One of marks of a great writer is that he or she can get the reader to become invested in things that they simply wouldn’t care about if the story were in the hands of a lesser scribe.
Such it is, again, with FFP freelancer Carson Vaughan and at least one reader — me — today. I had never heard of UNL’s Cedar Point Biological Station, and in truth don’t know much about biology after repeatedly falling asleep in high school science. (Sorry, Mr. McNeil! You tried your hardest.)
But when Carson, the author of “Zoo Nebraska” and a forthcoming second book, pitched it as a story, I eagerly accepted. I knew he’d make readers care.
And predictably, the story, like Cedar Point itself, is a southwest Nebraska surprise. It’s a story about what came before us in this state, and what we will leave — or not — to our children. It’s a story that connects a sideburns-wearing 1970s Cornhusker researcher with work that can teach us about future global pandemics. And it’s a story set on the extreme southern edge of the Sandhills, a place where the Nebraska wilderness can make you feel deeply, if you get out in it, take a deep breath and simply, for a moment, exist.
Paris on Pacific Street? I always dig the Sarah Baker Hansen reviews where she introduces people to something new and unexpected, when she locates a burst of culinary ingenuity or inspiration sprouting out of some little crack in the sidewalk somewhere. For this week’s review, Sarah — acting on a tip from a restaurant industry source — traveled three times to a bakery tucked away in a west Omaha strip mall and found a place with the power to transport you to … Europe?
Tornado, flood and rock ’n’ roll: If you are reading this on Friday, Outlandia Music Festival in Bellevue starts today. (Both legendary Omaha-based band The Faint and the The Flaming Lips play tonight!)
Music writer extraordinaire Tim McMahan this week wrote the story of the park that hosts the festival. And it’s quite a tale, a family dream that survived a tornado, a flood and a global pandemic before becoming the home of a big music festival and a host of smaller events. Here’s Tim’s story on Falconwood Park and the family trying to transform it into an Omaha-area institution.
Lincoln, Oct. 23, be there: The second annual Flatwater Free Press Festival — codename, FlatFest — is coming to the Star City the week before Halloween. We’re hosting it at the historic Haymarket train station. There will be food, drink, chances to talk with Flatwater reporters, an incredible teen poet, a panel discussion with Nebraska-connected journalists now working for some of the country’s biggest media outlets and a line dancing competition. (All of that is true, except for the dancing part.)
Join us, at the tail-end of a day during which we’re co-hosting a series of “journalism on stage” events with The Atlantic. Support Nebraska journalism. Support nonprofit journalism. And have fun doing it!
And some good news if you’re traveling and want to make it as low-stress as possible: Our friends at the Graduate Lincoln hotel are offering a discounted room price and free parking for FlatFest guests. Stay a block away from the venue in downtown Lincoln. Learn more and buy your tickets here.
Thank you to our sponsor: This week it’s the Nebraska Community Foundation, which helps build, grow and strengthen hundreds of Nebraska’s smaller communities, like my hometown of Red Cloud. Thank you to NCF for supporting our nonprofit newsroom as we work to tell the stories of Greater Nebraska.
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].
Sincerely,
—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:
- It wouldn’t be a Nebraska newsletter without an occasional focus on our most famous billionaire, right? Warren Buffett is always in the news, but this week he was particularly so.
The New York Times focused a story on the once-chummy but now possibly deteriorated friendship between Buffett and Bill Gates, which wouldn’t much matter if they were both insurance agents — but very much matters because it may have changed the course of philanthropy in both Nebraska and globally. (May need a subscription to read.)
Berkshire Hathaway owns Dairy Queen, and Buffett famously loves its ice cream treats. (Less famously, so do I.) But it turns out that, technically at least, Dairy Queen doesn’t actually sell ice cream? Let Chowhound explain.
And finally, Berkshire made business news by selling half of its massive chunk of Apple stock. The Omaha-headquartered company now holds a mind-boggling $277 billion in cash … and now owns more T-Bills than the Federal Reserve. (Well, that’s mind boggling to me. Probably not to Warren.) - Omaha’s Kellogg’s plant is closing, executives told the plant’s workers this week, putting 550 local jobs at risk. KETV’s Jake Anderson and Alex McLoon with the story.
- Busy week in the Nebraska Legislature. At least some state senators, and also Gov. Jim Pillen, appeared to be coalescing around a scaled-back bill that would still cut property taxes. But then state senators started debating whether there should even be a special session at all.
And then on Thursday, which was supposed to be the first day of debate by the full Legislature, lawmakers ended up adjourning early to give the Revenue Committee more time to work on the bill. Lawmakers will reconvene on Monday. (All these stories come from Nebraska Public Media’s Fred Knapp.) - Want to surf? Well, now you can either travel to Hawaii, southern California or … Norfolk, Nebraska. The Nebraska Examiner’s Paul Hammel with the story on the recently opened North Fork Whitewater Park, which allows residents and visitors to kayak, tube and surf, too.
