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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Every 65 minutes, at least one U.S. Military Veteran loses his or her battle to Combat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) or PTSD; that's roughly 43.3 veterans a day, which is up from 22 a day just two years ago. Recently, someone close to me, a Marine Veteran, was in distress and our community rallied behind this individual to get him help. We utilized a tool I had never known about before: Veterans Crisis Line. The Veteran Crisis Line is open to all U.S. Military Veterans experiencing a...
“Evil men do not understand justice, but those who seek the Lord understand all.” Proverbs 28:6, Matthew 13:11. 2 Peter 1:3 Men (and women) are divinely ‘wired’ to cry out for justice. God shows up and gives them an assignment to carry His Plan into practice. The Bible is full of such instances under the First Covenant. First Kings 18 tells of Elijah who took on Ahab’s wicked government singlehandedly. “These Are the Days of Elijah” by Robin Mark may be sung with gusto, but some may miss the...
Last week Dannette Smith announced her resignation as director of Nebraska’s Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) effective August 4, 2023. I was not surprised by the announcement. I am not suggesting that Smith did a poor job as director. Dannette Smith did about as well as any director could have done given the set of circumstances she inherited and the state of affairs of DHHS that she was dealt when she first took over the Department four years ago. DHHS is Nebraska’s largest sta...
As we gather to celebrate the birth of our great nation on this Fourth of July, it is an opportunity to reflect upon the values and ideals that have made America the greatest country that has ever existed. For centuries, our American flag has inspired and rallied Americans through times of triumph and tragedy. It reminds us of the sacrifices made to secure our freedoms. It represents the ideals upon which our nation was founded – freedom, justice, and equality – and our perpetual quest to for...
On the one hand, events in Russia this past weekend were stunning -- the leader of a mercenary group declaring against the country's military leadership and, for 24 hours, marching on Moscow. On the other, they were about what you'd expect in a Russia that, across the long centuries of its existence, has never managed to achieve Western standards of self-government. Everything we need to know about Russia was made clear by its brutish, cynical and incompetent invasion of Ukraine. But the...
"Why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing against the Lord and His Anointed One? He Who sits in the Heavens, the Lord, shall laugh and distress them in His deep displeasure." Psalm 2:1-5 On June 18, 1812, the United States declared war on the British Crown. Britain was at war with France and felt U.S. commerce should not continue with France. They attacked U.S. ships, absconded with cargo and illegally 'impressed' soldiers and sailors to serve aboard British war ships - often, a...
Two trials in American history stand out above the others, the Salem Witch Trials and the Scopes Monkey Trial. Both were of a religious nature. The two serve as bookends on America's history, the first in 1693, in the years after New England's founding, and the second in 1925, early in the twentieth century. The trial at Salem Village, Massachusetts sought to identify and then execute those unseen spiritual forces, the witches, who, village's officials believed, went about in secret performing...
Nebraskans are still fuming about their new property valuation notices and I don't blame them one bit. The deadline for filing an appeal is June 30, and this year we could see the highest number of property valuation protests ever filed in the history of our State. High property taxes are the number one reason why people leave our State. Nebraska's property tax system is a failed experiment in taxation. In 1966 the citizens of Nebraska voted to amend the Nebraska State Constitution, creating...
It's not unusual for prayer to play a role in sports. "Spahn, Sain, and pray for rain!" was the famous refrain of Boston Braves fans in 1948, when they wanted their exceptional pitchers Warren Spahn and Johnny Sain to start as many games as possible. A couple of years ago, the team chaplain of the Loyola Chicago men's basketball team, Sister Jean, prayed before a game against Illinois in the NCAA Tournament, "As we play the Fighting Illini, we ask for special help to overcome this team and get...
One year ago this week, the Supreme Court of the United States handed down one of the most important decisions in its history. For years, loud voices on the left have demanded the right to an abortion be absolute, including horrific practices like third-trimester and partial birth abortions. Despite an unprecedented leak and a politically-motivated assassination attempt against a sitting Supreme Court Justice, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health, the Court restored the right of the American...
“You shall have a banner for those who honor You – a rallying point in the face of attack. Selah! Use Your strong arm to save us and secure Your beloved people”. Psalm 60:4, 5 NLT Red Skelton, one of America’s best-loved comedians, addressing elementary students, spoke the Pledge of Allegiance this way. Available on YouTube. I--meaning me, an individual, a committee of one. Pledge--dedicate all of my worldly goods to give without self-pity. Allegiance--my love and my devotion. (Founding Fathers...
Dear Editor, I grew up in northeastern Colorado and I now live in the panhandle of Nebraska. My father was a state legislator and spent his life, working in politics and believing that elected officials could make our country a better place. Ten years ago, the Supreme Court’s Shelby County ruling effectively opened the floodgates to voting discrimination with an intensity that has continued to this day. In the 2022 mid-term election, we saw reports of voter intimidation and attempts to silence voters’ voices. And already this year, leg...
On June 22, 2023 the Regents of the University of Nebraska will vote to approve Rodney Bennett as the new chancellor of Nebraska's flagship university. Although the Regents are accepting feedback from the public, the procedure is just a formality. The vote will essentially be a rubber-stamp, ceremonial vote because the decision to hire Bennett has already been made. If you were to ask me what the three highest priorities of the new chancellor should be, I would answer as follows: First, the...
It's June, when one can be forgiven for thinking we live in the United States of LGBTQIA2S+. Old Glory is, at best, supplemented with, and sometimes supplanted by, the pride flag in all its varieties. The flag, which has become more and more unsightly, is ubiquitous. Its increasingly elaborate jumble of clashing stripes -- whether seen shopping, at a ballgame or on U.S. government buildings -- is a reminder to get with the program, and that the program is always changing. Team Biden draped what...
Edward Muir is president of the American Historical Association. In the May issue of that non-profit's magazine, "Perspectives on History," he wrote a column he entitled, "The United States Needs Historians." Muir states his thesis, "Our culture needs historians who can look behind today's headlines and the latest 'fake news' to think about longer patterns in the past, even as they engage in current struggles." Yet, Muir begins with a two-minute scene from the Ukrainian television series,...
"Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing", music by Sammy Fain, lyrics by Paul Francis Webster. First sung in the movie Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing (1955), it won the Academy Award for Best Original Song in 1956. The late balladeer, Frank Sinatra, popularized these words in song: "Love is a many splendored thing. It's the April Rose that only grows in the early Spring. Love is nature's way of giving a reason to be living, a golden crown that makes a man a king." This song is loaded with Hebrew...
To Whom it May Concern: When did life become so hard that YOU would steal a cane made for a disabled veteran out of the Sidney Bomgaars men’s room? I know it looks unusual, black thorn wood with an ergonomic flattish handle grip. But it was not yours. It was his Christmas gift. I suggest if you have any self respect left in you at all. That you turn it in to the Sidney Bomgaars as found and give serious thought to the path in life you have chosen. Be assured I am not a Christian praying for your soul. I am Pagan, I walk the path of light and k...
Do you like the new valuation notice you received on your home or property? Most Nebraskans I know from Omaha to Scottsbluff are outraged over their new valuation notice, and my phone has been ringing off the hook ever since these notices went out over a week ago. The only ones who stand to benefit from these notices are those who plan to sell and move to another state with a better tax system than ours. No matter where you look across Nebraska, property values went way up this year. They even...
President Joe Biden's fall at the end of the Air Force Academy graduation ceremony was a brief event. He tripped, got helped up, and walked off under his own power. Sometimes, though, a small thing is fraught with meaning -- and with peril. Biden's stumbles are not minor incidents, or a laughing matter. We aren't talking about a manufactured narrative about President Jerry Ford's alleged clumsiness played up on "Saturday Night Live." Biden is 80 years old, is in decline, and has a stiff,...
CHEYENNE COUNTY – Since August 19, 2021, the number of U.S. Military Veterans in crisis rose steadily by 40% nationwide and has not yet began to decrease. This weekend, I learned of an incredible resource for veteran family members and friends which can go a long way in saving lives. "All gave some – some gave all," is an understatement when we are talking about the number of veterans still battling demons of their own. Combat Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD) affects 7 out of 100 vet...
"Behold! Children are an inheritance from the Lord. The fruit of the womb is a reward. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them. The glory of children is their father." Psalm 127:3-5; Proverbs 17:6 My little brother Willie just gloried in my father. Dad often went out on his D-9 Caterpillar to level land, root out sagebrush for hay land or build irrigation ditches and ponds. When Willie could barely walk, he would rush to the milk separator where Dad poured in big, shiny buckets of milk...
Last Thursday was the final day of the Unicameral Legislature's 2023 Legislative Session. The final days of the session were hardly void of drama, overrides, and surprises. For example, State Senators voted to override the Governor's veto to fund the State Auditor's staff, voted to reconsider the appointment of the Nebraska Public Employees Retirement Systems director, and voted not to confirm a commissioner to the State Racing and Gaming Commission. In addition, three important bills were...
The NAACP is on high alert -- a Republican governor, with an unabashedly conservative agenda and some chance of winning, is running for president. It has duly sprung into action with a travel advisory warning people what they're getting into if they take the risk of visiting Florida's sunny beaches or world-class attractions. "Florida is openly hostile toward African Americans, people of color and LGBTQ+ individuals," the statement says. "Before traveling to Florida, please understand that the...
This last week I watched the new Lionsgate film, Jesus Revolution. The film did better than expected, grossing $50 million in the first months after its release in February. The screenplay is based upon a memoir that Greg Laurie, and co-writer Ellen Vaughn, published in 2018, Jesus Revolution: How God Transformed an Unlikely Generation and How He Can Do It Again Today. I knew nothing of Greg Laurie when I watched the movie, but since then, I have learned that he is a long-time pastor, fifty...
"Therefore, since we receive a Kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us have grace, serving God with reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire." Hebrews 12:28,29 It is simply a truth that God cannot operate in the earth without people who pray with wisdom and purpose. The Bible is our Answer Book. No matter the question or circumstance, the answer is within its pages! Our Founding fathers and mothers, were born for such a time as they lived in. So, indeed we are blessed by their eff...
