Follow the money. That’s the line in “All the President’s Men.” It’s the advice given to journalists for generations. And it’s exactly what Andrew Wegley did in today’s Flatwater story.
Wegley tracks a $1 million pot of state money that entrepreneur Julie Bushell attempted to nab for her company months before she received a still-under-investigation no-bid contract directed to her from the Office of Gov. Jim Pillen.
That $1 million strikes me as a wildly good thing — real-time sensors that could help farmers track nitrate levels so they could save money on fertilizer while putting less nitrate into our drinking water supply. An obvious win-win.
But state scientists and the state’s top environmental official were dubious that the technology that Bushell was trying to sell the state actually worked. Through emails and interviews, the story shows that the doubt was erased from the record and that the Governor’s Office never shared those misgivings with the lawmaker fighting for the funding.
Wegley also shows that Bushell was soon installed in regular meetings inside a state agency, even as a deputy director worked with her to spend that $1 million with her company … money that, weirdly, never got spent at all after Bushell’s separate no-bid contract with the state was first revealed by Aaron Sanderford, then with the Nebraska Examiner.
As Wegley’s story states: “Valentine’s account and dozens of emails obtained by Flatwater through public records requests raise questions about Bushell’s role and influence inside state government before and after Pillen recommended her for the $208,333-a-month, no-bid contract.”
Yes, they do.
I want to note: We printed the entirety of the response from the Governor’s Office, which was delivered by spokeswoman Laura Strimple. Read it in the story.
Five Days of Flatwater: It’s here. Our fifth birthday! A rundown of the birthday events you can attend starting Saturday:
Saturday: In-store appearance at Raygun, at 1219 P St. in Lincoln. Stop in between 2-4 p.m. and chat with Flatwater’s Lincoln-based reporters, Andrew Wegley and Emily Wolf. New Flatwater merch available!
Sunday: Only a few free tickets remain for our Flatwater Forum at Morrill Hall on UNL’s campus. You must register for this one. I will be onstage interviewing Atlantic senior editor and Nebraska kid Jenna Johnson. Yanqi Xu will talk about her recent Pillen Family Farms undocumented workers story that she did in collab with the New York Times. And more! Learn more and register here.
(Note: This event has moved to Morrill Hall from the Sheldon.)
Monday: A super-cool collab with Film Streams at the Dundee Theater in Omaha. We’re showing a great documentary about a small-town newspaper, and then our exec director, Matt Wynn, will chat with the stars of the movie. There will be birthday cake. Only a few tickets remaining for this one, too! Register for free here.
(Note: This event has been moved to the bigger Dundee Theater because of the crowd size. Your registration is good, just come to Dundee.)
Tuesday: It’s trivia night! The Flatwater journalists have designed a devilish trivia contest they will be unveiling at HopCat, 601 P St. in Lincoln. It’s from 6-8 p.m. Show up with a team, crush trivia and win a really nice prize package that includes tickets to …
Wednesday: It’s FlatFest! Setting: A super-cool barn just outside Lincoln. Special guest: Legendary journalist George Packer. Drinks: Delicious. Food: Fantastic. Sunset: Great, if it ever stops raining. At last check, there were maybe 20 tickets left for our big annual event. Buy one of the final tickets, help us sell out and support the mission of nonprofit news.
I’m so excited for the Five Days of Flatwater to kick off. See you soon!
Oh, and before I forget: Are you coming to FlatFest? Do you have a question you want to ask me, George Packer or Yanqi Xu? We may read your question and answer it from the stage. Hit reply on this email and ask the question you’d like to ask. Thanks!
Back to the news: Gosh darn, we had so many good stories this week.
You should read the story about little Rushville, in northwest Nebraska, and how the Nebraska small town now sits at the center of the superhero world. (Really.) Loved this one from correspondent Kevin Warneke.
For sure read this one from Flatwater’s Destiny Herbers, who showed this week that some Nebraska counties are taking opioid settlement money — money meant to be spent on combating the opioid crisis — and spending it on Flock cameras and other law enforcement tools.
Another interesting one: A story from Wegley and Sara Gentzler published this week about how Gov. Pillen just reshaped the economic forecasting board in an unprecedented way. This board does something seemingly boring — predicts state tax receipts — but it’s also crucial for the state budget, say the people who helped design it. It also was designed to be apolitical. It is still?
And kids at a bunch of Head Starts around the state are wearing “talk pedometers.” The idea: Measure how many words toddlers are speaking and train early childhood educators to guide the tykes to longer, more in-depth conversations and help them build early language skills. Fascinating one by Nebraska education reporter Lauren Wagner that we republished from The 74, the education newsroom that Wagner writes for.
Lastly, check out this story about the 82-year-old master gardener who is doing a hero’s work to make South 24th Street bloom. Really nice one from Omaha correspondent and longtime chronicler of the city Chris Burbach.
It’s so exciting, on the eve of our fifth birthday, to be able to deliver so much good journalism, and a nice variety, too.
From our sponsor: This week, it’s the Nebraska Cultural Endowment, which has launched an advocacy campaign as it fights for state funding that it says supports arts and humanities across the state. Read their story here. Thank you to the Nebraska Cultural Endowment for supporting the mission of nonprofit news.
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
Thanks to this week’s sponsor
Learn more about Flatwater Free Press sponsorship options »
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:
- Aaron Sanderford has moved back to the Omaha World-Herald. No matter where the dude works, he gets big scoops. This week, he reported the story that ricocheted around Nebraska. It’s Dan Osborn, in leaked audio, with some blunt comments about small-town Trump supporters. (You may need a World-Herald subscription to read this story.)
- Point of fact: I hail from Red Cloud, the town that Osborn used in his leaked comments. For the record, I know no one there named Billy Bob. There’s also no Trump Store. I did grow up with a Billy Joe, though. Listen to Osborn explain/defend his comments to CNN.
- The State Auditor found what he says is $1 billion in accounting errors in Lancaster County. The county treasurer is resisting calls to resign. Stories by Cindy Gonzalez of the Nebraska Examiner.
- Is retiring Nebraska congressman Don Bacon going to run for president? Or vice president? The story made the national rounds this week.
- Remember that story earlier that tied to nitrate contamination and the follow-the-money effort to see if (and how) that $1 million in state funds was spent? Sadly, this is still an urgent problem in Nebraska. Residents of Bayard, in the Panhandle, were recently instructed not to drink their water after a test showed sky-high nitrate levels. Story by Maunette Loeks of the Scottsbluff Star-Herald, appearing here in The World-Herald. (You may need OWH subscriber access to read this story.)
- And finally, I enjoyed this one out of Omaha from Jessica Wade of Nebraska Public Media and the Omaha Reader. The mayor has a hotline. What happens when you call it?
