I write you today from Omaha’s airport, bound west for a weekend in Denver.
And I gotta be honest … I have never before cried in an airport. Not until I cracked open Cindy Lange-Kubick’s latest story, the one we published on our site this morning.
It’s a story about a table. It’s a story about several lives, including the well-lived life of Cindy’s own father.
I would tell you more about this, but I can’t summon any words better than Cindy’s own. I would tell you more, but I need to go blow my nose in the bathroom.
I continue to be so thrilled that one of the first, best decisions that exec director Matt Wynn and I made when we started FFP is that Cindy Lange-Kubick was gonna write for us – and we weren’t taking no for an answer. Thank you for saying yes, Cindy. And thank you for writing such a personal and yet universally powerful story.
Teeth, Decayed: There are too many Nebraskans who simply cannot get in to see a dentist. They call and call, they search Facebook pages for dental clinics taking new Medicaid patients, they beg and plead and give up. They sometimes resort to driving hundreds of miles to get to the dental clinic that will take them. And sometimes, in immense pain, they walk into the ER – a move that experts say costs taxpayers far more than simply getting Medicaid patients regular dental appointments in the first place.
Destiny Herbers, in her first story for FFP, talks to Nebraskans caught in this loop of long phone calls, long waiting lists and long drives to seek care. And she talks to Nebraska dentists who explain why this is happening … the state of Nebraska, they say, doesn’t pay them nearly enough to take Medicaid patients.
Destiny is a fellow from the Howard Center for Investigative Journalism, here on a one-year stint. I’m so excited to see the journalism she commits in Nebraska.
Not-so-special education: In a story we published Thursday, new FFP Omaha reporter Jeremy Turley tells the tale of Rylee, a North Omaha kid who until recently was pumped to start fourth grade with her pals at King Elementary. Then her mom got an email from Omaha Public Schools – Rylee, who needs special education, wouldn’t have a special ed teacher at King this year. Because there aren’t any.
I want to shout out the other good coverage of this issue, headlined by the OWH’s Lauren Wagner, who has done seriously good work on this topic. KETV and KMTV 3 News Now also have covered it.
One month warning: If you want to meet and talk to Cindy, Destiny, Jeremy and the rest of our motley crew – not to mention three national journalism stalwarts who have agreed to sit on a panel and be grilled by me – then it’s time for you to get your tickets to the Flatwater Free Press Festival, aka FlatFest.
At last check we have sold nearly 200 tickets to the Sept. 14 event, which will be held at a refurbished dairy barn near Bennington. It’s getting full!
It’s gonna be a good conversation, good food from three food trucks, good cocktails (of course) and an all-around good damn time.
In our last planning meeting, I almost suggested that FFP head honcho Matt Wynn get his high school band back together to play the FlatFest. Then I remembered that the point is to sell more tickets, not the opposite.
I bet you want to know the name of Matt’s high school band now. I will be announcing it from the stage at FlatFest, content in the knowledge that Matt can’t fire me in front of 300 people.
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].
See you next week,
—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:
- U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas accepted free Husker football tickets while taking a series of luxury vacations paid for by ultra-wealthy friends, including longtime Nebraska business exec David Sokol. Here’s the World-Herald’s Erin Bamer localizing the story in the Lincoln Journal Star.
And here is ProPublica’s latest on Thomas, which widens their scope of reporting to show that the Supreme Court justice has taken dozens of luxury vacations from different multi-millionaires and billionaires, including Sokol. (That story also notes that Thomas is far from the only justice to take free stuff from ultra-rich people, though Thomas’ acceptance of such gifts goes far beyond other members of the Supreme Court.) - Douglas County built a new, $27 million juvenile justice center. And now the Douglas County Board — which voted to build it — is again delaying the move to the new center. Why? Because the majority of the board says it’s too small. The World-Herald’s Chris Burbach has been all over this story.
- A new state audit says that the one-time leader of Norfolk’s bus service embezzled $740,000, spending it in part at casinos and on family vacations. Story by the Examiner’s Paul Hammel.
This news follows our February coverage of the Norfolk bus system’s shocking woes.
That story helped to result in a happy ending for people who want or need to ride the bus in Norfolk. - An important story by Nebraska Public Media’s Brian Beach from my neck of the woods … in fact one that follows my high school classmate Nelson Trambly. (Hi, Nelson!) Hail storms are getting more severe in rural Nebraska. And it’s messing with farmers’ ability to raise good crops.
- Slow down! The Nebraska State Patrol pulled over more than 100 drivers for going 100 mph or more in July, News Channel Nebraska reports.
- I mentioned Lauren Wagner’s work on the public school teacher shortage earlier. Here, she talks to OPS leaders and board members about the continued problem.
- Omaha is supposed to have a climate action plan. It’s taking awhile. The Reader’s Chris Bowling with an update on the drawn-out process.
