Projects & Investigations

  • Kearney youth center abuse scandal

    Kearney youth center abuse scandal

    Covering a pattern of sex-abuse allegations from boys at Nebraska’s Youth Rehabilitation and Treatment Center in Kearney
  • Paying the Price

    Paying the Price

    For years, Nebraska’s prison system has twin crises: Too many prisoners, and not enough employees to guard them. Paying the Price examines the causes and outcomes of the state’s overcrowded prisons.
  • Dying Blind

    Dying Blind

    We don’t know the real number of Nebraskans dying from drugs. It’s costing us.
  • Stopped in Seward

    Stopped in Seward

    On a 24-mile stretch of Interstate 80, traffic stops send millions of dollars to a single, small Nebraska county and its Sheriff’s Office.
  • Our Dirty Water

    Our Dirty Water

    Nebraska’s water is laced with nitrate. It’s likely harming our kids
  • Pigs & Power

    Pigs & Power

    After building pork empire, Nebraska’s governor stands at intersection of state and ag power
  • Nebraska Evolving

    Nebraska Evolving

    A series exploring how immigration is changing, and maybe saving, some small Nebraska communities
  • Ricketts’ Riches

    Ricketts’ Riches

    A Flatwater Free Press analysis shows the breadth of Nebraska campaign giving by Pete Ricketts and his parents.
  • Who’s Buying Nebraska?

    Who’s Buying Nebraska?

    A Flatwater Free Press series is focused on the answer to that question, and diving deeper into the corporate farms, multinational corporations, famed billionaires and even a powerful church who are buying huge swaths of Nebraska farmland.
  • Refuge at Risk

    Refuge at Risk

    Thousands of refugees call Nebraska home. Immigration policy under the Trump administration now threatens to upend the lives they’ve built.
  • Priced out of The Good Life

    Priced out of The Good Life

    Nebraska paychecks are stagnant. Home prices continue to spiral. It’s pricing out a generation of buyers.
  • Buried Truth

    Buried Truth

    Omaha spent decades cleaning up dust from a lead smelter that poisoned residents. But the Flatwater Free Press and ProPublica found that contamination remains.