New Herbie and Old Herbie next to each other on shirts at Omaha’s Husker Hounds. Notice the difference? Jordan Pascale/Flatwater Free Press
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I am old enough to remember that time Bill Byrne tried to cancel Herbie Husker and the state burned to the ground. I am also old enough to remember and forget the name of the dirge-like song — it’s “Nebraska, Our Alma Mater” — that they used to try to make Memorial Stadium crowds sing along to. I do have a point here, and the point is this: We tend to pay attention to our Husker iconography.
Which is why I was surprised when Washington DC public radio reporter (and Nebraska newspaper alum) Jordan Pascale told us that he had noticed that Herbie Husker had been oh-so-slightly altered. And then, when he began to report the story for us, he realized the tweak was a direct result of…modern white supremacy. Here is our newest FFP story, which appears to be blowing up Nebraska news Facebook pages from Omaha to Chadron.
Our very first donor list: For the Flatwater Free Press, transparency isn’t just a buzzword. We are truly committed to being as open and honest with readers as we expect public officials to be with us. In the name of transparency: Here is our very first donor list. I’m proud to say that nearly every single person or org who donated to us in 2021 is a Nebraskan or connected to Nebraska. And I’m proud to show you that we are quickly building a serious small-donor base, hundreds and hundreds of people, a base that will allow us to build. Thank you to each of you who have already donated. If you wanna join in, do so here. As always, every $1 you donate becomes $2 thanks to our foundational matching grant.
Speaking of growth: Our executive director Matt Wynn had a column this week explaining some very exciting things. We’re partnering with the Omaha World-Herald on an important series on the state’s troubled prison system. And we are adding team members who will help us grow FFP and also do “journalism on stage.” The last few months of 2021 were a great beginning for us. And 2022 is gonna be wild.
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:
- Welcome to the Nebraska Examiner, a brand-new nonprofit journalism site that’s an affiliate of States Newsroom. The Examiner is run by my former editor Cate Folsom, and a few reporters you will recognize from the OWH and Channel 3…Cindy Gonzalez, Paul Hammel and Aaron Sanderford. They are all dogged journalists, and Nebraskans who care deeply about news and about the state. We are happy they are here to produce quality Nebraska journalism. The state needs every news source it can get. I really liked Aaron’s story today on Gov. Ricketts deciding to turn down a second round of federal rental assistance.
- It reminded me that, last summer, one of our very first important stories, from freelancer Lauryn Higgins, was about the difficulty of getting the first round of rental assistance to people who desperately needed it.
- Here’s an eye-opening one from Nebraska Public Media reporter Melissa Rosales. Nursing shortages in Nebraska, thanks in large part to COVID surges, mean that the state’s hospitals are having to pay double or triple for fill-in nurses.
- I dunno if you heard, but Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert announced a new downtown skyscraper and a new streetcar system this week. The World-Herald reports that a state senator and a city education leader are already questioning the proposed way to pay for it.
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