Nebraska
At the center of the EPA's newly proposed Affordable Clean Energy rule is doing away with a permitting process known as New Source Review that requires coal power plants to add scrubbers and other expensive pollution control equipment when upgraded.
The New York Times
The Omaha Bus Rapid Transit (ORBT) system will feature prepaid fares, 60-foot buses, level boarding, and bus lanes.
Omaha World Herald
Over 1,600 new subway cars may be ordered, a minimum of 200 with open gangways, by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The first 500 will be purchased from the Japanese company, Kawasaki, to be assembled in Yonkers and Lincoln, Nebraska.
The New York Times
The recent spill of 210,000 gallons of crude oil from the Keystone pipeline in South Dakota was far from an outlier.
High Country News
TransCanada got its second wish. Last March, President Trump reversed President Obama's rejection of the 1,136-mile pipeline to carry Alberta oil sands crude. On Monday, the Nebraska Public Service Commission OK'd a route, but not the one it wanted.
The Washington Post
Thursday's massive oil spill in South Dakota is not a good omen for TransCanada for a favorable decision on Monday on an application before the Nebraska Public Service Commission on the routing of the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.
The Washington Post - Energy and Environment
NPR has identified a cultural phenomenon in rural America: craft beer is economic development—and a draw for young people.
NPR via KPCC
In an effort to curb panhandling, the mayor of Omaha introduces ordinance to make it illegal to be on some thin medians.
Omaha World Herald
A federal judge ruled that the Army Corps of Engineers failed to fully comply with NEPA in allowing the controversial pipeline to cross under the Missouri River. The judge did not order Energy Transfers Partners to cease operations of the pipeline.
NPR: The Two-Way
In 2015, the U.S. Census made some changes to its methodology for estimating city populations. The city of Ralston, a suburb of Omaha, provides a case study for the effect of the changes.
Ralston Recorder
Activists use plungers to unclog streets for bikers, as tide of active transit flows unimpeded across America's planes.
Omaha World Herald
Communities across Nebraska report plenty of jobs to go around, but not enough housing for the workers to fulfill the demand.
Omaha World-Herald
Following through on a January executive action, President Trump announced Friday that he was approving the oil pipeline that his predecessor had rejected over a year ago. Oil is already flowing from Steele City, Nebraska to Gulf Coast refineries.
The New York Times - Energy & Environment
A large mixed-use development proposed as a 'gateway to western Omaha' has received approval from the city's planning board.
Omaha World Herald
The euphemism refers to a cost-saving measure that's happening even in central districts, to the chagrin of residents. This reversion to gravel roads is one manifestation of a looming local infrastructure deficit.
The New York Times
Pennsylvania, the state that had the highest gas tax last year, saw the highest gas tax increase of 7.9 cents per gallon, the final increment of a 2013 law. Michigan's 7.3 cents tax increase, signed into law in 2015, is the second largest increase.
Tax Justice Blog
It used to be that only New Orleans and Las Vegas allowed people to carry a drink outdoors and imbibe in public. Now cities all over the country, mostly in traditionally conservative states, are loosening their laws.
Stateline
Community and Regional Planning Associate Professor Zhenghong Tang received an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) grant to explore the use of drones to monitor wetlands.
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
Surprisingly, legislators are rewarded for supporting new gas taxes: they get reelected, according to a new analysis by the American Road and Transportation Builders Association. What's more, they overwhelmingly hail from red states.
The Hill
Decades ago, developers installed sub-standard asphalt on residential streets in Omaha, with the understanding that residents, not the city, would maintain them.
The Associated Press via The Denver Post
