I’m going to do something today that I have rarely, maybe never, done in the nearly five years I have authored this newsletter. I’m going to start with something that isn’t a Flatwater story.
I’m doing it because on one night this week, I watched this interview with Ben Sasse, former U.S. senator from Nebraska and one-time president of Fremont’s Midland University who is now dying of pancreatic cancer. I watched it from beginning to end. And then, the next night, I watched it again.
I have been thinking about it since. I have been thinking about politics and public life, the faces that each of us puts on to meet the world, thinking about ambition and pride and pain and fear and love. And I have been thinking about Sasse himself, whom I met when he was a young college president and I was a young reporter, and how he talked in paragraphs, and how he was impossibly smart and clever — maybe too clever for his own good — and how much I liked him despite this and despite my cynicism.
I could write 5,000 more words on this interview. I could write something that praises it, something that pecks away at it, something in between. But that’s silly. Because Sasse’s words are better than my own.
If you watch, it, watch ’til the end.
Aiding Ice: Immigration and Customs Enforcement has a $2.3 million contract with a Lincoln company. It’s now using two surveillance tools owned by that company as it leads high-profile crackdowns in cities like Minneapolis, reports Flatwater editor Natalia Alamdari.
One allows ICE to track cellphone locations without a warrant.
Nebraska law enforcement leaders, who use other tools made by Penlink, told Alamdari that investigators should have access to these tools since they pull from vast amounts of data already accessible to the public. But civil liberties experts question law enforcement’s ability to track people without a warrant.
Well, would you look at that: Last week, veteran investigative reporter Henry Cordes, in his first story for Flatwater, reported that the state was threatening to withhold many millions of state tax incentive dollars from signature Nebraska companies like Valmont and Werner. Why? Because they do business in China, and because a new state law, championed by Gov. Jim Pillen, appears to make it unlawful to do business in China while receiving Nebraska tax breaks.
Well, update. The state quietly paused that program late last week, right around the exact time when Cordes was asking the Pillen administration to explain if this part of the tough-on-China law was a good idea.
I’m sure that’s just a coincidence. Read Henry’s update story here.
Bookworm bounty: Hey Omahans, if you happen to stop by one of Nebraska’s absolute best bookstores, the Bookworm, you can pick up a 2025 Flatwater commemorative edition. For those who don’t know: Once a year, we actually print an honest-to-goodness newspaper! You can grab it at the Bookworm for free right now while you buy all the things from the beloved local bookstore.
This (very) old house: An Omaha man is restoring a 157-year-old house with quite a history. It has housed military officers. It has been moved. And it was likely the site of an infamous bootlegging operation.
Now: It’s the Omaha History Farm. Flatwater correspondent Kevin Warneke with the story.
This (old) country: Nebraska kicked off its U.S. 250th birthday celebration with a Founding Fathers exhibit created by PragerU, a controversial nonprofit. The exhibit drew further controversy when a Democratic state senator ripped several pieces of it off the Capitol walls.
Historians and Native leaders say the state is missing an opportunity to tell a fuller history of the last 250 years. But state officials tell correspondent Tim Trudell that they plan to celebrate contributions from many figures in Nebraska history, including those who lived here long before Nebraska was a state or the United States was a country.
Flatwater on stage: We have free events coming up soon in Kearney and Lincoln, and I’m champing at the bit to announce a third spring event we will unveil in the next few weeks. In the meantime: Check out the “journalism on stage” events we have planned, and RSVP today.
Tips wanted: Several of the stories we published this week originally came from story tips from readers. Do you have a tip that our reporters need to look into? Shoot us an email at [email protected].
Be well. See you next week.
— Matthew Hansen, Executive Editor
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Here’s what we’re into this week: News from around Nebraska
Every week, we like to share great Nebraska journalism, no matter who made it. Here’s what caught our eye this week:
- The spouse of former governor and current U.S. Sen. Pete Ricketts is running for office, too. Susanne Shore announced her intention to campaign for a spot on the University of Nebraska Board of Regents, reports the Examiner’s Aaron Sanderford. And she’s doing so as a Democrat.
- A story out of D.C. is bound to affect Nebraska agriculture and Nebraskans. A new Donald Trump executive order aims to protect herbicides like Roundup. But a coalition of environmentalists and Make America Healthy Again supporters are infuriated by this since there’s a link between an active ingredient in such herbicides and cancer. Story by the Guardian.
- Supporters of medical marijuana, which was overwhelmingly legalized by voters in 2024, were stunned by a new setback last week, reports Nebraska Public Media. Our Emma Croteau recently had a story pointing out that, even as medical marijuana flounders and recreational marijuana remains illegal, THC drinks that can give some a similar high are legal and increasingly popular in the state.
- More fun with tax breaks! The Journal Star’s Chris Dunker reports that State Auditor Mike Foley’s office believes that millions have been doled out to companies that no longer qualify for state tax incentives. Dunker then had a follow-up, where the state senator who chairs the Legislature’s Revenue Committee criticized Foley’s report as one-sided and ignoring the job creation of these tax incentives. (You may need Journal Star subscriber access to read these stories.)
- A wild one from midtown Omaha. A bar with “barber shop” in the title has run afoul of the Nebraska Board of Barber Examiners. (Yes, that’s a real thing.) And now, the bar vs. barber fight is in court. Story by the Examiner’s Cindy Gonzalez.
- A Grand Island man was arrested this week after allegedly assaulting a teenager who was taking part in a large, student-led ICE protest in Grand Island. Story by NTV’s Austin Koeller.
- Speaking of D.C. and agriculture: The Supreme Court struck down a wide swath of Trump administration tariffs on Friday morning, though it remains to be seen what impact this will have on all tariffs, prices of goods or ag exports. Story by the Associated Press. Here’s a local story from Nebraska Rural Radio’s Steve White, which includes reaction from Nebraska leaders.
- Lincoln had a record-breaking number of car crashes during Thursday’s snowstorm, reports 10/11 News Now.
- And finally, I realize I’m going overboard with the golf content here, as I already linked to this epic Nebraska golf episode of “No Laying Up” a few weeks ago … but there’s now six inches of snow on the ground outside my window and I enjoyed hearing the “No Laying Up” brothers talk about that iconic golf trip to Nebraska.
