The Omaha World Herald

[Omaha Cowboy]

From the W-H editorial that was mentioned earlier-

“From our offices in downtown Omaha, we can see Harrah’s, one of three Council Bluffs casinos that together brought in more than $400 million in gross revenue in fiscal 2019. Unless casinos are in a tourism destination, they rely on bettors from the nearest population center, meaning that Nebraskans are subsidizing Iowa tax relief, infrastructure, environmental programs, problem gambler assistance and more.

It only makes sense for Nebraska to capture some of that revenue for real needs here.

To achieve that, Nebraska ballots this fall include three related citizen initiative proposals: A constitutional amendment to allow gaming at horse racing tracks only; and two proposed laws to regulate gaming and tax the proceeds. The latter question imposes a 20% tax on gross gambling revenue of licensed operators, of which 70% would go to property tax relief, 25% to counties, and 2.5% to both problem gamblers assistance and the state general fund.

Supporters estimate that would mean about $45 million a year for property tax relief. That estimate would add about 16% to the state’s $275 million Property Tax Credit Cash Fund.

It also is true that casinos create jobs and generate tax revenue — and Nebraska gamblers do subsidize Iowa programs. In Omaha, we already absorb the impact of problem gambling, but without any casino taxes to help fight it.“..

The complete W-H editorial link:

https://omaha.com/opinion/editorial/edi ... 408bf.html

Ciao..LiO...Peace

[Padre]

From the W-H editorial that was mentioned earlier-

“From our offices in downtown Omaha, we can see Harrah’s, one of three Council Bluffs casinos that together brought in more than $400 million in gross revenue in fiscal 2019. Unless casinos are in a tourism destination, they rely on bettors from the nearest population center, meaning that Nebraskans are subsidizing Iowa tax relief, infrastructure, environmental programs, problem gambler assistance and more.

It only makes sense for Nebraska to capture some of that revenue for real needs here.

To achieve that, Nebraska ballots this fall include three related citizen initiative proposals: A constitutional amendment to allow gaming at horse racing tracks only; and two proposed laws to regulate gaming and tax the proceeds. The latter question imposes a 20% tax on gross gambling revenue of licensed operators, of which 70% would go to property tax relief, 25% to counties, and 2.5% to both problem gamblers assistance and the state general fund.

Supporters estimate that would mean about $45 million a year for property tax relief. That estimate would add about 16% to the state’s $275 million Property Tax Credit Cash Fund.

It also is true that casinos create jobs and generate tax revenue — and Nebraska gamblers do subsidize Iowa programs. In Omaha, we already absorb the impact of problem gambling, but without any casino taxes to help fight it.“..

The complete W-H editorial link:

https://omaha.com/opinion/editorial/edi ... 408bf.html

Ciao..LiO...Peace

This is a change in their editorial thinking, since the last time this was an issue in 2015.

https://omaha.com/opinion/article_3c8be ... 85018.html

[Omaha Cowboy]

From the W-H editorial that was mentioned earlier-

“From our offices in downtown Omaha, we can see Harrah’s, one of three Council Bluffs casinos that together brought in more than $400 million in gross revenue in fiscal 2019. Unless casinos are in a tourism destination, they rely on bettors from the nearest population center, meaning that Nebraskans are subsidizing Iowa tax relief, infrastructure, environmental programs, problem gambler assistance and more.

It only makes sense for Nebraska to capture some of that revenue for real needs here.

To achieve that, Nebraska ballots this fall include three related citizen initiative proposals: A constitutional amendment to allow gaming at horse racing tracks only; and two proposed laws to regulate gaming and tax the proceeds. The latter question imposes a 20% tax on gross gambling revenue of licensed operators, of which 70% would go to property tax relief, 25% to counties, and 2.5% to both problem gamblers assistance and the state general fund.

Supporters estimate that would mean about $45 million a year for property tax relief. That estimate would add about 16% to the state’s $275 million Property Tax Credit Cash Fund.

It also is true that casinos create jobs and generate tax revenue — and Nebraska gamblers do subsidize Iowa programs. In Omaha, we already absorb the impact of problem gambling, but without any casino taxes to help fight it.“..

The complete W-H editorial link:

https://omaha.com/opinion/editorial/edi ... 408bf.html

Ciao..LiO...Peace

This is a change in their editorial thinking, since the last time this was an issue in 2015.

https://omaha.com/opinion/article_3c8be ... 85018.html

It’s certainly been an “about face”...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

[nativeomahan]

Yes, for decades the OWH was unalterably opposed to casino gambling. Of course almost no one listened to them. To see this change of tune is surprising, and to my mind finally reflects reality.
I’m not a gambler. We were in Vegas a few months back and I allowed myself $20 to spend at each casino we walked through. That’s the most I have gambled in probably 10 years. I know that some people have gambling addictions, like some people abuse alcohol, or eating sugary desserts. For the vast majority it’s just entertainment. It won’t change my habits if Omaha gets casinos.

[nativeomahan]

I got a phone call today from a lady wanting me to renew my OWH subscription for another 26 weeks. She asked me “How’s the weather up where you are?”
I could renew my Friday, Saturday and Sunday subscription for $101 or something like that, for 26 weeks, minus deductions for special “extra” issues I might receive, such as for Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.
I asked her what it would cost to just switch to a Sunday only subscription, since the Friday and Saturday editions have become jokes. She quoted me $53.30. Sold.
I believe it is important to support local journalism. And the price I pay covers online access, which is about all I care for, anyway.

[Greg S]

I got a phone call today from a lady wanting me to renew my OWH subscription for another 26 weeks. She asked me “How’s the weather up where you are?”
I could renew my Friday, Saturday and Sunday subscription for $101 or something like that, for 26 weeks, minus deductions for special “extra” issues I might receive, such as for Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.
I asked her what it would cost to just switch to a Sunday only subscription, since the Friday and Saturday editions have become jokes. She quoted me $53.30. Sold.
I believe it is important to support local journalism. And the price I pay covers online access, which is about all I care for, anyway.

Yeah that's what I do, on line plus Sunday paper. It's worth it.

Greg

[S.O.Boy]

On NextDoor it was said OWH let Jeff Koterba with little notice.

[nebugeater]

On NextDoor it was said OWH let Jeff Koterba with little notice.

I believe he said on his FB or some other social media site himself that there was no notice.

[Bob from Omaha]

I just got a bill in the mail from the owh. I had subscribed to the digital for a month for 99 cents. The bill was for a month for $10.99 PLUS a $3.95 "convenience fee" for a paper, mailed invoice to offset the evidently massive costs for printing, preparation and postage of mailing the bill.

After waiting on hold for 20 minutes...I had been told by the automated menu that the wait would be 2-6 minutes....I told the agent that I wanted to cancel. She offered me a free month if I didn't cancel. When I said no she offered to ask someone for a lower price if I didn't cancel. Again I said no. She then asked what she could do to keep me as a subscriber. I said "Pay me $3.95 a month convenience fee to be a subscriber". She declined and cancelled my subscription.

The state of journalism in our days. Slim newspapers, larger prices to subscribe, convenience fees. Stay classy owh.

[nebugeater]

I just got a bill in the mail from the owh. I had subscribed to the digital for a month for 99 cents. The bill was for a month for $10.99 PLUS a $3.95 "convenience fee" for a paper, mailed invoice to offset the evidently massive costs for printing, preparation and postage of mailing the bill.

After waiting on hold for 20 minutes...I had been told by the automated menu that the wait would be 2-6 minutes....I told the agent that I wanted to cancel. She offered me a free month if I didn't cancel. When I said no she offered to ask someone for a lower price if I didn't cancel. Again I said no. She then asked what she could do to keep me as a subscriber. I said "Pay me $3.95 a month convenience fee to be a subscriber". She declined and cancelled my subscription.

The state of journalism in our days. Slim newspapers, larger prices to subscribe, convenience fees. Stay classy owh.

I get the local Gretna weekly paper that is part of the OWH companies. They have this convince fee on every invoice for the past couple of years. I pay six months at a time. I have a letter I have written that I have included stating that would not pay it and cross it off the invoice and make it clear if that was not acceptable to cancel and refund. I also make it clear that I will watch like a hawk and if my subscription length is shortened because I didn't pay this fee I would be canceling. So far after three mailings of this, I have not paid it and not been shorted the weekly

[Omaha Cowboy]

I just got a bill in the mail from the owh. I had subscribed to the digital for a month for 99 cents. The bill was for a month for $10.99 PLUS a $3.95 "convenience fee" for a paper, mailed invoice to offset the evidently massive costs for printing, preparation and postage of mailing the bill.

After waiting on hold for 20 minutes...I had been told by the automated menu that the wait would be 2-6 minutes....I told the agent that I wanted to cancel. She offered me a free month if I didn't cancel. When I said no she offered to ask someone for a lower price if I didn't cancel. Again I said no. She then asked what she could do to keep me as a subscriber. I said "Pay me $3.95 a month convenience fee to be a subscriber". She declined and cancelled my subscription.

The state of journalism in our days. Slim newspapers, larger prices to subscribe, convenience fees. Stay classy owh.

I get the local Gretna weekly paper that is part of the OWH companies. They have this convince fee on every invoice for the past couple of years. I pay six months at a time. I have a letter I have written that I have included stating that would not pay it and cross it off the invoice and make it clear if that was not acceptable to cancel and refund. I also make it clear that I will watch like a hawk and if my subscription length is shortened because I didn't pay this fee I would be canceling. So far after three mailings of this, I have not paid it and not been shorted the weekly

The OWH must be taking their cues from the banking industry regarding “hidden fees”...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

[Brad]

Few interesting tweets from the OWH employees today:

[Linkin5]

Warren Buffet says things to seem well intentioned. But make no mistake, he is a ruthless vulture that is only concerned with making himself richer.

[PWL73316]

I desperately want local news but I can't justify subscribing to the OWH when half the staff exclusively cover the Huskers and the rest is a complete mess. This is a case where, in my opinion, we would be better off letting this dinosaur die and replacing it with some younger and hungrier upstarts supported in a different model. OWH reporters put better, more insightful content out on Twitter than usually makes it into ink, anyway.

The Athletic is an example in the sports world that has vastly superior content and much more editorial freedom for a very low cost to the end user, after cutting most of the middle men. They've had their problems with the pandemic when sports were curtailed but overall they are doing well.

That exact model may not be perfect for local news outside of athletics but something needs to replace the paper, which has been on life support for decades now.

[jessep28]

1. Play song: [youtube]
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2.

[nativeomahan]

I just got a bill in the mail from the owh. I had subscribed to the digital for a month for 99 cents. The bill was for a month for $10.99 PLUS a $3.95 "convenience fee" for a paper, mailed invoice to offset the evidently massive costs for printing, preparation and postage of mailing the bill.

After waiting on hold for 20 minutes...I had been told by the automated menu that the wait would be 2-6 minutes....I told the agent that I wanted to cancel. She offered me a free month if I didn't cancel. When I said no she offered to ask someone for a lower price if I didn't cancel. Again I said no. She then asked what she could do to keep me as a subscriber. I said "Pay me $3.95 a month convenience fee to be a subscriber". She declined and cancelled my subscription.

The state of journalism in our days. Slim newspapers, larger prices to subscribe, convenience fees. Stay classy owh.

Today’s Sunday World Herald is 74 pages in size. Sunday papers in past years used to routinely be over 200 pages in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
On the plus side, they paper has been redesigned, and sports an attractive new font.

[nativeomahan]

I desperately want local news but I can't justify subscribing to the OWH when half the staff exclusively cover the Huskers and the rest is a complete mess. This is a case where, in my opinion, we would be better off letting this dinosaur die and replacing it with some younger and hungrier upstarts supported in a different model. OWH reporters put better, more insightful content out on Twitter than usually makes it into ink, anyway.

The Athletic is an example in the sports world that has vastly superior content and much more editorial freedom for a very low cost to the end user, after cutting most of the middle men. They've had their problems with the pandemic when sports were curtailed but overall they are doing well.

That exact model may not be perfect for local news outside of athletics but something needs to replace the paper, which has been on life support for decades now.

This!

[Bob from Omaha]

Today’s Sunday World Herald is 74 pages in size. Sunday papers in past years used to routinely be over 200 pages in the weeks leading up to Christmas.
On the plus side, they paper has been redesigned, and sports an attractive new font.

I just had the opportunity to read both the Detroit Free Press and the Detroit News. Yes, Detroit still has two dailies. The Freep is owned by Gannett, which also owns USAToday & the Des Moines Register, among others. The News is owned by the same outfit that owns the Boston Herald and a bunch of other dailies.

Anyway, as I said I weep for the owh. The Detroit papers still have some really good columnists & put out a good paper, though much smaller than when we moved here in 2008. Lots of local news, good sports coverage, you know, the things the owh used to have. If you want delivery it's Sunday, Thursday & Friday along with the web edition 7 days a week. That started in 2009. You can buy the other days at grocery stores, 711, etc. What I do notice is that even though both are owned by large corporations headquartered outside Michigan there is still local flavor. The DM Register proves that. The argument when Peter Kiewit bought the owh was that he didn't want it to be owned by a chain. I didn't really ever buy that premise.

As far as Buffett goes he was about 20 years too late building his paper empire. He made a ton with the Buffalo News though it lost money when he first bought it. Of course he's all about the profit. Did you really expect him to take a loss just because the local paper loses money? He bought 1/4 of the Royals as a hobby & did it personally. AND he got out pretty quick. Not so much with the helping of Omaha with him. On the other hand, quite a few of those he made rich did give back to Omaha. The zoo and lots of other projects. I sincerely believe he'd like nothing better than to take his cash with him when he dies. Failing that his money goes to the Gates Foundation and his first wife's goes to San Fransisco. His daughter has been generous with Omaha tho.

I honestly don't know the answer to the current state of affairs. It isn't Lee. Obviously they can't handle it. In the end these days most get their "news" from facebook, twitter, tv and the internet. Hard to fight with free.

[jessep28]

The payment card I have on file with them expired this year. I'll probably just not update my billing info and let my online subscription lapse.

I'm all for supporting local journalism, but the quality of the newspaper has been steadily declining.

[skinzfan23]

Funny thing...today (Sunday) is the only print paper I receive. I only got the ads and no newspaper. At first I thought the paper was really thin for a Sunday but then realized they were only ads. Thankfully I called and they brought a paper out in an hr.

[43county]

I was paying $25 a month for a Sunday print and online edition...after starting out at $100 annually around 3-4 years ago. I finally cancelled last month. I just can't justify it when before I would get Matthew Hansen, Erin Grace, Sarah Baker Hansen, Kevin Coffey, Koterba, etc. but they're all gone and I'm left paying for Lee Enterprises executives. They're an awful company and unfortunately I can't support what they've done to our paper.

If there was a way I could just support the journalists, I would. I feel bad for them. But I can't just keep giving these clowns money.

[jessep28]

They've also cut about half the journalists and outsourced the paper design to Wisconsin. That's why you'll sometimes see different fonts being used on the same page.

[WBR_Tom]

They've also cut about half the journalists and outsourced the paper design to Wisconsin. That's why you'll sometimes see different fonts being used on the same page.

It's really sad. The design of the OWH had been top-tier for a long, long time -- but like with most things Lee Enterprises has touched at the paper, they've ruined it to save a buck. Some of the front pages over the last couple of weeks remind me of my high school paper that I was layout editor on 25 years ago, before I knew much of anything about typography, design, or anything else There was one page last week where the headline was too short on one of the big stories, and the layout designer stretched the font horizontally to take up more space. Seriously amateur stuff.

[jessep28]

It's really sad. The design of the OWH had been top-tier for a long, long time -- but like with most things Lee Enterprises has touched at the paper, they've ruined it to save a buck. Some of the front pages over the last couple of weeks remind me of my high school paper that I was layout editor on 25 years ago, before I knew much of anything about typography, design, or anything else There was one page last week where the headline was too short on one of the big stories, and the layout designer stretched the font horizontally to take up more space. Seriously amateur stuff.

They centered the first paragraph of Ristau's recycling story in today's paper.

[Bob from Omaha]

It's really sad. The design of the OWH had been top-tier for a long, long time -- but like with most things Lee Enterprises has touched at the paper, they've ruined it to save a buck. Some of the front pages over the last couple of weeks remind me of my high school paper that I was layout editor on 25 years ago, before I knew much of anything about typography, design, or anything else There was one page last week where the headline was too short on one of the big stories, and the layout designer stretched the font horizontally to take up more space. Seriously amateur stuff.

They centered the first paragraph of Ristau's recycling story in today's paper.

Pretty!

[WBR_Tom]

Wow. That's some next-level sloppiness even by OWH standards. (Easy to have that happen by accident when the cutline above it is centered -- and sometimes style sheets do break -- but there's no way that should go unnoticed unless you're just not paying attention.)

[Bob from Omaha]

I figured it out. Bear in a hat.

[Padre]

I figured it out. Bear in a hat.

I knew there was something subliminal going on!

[nativeomahan]

I figured it out. Bear in a hat.

Hahahaha
“Bear with us”

[jag42]

Today's Sunday OW-H is about as big as what a typical weekday paper used to be. I suppose the lack of ads has to do with today being Easter, though.

[Omaha Cowboy]

Today's Sunday OW-H is about as big as what a typical weekday paper used to be. I suppose the lack of ads has to do with today being Easter, though.

Eventually, the W-H Sunday edition may evolve into 8 1/2 by 11 standard notebook size sheets and be about 8 pages, minus the ads (which have more content these days than the actual newspaper)...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

[skinzfan23]

Funny, I was thinking the same thing. I used to deliver papers from when I was a kid until about age 16 and today's paper was as thin as the daily paper used to be. The coverage with local high school sports was good, but not much else in it.

[jag42]

Funny, I was thinking the same thing. I used to deliver papers from when I was a kid until about age 16 and today's paper was as thin as the daily paper used to be. The coverage with local high school sports was good, but not much else in it.

Hey, I delivered the OW-H when I was a kid too. Mid 1980s. You may remember that half the Sunday paper (comics, ads, living section, etc...) was distributed to me on Thursday or Friday, and the actual news sections was dropped off Sunday morning, and I'd put it all together Sunday morning for delivery.

[bbinks]

Today's Sunday OW-H is about as big as what a typical weekday paper used to be. I suppose the lack of ads has to do with today being Easter, though.

And 7x the price

[jag42]

Eventually, the W-H Sunday edition may evolve into 8 1/2 by 11 standard notebook size sheets and be about 8 pages, minus the ads (which have more content these days than the actual newspaper)...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

Haha I get what you're saying, I'm just wondering how soon they stop putting out a print edition one day per week (if not two or even three days per week).

On Fridays, I do get a print edition and sit down and read it while I'm on lunch. It might be 20 pages, tops (including the real estate section). I dunno what the print edition is like other days of the week.

[jessep28]

I like paying full price for an online subscription, and being bombarded with ads on every article I read.

[Omaha Cowboy]

Eventually, the W-H Sunday edition may evolve into 8 1/2 by 11 standard notebook size sheets and be about 8 pages, minus the ads (which have more content these days than the actual newspaper)...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

Haha I get what you're saying, I'm just wondering how soon they stop putting out a print edition one day per week (if not two or even three days per week).

On Fridays, I do get a print edition and sit down and read it while I'm on lunch. It might be 20 pages, tops (including the real estate section). I dunno what the print edition is like other days of the week.

Right, lol. I think the W-H is trending toward Saturday and Sunday print editions only..and will eventually put a halt to M-F..

Might happen within the next 12-24 months...

Ciao..LiO...Peace

[Greg S]

I like paying full price for an online subscription, and being bombarded with ads on every article I read.

I have a Sunday paper and 7 day on line. For your online, I assume all the ads are if you view in so it looks like the paper? I use the tradition Omaha.com website version and don't have an issue with a bunch of ads.

Greg

[Bob from Omaha]

This is sad. Yeah it's easy to slam the owh but in reality I've purchased a couple of dozen Sunday papers from cities pretty much all over the country, big cities and small. The bottom line is that with the exception of the Wall St Journal & the new york times(sort of), all the newspapers are in the same boat. Readership is down, thus advertisers put their money elsewhere or demand lower costs for newspaper ads, thus newspapers cut back to save costs, and so on and so on. It's not an owh thing. It's the times in which we live.

On the other hand, the owh sucks. Sorry, couldn't help it.

[GetUrban]

You know it’s bad when the OWH covers the left 1/3 of their Front Page of the print version with a full page color add. I only get the print version Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Online M-Th. It’s old news by the time I read it, since most of the same stories show up on my Twitter feed almost instantaneously.
I do still like to read their local/regional stories and features though.