Flatwater managing editor and Lincoln reporter Ryan Hoffman here. Sometimes a story just hits closer to home.
When my wife and I purchased our first house three years ago, I spent hours collecting quotes and analyzing coverage options to insure the biggest purchase of our lives.
I didn’t think much about it a year later when our annual premium increased $30. But when the next renewal notice arrived, I definitely did some thinking … and some screaming. Our premium jumped 28% – a more than $300 increase.
What, you might wonder, did we do to our modest home to warrant such a shellacking? Nothing. No improvements. No claims filed. We lived and the house stood another year.
Turns out, we’re not alone.
Reporter Sara Gentzler found that home insurance premiums in Nebraska are rising faster than in most other states. Inflation is a big reason why. The other big driver: climate change.
Sara talked to insurance agents, homeowners, regulators and experts for this important story.
Soaring premiums represent one more brick in the wall separating folks from a core piece of the American dream: homeownership. And it’s not just homeowners. As a former landlord once explained after I complained about a rent increase, somebody has to pay those costs … and it ain’t going to be me.
Bloomin’ problem: My first journalism gig in Nebraska was at a small weekly south of Lincoln, and I vividly remember going out to Wagon Train Lake on a summer day and being GROSSED OUT. The idyllic lake was marred by a band of green scum along the shore.
I’d seen algae in ponds before, mostly at poorly maintained golf courses, but nothing like this and certainly not at a lake of this size.
The soupy scene that day wasn’t an anomaly. Testing since 2005 has found unhealthy levels of toxic cyanobacteria – commonly referred to as toxic algae – at dozens of Nebraska lakes.
In some regards Nebraska has been at the forefront of this issue, as longtime climate and environment reporter Nancy Gaarder reports in her latest story.
Testing protocols implemented nearly 20 years ago remain ahead of many other states.
But more needs to be done to prevent outbreaks in the first place, scientists and everyday Nebraskans told Nancy.
That sweet, sweet swag: People, there’s one reason and one reason alone why I joined Flatwater Free Press: THAT SWAG! That’s not true. At all. But we do have awesome merch. And I do genuinely love wearing my “Nebraska Needs Journalists” T-shirt. We’ve got great new shirts and, in a purely coincidental stroke of perfect timing, sweatshirts. Check it out at the FFP store.
Questions wanted: Folks often think journalists are all-knowing human encyclopedias, on top of every twist and turn in their community. That’s rarely the case. We depend on story tips. They’re responsible for some of our best stories. Have a question that you think we should look into? Complete this form or reach our newsroom at [email protected].
Thanks for reading,
—Ryan Hoffman, managing editor/Lincoln 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:
- What led to Lincoln Police Chief Teresa Ewins’ resignation in July? We still don’t know. But we do know, thanks to Lincoln Journal Star reporter Andrew Wegley, that Lincoln’s mayor somewhat abruptly scheduled a meeting with Ewins the day before her resignation became public.
- Two state agencies have largely shut out state watchdogs tasked with providing oversight of prisons and the child welfare system. State Sen. Terrell McKinney told the Omaha World-Herald’s Martha Stoddard that the rift is “just making a bad situation worse.”
- There’s a national shortage of school bus drivers and Nebraska isn’t immune. But not all districts are struggling. The shortage is nearly nonexistent in Scottsbluff and Gering, reports Nebraska Public Media’s Jolie Peal, who takes us aboard a deep-dive into the issue.
- Two of Nebraska’s largest women’s rights groups panned an executive order from Gov. Jim Pillen defining “male” and “female” based on the development of reproductive systems. Pillen, in a statement, called the order common sense. But those groups say it’s merely another salvo in the ongoing culture fight. The Nebraska Examiner’s Zach Wendling has the story.
- We told you about the allegations facing the former general manager of the North Fork Area Transit and how that impacted a critical service in the Norfolk area. The former GM, who maintains his innocence, is going to have a harder time getting out of jail. Austin Svehla with the Norfolk Daily News has the latest on Jeffrey Stewart, the man accused of misusing around $740,000.
- Two of the largest poultry processors in the U.S. are facing child labor investigations. The investigations are in response to reporting by The New York Times Magazine at plants in Virginia. The NYT’s Hannah Dreier has done truly revelatory and heartbreaking reporting on child labor in the U.S. If you’re wondering where the Nebraska connection is, it reminded me of this story, reported by The Washington Post in March, about a 13-year-old girl who worked for a contractor cleaning a Grand Island meatpacking plant.
- And finally, in case you were living under a rock the size of Memorial Stadium and missed this news, the NU Board of Regents will consider a proposed $450 million upgrade to the 100-year-old home of Husker football. The renovations would reduce the total number of seats but improve the fan experience. KETV’s Jake Anderson has the details.
