There is so much news! Sidney on the rebound! What it’s (really) like to work at a startup! Insanity in the Nebraska Legislature! No cigar for a Pillen department head! A Supreme Court justice with Nebraska ties taking private jet rides and luxury vacations from a billionaire! And also three (?!) different ways you can meet the FFP staff and plug into what it is we do in the next few weeks.
Ok I’m amped on six cups of coffee. It’s your Friday FFP news (and t-shirt) extravaganza. Let’s get into it.
Rebirth in Sidney: A bunch of Nebraskans and a bunch of really smart experts left Sidney for dead when Cabela’s — which employed a gobsmacking 2,000 employees inside the 6,600 person town — pulled its big biz disappearing act a few years back.
But the reality since has been complicated…and a little bit hopeful. Our road warrior Natalia Alamdari, FFP’s Seacrest Greater Nebraska reporter, with her dispatch from Sidney. Cool accompanying charts in the story from our friends at Hanscom Park Studio.
It’s T-shirt Time: That’s right. We have a bunch of new FFP t-shirts and stickers. You can buy ‘em right here. And our official t-shirt launch, today in Omaha’s Old Market, also kicks off three different ways you can meet the FFP staff in the weeks to come.
April 7, 4-7 p.m.: Come to Raygun, 1008 Jackson Street. We will be there hawking our new shirts, talking shop and sneaking over to Brickway Brewery for a brew. Reminder: Thanks to Raygun, every cent of profit from these t-shirts is plowed back into the journalism that FFP does. How cool is that?
April 20, 7 p.m.: Want to learn how investigative reporters do their work? The Omaha News Academy, funded by a Omaha Community Foundation grant to Flatwater Free Press and Noise Omaha, is holding a free public event with FFP reporter Sara Gentzler to talk about accessing government records. Sign up to attend here. I just did!
April 28 3-6 p.m.: Come see FFP’s cool new digs. We’re holding an office open house in conjunction with Elevator’s grand opening. This building is stunning. We’re so happy to have an office here. Stop by, have a beverage (adult or otherwise) and talk journalism with us. RSVP here.
Ok, back to the news: Our parent org, Nebraska Journalism Trust, also runs Silicon Prairie News. It’s brand-spanking-new editor, Stefanie Monge, did a nice story on what it’s like — what it’s really like — to work at a Nebraska startup company. The good, bad and ugly. You can find all Stef’s work at the SPN website.
A crane renaissance: I knew that some committed central Nebraskans have done hard work to ensure that the Sandhill cranes return to our fair state each year. But I had no idea that it was a one-of-a-kind plan that did so much more. Story from FFP correspondent and longtime central Nebraska ag reporter Lori Potter.
Thanks to our sponsor: This week it’s Ho-Chunk Inc., Nebraska’s largest minority-run business. We think it’s crucial to tell Native stories like this and this and this and this in the Flatwater Free Press, and we’re proud that Ho-Chunk supports the mission of Nebraska nonprofit journalism.
Last but not least: Omahans, take notice of our friends over at the Omaha Reader. They are doing good work on important topics like Omaha’s mental health challenges, tax-increment financing, the goings on at City Hall and so much more. We’re about to launch a partnership with them focused on the environment. Sign up for their daily newsletter here.
See you next week,
—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:
- If you haven’t read it yet, you need to. Here’s ProPublica’s giant scoop this week on how Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas — he who is married to Nebraska native Ginni Thomas — took an incredible number of luxury vacations and free private flights from a billionaire, and failed to tell the American public, as he is very much required to do.
- The Nebraska Examiner has done great work in the past week on how Tony Goins, the Pillen administrator’s top economic official, was co-mingling his state work with his ownership of a cigar bar. This week Goins resigned.
- In the face of a continued filibuster led by two Omaha state senators furious about anti-trans legislation, the leadership of the Nebraska Legislature is now smashing together seemingly unrelated pieces of legislation in order to try to pass more bills into law. It may be unconstitutional. It’s certainly not normal. The Journal Star’s Chris Dunker with the story.
- Nearby Kansas’ groundwater is disappearing. A scary story from High Plains Public Radio.
- And finally: The drumbeat of deadly gun violence in America, and in American schools, can make us numb to the daily reality. And that reality includes many, many shootings and near misses that never hit the national news. But can you imagine the terror that parents and teachers and children must have felt in Sandy Creek High School, located not far from my hometown, when that school went into lockdown? News Channel Nebraska with the story.
