Archive

Archive for April 18, 2018

Life Itself: Six years of Omaha Magazine stories about people. their passions and their magnificent obsessions

April 18, 2018 Leave a comment

Life Itself: Six years of Omaha Magazine stories about people. their passions and their magnificent obsessions

©by Leo Adam Biga

Author-Journalist-Blogger

 

Park Avenue Revitalization & Gentrification

February 16, 2018 · Posted In: Midtown, Omaha Home, Places
As revitalization has come to diverse and densely packed Park Avenue, a tale of two neighborhoods has emerged. The north end—near 30th and Leavenworth streets and Midtown Crossing—finds a millennial haven of developer-renovated historic properties […]

Alexander Payne’s Homecoming

February 13, 2018 · Posted In: Film, Omaha Magazine, People
Alexander Payne’s new tragicomedy Downsizing imagines the fate of an overpopulated world hanging in the balance due to depleted natural resources. When scientists find a way to miniaturize humans, adventurous souls choose going small as an […]

The State of Volleyball

December 27, 2017 · Posted In: Omaha Magazine, Sports
For generations, football gave Nebraska a statewide identity. But with Husker gridiron fortunes flagging, volleyball is the new signature sport with booming participation and success. Here and nationally, more girls now play volleyball than basketball […]

Huskers’ Winning Tradition

December 18, 2017 · Posted In: Web Exclusive
The University of Nebraska-Lincoln volleyball team entered 2017 with tempered expectations after losing three All-Americans and two assistant coaches from the previous season. But what began as a rebuilding year became a 32-4 national championship […]

Downsizing Home Cameos

November 17, 2017 · Posted In: Omaha Home
When Oscar-winning filmmaker Alexander Payne prepares a film, he not only auditions actors but locations, too. The writer-director insists on actual locations whenever possible. When he films in his hometown of Omaha, he’s extra keen […]

A Fluid Life

November 10, 2017 · Posted In: Art, Encounter, Entertainment, Lifestyle
Fluid. That’s how digital graphic designer and fine art painter Dana Oltman describes her aesthetic. As art director for Identity Marketing Group (she was previously at Rebel Interactive) she fulfills client project wishes. She says […]

Francophile

October 9, 2017 · Posted In: 60 Plus in Omaha, People
Half a century ago, while attending Mercy High School, Anne Marie Kenny cultivated a Francophile passion. At 21, she followed it to realize a dream of being a cabaret artist in France. She went from […]

An Omaha Hockey Legend in the Making

October 5, 2017 · Posted In: Omaha Magazine, Sports
Former UNO hockey star Jake Guentzel left school in 2016, after junior year, to pursue his dream of playing professionally. No one expected what happened next. The boyish newcomer with the impish smile went from […]

100 Years Strong

August 7, 2017 · Posted In: Family, Omaha Home
The Bryant-Fisher family reunion celebrates an important milestone in 2017—its 100th anniversary. The three-day reunion event will conclude with a final day of festivities in Elmwood Park. The “Dozens of Cousins,” named for the 12 […]

Baseball and Soul Food

July 3, 2017 · Posted In: Food & Drink, Omaha Magazine, Restaurants
When baseball still ruled as the national pastime, Omaha showcased the game’s still prevalent but loosening black-white divide. In 1947, the year Jackie Robinson broke Major League Baseball’s color barrier, the barnstorming Omaha Rockets began […]

Mural Man

June 2, 2017 · Posted In: Art, Lifestyle, Omaha Magazine, Publications
Visual artist Mike Giron’s creative life spans studio practice, teaching, and working with A Midsummer’s Mural and South Omaha Mural Project teams. “In my studio work, I have no idea what’s going to happen—I just […]

In Their Own Words

May 25, 2017 · Posted In: 60 Plus in Omaha, Art,Lifestyle
Members of the Greatest Generation tell their own stories in a locally produced documentary, 48 Stars. The in-progress film features personal testimonies from World War II veterans. War buff Shawn Schmidt conceived the project. His […]

The Tail-Gunner’s Grandson

May 1, 2017 · Posted In: 60 Plus in Omaha, Art,History
Filmmaker Ben Drickey’s lifelong fascination with history turned personal in 2001. That’s when he documented his grandfather’s return to Germany, revisiting the sites where the U.S. Army Air Corps serviceman crashed and was captured during […]

Crazy Gringa Hot Sauce

April 26, 2017 · Posted In: B2B Magazine,Business, Omaha Magazine
Mary Current and her son, Anderson Current, started making hot sauce three years ago. She never planned on being a commercial food producer despite working the front and back of the house at restaurants, studying […]

Kevin Simonson

April 25, 2017 · Posted In: Omaha Magazine,People
Kevin Simonson of Omaha realizes he occupies an unlikely position as a leading chronicler of that dark jester of American letters, the late Hunter S. Thompson. Thompson, a New Journalism exponent, gained a Grateful Dead-like […]

Austin Ortega

February 23, 2017 · Posted In: Omaha Magazine,People, Sports
How did a smallish soccer-playing Hispanic kid from sun-drenched Escondido, California, end up an ice hockey star in Nebraska? Although his profile does not fit the stereotypical hockey player, UNO Mavericks forward Austin Ortega has […]

Omaha Small Business Network

February 7, 2017 · Posted In: B2B Magazine,Business, Business Profiles, Publications
“What OSBN seeks to do is to initially bridge that gap between the bank and the consumer. But after receiving an OSBN loan, our desire is for you to become bankable. Each opportunity with OSBN […]

Marlin Briscoe

December 29, 2016 · Posted In: 60 Plus in Omaha,Entertainment, Publications, Sports
Omaha native Marlin Briscoe made history in 1968 as the NFL’s first black starting quarterback. His success as a signal-caller carried huge symbolic and practical weight by disproving the then-popular misconception that blacks lacked the […]

Gabrielle Union

December 21, 2016 · Posted In: Entertainment,Omaha Magazine, Publications, Theatre
Actress Gabrielle Union projects her natural intelligence and feistiness in whatever role she undertakes. The Omaha native is never at a loss for words or opinions. She decries Hollywood’s male-dominated, white-centric ways and lack of […]

Location Scout and Producer Jamie Vesay

October 11, 2016 · Posted In: Art, Lifestyle, Omaha Magazine, People, Publications
When it comes to shooting video, Jamie Vesay of Omaha is a handler, facilitator, fixer, procurer, and—as his LinkedIn site puts it—“minutia wrangler” and “chaos killer.” He works on television commercials, music videos, and feature […]

Artist Erin Blayney

October 2, 2016 · Posted In: Art, Downtown,Downtown, Encounter, Lifestyle, Neighborhoods,Publications
For visual artist Erin Blayney, who grew up in the great outdoors, it’s all about light and space. She has plenty of both at her Old Market apartment that   doubles as her studio. Natural light […]

Coding & Community

February 2, 2016 · Posted In: B2B Magazine,Business, Leaders, Publications
Shonna Dorsey has merged an aptitude for technology with a desire to help others via Interface Web School, Omaha’s latest cyber-ed iteration. It’s not the first time she’s combined her entrepreneurial, networking, and community interests. […]

Talking It Out

January 25, 2016 · Posted In: Lifestyle, Nonprofit,Omaha Magazine, Publications
When Catholic Charities of Omaha looked for somebody to take over its open race and identity forum, Omaha Table Talk, it found the right host in Inclusive Communities. Formerly a chapter of the National Conference […]

The Nelson Mandela Way

January 20, 2016 · Posted In: Education, Family,Neighborhoods, North Omaha, Omaha Magazine,Publications
  North Omaha may be reversing five decades of capital resources leaving the community with little else but social services coming in. Emerging    business, housing, and community projects are spearheading a revitalization, and a new school[…]

Time Out

December 18, 2015 · Posted In: Food & Drink,Omaha Magazine, Publications, Restaurants
The official name of this long-lived north Omaha business is Time Out Foods. “But Time Out Chicken is what everybody tags us as,” says owner Steve Mercer. He’s even bought that Google domain. With a […]

His Little Corner of the Sky

December 9, 2015 · Posted In: Lifestyle, Omaha Magazine, People, Publications
Omaha Police Department gang intervention specialist Alberto “Beto” Gonzales grew up in a South Omaha “monster barrio” as an outsider fresh from the Texas-Mexican border. Working out of the South Omaha Precinct and South Omaha […]

Year of the Startup

November 17, 2015 · Posted In: B2B Magazine,Business, Entrepreneurs, Publications
The emerging startup accelerator scene supports creative-minded risk-takers looking for an edge to follow their passion and bring their ideas to fruition. Sebastian Hunt, 25, is passionate about giving entrepreneurs like himself a nurturing space […]

Touched by Tokyo

August 26, 2016 · Posted In: Lifestyle, Omaha Magazine, People, Publications
If you don’t consider Omaha a beauty-style launching pad, think again. Homegrown talents Jaime King and Gabrielle Union tear it up on screen, in photo spreads, and for the red carpet. Designer Kate Walz has […]

The Silo Crusher

The story of athletics at the University of Nebraska at Omaha has fluctuated from wild success to heartbreak (and back). All-Americans, post-season runs, and national title traditions collided with mismanagement and sparse spectator attendance. Then […]

Stephanie Kurtzuba

August 8, 2016 · Posted In: Art, Lifestyle, Omaha Magazine, People, Publications
Stage and screen actress Stephanie Kurtzuba has graced Hollywood red carpets and Broadway billboards, but she is most comfortable at her family’s West Lanes Bowling Center in her hometown of Omaha. The Central High School […]

Tim Christian

September 9, 2015 · Posted In: Art, Lifestyle, Omaha Magazine, Publications
This article appears in the Sept./Oct. 2015 issue of Omaha Magazine. Nebraska lacks an infrastructure to support a film industry. Omaha Creighton Prep graduate Timothy Christian is trying to change that. After years away pursuing […]

Jocelyn and Deven Muhammad

August 26, 2015 · Posted In: Lifestyle, Omaha Magazine, People, Publications
This article appears in July/August 2015 Omaha Magazine. Since coming out a few years ago, Jocelyn and Deven Muhammad have been known as “the gay siblings.” But as a LGBT Nebraskans profile put it: “That’s […]

When Hair, Makeup, and Style Become Art

June 10, 2015 · Posted In: Lifestyle, Omaha Magazine, People, Publications, Style, Stylists
This article originally published in May/June 2015 edition of Omaha Magazine. In 2007, hair stylist and makeup artist Omar Rodriguez left his native Puerto Rico for love. He moved to Omaha to be with his then-partner, […]

Making the Cut

May 5, 2015 · Posted In: Entertainment, Lifestyle, Music, Omaha Magazine, People, Publications
This article appears in May/June 2015 edition of Omaha Magazine. Film and video production is still a rather male-centric domain, but the realm of editing is much more gender-balanced. Omaha native Taylor Tracy, a music […]

Marc Longbrake

April 22, 2015 · Posted In: Lifestyle, Omaha Magazine, People, Publications
Techie Marc Longbrake was in college when he lost it at the movies. Intrigued with doing something in cinema, he managed computer-aided drafting designers for his 9-to-5 but crewed on local independent film projects for […]

A Joyful Noise

April 21, 2015 · Posted In: 60 Plus in Omaha, Publications, Religion
Originally published in March/April 2015 edition of 60-Plus. Electric. Eclectic. Inspired. All of those descriptors apply to Sacred Heart Catholic Church’s Freedom Choir. Home for this contemporary gospel choir is a Late Gothic Revival-style house […]

Chef Jason Hughes

March 24, 2015 · Posted In: Central Omaha, Chefs, Food & Drink, Omaha Magazine, Publications
Since assuming the executive chef position at Happy Hollow Country Club in 2013 Jason Hughes has emerged as one of the city’s new culinary stars, introducing a strong farm-to-table regimen there. Not only has his […]

From the Heart

March 17, 2015 · Posted In: Omaha Magazine, People, Publications
Upon moving to Omaha in 2010, little suggested Tunette Powell would take the city by storm. She was weighted down by a heavy past and an uncertain future in a new city. But then this […]

Matinee Marriage

March 16, 2015 · Posted In: Entertainment, Omaha Magazine, Publications
The metro’s small but robust cinema community includes Film Streams and the Omaha Film Festival (see related story on page 42) along with several working industry professionals, among them Oscar-winning cinematographer Mauro Fiore (Avatar). He’s […]

Anne Thorne Weaver

February 18, 2015 · Posted In: Lifestyle, Omaha Magazine, People
National Society of Colonial Dames diva Anne Thorne Weaver is at an age when she says and does what she wants. Fortunately for Omaha, this patron puts her money where her mouth is in supporting […]

Sparring For Omaha

January 9, 2015 · Posted In: Entertainment, Omaha Magazine, Publications, Sports
Terence “Bud” Crawford grew up a multi-sport athlete in North Omaha, but street fighting most brought out his hyper-competitiveness, supreme confidence, fierce determination, and controlled fury. He long ago spoke of being a world champion. […]

Faith, Friends, and Facebook

January 7, 2015 · Posted In: 60 Plus in Omaha, Lifestyle, Omaha Home, People, Publications
Popular singer-actress Camille Metoyer Moten is a fun-loving, free-spirited soldier of faith. That faith got tested starting with an April 2012 breast cancer diagnosis. After treatments and surgeries over two years she gratefully proclaims, “I […]

Having it all

December 4, 2014 · Posted In: Business, Entrepreneurs, Leaders, Lifestyle, Omaha Magazine, People
Even if Viv Ewing was not one half of a dynamic Omaha couple—she’s married to Douglas County Treasurer John Ewing Jr.—she’d still be among the metro’s more intriguing figures. Her “done it all” resume is […]

Bruce Crawford

December 2, 2014 · Posted In: Entertainment, Lifestyle, Omaha Magazine, People
With the Nov. 7 screening of Alfred Hitchcock’s classic The Birds, featuring a guest appearance by star Tippi Hedren, impresario Bruce Crawford marks his 35th film event over 22 years. The screening is a Nebraska […]

Milton Kleinberg

November 5, 2014 · Posted In: 60 Plus in Omaha, Omaha Magazine, People
As a child in Poland, Milton Kleinberg got caught up in a little known chapter of the Holocaust when he and his family were among Jews exiled to Soviet labor camps. The forced journey took […]

Tanya Cook

October 20, 2014 · Posted In: Lifestyle, Omaha Magazine, People
An abiding curiosity led Neb. State Sen. Tanya Cook to serve as an official observer during the presidential election in war-torn Ukraine earlier this year. Joining a Ukrainian Congress Committee of America delegation, she witnessed […]

Big Mama, Bigger Heart

Patricia Givens Barron, the woman behind Big Mama’s Kitchen in North Omaha, is known for her soul food. And for giving folks who’ve run afoul of the law a second chance. Her desire to give […]

Mary Carrick

July 12, 2014 · Posted In: Encounter, Lifestyle, People
If the late soul master James Brown was the hardest working man in show business, then singer Mary Carrick is Omaha’s hardest working woman in entertainment. When the Nebraska Arts Council touring artist isn’t performing […]

Omaha Code School

Entrepreneurial techie Sumeet Jain is poised to fill a gap in the metro’s dot-com scene through a for-profit startup he founded last fall with his cousin Rahul Gupta. The pair’s Omaha Code School aims to […]

Rabbi Azriel

May 14, 2014 · Posted In: Lifestyle, Omaha Magazine, People, Publications
Rabbi Aryeh Azriel has led Omaha’s reform Jewish congregation, Temple Israel Synagogue, since 1988. Along the way he’s become known for his social justice advocacy and for his efforts building bridges to other faith communities. […]

Ariel Roblin

May 8, 2014 · Posted In: Downtown, Neighborhoods, Omaha Magazine, Publications
Almost as soon as Ariel Roblin became president and general manager of Omaha ratings leader KETV in 2011 she faced the momentous decision of finding a new site for the ABC network affiliate. This next […]

Drive-By Delight

April 1, 2014 · Posted In: At Home, Dundee, Home, Neighborhoods, Omaha Home, Omaha Magazine, Publications
Alexander Payne’s new Oscar-nominated film Nebraska is stirring the pot in his home state the way his last film made here, About Schmidt, did in 2002. That earlier project’s superstar lead, Jack Nicholson, naturally dominated […]

Patique Collins Finds the Right Fit

January 28, 2014 · Posted In: Business, Entrepreneurs, Fitness, Omaha Magazine, Sports
In 2011 Patique Collins left a two-decade corporate career to open a fitness business. Two-and-a-half years later her Right Fit gym on West Maple Road jumps with clients. This former model, who’s emceed events and […]

To Tanzania with Love

January 15, 2014 · Posted In: Lifestyle, Omaha Magazine, People
Life-changing work by Alegent Creighton Health in Tanzania is the focus of a forthcoming documentary from a one-time Omaha television news personality. When former KMTV anchor-reporter Mary Williams and videographer Pete Soby travel to the […]

The Making of Nebraska

November 15, 2013 · Posted In: Entertainment, Lifestyle, Omaha Magazine, People
When you watch Alexander Payne’s acclaimed new film Nebraska, keep in mind that each and every acting part was cast in a collaboration between the two-time Oscar-winning filmmaker and his casting director, John Jackson. Under […]

Potash Twins

October 26, 2013 · Posted In: Entertainment, Music, Omaha Magazine, People
Omaha once reigned as a major live music hub where scores of legendary artists came to perform. Many resident musicians who got their chops here used Omaha as a springboard to forge fat careers on […]

Jim Flowers

August 27, 2013 · Posted In: Entertainment, Lifestyle, Omaha Magazine, People
Dapper Jim Flowers, with his trademark moustache and buttonhole flower, is a fixture in people’s lives after 31 years as an Omaha television meteorologist. This husband and father of two has invested himself in the […]

MindMixer

August 26, 2013 · Posted In: B2B Magazine, Business, Entrepreneurs
Urban planners turned entrepreneurs Nick Bowden and Nathan Preheim never got used to the slim turnouts that town hall meetings drew for civic projects under review. It bothered them that so few people weighed in […]

Lessons in Transforming Lives

June 20, 2013 · Posted In: Auto, Giving, Lifestyle, Nonprofit, Omaha Magazine, People
When a group of Omaha Home for Boys and Jacob’s Place residents helped put the finishing touches on a customized 1999 Harley Davidson motorcycle this May, they accomplished something bigger than themselves. As participants in […]

Iraq War Vet Jacob Hausman Battles PTSD and Finds Peace

Growing up in Beatrice, Neb., Jacob “Jake” Hausman harbored a childhood dream of serving in the U.S. military. Both his grandfathers and an uncle served. He volunteered for the Army in 2002 and upon completing […]

David Brown’s Omaha

May 25, 2013 · Posted In: B2B Magazine, Business, Leaders, Lifestyle, People
David Brown did his fair share of moving around before settling in Omaha in 2003 to become president of the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce. Before assuming that post, the Detroit native worked in his […]

Sam Mercer

April 25, 2013 · Posted In: Business, Downtown, Encounter, Lifestyle, People
Continental bon vivant Samuel Mercer, who passed away in early February, was not a typical Nebraskan. Though he grew up to become the Old Market’s undisputed godfather, he started life as the son of prominent […]

Gesu and Brother Mike

Jesuit brother Mike Wilmot prefers his actions to speak for him more than his words. Lately, those actions have helped put several first-time homebuyers in new houses. After years of coaching and teaching at Omaha […]

Great Plains Theatre Conference

Plays and playwrights remain the heart of the May 25-June 1 Great Plains Theatre Conference, which is now in its eighth year, says producing artistic director Kevin Lawler. But since assuming leadership over this Metropolitan […]

Mid-Century Modern

December 25, 2012 · Posted In: Home, Omaha Home, Places
In post-World War II America, a contemporary design style borne of the modernist movement and emphasizing a balance of form and function came to the attention of visionary Omaha developers and architects. The resulting homes […]

Roger duRand

Omaha designer Roger duRand didn’t invent the Old Market, but he played a key role shaping the former wholesale produce and jobbing center into a lively arts-culture district. His imprint on this historic urban residential-commercial […]

The Troy Davis Story

Leading Omaha hairdresser Troy Davis long ago showed an educational and entrepreneurial knack for his craft and for building the Edgeworthy brand at Fringes Salon & Spa in the Old Market. Now that his mentor […]

Ervin & Smith

November 25, 2012 · Posted In: B2B Magazine, Business, West Omaha
Executives at Omaha advertising-public relations firm Ervin & Smith say the company’s recent growth and recognition as a top place to work and prosper are by-products of its considered emphasis on staff development. 2012 has […]

The Budge Porter Story Comes Home

October 25, 2012 · Posted In: At Home, Home, Home Improvement, Lifestyle, Omaha Home
Budge Porter lost many physical capabilities when he broke his neck tackling a teammate in a 1976 Husker football practice. The catastrophic injury left him a quadriplegic confined to a wheelchair. What he’s never lost […]

Steve Gordon

August 20, 2012 · Posted In: Downtown, Encounter, Entrepreneurs, People, Style
Designer Steve Gordon’s urbanized sense for what’s in-vogue permeates his lifestyle and RDQLUS Creative signature work. He indulges a love for hip hop, sneakers, and bikes. He provides brand development, identity design, and creative direction […]

In Memoriam: George Eisenberg

August 20, 2012 · Posted In: Business, Downtown, Encounter, Lifestyle, People
The late George Eisenberg, 88, appreciated the historic Old Market the way few people do because of his many relationships to it. His experience encompassed the Market’s life as a wholesale produce center and eventual […]

https://leoadambiga.com/2012/04/25/omahas–pitch–man-entrepreneur…

https://leoadambiga.com/2011/10/27/a-hospice-house-story-how-phil..

 

Categories: Journalism, Leo Adam Biga, Media, Omaha, Omaha Magazine, Omaha Stories, Writing Tags: , , , , , ,
%d bloggers like this: