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There were so many of them that they had to stand behind the folding chairs, up against the windows that let the October sun into the dimly lit room.

Friends and family members crowded onto the floor of the Lincoln Indian Center, around the open casket of Octavias Farr, which was draped with a snow-white veil.

The intonations of a man welcoming those closest to the 21-year-old man to come up and receive a blanket and gifts from the family was like a rhythm piercing the silence.

The family would like to call up ...

The fact that so many people came Thursday to the traditional Omaha Tribe service for Farr — one of six victims of the Oct. 2 car crash in east Lincoln — and that a line stretched out the front doors and onto the sidewalk came as little surprise to anyone.

"As his sister, this makes me warm. It makes me feel good to see all of them," Akilah Muhs said as guests trickled out of the building to a table set up with food. "He always knew how to make a friend. ... A lot of his friends here mentioned that they met each other through Octavias."

Farr was born in Burnsville, Minnesota, and for a brief time lived in British Columbia before his family moved to Lincoln. He attended Huntington Elementary, Dawes Middle School and Lincoln Northeast, where he graduated in 2018.

He went for a time to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to study biomedical engineering, but Muhs said he discovered that he belonged in a field where he could use his natural gift for speaking.

Farr was working for Stonebrook Exterior, which paid for a large portion of the funeral, Muhs said.

He loved video games, too, from a young age. His sister can remember him beating "Halo" when he was little.

Philip Secret, a family friend, became a mentor to Farr. Secret introduced him to bodybuilding and Farr even ran the Lincoln Half-Marathon this past May, finishing in less than 2 hours.

He planned to run his first full marathon next year.

"I thought he was going to be an old man someday," Secret said.

Muhs wants people to remember her brother as someone who took care of his family and his friends.

One close friend said Farr never had any friends, only best friends he would call the "boys."

He was survived by his parents, Kenneth Farr and Athena Muhs, and two other sisters in addition to Muhs, Acacia Muhs and Anastacia Muhs.

After his death, Akilah Muhs found a red pin on his desk that she wore to the funeral. It bore the phrase "I make the difference."

By the number of people who showed up to say goodbye to Octavias — "Octo" to many of his friends — one could say that he had done just that.

The basketball courts at Antelope Park went from gray to filled with color this fall. The project to resurface the courts at Normal Boulevard and South Street and repaint them as a reproduction of the painting "Red Sea" by African American artist Felrath Hines was funded by private donations. The original painting is part of the permanent collection of the Sheldon Museum of Art.

Lincoln Mayor Leirion Gaylor Baird gives the state of the city address Tuesday.

Lincoln East's Gabby Pace (center left) and Kooper Barnes (center right) dance as part of the Spartans' pregame routine before an A-5 district game Wednesday at Doris Bair Complex.

Nebraska interim defensive coordinator Bill Busch celebrates after the team made a stop against Indiana in the first quarter on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

Johnson-Brock industrial technology teacher Ashton Bohling is one of 20 nationwide winners of the 2022 Harbor Freight Tools for Schools Prize for Teaching Excellence.

Nebraska's Marcus Washington breaks a tackle from Indiana's Bryant Fitzgerald (31) in the third quarter on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

Flowers ring a tree on Randolph Street where six people died in a car crash last week.

Nebraska's Malcolm Hartzog (13) and Nebraska wide receiver Ty Hahn (17) celebrate after Hartzog scooped up a blocked punt for a touchdown on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

A farmer uses a corn combine to harvest his crop on Tuesday, Oct. 4, 2022, in Johnson, NE. Based on June 1 conditions, Nebraska's 2022 winter wheat crop is forecast at 36.9 million bushels, down 10% from last year's crop, according to the USDA's National Agricultural Statistics Service.

Elkhorn South's Ellen Bode drives the ball off the 16th tee during the girls class A district golf match on Monday, Oct. 3, 2022, at Highlands Golf Course in Lincoln.

Nebraska's Casey Thompson (left) celebrates his fourth quarter touchdown with teammate Chancellor Brewington during the game against Indiana on Saturday at Memorial Stadium.

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Zach Hammack, a 2018 UNL graduate, has always called Lincoln home. He previously worked as a copy editor at the Journal Star and was a reporting intern in 2017. Now, he covers students, teachers and schools as the newspaper’s K-12 reporter.

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.

The University Bookstore used to sell hundreds of cornhead hats. It hasn't received a shipment since 2019.

Sallie Gilmer had called police to report her 70-year-old father, Jesse Gilmer, was unconscious at 4 p.m. Monday, Police Chief Theresa Ewins said. When police arrived, they found him dead.

A week later, there are more questions than answers about how and why the car careened off the street into a tree, killing all six occupants.

"To die at 20 years old, 21, 22 years old —  it's too young to die," one neighbor said. "It's not right."

If the user doesn't respond in 20 seconds, the new iPhone or Apple Watch will call 911 automatically.

The 24-year-old was charged with two felonies stemming from the incident, which transpired late Saturday night on Eighth Street between P and Q streets, police said in court records.

Bisesi, who lived in Lincoln since 2009, was in his senior year at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, working toward his marketing degree.

Two people were hospitalized Wednesday afternoon after a motorcycle crash near the intersection of O Street and Cotner Boulevard, according to the Lincoln Police Department.

"The first thing I think of when I think of Cassie would be 'eye-catching,'" said Mo Eisenhauer, Brenner's former roommate and one of her best friends. 

Sallie Gilmer and her 16-year-old boyfriend, Isaac Honigschmidt, who is accused of aiding and abetting the murder, both made their first court appearances on the charges Wednesday afternoon.

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