01.01.70

Got a taste for Mountain Dew-flavored popcorn?

Smej's Snacks & More, a new store that sells candy, snacks and beverages, can satisfy your craving. Smej's, 2060 N. 117th Ave., is owned by brother and sister Marty and Jan Rosenstein.

The store features a selection of nostalgia candy such as Necco Wafers, Charleston Chews and Abba-Zaba and Zagnut bars. It also carries trail mix, glass bottles of pop, energy drinks, chips and a selection of flavored popcorn. After running a convenience store at Center Mall for 15 years, “We changed direction,” Marty Rosenstein said. The store's unique name is a combination of the first letters of the first names of their parents and themselves.

Photo business moves to new studio

Mervin Reese Photographers has moved to a new studio at 9802 Nicholas St., Suite 210, just northeast of Westroads Mall.

The new studio can accommodate larger groups and includes a bank of windows for soft, natural lighting, said Steve Reese, who co-owns the business with his brother Jim Reese.

Source: Omaha World-Herald

by Kevin Coffey

Kevin is the music critic/reporter/blogger for the Omaha World-Herald.

Send ideas, comments, questions, mp3s, press kits, photos, tour schedules, CDs, press releases or some snacks (I enjoy cookies) to one of these addresses:

• kevin.coffey@owh.com
• 1314 Douglas Street Suite 700
Omaha, NE 68105-1811

Kevin can be reached by phone at 402-444-1557.

Source: Rock Candy: Conor Oberst and Phil Schaffart play a secret show in ...

by Laura Vecsey

Once we get back to a million housing starts per year”– the current tally is 685,000 — “I think pundits will be surprised just how fast unemployment will come down in this country,” he says. “There are 4 million people hitting age 22 every year in this country. Sure, you can double up on households for a while, but at some point, hormones kick in, and living with your in-laws loses its allure.” Buffett notes that nearly every one of his major non-housing businesses has had several strong quarters, and Berkshire companies are making a record number of investments, the vast majority of which are in the U.S. “I am 100% sure that people in this country will be doing more business 10 years from now than they are today.”

It’s easier to have a bullish view on America from Omaha, where unemployment is only 4%, family-owned businesses abound, and the economy in general was never as bifurcated as in many coastal or Rust Belt areas. But Buffett insists his optimism isn’t emotional but quantitative: he focuses not on media headlines about America’s inevitable decline or cheerleading about innovation and education but on the underlying data. Basic demographics favor the U.S. over nearly every other rich country in the world. And with corporate America so lean and inventories so low, the growth engine, in his view, has to kick in soon.

Source: Warren Buffett Predicts Housing Starts Will Jump-Start Employment ...