detective True Crime Murder Mystery Dinner Show — Happening June 6
Put your detective skills to the test during this interactive murder mystery dinner experience at the DoubleTree Hotel Omaha Southwest. With actors hidden among the audience and plenty of twists throughout the evening, guests enjoy a full meal while working to solve the case before the culprit is revealed.

Dehner Day at the CWS — Happening June 13
A community day at the Dehner Omaha factory during the College World Series filled with tailgating, kids’ activities, yard games and the event sale that gives back. Fifteen percent of every sale goes to a participating nonprofit, chosen by the buyer at checkout.

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The Greater Omaha Chamber announced the 2026 inductees into the Omaha Business Hall of Fame: Jean Stothert, former mayor of Omaha; Derek Leathers, chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Werner Enterprises; David G. Brown, former president and CEO of the Greater Omaha Chamber; G. Richard Russell and Carol Madson Russell, chairman of Millard Lumber Inc and civic leaders; and Steve Menzies, founder of Applied Underwriters, North American Casualty, and United Risk.

The Weitz Company has promoted Jared Schleifer to operations director for its Nebraska office. Schleifer joined Weitz in 2005 as a project engineer and has advanced through project management and operational leadership roles. His project portfolio includes Midtown Crossing Development, Werner Park and the Westside High School Life Complex.

Medical Solutions’ Ryan Lamb, vice president of enterprise accounts, was named to Staffing Industry Analysts’ 2026 40-Under-40 list. Lamb has more than a decade of experience in healthcare workforce solutions and oversees several of Medical Solutions’ largest and most complex enterprise partnerships, leading teams focused on delivering workforce solutions for healthcare organizations across the country while supporting operational growth and client success.

Valmont Industries, Inc. announced that Thomas Liguori will retire from his role as executive vice president & CFO and corporate secretary. Liguori will remain employed through December 26, to provide transition services and consulting.

The Greater Omaha Chamber is a catalyst and connector, advocating for businesses small and large. Learn, share and grow with more than 12,000 professionals from 3,000 member businesses across Greater Omaha. Click HERE to see our latest events.

Andrew Ross Sorkin, a prominent member of the MSNBC talking heads coterie, recently appeared on 60 Minutes. His stock commentary really creamed my corn. They creamed my corn so much that I am going to do what I have vowed that I would never do: I am going to make a market prediction. I have said a bazillion times that anybody who makes market predictions is an idiot. So here is my market prediction, “THE MARKET IS GOING TO CRASH.”

As I listened to this self-appointed guru ramble on, visions of Joe Granville flashed before my eyes. For those of you with low numbers on your odometer, the name Joe Granville probably doesn’t ring a bell, so let me enhance your financial IQ with a walk through his curriculum vitae.

Joe was a financial writer and an outspoken investment maven. He opus magnum was a notion he called the concept of On Balanced Volume or OBV. Granville argued that when trading volume increases sharply without a significant change in the stock’s value, the stock price will increase rapidly, and then at some point, will cataclysmically implode.

Granville was the world’s penultimate stock market bear. He appeared frequently on TV and often made his entrance by emerging from a coffin. In 1961, he began publishing a newsletter titled the “Granville Market Report.” At the height of his popularity, he had 200,000 viewers and revenues in the $6 million range. Every year Granville shouted to anyone who would listen, that the market was about to crash. He did this for two and a half decades.

Then in September of 1987 the market dropped 21.3 percent, and the Wall Street Journal proclaimed that Joe Granville was indeed a financial genius. (Spoiler alert: In January of 1988, the market was 5.3 percent higher that it was before the “Granville Crash.”)

And now back to the 60 Minutes-CNBC kerfuffle. At the opening of the interview, Sorkin rattled off a plethora of reasons why the market was teetering on the edge of a precipitous drop. At the top of his list was the growing amount of consumer debt, which he associated with the Crash of ‘29.” (Spoiler alert #2, Sorkin just finish a book on the Crash of 29 and promoted it throughout his interview).

Most experts agreed that consumer debt contributed to the Crash of 29, but Sorkin failed to point out that in 1929 the consumer debt was used to buy stock and not used for everyday items as it is currently.

As the interview came to a close, the CNBC mental giant summed up his blabbering with the following, and I quote: “I know a crash is coming, I just don’t know when or how much.” I too stand by my prediction. I just hope I live long enough to experience the praise and adoration that will be heaped upon me by the Wall Street media when my long-awaited crash occurs.

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Quantum Fiber in Omaha, Nebraska, is super-fast, reliable internet. We did away with data caps, bundles, and pricing gimmicks because you don’t want them. Instead, you get game-changing customer service, transparent pricing, and a powerful app for freedom, simplicity, and control over your internet. Quantum Fiber is what internet service looks like when it’s built for the world of you.

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