Housing
Protesters arrested at site of housing development near Lincoln’s Wilderness Park
Editor’s note: This has been updated to include developments on Tuesday. LINCOLN — Five protesters were reportedly arrested Tuesday as Lincoln police intervened to allow tree removal to resume at a housing development planned near Wilderness Park. But by nightfall, Native American activists were still occupying a protest camp across the road from the proposed […]
Tekamah entrepreneur restores elegant and historic bank to new glory
TEKAMAH – Cindy Chatt has a thing for old buildings. In her former profession as a marketing consultant for corporations, she chose to live in the city cores of New York City, St. Louis, Philadelphia and Jacksonville, in structures that were part of those cities’ history. When she decided to return to her hometown of […]
Nebraska ‘housing council’ launches with plan for 35,000 new affordable dwellings
LINCOLN — Saying Nebraska’s economic future hinges on solving its “housing crisis,” dozens of statewide experts and policymakers have released a plan that calls for 35,000 new affordable dwellings in the state over the next five years. About a third of those apartments and owner-occupied homes are to be set aside for households making under […]
Habitat for Humanity to muscle up affordable housing efforts in Omaha area
OMAHA — Habitat for Humanity of Omaha, boosted by donations and $4 million in federal pandemic recovery funds, plans to build or rehab about 400 houses for lower income families over the next four years. The nonprofit expects to invest more than $200 million by the end of 2026 in housing programs — almost double […]
Higher fuel costs likely to drive up Nebraska heating bills again this winter
LINCOLN — Local utilities, social service agencies and fuel companies have spent months urging Nebraskans to take some simple steps to slice the edge off winter heating bills. Experts project that this winter’s bills could outpace last year’s tallies by 15% to 50%, as shifting demand, global instability and inflation increase the costs of natural […]
Voters embraced affordable housing initiatives. Advocates say Congress should do the same.
Voters in Colorado approved a statewide affordable housing initiative in November; while voters in nine cities across the country OK’d measures to finance the construction of affordable housing, preserve existing rental properties and support renters. But as housing costs soar, analysts and advocates say more needs to be done and argue that federal action is […]
U.S. House votes to avert calamitous rail strike, but Senate prospects murky
The U.S. House moved Wednesday to avoid an economically disastrous nationwide rail strike, voting to codify an agreement that members of some unions had already rejected and separately add paid sick leave that workers had demanded. The two-track approach allows Democrats to avert a strike that could cost the U.S. economy up to $2 billion […]
4 takeaways on housing ahead of inflation report
Housing costs, including rental prices, are on the path to stabilizing, but evidence of this won’t show up in inflation measures anytime soon, economists say. The latest Consumer Price Index numbers, which are used to measure inflation, come out on Thursday morning. But the survey that is used to measure shelter, a large component of […]
Tenants deserve a right to a jury trial in eviction cases, ACLU and NAACP argue
LINCOLN — Renters facing eviction deserve the right to a jury trial, the ACLU of Nebraska and the Iowa-Nebraska NAACP argue in a new “friend of the court” brief to the Nebraska Supreme Court. The brief was filed Monday in an appeal of an eviction case out of Omaha in which an apartment owner, NP […]
Rent aid program covering the bulk of Nebraska hits a snag as it sunsets
OMAHA — Tanya Gifford of Lift Up Sarpy County was thrilled this summer to learn that her nonprofit was awarded $1 million to help ward off homelessness in a community still pained by the pandemic. But her cheer, and that of about 50 other nonprofits across Nebraska, was short-lived. State officials informed the bunch last […]
As rural homelessness increases, HUD aims money at helping people without access to shelters
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has opened up millions of dollars in funding for groups serving unhoused people in rural areas — an unprecedented move by the agency, say housing advocates. People living in cars, parks and on the street at night, which the agency labels unsheltered homelessness, has increased across the nation, […]
Nebraskans failing to claim $200 million in state income tax credits, officials say
LINCOLN — Nebraskans aren’t claiming their refunds from a major tax break passed by the State Legislature, and Gov. Pete Ricketts joined other state leaders on Thursday to urge Cornhuskers to get after it. About 40% of all Nebraskans this year failed to claim the property tax refund that must be claimed on a state […]