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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Recently, I traveled around our state and visited with many Nebraskans. As always, it is great to meet people where they are and to talk about what matters most to them. Communication with your elected representatives is the bedrock of our republic. I am proud to host these discussions and other in-person sit-downs in communities across Nebraska, which help to make sure that constituents can communicate with me directly in the places they live and work. We kicked things off with a roundtable... Full story
There are those who are so scornful, or maybe afraid, of the past history of the United States of America. They want to remove the study of American history and our nation's system of government from our schools. Among the reasons given it is claimed that there are more important things to learn. It is asserted that it is more vital our children learn how to live in today's digital world. Some base this argument on their belief that the past is not relevant to the present. Others contend the...
Abraham Lincoln once said about elections that “It is the people’s business – the election is in their hands. If they turn their backs to the fire, and get scorched in the rear, they’ll find that they have got to ‘sit’ on the ‘blister’.” In many ways that is how I feel about the election this year. There is so much at stake in the general election on November 8 that it is hard for me to fathom why some people would choose not to cast their vote. When we choose not to vote, we are essentially a...
A good Name is better to be chosen than great riches; Loving favor rather than silver and gold.” Proverbs 22:1 We have discovered who’s who, when enough is enough, and what to do about it, physically, intellectually, emotionally and now, socially. Every baby is unique and precious in God’s eyes and sent for a specific purpose in the society into which they are born. Jeremiah 29:11. Grimm’s Fairy Tales suggests each new baby is greeted by a good witch and a bad witch. The good witch says kind, wo...
In January I had no idea who Elizabeth Tegtmeier was. I was asked by a friend to attend her announcement as a candidate for State Board of Education. It was a low-key, upbeat venue near North Platte. Maybe 40 people in attendance. I listened to Elizabeth talk about her background as a teacher and her degree in Curriculum and Instruction. I found I agreed with her positions on the various issues in the education system. She discussed attending SBoE meetings and how those meetings are what led her to the decision to run for the position. I discov...
Nebraska Public Education is more than you can see from the street or hear on national news or social media. Why? Nebraska is a local control state. What does that mean? It means your local school board makes the decisions as to what schools look like and teach. This includes approving curriculum, textbooks and size of classes just to name a few. That puts you the local voter in charge through your local school board members who are your friends and neighbors. In many states public education systems, you hear or read about on the news or social...
Gaston Leroux published his novel, “Le Fantome de l'Opera,” or “Phantom of the Opera,” in 1911. Earlier he had worked as a theatre critic for a French newspaper, the “L'Echo de Paris,” and had heard talk of a chandelier, fastened above the crowd, in the Paris Opera House, that had crashed down, killing one, injuring others. He also learned of murders and kidnappings at the theatre. He then heard rumors of a ghost that haunted the Paris Opera House, who lived near an underground lake, deep...
The new ACT scores for the class of 2022 were released last week and the scores do not look good for Nebraska. Nebraska’s composite score fell to 19.4, which is below the national average of 19.8. More importantly, though, is how Nebraska’s ACT composite scores have been falling over the course of the last five years. For instance, in 2017 Nebraska’s composite score was 21.4, then in 2018 it fell to 20.1, in 2019 it was 20.0, and last year it was 20.0 again. Nebraska hasn’t seen test scores...
Nebraskans are hard-working, resilient, and innovative. One of the many reasons I love traveling the state is that I get to see that spirit on full display in communities across Nebraska. Just this past week, I had the opportunity to visit with many entrepreneurial Nebraskans and see how their efforts are creating exciting new economic opportunities. In North Platte, for example, I attended the groundbreaking ceremony for Sustainable Beef – a new project to create a regional processing plant o...
I am writing to refute the misinformation and mischaracterization Marge Spencer made about Dist. 7 candidate, Elizabeth Tegtmeier. Tegtmeier is a former teacher who only left the classroom to homeschool her 5 children through 8th grade at which time the 3 oldest have, and the two youngest will, enter public high school. The reason she “has no board experience” is because her husband is a 25 year employee of their school district. They have always felt it would be a conflict of interest for her...
Many of us were raised with the saying, “Actions speak louder than words” meaning what a person does carries more weight than any hollow words he or she says. On Feb 4, 2022, the Nebraska State Board of Education had a motion proposed that would permanently reject the health standards. Robin Stevens voted NO; he did not want to reject all drafts of the health standards. Now he is traveling throughout our district talking to people and interviewing with newspapers stating, “I will fight tooth and nail that they not be brought forth during my te...
“Foolishness is born in the heart of a child [therefore] train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” Proverbs 22:15. 7. Mental health starts with learned behavior (Cultural responses). Intellectual input forms a frame of reference for some 167,000 individual daily decisions. One and one is two. Apples are not oranges. Lions roar, cats purr. Scrapes need Band-aids. ‘Spurty’ wounds need stiches. Intellect soaks up knowledge until about age 6 when atten...
In 2024, NASA will send a small surgical robot from Nebraska to the International Space Station. The tiny, two-pound robot will be able to perform surgeries on the space station that would normally require a surgeon’s expertise and much larger equipment. The surgical robot can operate more or less on its own, performing complex procedures at the flip of a switch. The device, developed by Nebraska-based Virtual Incision, is a significant step toward making it possible for surgeons to operate r...
News broke early this month that school officials at New York University fired an adjunct organic chemistry professor named Dr. Maitland Jones, after 82 of his class of 350 students signed a petition, that charged Jones with making the class too hard. The mean grade on one midterm was 30 percent. In their petition the students did not ask school officials to terminate Jones’s employment, but just to address his degree of difficulty when grading. Jones is eighty-four years old, and was a w...
I am an 87-year-old woman who has voted in every election since I was old enough to do so. I have voted at the polls on election day every time except one time when I had to be out of town. That one time, I went to our county courthouse and case my ballot. I have never early voted and I consider it a privilege to walk into the polling place and cast my ballot. As I was traveling several highways in Nebraska this spring, 2022, I kept seeing huge signs for Jim Pillen. My thought was that, Wow! Someone really wants him to be elected by spending...
I support public education and our great teachers. My kids love school, and I am incredibly happy with the quality public education they are receiving. A short while ago, I would not have dreamed that the Nebraska Department of Education and State Board of Education would suggest that it is necessary to teach kindergarteners names of genitalia, first graders about gender identity, third graders about sexual orientation, fifth graders about hormone blockers, and seventh graders about a*** sex. Those were just some of the topics outlined in the...
In this divisive world of politics there is an election at the regional level that seems to have heated up. The race between newcomer Elizabeth Tegtmeier and Incumbent Robin Stevens is turning quite spicy. Robin Stevens seems to think showing up late to the game and throwing darts is a winning strategy. He and his campaign surrogates have decided attacking Elizabeth has a better chance of winning than his record. People became very involved in the Nebraska State School Board race due to the CRT and SEL curriculum being promoted by the board...
Nebraskans are hard-working, resilient, and innovative. One of the many reasons I love traveling the state is that I get to see that spirit on full display in communities across Nebraska. Just this past week, I had the opportunity to visit with many entrepreneurial Nebraskans and see how their efforts are creating exciting new economic opportunities. In North Platte, for example, I attended the groundbreaking ceremony for Sustainable Beef – a new project to create a regional processing plant o...
The general election will be held on November 8. Please make it a point to vote. As the election date nears, the matter of election integrity is once again taking center stage. Election integrity has become such an important issue to so many Nebraska voters that today I would like to address some of the core issues which are challenging the integrity of Nebraska’s elections. First, the Nebraska Legislature has a lot of work to do to make our elections more secure. Issues such as voter ID i...
By Calvin K. Sunderland, edited by Michael K. Sunderland When Roosevelt came in, things worsened quickly for the Sunderlands. FDR’s first act in office was to close every bank in the nation for the historic bank holiday. There was panic in some quarters and banks went under to the dismay of their depositors. A flood of emergency measures came from the White House quickly rubber-stamped by a thoroughly cowed Congress. Whatever Roosevelt wanted, he got with hardly a murmur of dissent. The radical...
A thought came to me recently that some might call a moment of doubt, even dark. However, that perception misses the mark. Here is the question: What is your legacy? Maybe we can’t know until there’s a post-mortem assessment. So maybe we need to reword the question a little. What are you known for, followed by what do you want to be known for? Pay attention to the change in time sequence. What are you known for is about the present state, what do you want to be known for implies a desire and...
“You are fearfully and wonderfully made in the sight of God.” God has plans for you! Psalm 139. Psychological growth begins in the womb, as you sense your mother’s reaction to situations. You hear at 16 weeks and feel pain at 20 weeks. Your little brain is developing its synapses, but your lungs aren’t ready for air. When Mom and Dad pick you up and love you, your brain starts working to grow you up, physically. Mom’s hugging, nursing and rocking brings together your thoughts and system ne...
I’m an avid reader. From soup can labels, magazines in doctors’ offices, street signs, newspapers, and just about anything that has the printed word I’ll pick up and read. Early in my life, around 7 or 8 years old I discovered the Tom Swift books and I was hooked. By my early teens I had read every sci-fi book in the Fairbanks Public Library from the Tom Swift series, to the great authors. Over the years the list grew to include Robert A. Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, H. G. Wells, George Orwel...
Nebraska has always been a leader in public education, even during the pandemic. Nebraska K-12 education was considered to have had one of the best responses in the US. This was due to the leadership of our State Board of Education, the Nebraska Department of Education and the good practices of local school leaders and staffs. As of today, schools are now open to all of our students providing them a safe academic environment. So, as school administrators, we were shocked and appalled when we read that certain candidates for the Nebraska Board o...
In the year 2000, the horror fiction writer Stephen King came out with a different kind of book, a nonfiction book that he entitled, “On Writing: a Memoir of the Craft.” He begins with a series of scenes from his childhood, and explains how he launched his career of writing popular fiction. King uses a metaphor, that of a toolbox, to describe how he works when he writes. At the bottom of the toolbox lie the fundamentals: appropriate vocabulary, sticking with accepted grammar, the use of act...
