I really love journalism that takes us behind the curtain, into subcultures hidden to us even though they may exist right in our neighborhoods.
It’s like a nerd’s version of a backstage pass. We don’t get to hang out with the bass player, but we do get to understand our town, our state, our country, a little bit better.
That’s what Destiny Herbers did today, in her story about a booming Nebraska church.
Lord of Hosts is no ordinary congregation. Its pastor is a televangelist who regularly mixes partisan politics and religion from the pulpit, in fact sees them as one and the same. He’s scoffed at the law meant to prohibit some of these political activities. He has called Donald Trump appointed and anointed by God. He’s waded into the fight over how Nebraska awards its presidential electoral votes.
And boy, is it working. The Lord of Hosts congregation is getting bigger. Its pastor, Hank Kunneman, has a growing national profile. And the church and related LLCs are amassing real estate and power in Millard, too.
An absolutely fascinating story from Herbers, published today in the Flatwater Free Press.
About that email: Yesterday we told the strange story of an email forward. It contained an ad attacking Omaha Mayor Jean Stothert. And it was sent from the chair of Nebraska’s Democratic Party — which paid for the ad — to the campaign manager of Mike McDonnell, Stothert’s top Republican challenger.
It appears to matter because Omaha is speeding toward an April 1 mayoral primary election, which is nonpartisan — meaning the top two vote getters of any party advance to the general. Stothert and McDonnell, both Republicans, have raised and spent the most money, opening the possibility that two Republicans could advance to in this majority Democratic city.
It’s also created a stir in both political parties.
FFP Omaha Reporter Chris Bowling with the tale.
Tariff turmoil: Want some concrete examples of how tariffs are already impacting Nebraska companies and industries? Read this story by FFP’s Howard fellow Joshua Shimkus. It does a good job summarizing the arguments for and against. Better than that, it offers up practical impacts.
Now, since it was published Wednesday, things have changed. Tariffs have been paused. Others have been threatened. Canadian coffeeshops have renamed “the Americano” the “Canadiano.” (I will drink either, so long as it contains Italian espresso.)
Through the whiplash, what remains true is that Nebraska businesses and farmers are in the middle here, watching — and hoping this high-stakes game of international trade chicken doesn’t smash them into smithereens.
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—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:
- The Journal Star is doing a really nice job covering the impacts of federal funding cuts. Here’s one I didn’t know about, until I read the LJS’s Alyssa Johnson this week: The $75 million Arbor Day Foundation grant to plant trees is dead. (You may need an LJS subscription to read.)
- My journalism education began at the Daily Nebraskan, the UNL student paper, so I’m always psyched when I see them breaking stories — even when those stories are scary for the wider university. Justin Diep reports that university leaders are prepping more than $20 million in budget cuts next year.
- Speaking of the university: It’s helping to develop a vaccine to prevent bird flu in cattle. Story by the reporter who is everywhere, the LJS’s Chris Dunker.
(May need an LJS subscription to access.) - It wouldn’t be a Friday newsletter without a central Nebraska story from NTV’s intrepid Steve White. But this is a first: Steve White’s story, about a massive proposed development in Grand Island, quotes a man testifying on behalf of transparency at a City Council meeting … also Steve White!
- The state’s gloomy fiscal outlook, including a nearly half-a-billion-dollar budget shortfall, had been improving. But an overlooked change by the federal government will leave the state on the hook for an additional $90.3 million, reports Zach Wendling at the Nebraska Examiner.
- The OWH’s Henry Cordes catches up with Sen. Pete Ricketts, who says he believes President Trump will shield farmers from the effects of tariffs. (May need an OWH subscription to access story.)
- A York County commissioner represents roughly 3,000 constituents from his dorm room. Nebraska Public Media’s Macy Byars on the youngest elected official in Nebraska, 18-year-old Joe Burgess.
- And finally, social media sucks but also occasionally reminds me why it exists. Like when I saw this legendary 2018 story, posted the other day by ProPublica managing editor Charles Ornstein, about an insane lottery scam that originated in an office in Des Moines. If you haven’t read it, or want to read it again, I highly recommend “The Man Who Cracked the Lottery.”
