Happy Independence Day weekend, fellow Nebraskans. In this politically fraught time, it’s important, I think, to take a moment and reflect this weekend on some weighty, crucial questions: What’s the meaning of the United States of America to you? What do we stand for? And what should we stand against?
Saving a language: There are only 15 fluent speakers of the Dakota language. Only one, an 80-something-year-old man, lives in Santee.
Our correspondent Tim Trudell on efforts to preserve the Santee tribe’s native tongue — an effort that Tim himself, as well as his daughters, have joined.
Third year’s the charm: Three years ago this week, Matt Wynn and I quit our very good and very comfortable jobs to do something exhilarating and also slightly insane.
We quit our jobs to start the Flatwater Free Press.
In the three years since, Flatwater has gone from one editor/reporter — me! — to a newsroom of two editors, six scrappy, talented reporters and one precocious intern.
Organization-wide, we have gone from two employees to 19 employees and interns scattered across Flatwater, our parent nonprofit the Nebraska Journalism Trust, our startup business publication Silicon Prairie News and our brand-new program called Documenters.
In those three years, we have produced award-winning journalism on nitrate in our drinking water, we have shown you who is gobbling up Nebraska farmland, told the tales of fraying democracy in small Nebraska towns, helped get the buses restarted in Norfolk, witnessed incredible acts in unlikely places, reported on homelessness, the energy wars, overcrowded prisons, immigration, out-of-state landlords, broken state programs and so, so much more.
We have also taken a public records case to the Nebraska Supreme Court, and the Legislature has changed the law in a way that better protects the public’s right to know. We have survived and thrived despite some, ahem, obstacles thrown in our reporters’ paths.
It’s still exhilarating. Still slightly insane. But now it’s something else, too. It’s reality. Thank you to the 14,700 of you receiving this email newsletter, and the thousands of you who have donated to fund our nonprofit newsroom as it continues to get stronger, faster, bigger, better.
Happy anniversary to us! Here’s to many more.
Citizens on Patrol: Earlier I mentioned Documenters, a new program I wanted to tell you a bit more about. Documenters is a national program that helps train citizens — people like you — to cover public meetings where no other reporter is present. Now the Nebraska Journalism Trust, in partnership with Civic Nebraska, is restarting the program in Omaha. We hope to eventually expand it across the state. Want to learn more? Here’s the website.
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].
Have a wonderful Fourth of July weekend!
—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:
- Gov. Jim Pillen continues to barnstorm the state, arguing that Nebraska needs a new way to drastically lower property taxes. A special session is tentatively planned (but not set in stone) for later this month. Story by KETV.
Pillen clearly has some serious work left to do with state senators, who must pass any changes.
Here’s fellow Republican Sen. Julie Slama on Twitter: “Senators, be sure to tune into the 10 p.m. news so you can learn more about an imaginary plan that’s so groundbreaking it can’t even be put on paper and shared with the lawmakers expected to vote for it! This is not normal.” - One of Donald Trump’s advisers has repeatedly said a second Trump administration would use state national guards to deport undocumented immigrants. Nebraska Public Media’s Fred Knapp talks to state officials, past and present, about the Nebraska National Guard’s potential deployment for this purpose.
- Speaking of the Nebraska National Guard … Gov. Pillen, like his predecessor Gov. Pete Ricketts, has sent the guard to the southern border. The Nebraska Examiner’s Aaron Sanderford has the latest price tag for that deployment.
- Many Nebraskans and residents of the Great Plains and the Midwest don’t have flood insurance. Which is fine, right up until the time that it floods. The Associated Press with an important story on how this year’s devastating storms have some Nebraskans second guessing their decision.
- It was a terrifying afternoon in Crete a week ago. And, though everyone save for the shooter lived, local residents are grappling with how this spasm of gun violence happened in their community. Story by 1011 Now’s Samantha Bernt. Here’s more coverage from the Lincoln Journal Star. (May need subscriber info for the Journal Star story.)
- The recent tornado that nearly hit Eppley Airfield has officials reviewing their procedures as some passengers file complaints and say they were needlessly put in harm’s way. Story by the Omaha World-Herald’s Steve Liewer. (May need subscriber info.)
- Two conflicting abortion measurers appear headed for the November ballot. And backers of legalizing medical marijuana also submitted signatures to make it on the ballot. Meanwhile, an effort to dramatically overhaul taxes in Nebraska failed to gather enough signatures, according to the Nebraska Examiner.
