I love “best of” lists. I love reading about the best books or albums or TV shows of the year. I love debating the best restaurants in Nebraska with my food critic spouse. And so I couldn’t skip the opportunity to make our final newsletter of the year a Best FFP Stories of 2022 list. But we’re gonna do it with a twist.
Many of our stories this year have uncovered pretty serious stuff in Nebraska. We have delved into the prison system and parole board. We have uncovered giant out-of-state landlords gobbling up property in Omaha and a flurry of fraud in small-town Nebraska. We have devoted months to the safety of Nebraska’s drinking water.
Those are all important stories. They won’t be on this list. Why? Because it’s the holidays! I’m okay being Editor Scrooge 51 weeks of the year. Not this week. Without further ado, in no particular order: The Flatwater Free Press’ 12 Best “Yes There Is Good News In Nebraska, Too” Stories of 2022.
Cindy Lange-Kubick has spun some nonfiction yarns in her day. I’m so glad she’s spinning a monthly story for FFP. My two faves: In November, she told the story of an audacious dream becoming reality…an old-timey bakery supported by new-age social media in lil’ Cortland, Nebraska. And in March, she told the most Christmas season of stories: A church in Lincoln that’s making the lives of its low-income neighbors better, one medical debt at a time.
Carson Vaughan pitched me a story about a Nebraska author I had never heard of, and a Nebraska tree I had also never heard of. I was dubious. And then I read the stories. So should you. Here’s his September story about legendary crime writer Jim Thompson — forgotten in his home state. And his story, published in November, about the Taylor Juniper, the Nebraska-born tree planted in yards, parks and on the grounds of the State Capitol.
You may have heard that steak is a thing in Nebraska. This year we had two nice stories about old-school Omaha steakhouses. Sarah Baker Hansen on Johnny’s Cafe, the 100-year-old don of Nebraska steak palaces, and FFP Intern Emma Schartz on the Gorat’s Steakhouse waitress who, in a previous life, was a famous rock-n-roll groupie.
I love the tag team of Barb and Ryan Soderlin, and I really loved all their stories and photos this year…but especially this one that includes my favorite single photo we published in 2022 and also…Enron?
We don’t do sports at the Flatwater Free Press. No sports! But we do write sports stories that aren’t really about sports. Freelancer Leo Adam Biga had an important one about the private battles of Husker Volleyball legend John Cook — private until he made them public. And I was there this fall when a new skate park opened in the poorest county in Nebraska — and watched as a young skater named Junior did something awe-inspiring.
We’re trying to tell stories from different spots in Nebraska, places and people who often get overlooked. Here’s JD Avant’s story about State Sen. Terrell McKinney, who represents parts of North Omaha, finding serenity half a world away. And Tim Trudell identified and wrote a stunning story from the Santee Dakota Reservation — two straight classes with 100% graduation rates, following the school’s shift to teaching Santee culture, history and language.
And last but certainly not least: FFP reporter Natalia Alamdari, who has done some hard and important work covering our troubled prison system, wrote a few very big-hearted stories, too. She profiled a couple in McCook who decided that they could try to bring together the coasts and small-town Nebraska, red and blue, big city and small town. They decided to try to do that with art. And this year, Natalia also got her first-ever passport, travelled halfway ‘round the world and battled a language barrier to tell the stories of Ukrainian refugees in a Warsaw hotel…and the Nebraska volunteers helping them.
That was maybe more than 12, but who’s counting, right?
As the sands run through the hourglass on 2022, we’re appreciative of anything you can do to support the mission of the Flatwater Free Press. You can donate here, if you haven’t yet this year. You can tell your best friend or your cousin about this newsletter, and get ‘em to subscribe.
Spread the word. 2023 is gonna be a big year. We’ll be back in January to uncover crucial stories about the problems Nebraska faces…and also to tell you the good stories, finding them in the spots you least expect.
Happy New Year!
—Matthew Hansen, Executive Editor
