Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Sorted by date Results 912 - 936 of 1718
Nebraska is a biofuels powerhouse - the second and third largest producer of ethanol and corn, respectively, in the country. With 25 active ethanol plants and a capacity of more than 2.5 billion gallons, the importance of biofuels to our state economy cannot be understated. Biodiesel production in Nebraska has seen exponential growth as well. Thanks to innovation and technological developments, biodiesel production has grown from 25 million gallons in 2004 to 2.9 billion gallons in 2019. Ethanol...
COVID-19 brought with it many new challenges, including furloughs, unemployment, and hospitals struggling to keep up with surges of new patients. We all hear about those things every day. But you may not have heard about how the pandemic has made it much harder for victims of domestic violence to seek help. When you’re stuck in the same house as your abusive partner for months on end, technology can be your only lifeline to the outside world. Yet many of these victims share a cell phone plan w...
The second impeachment hearing of now former-President Trump is about a week old by now. I was immediately struck by a saying I heard many years ago from an attorney. It is so obvious most people don’t see it. “If you can’t pound the law, pound the table.” The message is clear, and being played out... with a difference. In Donald Trump’s five years in the political arena, counting the campaign leading to his election, he has been labeled or otherwise implied guilty on more issues than anyone in...
Representative Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) has introduced legislation that could have a huge impact on gun owners. House Resolution 127 (HR 127), also known as the Sabika Sheikh Firearm Licensing and Registration Act, is named for a 17-year-old Pakistani foreign exchange student who was killed during a 2018 school shooting in Sante Fe, Texas, in which nine others also died. I’ve read the legislation (it’s free online), and here are some of the provisions it contains. Federal Firearm Reg...
Jews will soon celebrate, on 26 February 2021, the joyous festival of Purim which occurs every year on the 14th of the Hebrew month of Adar (late winter/early spring). It commemorates the (Divinely orchestrated) salvation of the Jewish people in the ancient Persian Empire from Haman’s plot “to destroy, kill and annihilate all the Jews, young, old, infants, and women, in a single day. The Book of Esther(Megillah) records this holiday. Purim remains unusual because it is the only book of the bib...
How things have changed, and not necessarily for the better. Since retirement I’m trying to stay out of my wife Dorothy’s hair and not get on her nerves. (But that’s another story!) Like many in my age group I’ve accumulated boxes and boxes of stuff, aka priceless mementoes of days gone by. When I have nothing else to do, I drag out a box or two and rummage through them to see if I can force myself to get rid of an item or two… results to day: a few pieces of packing material pitched. The bigge...
Every bill introduced in the Nebraska Legislature gets a fiscal note attached to it. Fiscal notes are usually boring and not much fun to read. Fiscal notes are usually written by budgetary experts working for relevant state agencies and are supposed to explain what kind of fiscal impact the bill would have on the State budget. Usually, fiscal notes are carefully calculated and accurately tell state legislators how much money a bill would cost to the State once it becomes a law. However, fiscal...
I am no stranger to grief and the many stages of it. Maybe I’m just staying stuck in the really, REALLY mad phase, but my father-in-law was recently locked away from us for 19 days, without a single family member being allowed to see him, before dying and I have a few things to say about this experience. The effects of the pandemic of fear and bureaucracy has knocked on my front door and I am now going to battle. The indoctrination program has succeeded. Evil is being called good and broken s...
I know my columns haven’t been cheerful in recent weeks. It’s hard to see our country heading where we’d rather it not go. I was once in a mentoring relationship with an accomplished CEO who told me, “Don’t bring me problems unless you also have solutions to them.” And while I can’t lay out how to resist the Great Reset in just one column, today I bring ideas on where to start. While most Americans were busy with careers, raising kids and life in general, an insidious movement took over key...
I frequently see the comment of "If God only gives you what you can handle, I must be a superhero," or something like that. The context of the discussion is worth another platform. But look at it from a slight variation. If all you can do is what you've always done..." If all you can do is what you've always done, you probably won't advance much. There will be no growth, no motivation and your system will likely atrophy on several levels. Muscles are not challenged physically, mentally,...
Dear Editor, Even though it has been over seven months since our son Andy died of lung cancer and he could have benefited from Home Health and Hospice, it is still important to express our concern for the community’s continued need for Sidney Regional Medical Center to provide these services. The Chronic Care Management program that was set in place instead of Home Health and Hospice sounds good on paper but in actuality does not provide all services needed. Several friends when extending sympathy for Andy shared stories of how Home Health a...
The Legislature’s Natural Resources Committee recently conducted a hearing on LB562, my bill to relocate the headquarters for the Game and Parks Commission to the City of Sidney. Relocating the Game and Parks Commission to Sidney has proven to be a good idea. The hearing on this bill went very well. The City of Sidney was well represented at the hearing and presented a very compelling case for moving the headquarters to Sidney. Mayor, Roger Galloway, Vice Mayor, Bob Olson, and City C...
A few weeks ago I reached that “Golden Age” that virtually all working class people strive for. Yes! That time of life when we can do just about anything we want without worrying about scheduling conflicts at our place of employment. Yep! I retired a few weeks ago at the young age of 71.41 years old. The wife and I figured that our financial and health needs can be met without too much stress. Dorothy gave me the go ahead to retire after I convinced her that I would behave at home and not get...
I was recently reminded of the obvious, or at least it should be obvious. Life is not easy. If it is easy, be careful for the skies to change. I’m not being negative. I haven’t signed up for the Murphy’s Law Fan Club. I’m being candidly honest. There are athletes who count their body fat in ounces, not percentages. Some of these men and women have a better relationship with the gym manager than their spouse. Maybe not. But the point is the obsession makes them what people might call the perfect...
Joe Biden began his presidency by issuing more executive orders in his 10 days than any other president in history during that time frame. As of this writing, 42 edicts from on high have been handed down. It’s no surprise. What you’re seeing is an attempt to flood the zone with so much change so quickly that effective opposition’s resources are divided and unable to cope with the avalanche. One reason for this is to make up for time lost during the Trump presidency, which was a surprise to th...
On January 20, the United States carried out a distinctive national tradition: Our country underwent a peaceful transition of power. Looking back on the history of nations, this is not typical. Transfers of power between leaders have often been tumultuous. While the federal government is responsible for our country’s defense and certain policy areas, the U.S. Constitution is structured to let state governments take the lead in many areas that impact the day-to-day lives of Americans. Our Republi...
Nebraska’s high school seniors have a lot to look forward to in 2021. Years of hard work in the classroom have led up to the college applications that many of them submitted last fall, and now, all that’s left to do is wait. According to a report from the Nebraska Coordinating Commission for Postsecondary Education, about 80% of seniors who go on to attend college will stay in-state for their education. A smaller group will choose to go to college out of state, but many of them will eve...
In recent days, I reread Daniel Boorstin’s book, The Image, or What Happened to the American Dream. Boorstin trained as a historian, but in his 1961 book, he steps away from history long enough to peer deep into American’s modern-day thought processes. He identifies certain illusions that, he insists, hamper correct thinking. I would agree. Illusions abound in modern-day America. We wonder, “what is true, what is false, what is real, what is fake?” We fill our minds everyday with trucklo...
One bill that I will support this year is LB364, which creates the Opportunity Scholarships Act. Under this Act individual and corporate taxpayers would qualify for a non-refundable tax credit on the income tax returns that is equal to the amount that the taxpayer contributes to a scholarship-granting organization. However, taxpayers would be limited to an amount up to 50 percent of their state income tax liability. Those organizations providing scholarships would become certified by the...
We’re in the early days of a new administration. Joe Biden is officially the 46th president of the United States and Kamala Harris his second. What is yet to be seen, what will be proven as time goes on, is how free we are. When was the last time we had, by appearances at least, more military presence than elected officials, VIP invitations and public in general at an inauguration? News feeds spent much of 2020 overwhelmed with videos of events labeled as protests that quickly resulted in destro...
The ongoing conflict in the Leyton School District came to a head last week when the Superintendent of Schools was placed on paid administrative leave. I don't know the reason, nor do I need to. But the backlash from the move against sitting members of the School Board has been considerable. The subsequent resignations of two members of that body, along with the need to procure new legal counsel for the District and far more rumors than facts, has resulted in hurt feelings, accusations and...
Nebraska’s tax system is completely broken. Nebraska is the worst state in the nation for the inheritance tax, the seventh worst state for property taxes and only Wisconsin beats Nebraska in terms of the number of farm and ranch bankruptcies. By now, many property owners have figured out that last year’s big property tax relief bill, LB1107, was nothing more than a slight decrease in the amount that property taxes increased this year, and this is how things will continue to be unless we ove...
Letter to the Editor: This School Choice Week, It’s Time to Prove We Care It’s been a difficult year for everyone, and many K-12 students across Nebraska have developed gaps in their learning. Now more than ever, parents of all income levels need a wider array of educational options for their children. Wealthy families can afford tutoring or private school tuition if their children have fallen behind. But most parents are stuck with the closest government school. For years, state legislators have neglected to extend to our kids the kinds of...
As my cowboy and I have been spending time together outside working calves, I have pondered the amazing lessons that can be learned at the gate. On our particular outfit, there are too many gates to count and a variety of them at that. Why don’t these cowboys buy the same type of gate for every hole and just change the dimensions? But nooooo…. This gate has a flip latch. This gate needs tugged to the right. This gate needs lifted up A LOT before you can even open it. This one won’t open unles...
A protest turned riot and almost in the same breath social media platforms showed how private they truly are. Twitter and Facebook banned Trump and most anything that supported him or his ideas. This might be a short-lived grandstanding as Twitter’s stock fell by at least 10 percent within the first few days of the decision. Maybe society needs to look at this strategically. What happens when a storm hits and cell service is suspended? After the shock and frustration wears off, there’s the boo...
