OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – First Alert 6 has the headlines you need to know to get your Monday started.
Elkhorn school board to meet Monday amid construction progress
Elkhorn Public Schools will hold its first board meeting Monday since reaching some tentative milestones on construction for two unfinished schools.
The community voiced safety concerns and frustration over Stone Pointe and Iron Bluff elementary schools welcoming students back for the year in August.
Following meetings with the city, EPS released tentative timelines for the projects yet to be completed: seven for Iron Bluff and eight for Stone Pointe.
Omaha Mayor John Ewing Jr. says he is confident the new schools in Elkhorn are safe for students as construction continues. Last Friday, a spokesperson for the school said the district was “largely on track” with the deadlines.
Crews planned to finish landscaping and installing fire panels at both schools by last Friday. According to the timeline, other work that is underway at Stone Pointe includes finishing the art room and library.
Work set to begin Monday on downtown Omaha sinkhole
On Monday, work is scheduled to start for a sinkhole in downtown Omaha that has been sitting since January.
The sinkhole opened up after a garbage truck drove into the alley between Farnam and Harney streets and fell through. It has been blocked off from the east ever since.
In an update last month, Mayor Ewing shared that the “building owners and the city could not come to an agreement about who was responsible” — but the repairs can’t wait any longer.
The city will close a section of 16th Street between Farnam and Harney streets for three to four weeks. The alley will also be fully closed, with crews working with building owners to allow for dumpster use and parking.
The handling of the sinkhole was a hot topic in the mayor’s race earlier this year. First Alert 6 is told work is expected to take most of the remainder of this year.
Road closures scheduled to start Monday in Omaha metro
There are some some projects that will affect travel in the Omaha metro beginning Monday.
Weather permitting, NDOT will close 72nd at F streets starting at 8 a.m. Monday until 5 p.m. Tuesday. The work is for repairs to the railroad tracks in the area.
“I-80 traffic exiting at 72nd St to travel southbound will be detoured westbound at F St. to southbound 84th St. N 72nd St traffic will be detoured to westbound L St then to northbound to 84 St to access I-80,” Jaret Lansford with First Alert 6 Traffic writes in the traffic blog.
Farnam Street at 10th Street, as well as 10th Street southbound, will also close Monday. The closure is for utility work that is expected to take a month.
Starting next Monday, 10th Street northbound will close for work on an intersection.
Accident determined to be cause of South Omaha house fire
An accident was determined to be the cause of a house fire in South Omaha on Saturday night.
An Omaha Fire Department report states crews responded to the home near 21st and Arbor streets just before 10:45 p.m. Saturday.
Once on the scene, the fire was extinguished quickly. OFD says no one was in the home at the time of the fire, and no injuries were reported.
The cause was determined to be a work light being placed too close to combustibles and damage was estimated at $18,500.
Top-ranked Husker volleyball dominates Cal in sweep at home
The No. 1 Nebraska volleyball team remains unbeaten after a sweep (25-15, 25-18, 25-12) of California on Sunday.
Nebraska Athletics says a crowd of 8,521 watched the Huskers (6-0) close out the Ameritas Players Challenge over the Golden Bears (2-2) at the Bob Devaney Sports Center.
“Nebraska hit .419 and limited Cal to .088 while finishing with a 49-26 edge in kills… Nebraska also posted nine blocks and six aces,” Mason Kern with Sports on 6 reports.
The Huskers will be back in action at home this weekend, hosting Utah Friday and Grand Canyon on Saturday, both at 6 p.m. CT.
Ribbon cutting set for ‘Baby Bob’ pedestrian bridge this week
On Wednesday, there will be a ribbon cutting for the North Downtown RiverFront Pedestrian Bridge — better known as the Baby Bob.
The 1,100-foot-long bridge connects the Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge with the rest of downtown Omaha. It opens at 10th Street, near Charles Schwab Field and CHI Health Center Omaha, a release states.
Officials tell First Alert 6 the goal of the bridge is to cut down on travel distance for pedestrians. Work for the $7.5 million project started in November 2023.
Ewing will be among the speakers at the event, which starts at 2 p.m. Wednesday.
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