Hey, Omaha. Chris here.
Most people know what it feels like to love someone who has died. But each of us has a unique relationship to grief: the things we miss, the regrets, the way it feels to see our mom’s handwriting or hear our grandpa on an old voicemail.
It’s a deep feeling. And as much as you want to comfort someone going through it, it feels hard to find the right thing to say.
Angie Hanson was tired of reaching for cliché cards. The Valley mom has lost a 1-year-old son to a rare heart defect, a sister-in-law to alcoholism-related issues and her husband and brother to cancer. She wanted something with a real message. Something that lets you know it’s OK to laugh, cry or scream.
She started Butterflies + Halos to do that. Today, her cards, candles, notebooks and stickers are helping people remember their loved ones.
Read correspondent Tim Trudell’s heartening story here (or click the photo above).
— Chris Bowling, Flatwater Free Press
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The Nebraska Board of Pardons reviewed 80 applications and ultimately granted seven pardons, with most denials coming after questions about applicants’ criminal histories, sobriety timelines and personal accountability. Testimony was limited to certain groups, and in those cases, board members frequently cited concerns about clarity and responsibility when issuing denials. Approved cases included pardons for Robert Corio, Tracey Curtis and John Faulkner, restored gun rights for Peggy Gonzalez and a 2-1 approval for David Groller after extended discussion. 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
A chilly gust blows through the trees. You watch from your living room window as it shakes leaves from the branches.
Suddenly, you hear a clatter from the kitchen. A shuffling of footsteps.
Rest easy, dear subscriber. It’s just your friends at the Flatwater Free Press who, for one day only, have exchanged notebooks for cookbooks to prepare their favorite Thanksgiving foods.
Here comes Emily Wolf with crispy balsamic Brussels sprouts. “It’s the perfect balance of sweet and savory,” she says, “and a great way to balance out the heaviness of your turkey or ham feast.”
How delightful. And healthy. Oh, here comes Sara Gentzler holding a casserole dish. “Stuffing,” she says as she removes the aluminum foil. “It’s the only time I eat it each year, and its scarcity only enhances its tastiness.”
Chris Bowling is close behind with Grandma’s German potato salad: potatoes cooked in bacon fat, sugar, egg and a splash of vinegar.
Bob Glissmann drops a heavy Crock-Pot in front of you. No turkey this year, he says. Never a fan of the traditional fare, Bob brought chili.
Ryan Hoffman slides a glass dish to your left. “Mom’s sweet potato casserole. No marshmallows,” he says with intense eye contact. “I actually preferred it refrigerated as a dessert.”
Natalia Alamdari plops a hefty pile of marshmallows and fruit to your right. “Ambrosia salad,” she answers to your bemused expression, “picked up by Mom and aunts in the 1980s from a random co-worker.”
Just as you’re loosening your belt after the feast, two sweet-toothed reporters enter.
First, it’s Yanqi Xu holding a coconut cream pie of a most confounding origin. She first tasted it at a friend’s friend’s work friend’s family friend’s Thanksgiving in Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, she never asked for the recipe, but there are no rules in this made-up dinner scenario.
Jeremy “Turkey” Turley follows with a chocolate bourbon pecan pie and homemade whipped cream. “No explanation necessary,” he says. “If you know, you know.”
Finally, you are excused from the table to sit in a cushy recliner and drowsily flip channels between football and Charlie Brown.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. See you again next week.
— The Flatwater Free Press family
The plan to build a professional soccer stadium north of downtown is back on. The $114 million sports, housing, retail and restaurant development is the latest proposal to construct a new home for Union Omaha after its owners dropped a similar plan earlier this year, writes Julie Anderson at The World-Herald. (You may need a subscription to read this story.)
The Harney Street bridge over Interstate 480 will reopen for Thanksgiving, writes KETV’s Samantha Pastorino. The bridge was demolished and rebuilt to bear the weight of streetcars, which should start rolling over it in 2028. The Farnam Street bridge will be demolished and rebuilt next year.
A fourth labor union has reached an agreement with Union Pacific to protect jobs ahead of a potential merger with Norfolk Southern. The combination of the two top rail companies would create a $200 billion company with a coast-to-coast network, writes Jackie Ourada at Nebraska Public Media.
A grand jury indicted 13 alleged Crips gang members who federal prosecutors allege were involved in a handful of shootings, including a 2024 homicide in Lincoln, KETV reported. Charges also include illegal gun possession and gun trafficking.
Former Democratic State Sen. Lynne Walz announced she’s considering a 2026 run for governor, the Nebraska Examiner reported. Walz, a Fremont real estate agent, served GOP-leaning Dodge County and northwestern Douglas County in the Legislature until earlier this year, when she was term-limited. Gov. Jim Pillen is running for reelection and faces at least one primary challenger on the Republican side.
The Flatwater Free Press is published by the Nebraska Journalism Trust, a 501(c)(3) public charity