It’s Destiny, investigative reporter at FFP.
A few weeks ago, I got an early-morning call asking me to take a look at Lancaster County’s assessor records. I pulled up the GIS search, a familiar friend from my time reporting our “Who’s Buying Nebraska?” series.
“Search for Nebraska Public Power District,” the caller suggested.
My eyes immediately went to a $5 million purchase from late February – millions more than NPPD had previously spent in the area. I clicked, curious about the seller.
Donna and Ronald Starzec. “They’re employees,” the caller said.
I pulled up another trusty tool, our Nebraska Public Payrolls search. I looked up Ronald first, NPPD’s land management manager. Huh.
Then I switched to Donna: NPPD’s chief audit and ethics officer. Huh??
I asked NPPD why they bought that land (future plans to build a new power plant across from Sheldon Station) and how they reached that price (double the appraised value). Then I talked with some government ethics officials about why it matters. Read what they said about the sale here.
Email alarm: Immigrants in Nebraska are experiencing panic, whiplash and fear that their lives will suddenly be upended as the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent out an email blast ordering them to self deport – even though they entered the country legally.
The uncertainty is causing chaos in Nebraska meatpacking plants and factories, for immigration lawyers and advocacy organizations, and for families who aren’t sure what to do next. My friend and colleague Natalia Alamdari continues her vital work this week, tracking the impact of changing immigration policies in Nebraska.
A very Omaha movie: Oscar-winning filmmaker Alexander Payne is hoping to return to his home state to shoot the sequel to his 1999 comedy “Election.” The story will expand beyond the world of school politics into the larger Omaha political universe, FFP contributor Leo Adam Biga wrote. And it will see Reese Witherspoon reprise her role as Tracy Flick.
Building a better Lincoln: The Lincoln Community Foundation’s 14th annual Give to Lincoln Day event is underway now through May 29. Last year this community-wide campaign raised $8.5 million to support more than 450 local nonprofits.
These organizations serve Lincoln by providing shelter, legal aid and substance abuse treatment. Theater productions, summer camps and children’s books. They rescue animals, bring meals to the elderly, preserve our history and support veterans.
They even bring you the news. You can support our Lincoln coverage here, and check out the many other local nonprofits while you’re at it.
Thank you for supporting a free press.
Let’s talk mental health: FFP is headed to Omaha’s Westside Community Schools to talk about mental health on June 12. How are the city and state succeeding as they try to aid those affected by mental health issues? How and why are we failing some of our state’s most vulnerable residents? And how can we make it better?
Chris Bowling, FFP Omaha reporter, will moderate a panel that includes public health experts, homelessness advocates, treatment providers and Nebraskans who have been personally affected by persistent mental illness in their families. Learn more about this free community event and RSVP here.
This is the first in a series of discussions about important subjects that we’re co-hosting with the Omaha Community Foundation. We’ll be announcing a few more issue-based events around the state soon!
Got a tip?: Some of our best stories come from readers like you – and like the caller who sent me back on the land sales trail. Have a question that you think our reporters should look into? Complete this form or reach our newsroom at [email protected].
Sincerely,
—Destiny Herbers, investigative reporter
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:
- John Ewing Jr. defeated three-term incumbent (and the city’s first female mayor) Jean Stothert to become Omaha’s first elected Black mayor – an upset that national news outlets are calling a warning sign for Republicans in battleground areas. Locally, the Omaha World-Herald got reaction from community members and politicos in and around the state’s largest city.
- Construction of Nebraska’s new 1,500-bed state prison is already behind schedule and will likely cost far more than the $350 million lawmakers set aside for it, reports Andrew Wegley at the Lincoln Journal Star. A 1,500-bed prison in South Dakota is projected to cost $825 million.
- A local investment group has purchased the former Cabela’s campus in Sidney. Bass Pro, Cabela’s owner, turned down a previous bid from a different buyer over concerns about whether it would benefit the community, reports Hunter Arterburn at News Channel Nebraska.
- The Nebraska Examiner reports that the Legislature passed a variety of bills Wednesday, including on banning the sale of lab-grown meat, which FFP’s Sara Gentzler reported has yet to hit U.S. markets, and empowering the City of Omaha to crack down on bed bug infestations and regulate housing authorities, an issue FFP Omaha reporter Jeremy Turley has been following closely.
- Speaking of the state’s lawmakers, on Tuesday they voted to provide sick leave to 25,000 workers … then a few hours later they voted again to take it away, in a move the Journal Star’s Wegley described as “bizarre.”
- A wave of pharmacy closures is crashing down on Nebraska, and it’s hitting rural parts of the state especially hard. As of August 2023, some 20 Nebraska counties had no pharmacy, and 60 counties had between one and five, reports Julie Anderson at the Omaha World-Herald.
- Following a rare opportunity to ask questions of the state’s Supreme Court justices, students at Bryan High School in Omaha sent a letter expressing disappointment with how one justice reacted to a question asking whether we’re in a constitutional crisis, the Examiner’s Cindy Gonzalez reported.
- A Nebraska midwife is continuing her court fight to strike down a state law requiring midwives to deliver in a medical facility. She says the law is particularly harmful in “maternity deserts.” The state argues she lacks standing, an argument that won over a lower court judge last year, reports Andrew J. Nelson with Courthouse News Service.
- A former state official is threatening to sue the Nebraska Environmental Trust … again. This time for the transfer of millions from the trust to fill a state budget hole, writes Paul Hammel at the Nebraska Examiner.
- A Scotts Bluff County commissioner facing a potential recall for his alleged “abusive behavior during Board meetings and a host of reckless and ethical violations” says his detractors are simply trying to protect their own “personal or financial interests,” according to KNEB.
