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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Even in the 1970’s some of the old gold rush style miners lived the life of a hermit and it was a risk to life and limb to explore the mountains in Northern Nevada. You never knew when you would stumble across one of these characters. The first indication you were trespassing on their claim would be the sound of a bullet ricocheting off a rock at your feet. Taking a page out of Wild West history, in mid-summer of 1974 one of Winnemucca’s sheriff’s deputies decided to put together a gang and r...
By Calvin K. Sunderland Edited by Michael K. Sunderland The following is a short excerpt from the Family History my father worked on until Alzheimer’s progressively destroyed his memory. The nation, and the world, found itself beginning the slide into The Great Depression by 1930. The unprecedented economic disaster began with the stock market crash of October and November 1929. It can hardly be argued the crash caused the depression, but it was the curtain raiser. The Great Depression is s...
With the on set of warmer temps I invite you to come with me on a short trip to 1968 and visit a couple of “cool” events in my past. As related in an earlier story, “The Blizzard of 1968”, Fairbanks, Alaska was visited with one of the largest snowfalls seen in recorded history for the state. So far as I know the 16 feet of new snow deposited by one storm was the most ever recorded since the Ice Age. Another first was soon to follow. The coldest time of the year in Fairbanks usually comes i...
We take computers for granted. We text, talk, do research and spend too much time sitting on our duffs in front of them. It wasn’t always like that. In 1966 a major change in the way newspapers are produced was previewed. The first computerized typesetting machine was field tested at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. C.W. Sneddon, the owner, was always eager to try new technology and IBM accepted his offer. IBM combined a keystroke capture system with a Selectric typewriter and added a punch tape...
With the permission of my wife, of course. So buckle up and prepare for another series of politically incorrect articles. After watching the serious over reach of the enforcement arm of the Democratic Party In Power, aka FBI’s raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a Lago residence, I can not remain silent. Yes, this might be dangerous as it could induce the radical left into requesting their army of political correctness enforcers to raid my home, subject me to a strip search and put me...
Life is full of uncertainties. There are few things I can count on as anchors in the storm. Many of the people and things I thought I could rely on turned out to be false hopes. So what do I count on for my sense of security? If I’ve learned anything in my life to date it is this: I can count on my God and Dorothy, my wife. Before we moved to Sidney, she and I owned and operated The Town & Country Shopper in Albion, NE. Circumstances beyond our control drove us into bankruptcy. Those we thought...
The Fairbanks Flood of 1967 was followed by more dramatic climate events. No sooner had 1967 turned into 1968 than we had a winter in which a raging blizzard deposited 16 feet of new snow on the Fairbanks area. We thought that should be the end of it. The weather was expected to moderate. But no, Mother Nature wasn’t finished with us. She had one more piece of nastiness for us. The coldest time of the year in Fairbanks comes in January and normally lasts but a week or so. This winter the b...
The winter after the great Fairbanks flood of the previous year was memorable. Mother Nature was not finished with us. She must have known that I would soon be leaving Alaska for good and she wanted to make sure I would remember what it was like. I’ve read stories of blizzards on the Great Plains, but nothing I have read, or experienced since has come close to the one that hit Fairbanks in 1968, my last winter in Alaska (except one I experienced in Kansas in 1954). At the time I was working i...
Who do you trust to tell you the truth? Would you know the truth if you heard it? What is the difference between “disinformation” and a “different point of view or belief”? Your answers to these questions will have a great deal of influence on who and what you believe in. We are hearing a great deal from certain characters in our federal government and mass news media about “disinformation”. They are so distraught over what they call “disinformation” they want to instigate (yes, I know what tha...
I came across some stats the other day that, if remotely accurate, are astounding, shocking and demand action. Fasten your seatbelt and prepare for a jolt. According to this info it takes 21 to 35 days for a Russian oil tanker to get to a US port to be offloaded. It takes between 35 to 60 days for a tanker from the Middle East to make the same trip. It takes about 10 hours to load a tanker and up to 24 hours to unload if it has to wait in port, and to get to an unloading dock can take up to 3...
If you think we have it rough today with a shaky economy, terrorists, wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, hurricanes, tidal waves, high taxes, high unemployment rates, low income to high cost of living ratio, a growing stronger dictatorial federal government, and all of the additional etceteras of life in today’s America – think again. Consider poor Methuselah and all that he had to deal with. For starters how about having a 900-year lifespan? And you think you get bored doing the same job...
In my preteen years our family lived in a subdivision across the river from downtown Fairbanks, AK. Besides having one of the best home we had lived in up to that time, the housing area was surrounded with a virgin forest that was a perfect playground for youngsters. We hiked, played hide-and-go-seek, and went fishing in the Chena River on the forest’s edges. Tree forts were built in many tall pine and spruce trees. The forts were used for several different purposes. We played war games, w...
Edited by Michael K. Sunderland Calvin K. Sunderland, my dad was, among many things a storyteller. It’s a trait that seems to have been passed on to me. I recently unearthed the following story of my dad’s while sorting through a stack of his letters and papers. It reveals a lot about where I got many of my traits. “The summer of 1941 was not over and by late summer I’d recovered enough from my exposure to poison ivy to be feeling frisky again. Horsing around got me into worse trouble just a...
When advanced Navy boot camp training commenced in earnest our recruit company was quickly immersed in fire fighting techniques, first aid, NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical warfare), among other necessary skills. We spent two sweltering days in Southern California heat at the San Diego Navy boot camp learning to handle fire hoses and how to put out a shipboard fire with nothing but water. It was hot miserable necessary training. When you are 100s of miles out to sea there are no fire...
Working for a local newspaper may not be as glamorous as working for a big city daily, but it is not boring. Where else can you do a story on a carrot that looks like Abe Lincoln, a 2-headed snake, or cover a cat rescue? One of the memorable stories I covered gave me opportunities to do it like the big city boys. In mid 1974 Northern Nevada from the Black Rock Desert on the west thru Elko County on the east was hit with high winds. For many hours from early in the day the wind blew at 70 mph wit...
The other day I sat down to write another article and my mind went blank! Go figure. So I loaded up the CD player with music by an old favorite of mine… C.W. McCall. I doubt many youngsters (anyone under 40) will recognize the name. He produced and sang Long Lonesome Road, Night Rider, Ratchet Jaw, Rubber Duck, among many more trucking tunes. Dorothy and I lived in Winnemucca, NV when he hit the top of the charts hit after hit, during the early 1970s. We installed a mobile CB in our car and a...
Written by Calvin K. Sunderland My dad was not a braggart. It was rare he would talk or write about his time in the WWII Navy on board the heavy cruiser USS Portland. What follows is one he wrote a few years before he died. I can only try to emulate the bravery it must have taken to weather events such as he experienced during the war. – Michael K. Sunderland “One of the most frightful episodes while I was aboard came late in our North Pacific excursion. A storm at sea is one of nature’s more...
Warning! This is a true story of a Navy boot camp experience. The language has been toned down to protect the guilty. I stood looking Fear in the face. Fear with a capitol F–E–A-R, complete with a body and personality all it’s horrible own. The name of that particular fear is Water. Looking at it makes me want to run under a hot shower and stay there for the rest of my life. That tower at the deep end of the pool – how high did they say it is? 50 feet? 50 infinite feet above 18 deadly feet of...
In the late 40’s and early 50’s dust storms (and this was before climate change, too!) roared through the plains and I remember one in particular. I was spending some time with grandma and grandpa Sunderland in Kiowa, Kansas, where they operated a cafe near the railroad station. While there a duster blew in and all but closed things down for several days. Sheets, towels and anything else that could be crammed into the cracks and crevices around doors and windows proved useless in keeping out the...
After some diligent investigation over a rather short period of time (I’m trying to emulate a federal in depth investigation) I have researched and assembled a somewhat limited dictionary of liberal verbiage, also known as jabberwocky. The first recorded use of jabberwocky was by Lewis Carrol in 1872. Since then the proliferation of the technique of jabberwocking has been expanded and refined. In modern times the usage of jabberwocky has been taken to new heights1 of wocking2 by liberal p...
There was a humorous record released in 1974 by the comedy team of Buchanan and Goodman, titled “Energy Crisis ‘74” Below is a word-for-word transcription of the lyrics… “We’re here at the White House for a special report on the energy crisis. Mr. President, have you any statements? “Leave me alone. Just leave me alone.” Mr. President, what really caused the energy crisis?” “Smokin’ in the boy’s room.” During the crisis, how much gas will motorists be allowed? “Just enough for the city.” Who d...
Here’s a short story to illustrate a dangerous trend being foisted on America. Hesitatingly he walked into the Java Shoppe. His downcast eyes refused to make contact with the patrons. Trying not to draw attention to himself he stopped inside the door and moved into the shadows. Minutes passed before the strange young man moved out of the shadows and slowly walked in to take a seat at the counter. Normally I would not have paid much attention to him. He did not appear to be any more or less t...
News outlets – newspapers, radio and TV – sometimes use a rather fancy and greatly misunderstood word when they speak of the presentation of evidence. That word is “forensics.” We’ve heard and read it used in the reporting of the Kyle Rittenhouse trial. Forensics is a great word to use when writing or speaking to people who have no real understanding of the word’s meaning! Especially if you are trying to bulldoze them into agreeing with you! I first became acquainted with forensics in high sch...
Let’s start the New Year by reaching into the past. As we look ahead into 2022 I’m reminded of a 1960’s Bob Dylan song: “The Times They Are A Changing.” Dylan tended to be a bit morbid with some of the lyrics he wrote for this song. Among them is this line from the first verse: “Then you’d better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone for the times they are a-changin’.” I’d like to quote the entire song, but space does not allow. I suggest you look ‘em up on line. I won’t call him a prophe...
My first newspaper route was acquired in 1962. I had it for about 2 years and it was a major reason why I ended up needing eyeglasses. My route began and ended at the Fairbanks Public Library. There I discovered the wonderful world of books that were within the walls of the public library (not the Internet). It became my habit to check out a book and read it while I was delivering my papers whenever the weather permitted, especially during the summer. By the time I was finished with my route I...
