Howdy, Omaha – it’s Jeremy.
I never liked science in school. To me, it was all math, memorization and methodological malarkey. I took as few science classes as I could and stacked my course load with humanities.
But six months into my first real reporting job, the COVID-19 pandemic hit. All of a sudden, half of my sources were public health officials, and I wished I had paid better attention in biology.
My appreciation for these scientists grew as I recognized how much their field had informed journalism’s best practices. They were all about asking questions, gaining nuanced understanding and seeking truth in a world full of gray areas.
Our top story this week by FFP and Grist environmental reporter Anila Yoganathan dives into one of those gray areas: the drawn-out North Omaha coal plant saga.
The Omaha Public Power District planned to stop burning coal at the plant in 2023, but the utility has continued to push back the date.
Amid community concern over the health risks of burning coal, OPPD commissioned an industry research group to create a report. When it came out, the utility’s CEO declared the assessment had found the plant caused no significant negative impact on the health of people living near it.
But as the experts told Anila, science is rarely that simple. The narrow assessment didn’t look at all potential harms to human health and left a lot of questions unanswered. One state senator called the report “a smack in the face.”
You can read Anila’s terrific reporting here (or click the photo above).
— Jeremy Turley, Flatwater Free Press
Up to Know Good
Sometimes, a new restaurant and the neighborhood it opens in feel like they were meant to be together. I think that’s the case with Know Good, a new lunch and brunch spot off 35th and Center tucked between Hanscom Park and Field Club. It’s a spot filled already with the young people, families and retirees that call those neighborhoods home. And now it’s attracting folks like me, from downtown, Dundee and beyond for its solid lineup of breakfast sandwiches on homemade bagels, down-home pastry case and solid coffee made with locally roasted Archetype beans.
Read my review here (or click on the photo above).
Sarah Baker Hansen is an award-winning writer who has covered Omaha’s food scene for more than a decade. She posts restaurant reviews and food news on her blog, sarahbakerhansen.com.
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The Metro Transit board reviewed ridership totals, reporting 3.5 million trips in 2025, while also hearing rider concerns about recent service delays tied to weather and equipment issues. Staff reported improved system performance overall, including increased passenger trips, reduced service interruptions and planned service adjustments this spring. The board reelected Jack Simon as chair and Daniel Padilla as vice chair for 2026. Read the full summary here and the full meeting notes on the Documenters website.
Want to help inform your community and create better journalism while getting paid? Become a Documenter today.
— Leah Wambui Keinama, Nebraska Journalism Trust
As we approach our five-year anniversary of FFP, we should note that readers like you have supported our newsroom from the very beginning. Now, we want to know what we can do better to support you.
We’re opening our FFP readership survey to new and longtime readers alike. It’s a four-question, anonymous survey that will help guide us for the next five years and beyond.
The key question: How could the Flatwater Free Press be improved?
Want more Omaha stories? Think something is missing in our coverage? Whatever it is, your feedback will help the Flatwater Free Press serve Nebraskans better.
As I settle into my post-college life in Omaha, there’s one thing I refuse to let go of: intramural sports.
I played sand volleyball, broomball and flag football all in the same week in college for nothing more than the hope of a free T-shirt if we won the championship. And, since graduating in May, I’ve kept playing. I joined a recreational sand volleyball league with some friends over the summer and I’m currently midway through my indoor soccer season at the Maplewood Indoor Athletic Complex.
These recreational teams have become one of my favorite ways to stay active, hang out with friends and enjoy some low-stakes competition. And, it turns out I’m not alone. So many of my FFP colleagues are rec sports enthusiasts as well. Henry is on a hockey team. Jeremy, Yanqi and Emily play badminton. Sara plays on a soccer team, too. Andrew plays basketball. Turns out journalists can be athletes.
— Naomi Delkamiller, Flatwater Free Press
ICE detained four people at the Douglas County Courthouse on Monday. Sheriff Aaron Hanson said three people were appearing on drunken-driving charges and the fourth was charged with a hit-and-run offense, The Reader’s Jessica Wade reported. A defense lawyer whose client got arrested said ICE picking up people at the courthouse creates an environment where witnesses may not come to court.
Around 500 protesters lined Dodge Street in central Omaha to demonstrate against ICE’s killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minnesota, KETV’s Aaron Hegarty reported.
Ira Combs, the founder of the North Omaha Area Health Clinic, died over the weekend, WOWT reported. Combs, hailed as a North Omaha health care pioneer, got his nursing degree at 40 and began providing treatment and screenings out of the trunk of his car before starting NOAH.
Leaders from the University of Nebraska Medical Center and Nebraska Medicine are publicly making amends after a spat that saw the interconnected entities arguing over governance structure, The World-Herald’s Julie Anderson reported. Under a plan by the NU Board of Regents, UNMC would become the sole governing member of Nebraska Medicine, a major health care provider in the state. (You may need a subscription to read this story.)
The Flatwater Free Press is published by the Nebraska Journalism Trust, a 501(c)(3) public charity