Local

UNO recognized the accomplishments of outstanding faculty and students last week, during its annual Honors Convocation events.

The Omaha Planning Board voted unanimously Oct. 6 to recommend approval to add an environmental section to the city's master plan. Environment Omaha,  a collaborative effort between the City of Omaha, the public and Omaha by Design, prepared the document.

After "further review" and consulting with others, Ralston Mayor Don Groesser retracted previous support of TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline expansion in an April 13 letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

UNO voters made their voices heard Tuesday, electing junior political science major Liz O'Connor as UNO student body president/regent and her running mate senior sociology and political science major Bret Harrell as vice president.  The duo defeated opponents Ryan Tefft, a senior geology major, and Eric Hansen, a senior accounting major, by a 727 to 326 margin.

The power of the film "A Crude Awakening - The Oil Crash" is fueled by the visions of director Basil Gelpke and producer Ray McCormack as they explore the global peak in petroleum production through data, predictions and key historical facts. From producing clean tap water to driving to work, petroleum is seen as the fuel of the modern human race. It's a relevant film, considering the recent BP oil spill that ravished much of the Gulf of Mexico and the world's dependency on petroleum.