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 825 - 849 of 1718
In reference to the “No Parking” Approved article on June 2, 2021, I want to point out that truckers are a vital part of our local economy. Rather than make more rules to make their lives more difficult, it would seem a better approach would be to find ways to accommodate and help them. Everything we eat, every purchase we make is brought to our localities by a trucker. They are on serious time constraints and unfortunately don’t always have access to restrooms or places to take their breaks or easily dump their trash. I would suggest that the...
“An informed patriotism is what we want… So, we’ve got to teach history based not on what’s in fashion but what’s important: Why the Pilgrims came here, who Jimmy Doolittle was, and what those 30 seconds over Tokyo meant… If we forget what we did, we won’t know who we are.” Ronald Reagan, Farewell Address to the Nation, Oval Office, Jan. 11, 1989 Patriotism is frequently scorned and scoffed at as being out-of-date, the refuge of the ignorant and violent, and the cause of war. Nothing could b...
President Trump’s criticism of news and commentary desks have quite possibly resulted in unintended results. Or did they? I try to be careful of rabbit trails, especially those that lead to dark holes with unknown personalities. This one can go either way, a long walk on a shadowy path, or a discussion in the daylight. Like him or not, Trump was known among things for calling out the press. “Fake news” is a label given to many reporters, stories and agencies. It became a First Amendment discu...
Vanity of vanities, all is vanity! What is the profit to a man in all his labor which he labors under the sun? These were the words of a man named Solomon who was King of Israel from 965-926 B.C. Solomon had riches, power, fame and everything going for him but he didn’t have wisdom. So Solomon sought wisdom and understanding from God and although gifted with great wisdom from God, he struggled with the real purpose and meaning of life. Solomon was considered the wisest man who ever lived and h...
The first session of the 107th Legislature has come to an end…well, almost. There remains one matter yet to be resolved by the Unicameral Legislature this year. It is the matter of redistricting. Once every ten years legislative district lines get redrawn in order to better comply with the changing demographics of our state. Legislative district lines are determined by population. Ten years ago, LB 703 determined that the ideal size of Nebraska’s legislative districts would be 37,272 people. So,...
You’ll be hard pressed to find someone more pro-life than I am. The wholesale slaughter of unborn children in our country is morally reprehensible and needs to stop. As a reader of my columns, you deserve an explanation for why I strongly advocate for abortion in America to end. First, the unborn life is human from the moment of conception. In an age when we’re demanded to follow the science, the science says the DNA of unborn children is human. That’s why fetal tissue is so sought after for res...
How does one recognize great writing in a novel, a work of history, or a scientific treatise? The typical answers include: if it sells 5,000 copies, if it makes the “New York Times Best Seller” list, if it wins a literary prize, if a literary critic gives his or her stamp of approval, or if it is printed for decades. Each generation of young people discover for themselves the wealth of ideas that they can dig out of Plato’s Dialogues, Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Essays, or Shakespeare’s plays. Th...
I have a confession to make. I dodged the draft during the Viet Nam war era. It was easy to do. All I had to do was call up the Navy recruiter in Anchorage, AK and say, “I want to enlist in the Navy.” A short time later I was safe from the Army, and in Navy boot camp at San Diego, CA. Five years later I received a medical discharge and joined the ranks of those who are proud to have served our great Nation, the United States of America. The Navy taught me a great many things that I have fou...
I’ve been thinking of some of my “unexpected journeys” lately. I’ve been thinking how life can change when stepping out of the familiar and walking life’s path with a stranger. About 10 years ago, I was presented an opportunity to go somewhere I had never been, do things I had only heard and read about, and meet people I might only envision after a National Geographic film. It sounds dramatic, even fictional, like being stranded on an island and encountering a primitive culture or something...
In case you haven’t seen any news in the last two weeks, the notion that the Covid-19 virus escaped from a virus research laboratory in Wuhan, China, is no longer a fever dream only found in intellectually compromised brains of tinfoil-hat-wearing bloggers in the far-right corners of the Dark Web. In fact, it now appears that the virus most likely WAS manmade in a lab, and that it escaped into China’s population months before anyone in the West heard about it. So certain is this idea, that Fac...
Last week the Legislature voted to override Gov. Rickett’s vetoes on three bills: LB 108, LB 147 and LB 306. LB 108 and LB 306 expand Nebraska’s welfare benefits, while LB 147 requires the State to take over management of the Omaha Public School’s teacher pension plan. So, today I would like to explain why the Legislature was wrong to override the Governor’s vetoes on these three bills. LB 108 is nothing more than smoke and mirrors. The bill raises the gross income limit for the Supplemental Nut...
The coronavirus pandemic has been a long journey, but through it all Nebraskans have pulled together to keep people healthy. On March 6, 2020, Nebraska reported its first positive case of the coronavirus. Over the last 15 months, Nebraskans have made many sacrifices. We have spent time apart from each other, figured out how to manage schools and businesses, and worked hard to slow the spread of the virus to protect our hospitals. As our state grappled with the new virus, Nebraskans stepped up...
On Memorial Day we set aside time to honor and remember those who put on our nation's uniform and gave their lives in defense of our freedoms. The willingness of many to defend our borders, our freedom, and our Republic is what keeps the American dream alive and the United States a prominent leader on the world stage. We are reminded of the selfless acts of heroism of our armed forces who served in past conflicts and those who continue to serve around the world today. I recently supported three...
Memorial Day began in the years after the Civil War, when it was originally called “Decoration Day.” At the first official celebration of this holiday in 1868, then-Congressman James A. Garfield, who would become our 20th president, said in a speech at Arlington National Cemetery that those who gave their lives for our country “summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens.” That is as true today as it was 150 years ago. Memorial Day honors the sacrifi...
On Memorial Day we set aside time to honor and remember those who put on our nation’s uniform and gave their lives in defense of our freedoms. The willingness of many to defend our borders, our freedom, and our Republic is what keeps the American dream alive and the United States a prominent leader on the world stage. We are reminded of the selfless acts of heroism of our armed forces who served in past conflicts and those who continue to serve around the world today. This past week, I s...
“56% of Americans in 2021 have a “great deal of trust and confidence” on the military, down from 70% in 2018. 33% of Americans in 2021 have “a great deal of trust and confidence” in public health officials. 21% of Americans in 2021 have “a great deal of trust and confidence” in public educations. 10% of Americans in 2021 have “a great deal of trust and confidence” in Congress.” (Source: Ronald Reagan Institute, reported in the June 2021 issue of The American Legion magazine.) When I r...
In a few days, the flags will fly a little higher, grills will burn a little hotter and many will take the time to remember. It is a time to celebrate, although probably not in the raucous out-of-control method many might envision Memorial Day, once called Decoration Day, is a time to remember those who committed to the call of their country, and paid the ultimate sacrifice in doing so. It is a time for family, but it should be prioritized by remembering our freedoms, where we are since the call...
The first session of the 107th Nebraska Legislature is quickly coming to an end. The Legislature will sine die on May 27, 2021. Although my constitutional resolution for a consumption tax failed by two votes, some good things happened in the State Legislature this year. So, today I would like to highlight some of the good bills that passed this year. One good bill is by Sen. Tom Brewer. LB 387 exempts military retirement pay from the State Income Tax. Hopefully, this bill will attract retired mi...
For readers unfamiliar with my professional background, I was a TV/radio meteorologist for 25 years from 1979 until 2004. During that time, I did side gigs as a forensic meteorologist and assistant fire meteorologist for the state of South Dakota. I left broadcasting in 2004 to work for Cabela’s as a writer but when my meteorology background became known, the company made use of those skills as well. Ultimately, I became Cabela’s corporate meteorologist. All this to say I’ve been involved in wea...
The 1921 race riot in Tulsa began on Monday, May 30, Memorial Day, when a young black man stepped into an elevator, tripped, and either grabbed a young white girl’s arm to steady himself, or stepped on her foot. She screamed. No one else witnessed what transpired on that elevator. Someone suspected a possible assault and called the police. He was 19 years old. His name was Dick Rowland. He shined shoes on Main Street. A number of Tulsa’s lawyers knew Dick, because he shined their shoes, but non...
Memorial Day began in the years after the Civil War, when it was originally called “Decoration Day.” At the first official celebration of this holiday in 1868, then-Congressman James A. Garfield, who would become our 20th president, said in a speech at Arlington National Cemetery that those who gave their lives for our country “summed up and perfected, by one supreme act, the highest virtues of men and citizens.” That is as true today as it was 150 years ago. Memorial Day honors the sacrifi...
I’ve written about the subject of unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP) once before in this paper, and I don’t want to give the impression it’s a subject I’m obsessed with. But I have become increasingly interested in UAPs since the flap of “drone” sightings we had in our area a bit more than a year ago. I consume a lot of news each day from a wide range of sources. In doing so, I’ve seen the number of articles and interviews about UAPs increasing in recent weeks. Perhaps that’s because congres...
Whenever a controversial bill gets introduced into the Nebraska Legislature, Senators have the opportunity to ask the Nebraska Attorney General to answer specific questions about that bill. Because the Attorney General must be objective and unbiased, State Senators don’t always get the answer they want, and such was the case with Sen. Tom Brewer’s bill, LB 236, a bill that I had co-signed. LB 236 is an important bill because it allows 90 of Nebraska’s counties to opt out of the State’s conceal...
4-2021 has been a year we hope we never repeat. There is a saying that what doesn’t kill you can make you stronger. We think that has certainly been the case for Sidney Public Schools. Students have an increased respect for school, parents are so thankful they don’t have to teach their children, and our school community has a closeness and new appreciation for everyone’s talents and efforts. We feel that commendations are in order at the end of this school year: To the administrators, for their many hours of hard work constructing and tweak...
When the 30 x 30 concept hit the public, the initial impact in the rural areas such as Panhandle Nebraska was like the Old West had returned, and the money from the East came to tell the ranchers and farmers how to do things. The stories of water wars were returning, but with a tone of “future-speak” instead of quotes from a history book. Then was a time when the small operator could get squeezed out by someone with the ability to control natural resources. Cut off access to water and dry out...
