
Omaha is not the geographic center of the continental US, that spot actually belongs to Kansas.
The real center of the contiguous 48 states sits about 2.6 miles northwest of Lebanon, Kansas, a tiny town of under 200 people
It was calculated back in 1918 by literally cutting a cardboard map of the US into shape and balancing it on a pin, that's genuinely how they found the spot
Since 2013, Lebanon has kept a physical monument and a tiny six-seat chapel there, people still visit and even get married at it
If you count Alaska and Hawaii too, the center of all 50 states actually shifts north to a spot near Belle Fourche, South Dakota
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I started Omaha Commons because I was tired of what "news" usually means: council votes, crime reports, whatever's going wrong this week. That stuff matters, sure. But it's not the whole story of this city, and definitely not the most interesting part.
The best parts of Omaha are the small ones. The small business owner who's been open at the same corner for twenty years. The neighbor who shovels a driveway nobody asked them to. The weird, wonderful little things that happen every day here that never make it into any headline, but are the actual reason this city feels like home.
That's what Omaha Commons is for. Every Wednesday, it's stories, people, and small moments, delivered straight to your inbox. A local interview with someone worth knowing. A weekly deal. The good stuff happening around you that you'd never find on your own. Less news, more the people living it.
There's a lot of bad out there already getting talked about. This is a place that chooses to focus on the good instead, and on the idea that this city is smaller and more connected than we treat it like it is.
I'm 18, still in school, building this one issue at a time, and eventually, one event, one connection, one small business at a time too. If that sounds like something you want to be part of, I'd love to have you.
—Reid Novak