Hello, and a Happy 4th of July weekend to you. Four Flatwater stories for you this week, delivered inside this handy statewide newsletter a day earlier than usual so you can get your journalism fix before you get serious about fireworks.
First up: I love a good Michael Forsberg project. A few years ago, the renowned Nebraska photographer, along with Nebraska Public Media producer Michael Farrell, famously did the Platte Basin Timelapse Project, which used 70 time-lapse cameras and allowed us to understand the river and its basin in a new way.
This year, he did something equally as audacious. He and a leading crane scientist rode their bikes 2,500 miles from Texas, through Nebraska and into Canada. They actually rolled right through my hometown of Red Cloud. My dad talked to them!
So, why were they doing this? They were charting and documenting a key migratory path of the whooping crane. And they were raising awareness about the endangered bird.
Flatwater’s Central Nebraska correspondent Lori Potter with the story of Forsberg’s latest odyssey.
In need of a lift: For many Nebraskans who can’t drive, a rural transit service is an essential part of life. It’s a small bus or a van that will pick them up and take them for cheap where they need to go. It’s often their main way to get groceries, visit friends, stay independent.
But most of our rural transit agencies — there are 49 in Nebraska — have faced numerous budget cuts from federal and state government. Now, they’re slashing hours, cutting services, raising fares and even contemplating closing.
Flatwater Lincoln reporter Emily Wolf on the story of a fraying lifeline, as well as efforts being made to save rural transit.
FlatFest filling fast: As I announced last week, we’re celebrating Flatwater’s fifth birthday this September with a one-of-a-kind barn party just outside of Lincoln. It’s the Flatwater Free Press Festival, code name FlatFest, and you’re going to want to buy your tickets quickly if you wanna join us there. At last check, we were roughly 20% sold out in the first week … and we haven’t yet announced this on our website or on social media.
Troubling turn: Not long ago, he was in a college national honor society and one of those University of Nebraska at Kearney ambassadors giving campus tours to prospective students. Less than a decade later, he’s now accused of being the mastermind behind a plot to assassinate the president and other leaders.
Flatwater reporters Henry Cordes and Andrew Wegley with an inside look at the troubling turn of Cozad High School grad and Omaha resident Abraham Hermosillo Alvarez. They also uncovered previously unseen online messages where Alvarez suggests he’s a soldier and references secret “big projects in the works.”
Immaculate vibes, uneven grub: Sarah Baker Hansen is back with her newest restaurant review, focused on the buzzy Anthem in Omaha’s Old Market. It’s cool, she says. It’s where you should go to feel cool. But the food isn’t keeping pace with the spot’s undeniable style, she writes.
Questions wanted: We get amazing tips from readers. Some of our best story ideas have come from you! Have a question that our reporters need to look into? 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:
- At least 10 Nebraska counties have put a moratorium on data center construction, reports Noelle Annonen and Maddie Ames of Nebraska Public Media.
- Grace Lewis of the Omaha World-Herald has two stories this week from the ICE facility in McCook, where the detainees describe the conditions and talk about lack of access to medical care and the smoke from nearby wildfires. Both stories aren’t behind a paywall this weekend, as the Lee newspapers are dropping their paywalls for the 4th of July.
- This story has an extremely tenuous connection to Nebraska, but I don’t care. Forever Nebraskan Ted Genoways, though he doesn’t live here anymore, writes a story about the final days of Craft, celebrity chef Tom Colicchio’s signature restaurant. Colicchio, of course, became nationally famous on Top Chef. This restaurant happens to sit only a few doors down from my uncles’ place in Manhattan. That’s enough of a Nebraska connection, I say. It’s really good. Check out the story in Esquire.
- How the Nebraska Environmental Trust’s funds can be spent is still a matter of legal dispute, and a judge blocked the state spending those funds this week, reports Zach Wendling of the Nebraska Examiner.
- Crazy season in politics appears to have started a bit early this year. Here are a few stories on new, mysterious political parties attempting to form — political parties that sure seem intended to confuse Democrats or confuse Republicans.
- A new Nebraska law attempts to protect children online, its backers say, but a federal judge has blocked it from going into effect, saying it likely violates the First Amendment. Story by NPM’s Molly Ashford.
- And finally, I was looking for a different old story of mine this morning but came across this one. It may feel strange for the 4th of July, but I don’t know … I have always thought it captures the worst of us and the best of us, all wrapped up together. Here, if you have never before read it, is the incredible story of little Neligh, Nebraska, and White Buffalo Girl.
