Picture it with me: You’re out on a gravel country road in Nebraska, and the sun is setting in a sky that seems to stretch forever. You pop over a hill, and there one is, impossibly tiny, pressed against the big sky. It’s a reminder of where we have been and where we’re headed. It’s a memory that stays lodged inside you long after you have popped over the next hill on your way to wherever you are going.
The little country cemetery maybe has a old wrought iron fence around it. Sometimes there’s a little country church still standing beside it, but often it’s long gone. There are probably a few trees planted to block it from the wind and shield the gravestones and memories of Nebraska lives lived.
Maybe, like me, your relatives are buried in one of these cemeteries. And maybe you, like me, can briefly feel the weight of history as you pass, sense how each of those weathered crosses and rectangles settling crooked into the soil whispers a Nebraska story.
A little country cemetery is, at least for me, a quintessentially Nebraska sight. Which is why I was overjoyed to read this story from correspondent Kevin Warneke, answering many of the questions you never knew you had about them.
Tax Money Poof: This story from Sara Gentzler has everything. A giant developer, and big donor to Gov. Jim Pillen, whose ambition is to build the biggest sports-retail-housing development Nebraska has ever seen. A state law seemingly meant to pave the way for that development that spawns another law that gets everyone, including the sponsor of the state law, confused.
And the money. Do not forget the money. The state, Gentzler writes, is out more than $2 million in tax dollars as lawmakers face a budget shortfall, thanks to the evolving state law and “a stalemate between developer Rod Yates and the City of Gretna.”
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Hometown Heroes: Small-town Nebraska kids often drive away to college, returning to visit but never again to reside full-time in their hometowns. (*Matthew raises hand*)
But the Nebraska Community Foundation has started a one-of-a-kind internship program that puts college students from rural Nebraska back in their home counties for the summer. It gets them involved deeply in their hometowns.
And, in more and more cases, it helps prompt those college kids to do something cool: Move back to their hometowns after they graduate, and help lead their communities into the future.
Note: This one, written by correspondent Leo Adam Biga, is something new we’re calling a “Sponsor Spotlight.” (Nebraska Community Foundation is one of several sponsors of FFP.) You will likely see these a few times a year — essentially a story purposely focused on something cool an FFP sponsor is doing in Nebraska.
Chef Dave: David Utterback is one of Nebraska’s very best chefs. In fact, he’s the first one in history to be a finalist for a prestigious James Beard award.
So it was fascinating to learn that Utterback, who runs the nationally known sushi joint Yoshitomo as well as the hip, buzzworthy Koji, has bought a third Omaha restaurant — an old school joint and also the very first place he himself ever ate sushi.
Food critic Sarah Baker Hansen with the story about an acclaimed chef trying to go home again, and a review of how he’s changing longtime Omaha sushi mainstay Sakura Bana in the process.
Want to listen or read the transcript to a previous Flatwater Free Conversation Utterback and Baker Hansen had with host Mike’l Severe? Yes, chef.
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Sincerely,
—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:
- So much Nebraska news this week! Let’s get into it.
- Gov. Jim Pillen unveiled a plan that would cut state spending and would, the Pillen administration says, balance the budget. Story by Nebraska Examiner’s Zach Wendling.
- The University of Nebraska, which in Pillen’s budget takes almost $25 million in annual budget cuts, would be harmed if it becomes reality, University of Nebraska President Jeff Gold says in this story by The World-Herald’s Henry Cordes. Among the dangers, he says: Tuition hikes, fewer services across the state and a diminished economic impact on Nebraska. (You may need World-Herald subscriber access to view this story.)
- Berkshire Hathaway operates the dirtiest coal plants in the U.S. and has resisted efforts to make coal plants cleaner, a Reuters investigation reports.
- 2024 was the second-hottest year in Nebraska in the 130 years we have been tracking it, says this story by the OWH’s Julie Anderson. (May need OWH subscriber access to view story.)
- A $600 million solar farm is planned near Lincoln, and proponents say it will fight the effects of climate change while providing millions in tax revenue and creating jobs. But opponents appeared at a Lancaster County board meeting to fight the plan, raising concerns about property values, fire and wildlife risk, and out-of-state ownership. Story by the Lincoln Journal Star’s Margaret Reist. (May need LJS subscriber access to view.)
- Also in Lincoln, a new lawsuit alleges that the former police chief admitted she fired a police officer for retaliation after the officer repeatedly called for better treatment of female officers. Story by Bayley Bischof of 10/11 News Now.
- Farm income is on the decline in Nebraska and elsewhere in the U.S., reports Successful Farming’s Chuck Abbott. However, it’s important to note that a chart of net farm income shows it went way up before starting to slide in 2023.
- In other farming news, the federal government has sued John Deere over allegedly using monopoly power to restrict how farmers fix their equipment, driving up repair costs. NTV’s Steve White talks to Nebraska ag producers about the “right to repair” fight.
- A junkyard is rising on a farm near Fort Calhoun, leading the county attorney to file a charge against the owner, reports WOWT’s Mike McKnight. It reminded me of one of the first stories we ever did — Yanqi Xu’s look at the giant mess (both of tires and democracy) a giant junkyard made in little Alvo. Such a good story from Yanqi, all the way back in January 2022. We were just babies then.
- OK, two fun ones to end on. First, Michael Stipe and the members of one of my favorite bands, REM, shut it down in 2011. And Stipe, who just turned 65, and his bandmates have done something that sets them apart in this musical era. They have stayed retired. Will Leitch on why they insist on disappearing.
- And finally, an incredibly well written and easily the most bananas story of the week from the New York Times’ Kashmir Hill. It’s about a 28-year-old who has fallen in love with an A.I. chatbot boyfriend. There are … several twists and turns here. Trust me.
