Kearney youth center scandal snowballs as fourth ex-worker arrested, another sent to jail
In one case, YRTC staff knew of sex abuse allegations as early as spring 2025. The alleged teen victim was kept in isolation with no therapy addressing the abuse for six months.
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We train and pay people to attend under-reported public meetings in Omaha and publish the results.
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Things You Didn’t Know You Needed to Know about the Best State In the World.
Flatwater Explains is an occasional series during which FFP reporters explain the people, places and things that make Nebraska what it is, while answering questions that both long-time residents and first-time visitors might have.
What Nebraska-centric topics, places and things do you want the Flatwater Free Press journalists to explain? Email us »
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Flatwater Explains: Omaha was once known as ‘Omaha City.’ Why did it change?
Editor’s note: Flatwater Explains is an occasional series during which FFP reporters explain the people, places and things that make Nebraska what it is while answering questions that both longtime residents and first-time visitors might have. The Council Bluffs businessmen who founded a town across the Missouri River in 1854 employed a common frontier convention to name it. They added an anglicized Indigenous word to a term signaling metropolitan size and came up with “Omaha City.” For other settlements in the region — Kansas City, Sioux City and Iowa City — the “city” appendage stuck. But as Omaha City grew… Read more
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Flatwater Explains: What is Nebraska Medicine — and how is it different from UNMC?
Though their names are often used interchangeably, Nebraska Medicine and UNMC are two distinct organizations. Nebraska Medicine operates the hospital and handles the majority of patient care. UNMC is the NU System’s medical university. Read more
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Flatwater Explains: Why are diners taxed extra at Omaha restaurants?
Every time you sit down for a whiskey steak at The Drover or snag an ice cream cone at Ted & Wally’s, you’re contributing a small sum to a once-controversial stream of revenue for Omaha’s government. The restaurant tax, a 2.5% levy on food and drink prepared at eateries, bars and catering businesses, came on the books during a recession-induced budget crunch. The tax quickly helped stabilize the city’s finances. It also rankled restaurateurs and sparked an effort to oust the mayor who championed it. For most Omahans, the hot issue cooled over time, fading into an unnoticed line at… Read more
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Flatwater Explains: Why can’t NU use its giant endowment to stop budget cuts?
The University of Nebraska Foundation has a nearly $2 billion endowment. So why are NU’s five campuses continuing to take budget cuts? Read more
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The $200,000 bet rewriting Nebraska’s talent playbook
For a group of Hastings College sophomores, a recent week in Ireland became a master class in leadership, belonging and community building.
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