If I have heard it once, I have heard it a million times. “Small towns are dying,” some resident of a larger city says.
It seems smart. It’s a statement supported by a general demographic trend where people continue to move from rural to urban and suburban areas.
And it completely misses the point, the actually interesting and nuanced point. Sure, some small towns are dying. And some small towns, the wise and aggressive ones, are actually thriving.
Consider Albion, the subject of our latest Flatwater Free Press story, this one written by me. It’s the third story in our series Why We Stay, which focuses on, well, Nebraskans who stick around.
In Albion, in the past two decades, they have built a new child care center. They have built a new spot for rodeos that now draws people from all across the country. They have saved and expanded their hospital, saved and expanded their nursing home, replaced an ancient pool with a sweet new aquatic center, built a walking trail, built pickle ball courts, and welcomed a bunch of young professionals and a bunch of new small businesses to town.
Boy, that sure pokes some holes in the “small towns are dying” narrative, doesn’t it? Read about why and how Albion is doing it.
We will continue to highlight rural Nebraska stories – both what’s working, what’s great, what isn’t working, and what’s very bad – in the Flatwater Free Press. I’m so glad that covering small town Nebraska is an important part of our mission.
Prisons and pretty birds: Our partnership with the World-Herald on Nebraska’s troubled prison system continued last week, with a really good set of stories from longtime World-Herald reporter (and long-suffering Baltimore Orioles fan) Henry Cordes.
Look at this important and terrifying paragraph: “A number of North Omaha neighborhoods produce some of the highest incarceration rates found anywhere in the country, according to a World-Herald analysis of Harvard University data. In a 2010 national snapshot of people behind bars, more than a half dozen North Omaha census tracts produced higher rates of male incarceration than any in south-central Los Angeles.” Give this crucial story a read right here.
And we have highlighted the pretty birds before, but just in case you missed our central Nebraska freelancer Lori Potter’s stories… Crane watching is big business, and those businesses hope the crane watchers return after three years of Biblical floods and pandemics.
In the meantime… Nebraska experts may have figured out a way to save more cranes as the majestic bird attempts to navigate our modern world.
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].
Have a fantastic (warmer) weekend.
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:
- Instances of serious, serious speeding are up, bigtime, across the state. The Lincoln Journal Star’s Peter Salter found that the number of drivers clocked going over 100 miles per hour was up 60% in the first two months of the year.
- A big investment in prison staffing is paying off. After increasing pay and overtime for prison staff, the Nebraska Department of Corrections has filled hundreds of jobs that, previously, had been vacant, KMTV’s Jon Kipper reports.
- Finally, an update on the takeover bid of Lee Enterprises, which now owns almost all of the state’s daily newspapers. Alden Global Capital had advocated for ousting some of the company’s leadership. They failed.
