Omaha World-Herald's top news photos of 2023
Check on the best Omaha World-Herald photos from 2023.
Emil Stubblefield, 8, does a cartwheel while friends Eyan Carodine, 9, Roman Marshall, 10, Revelle Partee, 11, Khiry Partee, 14, and Kayden Partee, 9, play with a garden hose in a kiddie pool near Fontenelle Boulevard and Browne Street in Omaha on Monday, Aug. 21, 2023. Omaha is in an excessive heat warning until Wednesday night.
Justin Holzepfel puts Christmas lights on his roof as his daughter, Madalyn, 5, watches on Tuesday, Nov. 14, 2023.
Matthew Croteau reacts as his daughter Madalyn, 15, drives a cart at Vala's Pumpkin Patch in Gretna on Friday, Oct. 20, 2023.
Patricia WhiteBear, 79, a U.S. Navy veteran and member of the Yankton Sioux tribe, photographed at the Nebraska Urban Indian Health Coalition at 2226 N Street in Omaha on Wednesday, Oct. 11, 2023.
Paige Sandness, left, and Logan Top enjoy the Ferris wheel as storm clouds start to approach at the Maha music festival at Stinson Park on Friday, July 28, 2023.
Jaye'real Coppage 12, dibbles a basketball in the gym at the Salvation Army Omaha North Worship & Service Center located at 2424 Pratt St, on Thursday, Nov. 9, 2023. Paint from the mural on the wall is peeling.
Timmy Jones pulls out a book from a new book vending machine at Westgate Elementary in Omaha on Wednesday, January 25, 2023. The appliance offers books that can be taken home permanently with the use of a shiny gold token.
Emerlyn 7, looks over her selections with Deputy Chief Tom Shaffer, center, and Officer Chad Frodyma, during the Omaha Police Officers Association's "Shop with a Cop" at Target in Omaha on Wednesday, Dec. 6, 2023. The Omaha Police Officers Association took over 40 children shopping for gifts and essentials.
Drone photography of J & S Feedlot, with about 2,000 head of cattle, near Dodge, Neb., on Tuesday, June 13, 2023. With Dodge County under extreme or exceptional drought, owners Joan and Steve Ruskamp have had to adjust how they care for their cattle.
A pedestrian walking south on 13th Street from Farnam Street uses an umbrella to shield themself from the snow on Thursday.
Sarah Nocita hugs her son, Michael Baker, as they move into a new place in northwest Omaha on Thursday, February 2, 2023. They were tenants of the Legacy Crossing Apartments before being forced to move after the City of Omaha shut down the complex in December.
Omaha police and forensics investigators look for evidence as they investigate a shooting that injured one person near 30th and Hamilton Streets on Wednesday.
Dorris Heaston, who served as a Red Cross Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas (SRAO) during the Vietnam War, stands for a portrait at her home in Omaha on Thursday, Nov. 2, 2023. Red Cross Supplemental Recreation Activities Overseas (SRAO), better known as donut dollies, volunteered to help boost morale during the Vietnam War.
Baby elephants Sonny (left) and Eugenia play during their 1st birthday party at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo on Saturday, January 21, 2023.
A group dances to the silent disco from the second day of the Maha music festival at Stinson Park in Omaha on Saturday, July 29, 2023.
Hope, a 2-month-old giraffe, with her 'adopted mom' Betty, at Omaha’s Henry Doorly Zoo & Aquarium on Thursday, May 25, 2023.
Migratory birds fly past the rising sun at the DeSoto National Wildlife Refuge on Tuesday.
Michael Littlefield, of Surprise, Neb., brushes the wool of a lamb on opening day of the Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island on Friday, Aug. 25, 2023. The State Fair runs through Sept. 4.
Celeste Butler and Sherman Wells stand for a photo outside the Spencer Homes public housing apartments at 26th Avenue and Spencer Street in Omaha on Friday, Dec. 8, 2023.
Morning rush hour speeds by on Highway 75 as "Starseeds,"a mural by Sarah Rowe on silos at the Ardent Mills Omaha South Mill located at 2900 C St, is almost finished.
O.NE Finest dancers perform during a hometown send-off for Terence “Bud” Crawford ahead of his fight with fellow welterweight world champion Errol Spence on July 29. Photographed at B&B Sports Academy in North Omaha on Saturday, June 3, 2023.
Ang Bennett uses a level while hanging photographs inside Generator Space on Vinton Street in Omaha on Thursday, July 13, 2023. The exhibit, entitled Body Defiance, features work by Bennett and Sheree Le’Shawn.
Anjonette McLucas adjusts her daughter's hair during a wake for Le'Zah Lewis. About 200 family, friends, colleagues, and neighbors attended the service honoring Lewis, who was pregnant with her fifth child when she was killed by gunfire in July. Mourners shared stories and encouraged each other to cherish the time they have. Photographed at Forest Lawn Cemetery in Omaha on Wednesday, Aug. 9, 2023.
The Cinco de Mayo parade on South 24th Street in Omaha on Saturday.
A cyclist crosses north across Dodge Street on the Dodge Street pedestrian bridge early on Friday.
Loretta Jordan, of Omaha, gets a closer look as she and her son, Zahn McClarnon and Judi gaiashkibos, the executive director of the Nebraska Commission on Indian Affairs, visit an old dairy barn on the site of the Genoa U.S. Indian Industrial School, which operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Names and other messages from the children can still be seen written on and carved into the wooden beams of the barn. Photographed in Genoa, Neb., on Monday.
Sunlight filters through storm clouds onto a wind turbine south of Stuart, Iowa, as severe weather rolls through the midwest on Tuesday, April 04, 2023.
The aftermath of a three-alarm fire at a warehouse located at 4508 S. 28th St. that contained shopping carts.
Chris Beck, 5, plays Connect 4 during the Family Fun Day in Omaha on Saturday, July 29, 2023.
Brooke Winsor draws on the sidewalk during the 5th Annual Chalk Art Festival in Omaha on Saturday, Sept. 9, 2023.
From left, Jerry Carlson, Judi gaiashkibos, Zahn McClarnon, Loretta Jordan and Tammy Rohde visit an old dairy barn on the site of the Genoa U.S. Indian Industrial School, which operated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Names and other messages from the children can still be seen written on and carved into the wooden beams of the barn. Photographed in Genoa, Neb., on Monday, July 10, 2023.
Gary Day shows Gov. Jim Pillen how to pack an order at Amazon's Papillion Fulfillment Center in Papillion on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
Sam Koliopoulos walks through Ted's Liquors located at 8423 North 30th Street, the store he owns and will be retiring from soon.
Performers practice their Cyr Wheel for the Cirque du Soleil's Corteo at CHI Health Center Omaha on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 2023.
Becky McMahon, an animal control officer with the Nebraska Humane Society, uses a catch pole to secure an injured raccoon behind a home in Omaha on Saturday, Sept. 2, 2023. The raccoon was transported to Nebraska Wildlife Rehab.
Julia McGuigan, facing, demonstrates a drawing technique with student Anahi Salazar during an "Urban Illustration" workshop at her studio and shop north of downtown Omaha on Friday, May 12, 2023.
Lennie Roth, places a red rose on the "missing man" table as Tom Kane and Dave Smith stand at right, during a POW/MIA Recognition Day ceremony in Memorial Park in Omaha on Friday, Sept. 15, 2023. The annual ceremony is held to honor and remember those who were prisoners of war or missing in action in past wars.
Guests attend the inaugural ball for Gov. Jim Pillen in Omaha on Saturday, January 7, 2023.
Jim Locklear, Director of Conservation at the Lauritzen Gardens, stands for a portrait in the conservation greenhouse in Omaha on Friday, Oct. 27, 2023. The gardens were awarded accreditation as a Conservation Practitioner by Botanic Gardens Conservation International. Only 30 other botanic gardens in the world have achieved this honor, according to a release.
Korean War veteran Richard Heyne waits for his daughter, Lisa Rennolet, not pictured, to take his photo among the Korean War Veterans Memorial replica during a Korean Armistice 70th Anniversary ceremony at Memorial Park in Omaha on Saturday, July 29, 2023.
Latto opens for Lizzo on her Special 2our in Omaha on Friday, May 19, 2023.
A person walks across the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge as the sun rises on Friday, Jan. 6, 2023.
Omaha women are brought to tears during a rally in support of Palestinians at 72nd and Dodge Streets in Omaha on Friday, Oct. 13, 2023.
A dancer from the Royal House of Diamonds whips her hair while performing during the NAACP Juneteenth Parade in Omaha on Saturday, June 17, 2023.
A downy woodpecker in a tree as fall colors are on display at Meadow Lane Park in Omaha on Thursday, Oct. 26, 2023.
Brothers Finn, 10, and Jaxson Mlynarik, 14, of Winterset, Iowa, stand together with a lit up snowflake during the Holiday Lights Festival lighting ceremony at The RiverFront Park in Omaha on Saturday, Nov. 25, 2023.
Bluebird Cultural Initiative founder Steve Tamayo presents a lesson on Lakota traditions, including regalia for horses, during the FEI World Cup Finals expo in Omaha on Tuesday, April 4, 2023. This year’s equestrian event featured educational spaces devoted to bringing awareness to horse culture within Indigenous Plains tribes including the Lakota.
Snow falls over railroad tracks in South Omaha on Wednesday, January 18, 2023.
Haley Quall, right, and Lisa Mueller prepare flower arrangements for Valentine's Day in the greenhouse at Janousek Florist in Omaha on Monday, February 13, 2023. The family-owned florist expects to have about 700 orders for the holiday.
Artist Nathaniel Ruleaux leads a community project called "To See If I Could Go Home: A True History Paste-Up" at The Union for Contemporary Art in Omaha on Thursday, March 2, 2023. His son, Luca, 3, walks away after handing him a print to demonstrate with. A member of the Oglala Lakota Nation, Ruleaux often uses his art to bring attention and activism to Native stories. "I go in wanting to be punk and get people riled up, but the more I learn and get into it, the more I realize how heavy and traumatic a lot of these stories are," Ruleaux said. "But I use this as a chance for art as a form of therapy and healing." For this piece, Ruleaux asked members of the community to help paste images of his great-great grandfather, Nicholas Ruleau, who attended the Carlisle Indian Boarding School, over the phrase "Kill the Indian, Save the Man", a propagandist motto used by the school.
Cam Doña-Muñoz, a freshman, and hundreds of other students walk out of school on Transgender Day of Visibility outside Omaha Central High School on Friday, March 31, 2023. Students are protesting LB574 and LB575 in the Nebraska Legislature, which would ban certain gender-affirming care for youth and would prevent trans youth from competing in girls sports, respectively.
People, some of whom were ice fishing, walk on the icy surface of Zorinsky Lake on Saturday, February 4, 2023.
In March, the city starts a $32 million, 18-month project to widen 168th Street between West Center Road and Q Street. This will include the widening of the bridge over Zorinsky Lake. Photographed at Zorinsky Lake near 168th Street in Omaha on Tuesday.
Riley McCauley visits the Genoa Indian Industrial School Museum in Genoa, Neb., with his class from Omaha Nation High School, in Macy, Neb., on Tuesday, April 18, 2023. Most of the students have family members who attended the federal boarding school for Native children, which closed in 1934.
Kiro Tureaud, 3, of Bellevue, visits with Santa Claus during the 13th annual Christmas in the Village along North 24th Street in Omaha home on Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023.
Former state Sen. Ernie Chambers joined those calling for Gov. Jim Pillen to change his mind about a new federal program that could keep about 150,000 children fed this summer.
As of Monday, Nebraskans are able to earn tax credits for making donations to certain scholarship-granting organizations working with private and faith-based schools.
Nebraska lawmakers may have little wiggle room for tax and spending changes this year despite starting the new session in what appears to be a comfortable fiscal position.
Omaha death doula Jenni Herchenbach is helping people design “their perfect death” and then ensures that their wishes are carried out.
Will they return to more collegial relationships or will they repeat the bitter, session-long battles of last year?
Gov. Jim Pillen is floating a plan to trim property taxes by raising state sales taxes to a nation-leading 7.5 cents and boosting cigarette taxes by $2 a pack.
The Nebraska Department of Natural Resources purchased just shy of 90 acres east of Julesburg, Colorado, for nearly $90,000 on Dec. 29, according to property records.
The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services confirmed that two pediatric deaths related to influenza have occurred in the state.
The cuts of the fiber-optic cables last summer occurred near railroads near Minneapolis and in Sarpy County. Nearly 60% of Nebraska's 911 centers were unable to receive calls for hours.
The Nebraska Department of Natural Resources purchased just shy of 90 acres east of Julesburg, Colorado, for nearly $90,000 on Dec. 29, according to property records.
The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services confirmed that two pediatric deaths related to influenza have occurred in the state.
The Nebraska Department of Health and Human Services confirmed that two pediatric deaths related to influenza have occurred in the state.
Nebraska's traffic fatalities fell in 2023 in almost every category with the notable exception of bicyclists.
