I’m no political analyst, but I’m gonna go out on a limb and say it’s a bad sign for Democrats that an effort to get out the vote in North and South Omaha before the 2024 election ended in a lawsuit, acrimony, finger-pointing and — according to the guy co-running the canvassing campaign — a hobbled get-out-the-vote effort in the election’s crucial final weeks.
The recent success that Barack Obama, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have had in Omaha — Biden and Harris won pretty easily in this congressional district — simply isn’t translating to many other wins. Republicans have now held the Omaha-area House seat for 28 of the past 30 years. Republican Mayor Jean Stothert is running for a fourth term after crushing her last Democratic challenger by 30 points.
FFP reporter Chris Bowling dove headfirst into the story, interviewing more than 30 politicos, party leaders, strategists and local and national experts about why the “blue dot” sometimes looks like a blue mirage in Nebraska’s largest city.
He heard many things, including plaudits for Stothert and Rep. Don Bacon, who has notched five straight close wins. But he also heard from Democratic leaders, and those who have left the party, that the intraparty infighting is making things worse, with one former executive director memorably calling Dem insiders, “the island of misfit toys.”
Huskers Take Broadway: I had no idea, until I read the story we published today, that a growing number of actors, dancers and cast members of big Broadway productions hail from our fair state. And it’s cooler than that — many of these stars are coming back home, helping the next generation and building a Cornhusker-to-City That Never Sleeps pipeline. Our correspondent Leo Adam Biga with the story of our theater kids from across Nebraska doing big things in the Big Apple.
And a little sidebar story that includes the list of local names who have made it big there over the decades.
Bed Bug Battle: Earlier this week, FFP reporter Jeremy Turley broke some news on a story he’s been following for months: A new class-action lawsuit has been filed alleging that the Omaha Housing Authority has failed to eliminate bed bug infestations in buildings that hold roughly 1,000 low-income apartments.
This lawsuit adds to OHA’s woes, Turley reports, including other tenant complaints about living conditions, another lawsuit alleging the overcharging of rent, and public housing that is aging and needs to be upgraded despite severe budget constraints.
We are So Hiring: A new reporter to cover Lincoln. A new employee to drum up sponsorships. A new employee to manage our events. You wanna work for Flatwater Free Press and our parent nonprofit, Nebraska Journalism Trust? The time to apply is now.
Questions wanted: It’s a new year, but it’s still true as ever … some of our best story ideas come from readers, who ask us a burning question that sparks our curiosity and starts our hunt for an answer. Have a question that our reporters need to look into? Complete this form or reach our newsroom at [email protected].
See you next week,
—Matthew Hansen, Executive Editor
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:
- It was the non-handshake heard round the country, or at least the Internet. Last Friday, Bruce Fischer, husband of Nebraska Sen. Deb Fischer, either pointedly snubbed Kamala Harris or simply got caught holding too many things to shake hands, depending on which version of events you buy. It drew so much heat that the New York Times wrote a story about the alleged snub. And the controversy weirdly affected a UNL professor with the bad luck to be named Bruce Fischer, even though he’s not that Bruce Fischer. Nebraska Public Media’s Jolie Peal with that story.
- Not the calmest new year for the Nebraska State Board of Education, which took 50 votes during a nearly three-hour period before finally electing a board president. The Lincoln Journal Star’s Jenna Ebbers was there.
(May need LJS subscriber access to view story.) - It looks like “NIL” in college sports is going to get renewed scrutiny on Capitol Hill. ESPN with that story. During the “State of Our Union” event that we hosted with the Atlantic Magazine in October, we held a panel discussion on NIL and college athletes getting paid.
- Want to buy the old Cabela’s world headquarters? Now’s your chance! The massive office in Sidney is getting auctioned off soon, as is a former Cabela’s office in North Platte, News Channel Nebraska reports.
In 2023, FFP Greater Nebraska reporter Natalia Alamdari spent time in Sidney, where she discovered that the most dire predictions about the western Nebraska town’s post-Cabela’s demise hadn’t become reality. - I have relatives, loved ones and friends who live in Los Angeles, and have watched news of the terrifying fires there this week as Sarah and I texted with them and hoped against hope for their safety. KETV Channel 7 with a story about Nebraskans fleeing the flames in LA, and Nebraska Public Media — Peal again! — with a story focused on the plight of one Nebraska family.
- Uh, where did the money go? Watchdogs are alleging that a cool $13.6 mil recently disappeared from the Creighton Federal Credit Union, reports WOWT Channel 6’s Mike McKnight.
- Chris Burbach of the OWH with a powerful one — an Omaha mother’s hope of reunification with her baby dims as a pause in the U.S. refugee program looms. (May need OWH subscriber access to view story.)
- Not a great start to 2025 at the Washington Post, where the Jeff Bezos-owned newspaper is laying people off amid money losses and uncertainty. That news came days after the Post’s editorial cartoonist quit after her cartoon depicting Bezos and other tech industry leaders bending the knee to incoming President Trump got spiked. A nice story and in-depth interview from PBS.
- A new Harvard study says that only a few thousand American teenagers — fewer than one tenth of 1% of American teens with private insurance — have actually received gender affirming care in recent years.
- And finally, I really enjoyed this story from the Athletic, the New York Times’ sports website, on a college basketball team that both Creighton and Nebraska have whupped in recent years. Mississippi Valley State, the worst college basketball program in the country, nomadically travels around the country and gets whupped to make money for a broke athletic department.
