Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
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For most of us, our first glimpse into the horrors of the Boston Marathon tragedy came through the lens of Boston Globe photojournalist Steve Silva. In two minutes and 42 seconds of video, we see and hear what happened as one explosion follows another and the air fills with smoke and then screams and then a cascade of shouts and sirens. The Boston Globe quickly posted Silva’s video, and to say it went viral feels exactly right, as it not only spread images of the attacks but also infected our hearts. Shock, fear, loss, grief — all of this swe...
It was a hard snow, the kind that stings your face on its way to burying everything in sight. I stood in front of the kitchen window, warm and dry but for my red, swollen eyes. I wrapped my arms around me and held on tightly as I watched him pitch the shovel into the ground, pound it with his foot and dig up another small scoop of frozen soil. His face was knotted in concentration, and his hair grew whiter with each passing minute. My husband did not know I was watching him. He had no idea I was standing on the other side of that snowstorm...
At the risk of sounding like someone who “can’t let it go” — a feminist’s badge of honor if ever there were one — I’d like to offer a few tips on how to write obituaries about accomplished women in America. It’s a short list really. 1) Take a moment to read the March 30 New York Times’ obituary for rocket scientist Yvonne Brill, in which she is celebrated first and foremost for her cooking and years of tagging along with her husband. 2) Vow never, ever to do that. That pretty much covers it. Otherwise, you’re going to be on the receiving end o...
My friendship with Jackie Cassara began over lunch in 1992, after she announced that she was gay as if it were a warning. We had spoken over the phone a few times for a story about one of her colleagues. Jackie and I were both working mothers with young children. Our conversations were lively and fun and constantly veering off topic. After my story ran, we agreed to meet in person. What I didn’t know at the time was that Jackie had only recently started coming out to friends and families. Reactions had been mixed, sometimes painful, and she d...
Ariana Abayomi was sound asleep in her dorm room at Oberlin College in Ohio, when a fellow resident adviser awakened her in the middle of the night. Groggy with sleep, Abayomi struggled at first to comprehend what she was hearing. Someone in a Ku Klux Klan robe and hood ... spotted on campus ... right outside ... emergency meeting in the lounge. “I was standing there thinking, ‘KKK?’” she said. “’At Oberlin ?’” Twelve hours later, it was still her question. Repeatedly, she apologized for stumbling over her words during our interview. “I’m...
Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer is abolishing the company’s work-at-home policy and ordering everyone to show up at the office. Her decision has sparked intense and often nasty debate, with Mayer usually landing on the losing end. Many women, in particular, sound betrayed after daring to expect more from such a high-profile female boss. How could she? I understand the special brand of heartbreak brought on by women who end up acting like the male jerks they replaced. Dashed hopes sure pack a wallop. However, I don’t feel this way about Mayer. This is...
Some of the strongest women I know are Catholics who disagree with their church but refuse to give up on it. There are the nuns, of course, including Sister Simone Campbell. I met her and her merry bus of truth tellers last year after they rolled into Cleveland during their four-day, nine-state tour to educate Americans about the real Paul Ryan plan. The Republican congressman may have held his own in the vice presidential debate with Joe Biden, but he was no match for Campbell. Her fact-laden fight for those living in poverty left Ryan’s s...
Gina Odom didn’t like guns until she felt that her baby’s safety was threatened. Daniela Halliburton armed herself when she returned to a home ripped apart by Hurricane Katrina. Susan Fowler and Mary (last name withheld) grew up with weapons in the house. Ask about their first guns, and their voices soften to describe cherished childhood memories. Earlier this week, I posted a Facebook request to interview female gun owners. In two hours, more than 150 responded, including these four women. Like many who reached out, they are liberals, whi...
Every week, it seems, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie’s name inches higher on the list of potential 2016 Republican presidential candidates. As a result, unlike any public figure in recent memory, he is increasingly compelled to assure reporters and the general public that his weight does not impair his ability to lead. Christie, by any measure, is obese. This has provided endless fodder for late-night talk show hosts – David Letterman has ridiculed him for years – and politicos who hope to use his weight against him. Stereotypes masqu...
Recently, a reader wanted to know whether I was aware that Creators Syndicate, which distributes my column, identifies me as a “liberal” on its website. Is this really the first thing you want readers to know about you? she wondered. Her intentions were kind. I assured her I’m fine with it. I already had been a columnist for five years when, in 2008, Creators started identifying all of us by our politics to give newspaper clients a better idea of who we are. At first, I bristled. I was afraid the label would alienate conservative readers who t...
So many times during Hillary Clinton’s testimony this week before Congress, I wanted to place one hand on the shoulder of every teenage girl in America, point at the TV screen with the other hand and whisper: This. This is how it’s done. Secretary of State Clinton showed up to answer tough and sometimes ridiculous questions regarding the deadly September 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya. In the process, she offered a tutorial for today’s young women. Key points: 1) When a man asks you a question and then refus...
A few days after 6-year-old Noah Pozner was gunned down at Newtown’s Sandy Hook School, his mother, Veronique, gave an interview of searing clarity. Journalist Naomi Zeveloff, in a column for The Jewish Daily Forward, described the hardest part of her interview with Pozner. I don’t often provide lengthy excerpts, but this defies paraphrasing: “(Veronique) felt that (Noah’s) body had suffered too many indignities already; she was adamant that he not be autopsied. She wanted him to be buried with a Jewish prayer shawl and with a clear stone w...
I never will forget the first time I met a Russian orphan who had just been adopted by American parents. It was 2003, and I was on a flight out of Moscow. A little boy with big brown eyes sat in the seat next to me. A man sat on the other side of the boy, and it was clear from their clenched hands that they were traveling together. I was scribbling in a notebook when I noticed that the child was leaning over, trying to read. I smiled and asked his name. “He doesn’t speak much English,” the man said, smiling. “My wife and I just adopted him and...
In December 2001, my father sent his first-ever Christmas card to me. He even signed it, “Love, Dad.” Unprecedented. Throw some tinsel on my head and watch me sparkle like a snow globe; that’s how happy I was. Dad came from the “show, don’t tell” school of parenting. He supported his family and shoveled the snow from the walkway before any of us were out of bed. His love was to be understood. His postscript on that 2001 card made clear that despite the arrival of his one-time-only Christmas greeting, nothing had changed. “I got a card from the...
In June 1944, polio was sweeping across the country with devastating swiftness. Children would leap out of bed in the morning, and by nightfall, they were unable to feed themselves. It was only a matter of time before it swept through Hickory, N.C. “like a tidal wave.” “Youngsters with painful, useless limbs,” Life magazine reported at the time, “some unable to swallow or scarcely able to breathe, they came from mining villages up in the hills, mill towns in the valley, from outlying farms and urban centers.” Fear reigned, but it was no matc...
