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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The list of banned, censored, and challenged books is long and illustrious. Decameron (1353) by Giovanni Boccaccio, and Canterbury Tales (1476) by Geoffrey Chaucer were banned from U. S. mail because of the Federal Anti-Obscenity Law of 1873, known as the Comstock Law. That law "banned the sending or receiving of works containing 'obscene, 'filthy,' or 'inappropriate' material. William Pynchon, a prominent New England landowner and founder of Springfield, Massachusetts, wrote a startling... Full story
Whenever it comes to delivering on property tax relief for the good, hardworking citizens of Nebraska, governmental entities with tax asking authority always seem to find ways to shut it down, and that is exactly what is happening in Nebraska again this year. Today I would like to inform you about how the Nebraska Department of Education is undermining the Legislature's efforts to provide property owners with some much-needed property tax relief this year. Earlier his year Sen. Tom Briese of... Full story
Our seniors face ever-growing challenges. Rising costs, attacks on their retirement savings, fraud, and identity theft threaten what they spent a lifetime building. Many of the facilities that care for this vulnerable population are struggling to stay afloat due to burdensome regulations and other factors, threatening the availability of care in rural areas across the country. This week, I held an Aging roundtable conversation with Nebraskans in senior care to discuss solutions to many of these... Full story
"While the earth remains, seed-time and harvest..." Genesis 8:22. God has a Plan. Sowing and reaping is constant, going on at all times. Even unbelievers will tap into this prosperity. God enhances vision, effort (measure of faith) and wisdom. Human Effort plus Resources plus Holy Spirit Anointing equals Miracles! Dough enhancer is added to bread dough, a certain measure for every measure of flour. Gluten is softened so bread rises higher and bakes up softer and lighter. Smart chefs use it....
Police raiding a newspaper and confiscating reporting material seems like something one would expect to find in a banana-republic, or in a scene from a dystopian novel. Yet, that is exactly what happened recently to the Marion County Record. The Record is a weekly newspaper in rural Kansas, serving a population of approximately 1,900 and known for its dogged reporting on various issues affecting the community. On August 11, the newspaper office was raided by the Marion Police Department as was the home of its 98-year-old co-owner, Joan Meyer,... Full story
Are Nebraska's elections fair, accurate, and transparent? To answer this question, concerned citizens must consider how Nebraska counts its ballots in statewide elections. Nebraska uses ES&S vote counting machines to count its ballots during statewide elections. ES&S stands for a company called Elections Systems & Software. Understanding how these ES&S vote counting machines work is critical for answering these crucial questions about the integrity of our elections. The use and accuracy of vote... Full story
Ordinarily country and western style music doesn't trip my trigger, but in 1992 Billy Ray Cyrus released the song "Some Gave All" that really struck a chord deep down in my soul. As a Navy veteran of the late 1960's and early '70's many of my high school classmates and young men in my neighborhood were drafted and served in our nation's military in Vietnam. A little over half of them did not return alive, and several of the survivors recovered from their injuries in stateside hospitals. Some hav... Full story
Popular song writers will, on occasion, dub into their lyrics references to summer. In 1970, Mungo Jerry sang, "In the summertime, when the weather is high, you can stretch right up and touch the sky." In 1972, Bobby Vinton sang, "Yes, it's going to be a long, lonely summer." In 1973, Terry Jacks sang about enjoying his "Seasons in the Sun." In 1977, in the film Grease, John Travolta and Olivia Newton John sang a back-and- forth duet about their "summer days drifting away, to summer nights."... Full story
Editor’s Note: We appreciate and encourage all Letters to the Editor. It is especially encouraging to receive them from readers outside of our community as it is representative of the faith that people still hold for community print media as a means for the sharing of information. To Whom it May Concern, Many Nebraskans, especially those in rural communities like mine, have been misinformed by those circulating the petition to repeal the Opportunity Scholarships Act. The information being given out by both paid and volunteer canvassers is f... Full story
Last week Nebraska State Senators learned that the Federal Bureau of Land Management will soon begin enacting the Buffalo Resource Management Plan in Wyoming's Powder River Basin. This means that a moratorium is being placed on the mining of coal in that region because the lands are federally owned. In their attempt to go green, the Biden Administration is refusing to renew lease agreements in the Powder River Basin, which supplies roughly 40 percent of the nation's demand for coal. This... Full story
Last Friday, just before we closed for the weekend, a handsome, shy young man came into the Sun-Telegraph office carrying a box that he quietly informed me was a gift. Turns out that it was a sampler box from a local business, Savor & Grace, and it was filled with all kinds of charcuterie delights. I was appreciative of the gift, delighted by the contents (seriously, it was SO delicious!) and inspired by the sheer warmth and neighborliness of the gesture. I lived in NYC for a number of years,... Full story
"The earth yields crops by itself, first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn in the ear. When grain is ripe, the farmer puts in his sickle. Harvest has come." Mark 4:28, 29. All seed is time sensitive. Harvest starts as seed comes out of the barn and is placed into good, fertile soil. "As a rancher/farmer, my most important crop is my children!" North Park (Walden) Colorado has 3 seasons: Before Hayin', Durin' Hayin' and After Hayin'. Surrounded by the Continental Divide on three sides,... Full story
Some are addicted to alcohol. Some are addicted to various narcotics, others to various perversions. Our nation and world has increasingly become addicted to these and more to the extent that we have all but passed the national fatality level. Most of us are aware of the various drug addictions that plague our fellow Americans. Even in Sidney, Nebraska there are both young and old who are addicted to the junk that is pouring over our so called sovereign borders. The alarms have been sounding... Full story
As a member of this town for 37 plus years, I have seen lots of businesses come and go within the city limits. Of which I can’t recall any of the names of them now, but being that as it may, it should not dampen that spirit of said reality of keep on keeping on. The buildings or stores are still there but alas, no longer do they hold the same feelings as years gone by. My story involves another part of the current population. This you will not like one bit. I am a decorated Navy Vietnam veteran. I willingly gave 24 years of my life to sacrifice... Full story
High School shop classes are beginning to make a comeback. For those of us over the age of 50 shop classes were considered a high school staple, but many high schools have since retired these classes and switched to technology classes. According to the National Center of Education Statistics, this trend of students taking fewer credits in shop classes started in the 1990s. The result of students taking fewer shop classes over the years is that demand has now gone up for people working in trade... Full story
There's being fortunate in your enemies, and then there's having enemies who are helping you take the first step in your political comeback. Donald Trump and his adversaries want profoundly different things in the long run -- Trump wants to be back in the White House; Democrats want him in an orange jumpsuit. Yet, in the shorter term, they both are seeking the same thing -- Trump as the Republican nominee, either so he can sweep to victory (Trump's view) or be beaten again and held to account... Full story
Psalm 91 "Under His wings you shall take refuge. You shall not be afraid of the arrow that flies by day... for He shall give His angels charge over you to keep you ... in their hands they shall bear you up!" My uncle, Fred E. Brands, turned 17, October 31st, 1941. December 7th he enlisted in the United States Navy. World War II had begun at Pearl Harbor. Freddie took training as a navigator in the Naval Air Force. There were six men in his fighter: Pilot, Co-Pilot, Navigator, Left, Right and Tai... Full story
Last Thursday, July 27, 2023, North Korea's leader Kim Jon Un presided over a military parade that celebrated the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement that ended the Korean conflict, from June 25, 1950, to July 27, 1953. North Korea's Foreign Ministry announced, in bellicose language, that "the 21st century would see the irrevocable termination of the U.S. "Should the U.S. choose to offend our Republic, we will annihilate them by using all our military power that we... Full story
One of the things I am most proud of from my time as Governor was how we improved services. One way we did this was by helping low-income Nebraskans find quality, higher-paying jobs through an innovative program called SNAP Next Step. The program helps families on SNAP, otherwise known as food stamps, with job training, resume writing, and job search coaching to find that better job – that next step toward a better future. We prioritized giving people a hand up, not a handout. The results were i... Full story
House Republicans voted to end diversity, equity and inclusion programs and personnel at the Pentagon, and one wonders whether the U.S. military will ever be the same. The provision was one of a number of anti-"woke" measures in the House-passed National Defense Authorization Act -- including reversing the Pentagon's new abortion-enabling paid travel and leave policies -- that have occasioned sputtering outrage. According to National Security Council spokesman John Kirby, there's no way that... Full story
Things were bad in Babylon. The king had been dreaming, but had no idea what he dreamt, except that it frightened him. The Chaldean soothsayers were no help. The king grew furious and ordered the death of all the 'wise' men. Daniel asked the King's Captain why this was so urgent. Daniel asked for a stay of execution, headed for home, conferred with his Hebrew companions and "the secret was revealed to Daniel in a night vision." Daniel 2 Perspective is a valuable game changer. Like louvered... Full story
The twentieth anniversary of Bob Hope's death on July 27th closes the "Season of Hope" that began with Hope's 120th birthday on May 29th. It will not be observed outside of this column, whose author uses Pepsodent toothpaste because it sponsored Hope's radio show. Nevertheless, Hope's influence on America remains. I am not referring to his unparalleled career at the apex of vaudeville, Broadway, movies, radio, and television. I am not referring to stand-up comedy, which Hope concocted by synthes... Full story
Nebraska’s tax system is broken and cannot be fixed. Whether it is the Nebraska State income tax, the State sales tax, the property tax, or the inheritance tax, each of these taxes is beyond repair. The State individual income tax is too complex for the average citizen to understand. In order to show this, consider this instruction from the Nebraska Department of Revenue’s own website: “Taxpayers whose federal adjusted gross income is larger than the threshold amount determined under secti... Full story
"Happy are the people who are in such a state [of blessing] as this! Happy are the people whose God is the Lord." Psalm 144:15 is King David's joyous and thankful praise to God for bringing him through years of persecution and years of war into a time of kingdom peace. Throughout First and Second Samuel, we see the phrase "it happened that..." In the Hebrew, this phrase boils down to 'at the appointed time and appointed place' Father God had an event occur. Most often, these are times when, in... Full story
The two books that Abraham Lincoln read often and loved the most throughout his life were the King James Bible, published in 1611, and William Shakespeare's works, first published as the First Folio in 1623, both the best of English literary works. There were some-including his law partner in Springfield, Illinois, Billy Herndon- who were convinced that Lincoln displayed little religious faith whatsoever, that he was a skeptic, a thinker who scoffed at organized religion. Hence, Lincoln's... Full story
