PRSRT STD U.S. POSTAGE PAID OMAHA NE PERMIT NO. 389
A publication of the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging
New Horizons February 2026 | Vol. 51 | No. 2
A good woman’s work is never done By Leo Adam Biga ommunity activist and advocate Cheryl Weston makes her voice known on civic affairs issues. Her criticism of the Omaha Public Power District still operating coal-burning units at its North Omaha Power Station has appeared in local and statewide news. She even made the Washington Post’s cover for calling out OPPD on breaking a promise to fully transition to natural gas at the plant by 2026. Weston contends the community’s wellbeing is ignored to appease special interests. The influx of massive data centers from high tech giants Google and META require ever more energy. Meanwhile, a lawsuit by the state attorney general is attempting to force the utility to continue burning coal. Weston asserts the utility prioritizes profit over health. It is not the first time she’s taken on Goliaths for polluting the environment. As Lead Safe Omaha Coalition director she made the public aware of contaminated soil dangers. The contamination came from generations of ASARCO refining and Aaron Ferer & Sons (later Gould Electronics) recycling operations. Exposure can mean elevated lead blood levels that pose health risks to young children and nursing and pregnant women. She worked with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), overseer of the Omaha Lead Superfund Cleanup Site, to ensure monies went to area Black businesses for lead abatement and to health and environmental programs for detection, monitoring, treatment of lead poisoning. “One of the things I fought for and we were successful – the people most affected by this should get some economic benefit,” she said. She sounds alarm about certain reinvestment in North Omaha
C
COURTESY PHOTO threatening to erase history and displace residents. Gentrification is being closely watched by Weston and others who fear their beloved community is being sold out from under them. She expresses concern that the Nebraska African American Affairs Commission lacks transparency and remains disconnected from the Black community. Before devoting her energies fulltime to community Weston worked in corporate America – at Northern Natural Gas and Principal Financial Group. She called out employers for not walking the talk of diversity, equity and inclusion. “I felt like if I didn’t fight for it then what would the ones coming behind me going to get.” Fellow Omaha activist Anthony Rogers-Wright feels she’’s found her calling. “Her righteousness is rooted in the fact she strives to make sure everyday people can
Curling surges in popularity as sport takes center stage By Ron Petersen While curling may not be the oldest sport to play, the game of stones still has a large showing in Omaha. When President of Aksarben Curling, Nic Swiercek, attended the winter U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Curling in 2017, he wasn’t quite sure what to make of a sport, which
consists entirely of stones being slowly slid across an icy surface. After realizing how much fun it looked, Swiercek decided to seek out curling opportunities in town. “I didn’t know what I was watching or doing but it looked like a lot of fun,” Nic Swiercek said. --Curling continued on page 8.
access and comprehend complex information … that directly and indirectly implicate Omahans, and her beloved North Omaha community specifically.” FROM STRONG STOCK Weston attributes her assertiveness to the strong Black women who raised her. Born in Des Moines, Iowa, she grew up with her maternal grandmother, Senila Williams. The extended family resided in the “Bottoms” of East Des Moines. Selina never got past sixth grade after going to work as a domestic to help support her family. Yet she read at a high school graduate level, said Weston. Despite earning low wages, she purchased two homes, one for herself and one for Cheryl’s parents. Selina survived a rape at 14 by her white employer. Back then, there was no trauma therapy. Given all that, Weston said, “It was very impressive to me how far
she had come.” Standing on Selina’s shoulders, Cheryl’s mother, Blanche Williams, became a licensed practical nurse. Their examples of overcoming things drove Weston to achieve. “I have been surrounded by women of strong convictions and encouragement that taught me and my two siblings that you can be whatever you want to be. That made me want to be strong. Maybe that’s part of why I do what I do and have the desire and passion I have. As strong women we do what we have to do All my life I’ve been able to have determination to be who I am.” The matriarchs in her life, she said, “were always encouraging to strive to do better, so throughout my youth that’s what I did.” Knowing what her grandma overcame, including losing a home to unpaid taxes – a paltry $42 the county refused to let her make payments on – made Weston take her words to heart. “I worked harder than what was required. I had to anyway because being Black I knew if I wanted to succeed I had to be better.” Aspirational lessons also came from her father, who moved the family out of “the Bottoms” to a better life. A spirit of serving others was instilled by her family taking in foster kids, some of whom had been abused. “It gave me insight early on what others didn’t have that I was fortunate to have,” she said. BLACK WOMEN ADVOCATE Weston finds truth in a Malcolm X observation: “The most disrespected person in America is the Black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the Black woman. The most neglected person in America is the Black woman.” Cases of missing Black women go underreported. Black women --Weston continued on page 10.
ENOA is thankful for donations
--See page 16.