Imagine for a moment you are the parent or loved one of a person who is addicted to a drug and desperately needs help. And now imagine that you live in Chadron. Or Scottsbluff. Or really anywhere in the western half of our state.
You want to get help. Your child wants to get help. But help, in the form of detox and drug treatment and and the sort of sober living environment that can help your loved one get better, is hundreds of miles away. Hundreds of miles from the community that your loved one knows. Hours away from you.
That’s the reality that Flatwater investigative reporter Destiny Herbers exposes in her story today. And she also shows why this is the case, tracing for us a path from Nebraska’s rampant undercounting of drug deaths, which fuels the mistaken belief that Greater Nebraska doesn’t have a drug problem, which leads to funding decisions and budget cuts that leave the residents of more rural Nebraska with precious little help.
It’s the second story in Destiny’s “Dying Blind” series. Here’s a “quick hit” overview of the project. To me, “Dying Blind” is exposing the fact that Nebraska’s leaders have very little grasp of the nature and severity of the state’s substance abuse woes.
More to come from Herbers in the coming weeks.
Early release, and an ICE tie? Nebraska’s prisons are notoriously overcrowded, and corrections leaders now have a plan to let some inmates out earlier with intense supervision. But as Sara Gentzler reported this week, lawmakers from both parties are bugged that this early release program wasn’t green-lit by the Nebraska Legislature. (Point of fact: State lawmakers have had a few decades to grapple with prison reform, and passed very little in recent years.)
Sen. Terrell McKinney, a Democrat from Omaha, is drawing a connection between the emptying of the McCook Work Ethic Camp — being transitioned to an ICE detention center — and this proposed early release program, Gentzler reports. The governor’s office denies any link.
Time Still Burning: Long, long ago, soon after I moved to Omaha, I went to Film Streams to watch this old documentary I didn’t know much about, called “A Time For Burning.” I left electrified. Horrified. I left understanding both a lot more about my new city and the legacy of racism and race relations in America.
One of our Omaha correspondents, Leo Adam Biga, has a new story this week about this classic documentary, “A Time for Burning,” which is back in the news because a new documentary Biga wrote about a few weeks ago pays tribute to it.
I encourage you to read the story. And I encourage you to watch the 55-minute version of the documentary, which we linked inside the story!
Hey, Lincoln: Flatwater Free Press Lincoln reporter Emily Wolf will be at Lincoln’s Francie & Finch Bookshop this Sunday, Nov. 2, from 2-4 p.m. She’ll hand out hot-off-the-presses copies of our new 2025 Flatwater Commemorative Edition (on actual newsprint!), along with cool stickers featuring the art of Ananda Walden. Come out to meet Emily and talk to her about some of her latest stories, like this recent one on LPS continuing to pay their former leader.
And how cool is this: Store owner Leslie Huerta will donate 10% of store proceeds that day to support our newsroom. Thanks, Francie & Finch!
Hey, Keith County: A week ago at this time, we were driving back from Ogallala after a lovely few days spent listening to the Nebraskans there about important stories they would like told. It’s always so restorative to go on one of these “listening sessions.” It’s good to come to you, visit your best places, see what you’re proud of and what you want and need. Thank you for hosting us.
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? Complete this form or reach our newsroom at [email protected].
Sincerely,
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:
- A little breaking news here, courtesy of our friends at Nebraska Examiner: A state senator has been cited on suspicion of public indecency tied to an end-of-session event at the Lincoln Country Club. Story by Erin Bamer.
- In Omaha, five people, including a city employee, have been arrested as part of a sex-trafficking investigation. WOWT’s Mike McKnight and Mike Bell with that story.
- There were many stories in Nebraska news this week about growing hunger in Nebraska — and growing worry that the end of SNAP benefits, tied to the government shutdown, will make it far, far worse here.
Stories by KETV. - Nebraska ag news also came hot and heavy this week. Here’s a story on Gov. Jim Pillen — himself a livestock company owner — breaking with Nebraska’s federal delegation on President Donald Trump’s plan to buy beef from Argentina. (That story, by the Omaha World Herald, may need an OWH subscription to access.)
- And here’s another, on the deal to resume trade and sell soybeans to China. A mighty big deal, reports DTN ag policy editor Chris Clayton, but also maybe not enough to help Nebraska farmers in the short term.
- Hey, remember that state law meant to shed light on who, exactly, now detassles Nebraska’s corn? It isn’t really working, reports the NPR Midwest Newsroom’s Nick Loomis and Nebraska Public Media’s Molly Ashford.
- State agencies posted some highly partisan statements about the continuing government shutdown this week, and then tweaked one when it got pushback, reports Nebraska Examiner’s Juan Salinas II.
- Nebraska continues to isolate inmates with serious mental illness despite a state law meant to ban the practice, according to a story from the Lincoln Journal Star’s Andrew Wegley. (You may need LJS subscriber access to view this story.) That story references this story from Flatwater’s own Shelby Rickert, who looked into the continuing practice of double bunking inside Nebraska prisons.
- The Washington Post did a big ol’ story on the “Cornhusker Clink” and how it’s being viewed in McCook.
- The Washington Post has another important story that touches Nebraska this week, on the mysterious rise of cancer rates in The Corn Belt.
- And finally, Ken Siemek was on 10/11 News Now when I was a kid in Red Cloud. He just retired after 44 years on the job! Congratulations to Ken. Check out this story no his career from 10/11 News Now.
