Natalia Alamdari here with this week’s FFP newsletter. Today, I’ve got another story from the Sandhills for you.
On weekday mornings, Hunter Miller logs on for work as an assistant roadway engineer for the engineering firm Olsson.
Olsson’s headquarters are in Lincoln.
Miller logs in from his home 300 miles away in Valentine.
He’s one of the dozens of people in Valentine now working remotely, thanks to our increasingly virtual world, and recent moves to expand broadband in rural Nebraska.
Nebraska still lags behind much of the rest of the country when it comes to remote work. But the effects of the pandemic have rural leaders asking: What does it mean for small towns if people are able to work whatever job they want, in whatever corner of the state they want?
Go to the place: In my first newsletter to you all, I told you about my college professor who always preached to “go to the place.” At FFP, one way we do that is through listening tours – traveling around Nebraska, and hearing from you about issues and amazing happenings you think deserve more attention.
I always walk away with a laundry list of new story ideas that I would have never thought of sitting at my desk in Omaha. This broadband story was one of many we learned about from readers like you while on a listening tour in Valentine this summer. There are more stories from the Sandhills and future listening tours in store. I can’t wait to meet more of you on the road.
Honoring native history: In this week’s Friday read, FFP freelancer Lori Potter tells the long history of the Pawnee Scouts. The first of the Pawnee Nation to serve in the military, the Scouts’ story has often been overlooked.
In Nebraska, the Pawnee Scouts protected pioneers, freighters and railroad workers in the mid-1800s. But their role was largely forgotten outside of the Pawnee Nation in Oklahoma. Now, the stories passed down through families are finally getting formal recognition as part of Kearney’s 150th anniversary celebrations.
Swag: As FFP’s VP of Totes, I’d be shirking my responsibilities if I didn’t tell you to take a look at our new lineup of SWAG! We’ve leaned into fall and football season with these new selections from RAYGUN: Red football-themed shirts if that’s your sport of choice! Super cool sweatshirts that will keep you warm as the leaves start turning! Stock up and show your love of local journalism.
—Natalia Alamdari, Seacrest Greater Nebraska 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:
- Gov. Jim Pillen is once again pushing school districts to curb spending, at a time when school leaders say inflation is forcing them to spend more. One board member, declining to be named, told the Nebraska Examiner that the governor’s most recent letter about school spending felt like “bullying.” Aaron Sanderford with the story.
- The shut down of AltEn’s former ethanol plant near Mead happened before I arrived in Nebraska, but the cleanup continues. Researchers studying the aftermath have found that residents living near the pesticide-contaminated waste are still showing exposure to harmful chemicals, the Lincoln Journal Star’s Chris Dunker reports. The study out of the University of Nebraska and Creighton University found that one in three residents living near AltEn had measurable amounts of pesticides in their urine.
- In more state government news: Pillen has signed a $10 million contract with a consultant to find better, more cost-effective ways to run state government, the Omaha World-Herald’s Martha Stoddard reports. At the same time, the governor cut a state office already working on similar goals.
- The City of Sidney public transportation system got a call last Friday about a man needing a ride. Turns out, that man wasn’t your average Joe. News Channel Nebraska’s Forrest Hershberger with the story of a country music star’s visit to Sidney in the Panhandle.
- Nebraska state climatologist Martha Durr has resigned from the position after nearly eight years in the role. Nebraska Public Media’s Elizabeth Rembert talked with Durr about the job and why she is leaving it.
- Across Nebraska, property owners are flooding public hearings to voice their frustrations with rising taxes. The hearings are mandated under a state law that went into effect last year. In many cases, rising property valuations are to blame for higher tax bills, which are drawing ire from residents throughout Nebraska – from Lincoln, to Hastings, to Gering.
