STATEWIDE NEWSLETTER

Dirty tricks? Dirty (corn) work. The dirt on our 5th birthday.

I unveil a few more Five Days of Flatwater events, plus five stories, a radio interview and news from around Nebraska.

Detasseling, a summer rite of passage for many Nebraska teens over the decades, is fading as a teen job in many places as they find other gigs. (Photo by Lori Potter for the Flatwater Free Press)

I come bearing five stories to share with you, loyal reader, again this week. I also have for your listening pleasure a nice radio interview with a Flatwater reporter and more events to unveil for the Five Days of Flatwater (to celebrate our 5th birthday) as they start to fill up quickly.

Lots of fives in that paragraph. Let’s get to it.

Trix are for kids, tricks are for Senate races? Documents are lifeblood for any good investigative reporter. These pieces of paper, spreadsheets, emails, public records or private messages often can tell a story that those holding power generally do not want told.

Flatwater reporter Andrew Wegley discovered some recently, and these documents were … interesting, as they tell a story about Nebraska’s U.S. Senate race already plagued by alleged deceit.

Wegley’s story today, based on these documents, shows that staffers for Dan Osborn infiltrated a minor Nebraska political party and then tried to dissolve it.

Why? Presumably because ending that political party — and thus the relatively small number of votes its candidate may get on Election Day — could conceivably be the difference between Osborn winning or losing against Sen. Pete Ricketts.

Read the story, which puts this newly uncovered act into context inside a tight Senate race marked by candidates winning primaries and then dropping out and marred by sham political parties forming, all in service of helping either Osborn or Ricketts just a teensy little bit. (Also, because this is America, there are lawsuits. Many, many lawsuits.)

A summer tradition like no other: If you have been in a cornfield in August, you know that it’s quite possibly the hottest, muggiest place on Planet Earth.

For generations, Nebraska kids — many of them “town kids” — have piled onto school buses or vans at a ridiculously early hour and been driven to these fields, where they detassel corn in exchange for good pay for a teenager as well as a lifetime of detasseling war stories.

But the number of teens signing up for this rite of passage is shrinking, reports Central Nebraska reporter Pierce Gentry — often because of laws and labor forces now pointing Cornhusker kids in a different direction.

Streetcar hopes and fears: Omaha, as you probably know, is building a modern streetcar. We’re doing so years after many other streetcar projects got built in major metros around the country.

This gives Omaha rare insight into what has worked and what hasn’t, reports Flatwater reporter Jeremy Turley in collaboration with Omaha Reader reporter Jessica Wade.

So, what has worked? What hasn’t? And can Omaha’s streetcar project succeed like others have succeeded, rather than failing like those that have failed?

I have read (and reported) a lot on streetcars over the years, and I learned a lot of new info in this one from Turley and Wade.

Everybody out of the pool: And you, off the diving board, too! Phew, OK, your lifeguard needs a 10-minute rest period in today’s newsletter. Let me use it to tell you that we now have four very cool events unveiled, in both Omaha and Lincoln, to celebrate Flatwater’s 5th birthday in late September.

I want everybody here to come to FlatFest, which is the main event, the big event, our big Sept. 23 annual fundraiser that we’re hosting in a very cool barn just outside of Lincoln. Buy a ticket, have some fun and support nonprofit news!

But I also want you to learn more and sign up for our free events.

Like this one: An Omaha event where we’re partnering with Film Streams to show an instant classic documentary AND then talking to the documentary’s stars … two small-town Iowa newspapermen brothers.

Or this one: A Flatwater Forum in Lincoln, a Sunday evening event on Sept. 20 where we’re going to interview an Atlantic editor who graduated from UNL, covered the Trump campaign and much, much more.

Come to one. Be a super fan and come to all five! Learn more about all the events here. I’m so excited to celebrate with you. See you soon.

Bowling on national radio: Flatwater reporter Chris Bowling, who has spent the last year reporting, with ProPublica, our “Buried Truth” series that digs into Omaha’s problem with toxic lead, appeared on the NPR show “Here and Now” recently to talk about the project. It’s a good interview. Listen here.

Medicaid and work: Nebraska became the first state in the country to enact stricter Medicaid work requirements, as required by the new federal law often called the “One Big Beautiful Bill.” Flatwater reporter Destiny Herbers with a story about how the new requirements — and a lack of new state employees to implement them — are causing fear and confusion for some Nebraskans.

Musicians helping musicians: Earlier this week, we published a story from correspondent Leo Adam Biga about several musicians, now spread across the country, who trace their roots back to Omaha — and come home to find community, too.

New moms and health: A few of our journalists are embarking on a new project in collaboration with CatchLight, a visual-first news organization. This project is focused on maternal mental health. Did you know that 1 in 5 moms are diagnosed with maternal mental health disorders?

So, what happens to those moms in Nebraska? Are they getting the help they need? Right now, we want to hear from parents, providers, experts and anyone across the state to help answer that question. Fill out this quick form if you have a connection to this story, or a story to tell.

Questions wanted: Some of our best story ideas come from readers, and they typically start with a burning question that just cries out for an answer. Have a question that our reporters need to look into? Reach our newsroom at [email protected].

Wow, we made it. Have a good weekend, everybody. See you next week.

— Matthew Hansen, Executive Editor

Thanks to this week’s sponsor

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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: