Flatwater Free Press

Flatwater Free Press Nebraska's important stories. Well told. 🗞️ The Flatwater Free Press is Nebraska's first statewide independent journalism nonprofit.

It produces investigative stories and feature stories and shares them on its website, on social media and also with every Nebraska media outlet.

What’s the value of a college degree in the corner of the Panhandle? It depends on what you want to do with your life, K...
10/03/2025

What’s the value of a college degree in the corner of the Panhandle? It depends on what you want to do with your life, Kimball students and teachers say.

Kids here do go to college. They go on to be nurses and teachers. They just don’t always come back.

đź”— https://buff.ly/rROWVqo

Story by Natalia Alamdari in partnership with Open Campus Media. Photo by Irene North for the Flatwater Free Press.

New from FFP: Only 81 pay phones remain in Nebraska. They’re tucked into dark corners of hospitals, airport terminals, s...
10/03/2025

New from FFP: Only 81 pay phones remain in Nebraska. They’re tucked into dark corners of hospitals, airport terminals, small-town gas stations. Flatwater’s Kevin Warneke goes on a hunt for the Disappearing Dial Tone.

đź”— https://buff.ly/wcY2sbg

Story by Kevin Warneke. Photos by Darin Epperly.

New at FFP: We've spent a year eating at some of Omaha’s oldest-school steakhouses, and some of its newest, like Ruhlman...
10/02/2025

New at FFP: We've spent a year eating at some of Omaha’s oldest-school steakhouses, and some of its newest, like Ruhlman’s, in the heart of Ashland. It's drawing people in from Ashland, plus steak lovers from Omaha and Lincoln.

đź”— https://buff.ly/5twUyj8

Story by Sarah Baker Hansen. Photo by Ryan Soderlin for the Flatwater Free Press.

New at FFP: Omaha’s car-centered layout makes traversing the city on foot difficult and sometimes dangerous. Members of ...
10/02/2025

New at FFP: Omaha’s car-centered layout makes traversing the city on foot difficult and sometimes dangerous. Members of a group called Strong Towns want to change that — one intersection at a time.

đź”— https://buff.ly/ZOS5JIw

Story by Jeremy Turley. Photo by Jeremy Turley/Flatwater Free Press.

New at FFP: Thad Weber’s job is straightforward: Help the Chicago Cubs win. But the former big leaguer doesn’t live in C...
10/01/2025

New at FFP: Thad Weber’s job is straightforward: Help the Chicago Cubs win. But the former big leaguer doesn’t live in Chicago or either coast. Home base for Weber is a quiet Nebraska town with fewer than 1,000 residents.

đź”— https://buff.ly/sMBO6yw

Story by Greg Echlin. Photo by Liz McCue for the Flatwater Free Press.

Inspired by the Civil Rights-era documentary “A Time for Burning,” Omaha filmmaker Nick Beaulieu set out to document his...
09/30/2025

Inspired by the Civil Rights-era documentary “A Time for Burning,” Omaha filmmaker Nick Beaulieu set out to document his own burning times. It led him home, to a relationship fractured by politics.

“What really motivated me to start the movie was trying to understand how two things could exist at the same time,” Beaulieu said of the disparities and Omaha’s image as a strong middle-class city.

đź”— https://buff.ly/1f1CTb4

Story by Leo Adam B**a. Photo courtesy of Nick Beaulieu.

The move by Nebraska’s Department of Correctional Services to block an inmate from communicating with his then-girlfrien...
09/29/2025

The move by Nebraska’s Department of Correctional Services to block an inmate from communicating with his then-girlfriend raises questions, says the department’s watchdog.

The restrictions on communicating with his wife have triggered anxiety and depression — “irreparable harm,” Nicholas Ely wrote.

đź”— https://buff.ly/qA50wsh

Story by Sara Gentzler. Photo courtesy of Julie Montpetit.

Documenters are making a real impact. They are the extra eyes and ears of our newsroom, helping us discover story ideas ...
09/28/2025

Documenters are making a real impact. They are the extra eyes and ears of our newsroom, helping us discover story ideas and follow persistent issues.

What do Documenters do? Documenters cover important local meetings such as city councils, county boards, planning commissions, NRD boards and more.

All you really need is to believe, as all Documenters do, that freedom of the press and government transparency are important for local democracy.

Make a donation to the program here: đź”— https://buff.ly/Fx1c0vu

Learn more about becoming a Documenter here: đź”— https://buff.ly/agNCooI

Check out recent coverage: đź”— https://buff.ly/HbhBVN3

New at FFP: Nebraskans are more educated than they were 50 years ago. But in places like Kimball, the number of adults w...
09/26/2025

New at FFP: Nebraskans are more educated than they were 50 years ago. But in places like Kimball, the number of adults with a college degree is on the decline.

đź”— https://buff.ly/ZxuQy8R

Story by Natalia Alamdari in partnership with Open Campus Media.

Paul Weishapl has been counting deaths he suspects are drug-related for years and then comparing what he knows to what’s...
09/25/2025

Paul Weishapl has been counting deaths he suspects are drug-related for years and then comparing what he knows to what’s listed on the death certificate.

It often fails to mention an overdose.

“Seems like there’s a hell of a lot of people under 30 dying of heart attacks here,” he said.

The first story in Dying Blind: đź”— https://buff.ly/WFcUih3

Story by Destiny Herbers. Photo by Rebecca S. Gratz for the Flatwater Free Press.

New at FFP: A new documentary set in Omaha is generating buzz. At the heart of the story: A son, his dying father and an...
09/25/2025

New at FFP: A new documentary set in Omaha is generating buzz. At the heart of the story: A son, his dying father and an attempt to bridge America’s widening political divide.

đź”— https://buff.ly/1f1CTb4

Story by Leo Adam B**a. Photo courtesy of Nick Beaulieu.

New at FFP: A Nebraska inmate serving a life sentence appeared on his then-girlfriend’s podcast to talk about their rela...
09/24/2025

New at FFP: A Nebraska inmate serving a life sentence appeared on his then-girlfriend’s podcast to talk about their relationship. Then prison staff blocked the two from communicating. Now he is suing.

đź”— https://buff.ly/qA50wsh

Story by Sara Gentzler. Photos courtesy Julie Montpetit.

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