Flatwater Free Press
banner
flatwaterfreep.bsky.social
Flatwater Free Press
@flatwaterfreep.bsky.social
Nebraska's important stories. Well told. 🗞️ https://flatwaterfreepress.org/subscribe/
Pinned
Our New Year’s gift to you: adding Bluesky to our social lineup. Follow us at flatwaterfreep.bsky.social for Nebraska's important stories, not on X
New at Flatwater: It once looked like the Poole family and thousands of other Nebraska would finally get high-speed Internet after years of balky Wi-Fi. But changing federal rules and the state’s own implementation means that they may now be out of luck.🔗 buff.ly/LH6Pjne
November 21, 2025 at 8:00 PM
New at Flatwater: The Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts have flooded the Omaha immigration court’s docket with the urgent cases of jailed immigrants, piling on to one of the nation’s most severe backlogs. 🔗 buff.ly/LBBViWN
November 20, 2025 at 5:45 PM
Nebraska’s Maggie Malone Hardin hopes to make it to her fourth Olympics. But her athletic aspirations no longer define her. 🔗 buff.ly/pO1fdoJ
November 19, 2025 at 10:00 PM
New at Flatwater: The former administrator of a rural Nebraska nursing home is facing potential discipline from the state. Former staff at the home, which closed in April, say the city failed to provide oversight. 🔗 buff.ly/aX6mU52
November 19, 2025 at 4:00 PM
Meet the Nebraska family that has been officiating high school volleyball matches since it became a state sanctioned sport in 1972. The family has an inherited commitment to the game — dedication that extends back more than 50 years. 🔗 buff.ly/bQ4Fkih
November 18, 2025 at 10:00 PM
Union Pacific Railroad is the lone Nebraska-based company publicly known to have donated to the new White House ballroom championed by President Donald Trump. 🔗 buff.ly/a56iUH9
November 18, 2025 at 6:00 PM
“I don’t know what the county may potentially be on the hook for”: The feds found the Seward County sheriff was misspending forfeiture money on salaries. It wants the money back. 🔗 buff.ly/MpA6nMx
November 15, 2025 at 6:00 PM
Max Anderson was one of an estimated 35% of Nebraskans killed by an overdose in 2017 who didn’t have a drug listed on their death certificates. Knowing now that Max’s death certificate is part of the missing data, making it harder to save lives, bothers his brother John. 🔗 buff.ly/DuFdCRv
November 14, 2025 at 3:30 PM
New at FFP It’s 103 years old. It ages its steaks, stirs strong cocktails, makes its carrot cake from scratch and serves maybe the best onion rings in Omaha. It’s Johnny’s. And it’s surviving and thriving, reports Sarah Baker Hansen 🔗 buff.ly/3QHCslI
November 13, 2025 at 4:30 PM
New at FFP: Javelin thrower Maggie Malone Hardin catapulted to the top of her sport before graduating college. Then she fell to the lowest of lows. Now the three-time Olympian is sharing her story in hopes it will help others. 🔗 buff.ly/XaWAa9A
November 12, 2025 at 6:35 PM
New at Flatwater: Breaking news…we’re getting bigger! Executive director Matt Wynn announces a trio of new reporters and other promotions as Flatwater continues to grow in its fifth year. 🔗 buff.ly/wKuvx9e
November 12, 2025 at 3:30 PM
New at FFP: Regulars at the Nebraska high school state volleyball tournament will see a familiar face on the sideline. Kim Kwapnioski has refereed for more than 30 years. She’s 1 of 4 generations of refs in the family. 🔗 buff.ly/Tji8XTS
November 7, 2025 at 5:30 PM
New at FFP: Union Pacific is the lone Nebraska-based business listed as a donor for the new White House ballroom. It’s also a company that needs federal approval for a massive merger that would cement U.P. as the biggest railroad in the United States. 🔗 buff.ly/LtM6j04
November 7, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Ever wonder why Omahans are taxed extra at restaurants? 15 years ago, controversy over the city’s levy on dining out garnered front-page headlines and nearly ousted a mayor. Flatwater explains how the once-contentious debate faded into oblivion. 🔗 buff.ly/HKb3CRc
November 6, 2025 at 9:00 PM
New at Flatwater: Money seized along I-80 has brought millions into Seward County. But that funding is frozen now, after a federal review found the sheriff’s office had impermissibly spent nearly $800,000 of that money. 🔗 buff.ly/jOAdLC4
November 5, 2025 at 3:30 PM
Some western Nebraska counties haven’t reported a single drug death in decades. It’s fueling a perception that rural Nebraska doesn’t have a drug problem. 🔗 buff.ly/yDrsYWB
November 4, 2025 at 9:30 PM
Now revered as one of the great documentaries, the Omaha-set film “A Time for Burning” was nearly extinguished before it saw the light of day. 🔗 buff.ly/rD9Hzvr
November 3, 2025 at 9:30 PM
A little-known program that allowed Nebraska Corrections to release hundreds of inmates early raised the ire of judges, prosecutors and lawmakers a decade ago. Now, corrections wants to start a similar program. 🔗 buff.ly/sfHcU3E
November 3, 2025 at 12:00 AM
New at FFP: Rampant undercounting of drug deaths & budget cuts fueled by flawed data have led Nebraska to build a detox “desert” where it’s tough to get help. One Hastings center – the state’s westernmost residential detox program – is working to help. 🔗 buff.ly/yDrsYWB
October 31, 2025 at 2:30 PM
Japanese barbecue is a lot of fun, reviewer Sarah Baker Hansen says, and the servers at Koen in Omaha's Blackstone District do a good job of making sure guests understand the menu and know what to do. 🔗 buff.ly/2vUSvCS
October 30, 2025 at 8:02 PM
New at FFP: 60 years ago, a filmmaker captured an Omaha pastor’s failed attempts to get his white church members to connect with nearby Black churches. The resulting film set off a firestorm. 🔗 buff.ly/rD9Hzvr
October 30, 2025 at 2:30 PM
New at FFP: Nebraska Corrections wants the ability to let some inmates leave prison early. A state lawmaker sees a link with the conversion of a state prison into an immigration detention center. 🔗 buff.ly/sfHcU3E
October 29, 2025 at 3:15 PM
Flatwater reporters and editors went on an Ogallala listening tour last week, speaking to leaders and residents about Keith County’s important stories.

(Bonus: A Lake Mac sunset.)
October 27, 2025 at 8:00 PM
In 2025, its first full year after reopening with the 42,000-square-foot addition, The Joslyn is almost certain to break recent attendance records. It’s landing on lists of the best American art museums. It’s also bringing in crowds. 🔗 buff.ly/4r2tQzw
October 27, 2025 at 5:01 PM
UNL used complex — and controversial — statistical calculations to help decide which programs to close under a proposed $27.5 million budget cut. Now, administrators claim the full data analysis is proprietary information. 🔗 buff.ly/sleNMfY
October 26, 2025 at 9:00 PM