Laura Sambol
Reporter
Omaha, Neb.
Laura, an Omaha native, is excited to be back in her hometown after moving back from Silicon Valley in 2020.
Before her time in Omaha, Laura worked as a reporter for NBC Bay Area News, KPHO Phoenix, KSAZ Phoenix, WHBQ Memphis, and as the weekend anchor at KTVN Reno and KFDA Amarillo.
Laura enjoys covering everything from breaking news to politics and entertainment. She is passionate about fair storytelling, holding the powerful accountable, and human kindness.
When she’s not reporting, Laura is usually either teaching dance or with her daughter. She can also be found walking her goofy dogs.
Laura holds Bachelor's degrees from Oklahoma City University and the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Fun Fact: Laura is also a former Radio City Rockette.
Updated: 19 hours ago
|By Laura Sambol
Researchers at the University of Nebraska Omaha are making progress on a new approach to help stop violence before it even starts. They’ve begun testing a chatbot prototype that will eventually be used to help people report critical information.
Updated: Feb. 6, 2023 at 4:18 PM CST
|By Laura Sambol
The Omaha Public Library wants to know what you want. It is starting a new survey February 15th, asking for public input on what changes people would like to see at local libraries.
Updated: Feb. 3, 2023 at 5:20 PM CST
|By Laura Sambol
People who own homes in Council Bluffs that are vacant need to register the property with the city. A new ordinance is in effect requiring homeowners to take this action.
Updated: Jan. 30, 2023 at 4:43 PM CST
|By Laura Sambol
The Omaha Public Power District (OPPD) has announced the first two projects to receive funding from its Greener Together Program.
Updated: Jan. 27, 2023 at 4:42 PM CST
|By Laura Sambol
Like most industries nationwide, trucking is facing a worker shortage. Truck drivers are in high demand and in short supply. So Hill Bros Transportation in Omaha took matters into their own hands and created their own driving school.
Updated: Jan. 23, 2023 at 4:39 PM CST
|By Laura Sambol
Construction is underway on Omaha’s first known mass timber commercial building.
Updated: Jan. 20, 2023 at 4:43 PM CST
|By Laura Sambol
A group of doctors is calling on Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen to phase out factory farming and increase support for crops that require little water instead. The group, called Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, is putting up billboards in Lincoln and the governor’s hometown, Columbus.
Updated: Jan. 16, 2023 at 3:24 PM CST
|By Laura Sambol
Nebraska State Parks will be in the national spotlight.
Updated: Jan. 13, 2023 at 5:30 PM CST
|By Laura Sambol
People who rely on the Rural Transportation Program run by the Eastern Nebraska Office on Aging will have to find a new ride starting this summer.
Updated: Jan. 9, 2023 at 6:59 PM CST
|By Laura Sambol
Plans to revitalize the North Omaha Airport are taking off. The idea is to turn the airport into a “club-like” destination spot for leisure pilots.
Updated: Jan. 6, 2023 at 5:33 PM CST
|By Laura Sambol
Some Blair residents are concerned about the safety of Blair’s water after a notice went out that the city’s water monitoring system temporarily failed.
Updated: Jan. 2, 2023 at 4:21 PM CST
|By Laura Sambol
Public health experts are concerned about a new omicron variant. Dubbed XBB.1.5., the variant is rapidly spreading across parts of the U.S., thanks in part to abusy holiday travel season.
Updated: Dec. 30, 2022 at 4:18 PM CST
|By Laura Sambol
An Elkhorn man is eating a big piece of humble pie this holiday season.
Updated: Dec. 26, 2022 at 4:27 PM CST
|By Laura Sambol
Many businesses in Omaha are working to make up for lost sales from before Christmas.
Updated: Dec. 12, 2022 at 4:59 PM CST
|By Laura Sambol
Schools just can’t catch a break. After dealing with COVID and the teacher shortage for the past couple of years, now educators are faced with a “tripledemic:” COVID, the flu, and RSV.
Updated: Dec. 8, 2022 at 8:44 PM CST
|By Laura Sambol
Metropolitan Community College will soon begin offering courses on sustainability using a high-tech, indoor farm.
Updated: Dec. 2, 2022 at 6:49 PM CST
|By Laura Sambol
A Nebraska lawmaker is getting entangled in a controversy involving Millard Public Schools.
Updated: Nov. 25, 2022 at 4:31 PM CST
|By Laura Sambol
Though Black Friday shopping has lost some of its bang over the years, for many it’s still a shopper’s version of Super Bowl Sunday.
Updated: Nov. 18, 2022 at 7:04 PM CST
|By Laura Sambol
A new effort is underway to help ease the worker shortage in Nebraska.
Updated: Nov. 14, 2022 at 6:01 PM CST
|By Laura Sambol
Plans for a controversial Omaha housing development will not be moving forward. Called 46 Dodge, the project was expected to go up southwest of 46th and Dodge streets, announced back in 2019.
Updated: Nov. 11, 2022 at 5:43 PM CST
|By Laura Sambol
You can call it a triumph of the human spirit. A Creighton University professor took on a challenge like no other, leading a group of hikers to the top of Mount Kilimanjaro.
Updated: Nov. 7, 2022 at 4:44 PM CST
|By Laura Sambol
A well-traveled underground passageway in Omaha has added extra security after a recent string of crime.
Updated: Nov. 4, 2022 at 5:30 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
A Creighton University doctor is being called a hero after saving a passenger’s life mid-flight.
Updated: Oct. 24, 2022 at 3:03 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
Authorities in Fremont County said Monday that they are looking into reports of human remains buried near a small Iowa town.
Updated: Oct. 17, 2022 at 4:53 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
You can now buy hearing aids over the counter for the first time in the U.S. No medical exams or prescriptions are needed.
Updated: Oct. 14, 2022 at 7:02 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
Brace yourself for a surge in your home heating bills this winter. Inflation, along with falling temperatures could send the price of heating homes through the roof.
Updated: Oct. 10, 2022 at 12:26 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
Mutual of Omaha’s new skyscraper is set to become the tallest building in Nebraska.
Updated: Oct. 7, 2022 at 3:00 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
The Douglas County Historical Society is struggling to find a place for its annual fundraiser after thieves damaged the venue they had secured for this year.
Updated: Oct. 3, 2022 at 5:40 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
It seems like everywhere you look in Northwest Omaha and Bennington, something new is going up. Your eyes aren’t deceiving you.
Updated: Sep. 30, 2022 at 5:15 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
You may not like to think about disasters, but preparedness could save lives.
Updated: Sep. 26, 2022 at 4:43 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
For two years, the flu seemed to nearly disappear as COVID raged around the world.
Updated: Sep. 23, 2022 at 7:01 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
Polio hasn’t been in the news much for decades. However, it has become a hot topic again after doctors confirmed a case in New York.
Updated: Sep. 19, 2022 at 4:20 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
It’s a problem nationwide and in the Omaha metro area. Students are skipping school.
Updated: Aug. 29, 2022 at 4:47 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
If you think your chances of getting severely ill with COVID are low because you’ve already had it, be warned. A new study by the Mayo Clinic tells a different story.
Updated: Aug. 26, 2022 at 9:32 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
Catholic schools in Omaha are working to clear-up confusion about a new policy announced by the Archdiocese of Omaha.
Updated: Aug. 22, 2022 at 4:46 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
An Elkhorn man made a once-in-a-lifetime discovery in the Missouri River: a fossil of what appears to 90-million-year-old fish.
Updated: Aug. 19, 2022 at 5:32 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
Online mobs have become a growing presence in our tech-driven world. Thousands of people are coming together virtually, with both good and harmful intentions.
Updated: Aug. 15, 2022 at 4:47 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
Advocates say about 400 refugees settled in the Omaha metro area.
Updated: Aug. 12, 2022 at 5:28 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
As the new school year begins, parents may be wondering how new, updated Centers for Disease Control guidelines for COVID protocols will affect their children in the classroom.
Updated: Aug. 8, 2022 at 4:52 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
Ready or not, it’s back to school time.
Updated: Jul. 29, 2022 at 5:28 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
With the new school year fast approaching, many parents are wondering if there will be enough teachers in their district.
Updated: Jul. 25, 2022 at 4:47 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
As summer winds down, parents and children are gearing up for a new school year.
Updated: Jul. 22, 2022 at 7:00 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
Omaha’s Little Italy is celebrating its annual Santa Lucia Festival.
Updated: Jul. 11, 2022 at 5:35 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
The site of the old Crossroads Mall remains barren, 18 months after the mall was demolished.
Updated: Jul. 8, 2022 at 4:43 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
There’s growing frustration with an Omaha recycling site that has become a dumping ground. It’s the one at Ta-Ha-Zouka Park in Elkhorn.
Updated: Jul. 1, 2022 at 5:31 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
With the first phase of a massive redevelopment project finally done after being closed for more than three years, residents and visitors alike are already enjoying the new Gene Leahy Mall.
Updated: Jun. 27, 2022 at 5:33 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
The City of Omaha is taking action to slow down drivers along a busy road in Elkhorn.
Updated: Jun. 24, 2022 at 5:28 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
A setback for environmentalists and air quality.
Updated: Jun. 20, 2022 at 5:41 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
Downtown Omaha restaurants are struggling to survive the worker shortage during the College World Series.
Updated: Jun. 17, 2022 at 7:06 PM CDT
|By Laura Sambol
A poisonous, invasive plant is spreading across the U.S., including the Omaha metro area.
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