Eyeball that bottle of liquor, compadre. It’s gorgeous! It’s enticing! It’s…made with absolutely no booze! I’m a noted fan of bourbon, gin and cocktailing, but I’m also fascinated by this week’s story, the creation story of Sandhills Elixir.
It’s such a Nebraska story. An Omaha husband-and-wife team — Erica, a venture capitalist investor and Andrew, a ConAgra food scientist — are building this puppy in their garage and their kitchen. And they have enlisted the help of a (at first highly skeptical) beer brewer from the other end of the state, in Valentine. And it’s also an oh-so-2022 story. Millions of us, myself included, now annually swear off booze during Dry January. Millennials don’t drink as much as us Gen Xers and Baby Boomers. And many of us are thinking about lowering our alcohol consumption as we emerge, ever so slowly, from a pandemic. For the first time, there appears to be a market for “zero proof spirits.”
Check out the story on Sandhills Elixir by the uber-talented reporter Barbara Soderlin and the photos by her equally talented photographer husband, Ryan. And cheers, no matter what you are cheers-ing with.
Everybody pays for Nebraska’s prison crisis: I’m so proud we published the first of reporter Natalia Alamdari’s several stories digging into Nebraska’s prison system, which is wildly overcrowded and understaffed.
This one gets at the heart of something I have long wondered. Why should I care if a prison is overcrowded? Because it’s costing taxpayers serious cash, Alamdari reports. Because it’s dangerous for prison guards. And because many prisoners basically don’t get to leave cells between Thursday night and Monday morning…a 3-day near-lockdown that experts say makes prisons even more dangerous.
Many of our stories thus far have been nice features like the Sandhills Elixir story. But you are going to start seeing more hard-hitting, well-reported investigative stories written by talented new reporters Alamdari and Yanqi Xu. In fact, Yanqi (pronounced: Yen-chee) has one coming out next week.
By the way, I was joking about the 80s sitcom “ALF” the other day when Natalia told me that, yes, she has heard of ALF. How? I asked. Because I have parents, she said.
For once, I was rendered speechless.
Tell us how we’re doing: More than 100 of you have already taken our reader survey. Goldarn it, you guys are the best. If you haven’t yet, it’s your second chance to take this super-quick survey and tell us what you think. It’s a mere three questions, and your responses will remain anonymous. Thank you for reading and for helping make the Flatwater Free Press even better in 2022.
Until next time,
—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:
- The incomparable, unstoppable Henry Cordes of the Omaha World-Herald came strong with an important story on the Nebraska prison crisis. Namely, how did our prisons get so overcrowded?
- Not to be outdone, the dean of Nebraska journalism, The DonFather himself — that’s Lincoln Journal Star reporter Don Walton — offered up a serious scoop in Nebraska politics. Is Mike Flood going to challenge embattled fellow Republican Jeff Fortenberry in the 1st District Congressional race?
- And finally…have you, like us, wondered why the heck Gov. Pete Ricketts and Colorado Gov. Jared Polis are bickering? It’s a fight over water…a fight that, Nebraska Public Media reporter Jackie Ourada explains, actually began in the 19th century. Audio and text versions of that important story available at the link.
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