This isn’t a pitch for something we might build someday. It’s a real, working platform for local news, notices, alerts, events, and the people and businesses that make Lincoln what it is — designed from the ground up to put the community at the center of it.
Local news shouldn’t be this hard to find
For a long time, knowing what was actually happening in your own town has meant piecing it together — a flyer here, a Facebook post there, something you heard third-hand at the store. Information about the place you live has often traveled slowly, unevenly, or through whoever happened to control the megaphone at the time.
Lincoln Town Square starts from a different premise: the people who live here should have direct, reliable access to what’s happening here — and a direct way to contribute to it.
What makes this different
Locally owned and operated
Lincoln Town Square is privately owned and operated by C.A. Lord Software Group LLC, with no ties to any national media company or political organization. See our About page for the full picture.
Community-contributed, not just community-covered
Neighbors can submit events, notices, and story tips directly — not just be written about from a distance. What gets covered here is shaped by what residents actually bring to us, and we’re building tools to make contributing a story easy, and even a little fun.
Editorially reviewed, not automated
Every submission is reviewed by a real person before anything is published. Alerts in particular are never auto-published — only a site administrator can publish one. We use automation to help organize incoming reports, never to decide what gets published.
Transparent about how it’s funded
Lincoln Town Square is supported by advertising, sponsorships, and premium directory listings from local businesses — always clearly labeled as such. That’s what keeps this a sustainable, independently run project rather than something that has to answer to outside owners.
How it works
Residents can share what they know through the website, the mobile app — including photos, audio, and video — or other channels. From there, every step is straightforward, and every step is reviewed by a real person.
Share what you know
Share a tip, notice, or event through the website or our mobile app — text, photos, audio, or video. Contributors get real recognition in the stories they help report.
We organize it
Text, audio, and video are read automatically, and related reports are clustered into one developing story — shaped by what residents actually report, not picked by an outside editor.
A real person reviews it
Every submission is reviewed by a real person before anything goes live. Automation helps organize what comes in — it never decides what gets published.
It goes live
Once approved, it’s published immediately — not held for a weekly print run — to the right place: Local News, Community Notices, Alerts, Events, or the Directory. Alerts can only be published by a site administrator.
A different starting point
Traditional news and Lincoln Town Square go through the same basic stages — a tip comes in, someone decides what matters, it gets published. What happens at each stage is where the two really part ways:
One reporter, working alone
A single reporter is responsible for finding and telling the story — often missing perspectives, voices, and details only someone who was actually there would know.
Every resident can be a reporter
Easy, rewarding tools — including our mobile app — make contributing simple and fun. Contributors get real recognition in the stories they help report.
An editor decides what matters
A small editorial team picks and chooses what’s worth covering — often based on what they think readers want, not necessarily what residents actually care about.
You decide what matters
Residents and contributors report the stories they actually think matter to Lincoln — not just what an outside editor assumes is newsworthy.
Stuck waiting for the weekly paper
By the time the next print issue comes out, the news has often already happened, changed, or stopped mattering.
Published as it happens
Stories go live as soon as they’re reviewed and approved — not once a week, whenever the next print run happens to land.
Costly, slow, and opaque
Subscriptions and paywalls, production that can take days, and little visibility into how decisions or funding actually work.
Built to be affordable, efficient, and transparent
Free to read, published quickly once reviewed, and open about how the platform runs and how it’s funded.
Five ways to stay informed
Once we’re live, here’s where to find what matters to you:
- Local News — original and curated coverage of Lincoln.
- Community Notices — announcements from local organizations, schools, and residents.
- Alerts — public safety and community alerts, published by our site administrator.
- Events — a real community events calendar, open to public submissions.
- Directory — local businesses, nonprofits, churches, civic groups, and public services.
Be part of it
Have a tip, notice, or event to share? Submit information once we’re live. Want to know the moment we launch? Sign up on our Coming Soon page — or read the story behind Lincoln Town Square there for more on why we’re building this.
Want to go further and help report the news yourself — and get early access to our mobile app as a beta tester?