STATEWIDE NEWSLETTER

The war weapon at Target; Weathering water woes; Small-town success

All that, plus news from ’round Nebraska, including the famous or infamous week that was in the Nebraska Legislature

This man walked into a West Omaha Super Target with an AR-15 in late January, when the city appeared to narrowly avoid another mass shooting. The AR-15 has been used in 10 of the 17 deadliest mass shootings in American history. (Image from police surveillance footage)

I learned about it when my brother texted me, in that mundane way we can learn of things that could destroy our communities, our families, our lives.

There was a man with a gun at his family’s neighborhood Super Target. There were reports of shooting. They were not there, but had been, recently. We have relatives and friends who live close by. Did we know anyone else in the store? Did we know if people were dying? There was no other info.

Since I’m an editor, we immediately started talking in the FFP newsroom about how we were going to cover this.. I began speaking to our younger reporters about Von Maur, about Millard South — sharing my institutional knowledge of local mass shootings without pausing to think how horrific it is that I own this knowledge, or needed to pass it along.

Since I’m an Omahan, a Nebraskan, a human, I was so relieved several minutes later when word came on this late January day that there was one dead — the man with the gun. We exhaled. Numb, we resumed our regularly scheduled workdays in the way that Americans do in 2023.

But I did keep wondering. What about this weapon that the gunman carried, an AR-15? What’s its history? How many Nebraskans own one? Why do they own one? And why has it become so synonymous with mass violence in America…in fact used in 10 of the 17 deadliest shootings in US history?

So I assigned correspondent Andrew Nelson that story, he accepted and answered my questions and if you would like to learn more it’s our latest FFP story, out today.

Full disclosure, because in my journalistic experience people always ask this: I come from a family of hunters and gun owners. I grew up hunting, mostly badly. I am the owner of a hunting rifle, which is currently locked in my parents’ gun case. I haven’t downed a pheasant or quail since Bill Clinton was president. Mostly I just annoyed birds with my wayward shots. Now I golf…and annoy myself with my wayward shots.

One big aquifer, two stories: When it comes to water quantity, most of Nebraska continues to be really, really lucky.

Rapidly disappearing groundwater is gonna be — it really already is — a gigantic problem in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. And it’s a potentially long-range issue in southwest Nebraska, too, our reporter Yanqi Xu wrote this week.

Ogallala Aquifer levels there have fallen as much as 100 feet since the advent of modern irrigation in the 1950s. It would have been a lot worse had local NRDs not stepped in very early to manage water usage.

But in most other places in Nebraska — the aquifer is holding steady. Which really sets us apart from our neighbors.

Changing the small-town story: Jeff Yost and the Nebraska Community Foundation have been helping small towns recapture their story — and helping some of them survive and thrive — for a quarter century now.

A very cool Flatwater Free Conversation we published this week, with Mike’l Severe asking good questions about the future of small-town Nebraska, and Jeff Yost giving fascinating answers. Watch the video or read the Q&A here.

April is for (nonprofit journalism) lovers: We have started our annual April donor drive, which is geared around asking our core readers — that’s you! — to throw us a bit of money each month so we can continue to do more of the kind of journalism you see in this newsletter every week.

We’re free to read. We give our stories to each and every Nebraska media outlet who wants them…for free. We will always be free. It’s in our name!

The Flatwater Free Press is powered by people who want to ensure that quality investigative, in-depth journalism — and also feature stories that bind our state together — are delivered to all Nebraskans, no matter their income level, their hometown or where they read FFP stories.

Does that sound like you? Give this month and we will send you a cool free gift….including the coolest damn coffee mug and tasty beans ever roasted in the name of Nebraska nonprofit journalism. We’re going for 450 recurring (monthly or annual) donors by the end of this campaign. As of this morning, we’re at 361. Help us hit our goal!

April is also for Earth Day: Which is a fine time to thank our latest sponsor, Verdis Group, a Nebraska small business helping organizations realize and achieve their sustainability visions. Thank you, Verdis, for supporting Nebraska nonprofit journalism.

And finally, April is for new beginnings: On April 28, two weeks from today, our office space, Elevator, is holding its grand opening. In conjunction with that event, we’re holding an open house! Come meet the staff, see our new office space, ask questions, offer up story ideas and maybe drink one of the beers out of our fridge. RSVP here.

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: