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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Several years ago, a radio commentator said “you are where you are because you choose to be there.” I wanted to argue the point. Sometimes we are where we are because we choose not to be somewhere else. The social or work environment changes to prompt a move, or for those who just have a wanderlust, always curious what is beyond the next horizon, it is time to move on to new adventures. However, in defense of the comment, the move is a choice, a choice not to stay where you are. More rec...
It might be fabricated, but a story I heard years ago was that Bill Cosby warned a young Oprah Winfrey, to “always balance your own check book.” In other words, he cautioned her to trust only herself, and not any paid employee, with that simple task. Another piece of advice for the up-and-coming, who are now, after years of struggle, experiencing some success, “Do not believe your own press reports.” In other words, no matter how wonderful and great the journalists and reporters say you are, ke...
My last position at Cabela’s HQ involved not only forecasting weather, but calling out trends in economics, technology innovation, politics from the local to global scale that could impact the outdoor industry, and business. I enjoyed and was good at it. Now I do it as a hobby, but am very concerned that what was once dismissed as conspiracy theory is now openly discussed by wealthy and powerful people and organizations. I don’t know that there’s a secret group of a dozen people pulling strin...
If you think we have it rough today with a shaky economy, terrorists, wars and rumors of wars, earthquakes, hurricanes, tidal waves, high taxes, high unemployment rates, low income to high cost of living ratio, a growing stronger dictatorial federal government, and all of the additional etceteras of life in today’s America – think again. Consider poor Methuselah and all that he had to deal with. For starters how about having a 900-year lifespan? And you think you get bored doing the same job...
A quote I read years ago said, “The family surname of the betrothed says much about the success of the marriage.” That idea may come near to a singular truth in a general way, despite plenty of examples to contradict it. Yet, I dare to suggest something similar, but in a political sense. How a man or a woman identifies his or her citizenship — to what city he or she claims allegiance — tells much about his or her innermost thoughts, ideas, conclusions, and reasoning skills. In other words,...
As we mark one month since Putin began his invasion of Ukraine, keeping America safe is our priority. In just one month, Putin has displaced millions of Ukrainians from their homes, killed thousands of innocent people, including at least 120 children, and made troubling statements about Russia’s nuclear weapons. During this moment of uncertainty, President Biden recently submitted his annual budget request to Congress. Unfortunately, he has proposed shortchanging our men and women in uniform f...
As we approach the final days of the 2022 legislative session, the Nebraska Unicameral has the opportunity to deliver smart criminal justice reforms that will enhance public safety and benefit all Nebraskans. These changes will allow us to better manage our inmate population and provide modern resources to prepare offenders for life after time served—without compromising public safety. However, there are a small subset of soft-on-crime reforms that would have a large, negative impact. Senator S...
In the Nebraska Unicameral Legislature expectation lurks as a kind of devilish phantom farmer secretly sowing seeds of disappointment. That is what life is sometimes like inside the Nebraska State Legislature. You can spend an entire year or more crafting a single piece of legislation only to see it fail on the floor of the Legislature by a single vote or two, and that is what happened last week on more than one occasion. Last week was a very disappointing week in the Nebraska State...
In the remaining days of the 2022 Legislative Session, we must work together to strike the appropriate balance between managing government spending and returning excess revenue to the people. That is how we responsibly steward taxpayer money. True to our collective character, Nebraskans have powered through the COVID-19 pandemic. In its wake, our hardworking citizens and businesses have leveraged that momentum to accelerate our growth and show the world the strength of the Nebraska Way. While mu...
In my preteen years our family lived in a subdivision across the river from downtown Fairbanks, AK. Besides having one of the best home we had lived in up to that time, the housing area was surrounded with a virgin forest that was a perfect playground for youngsters. We hiked, played hide-and-go-seek, and went fishing in the Chena River on the forest’s edges. Tree forts were built in many tall pine and spruce trees. The forts were used for several different purposes. We played war games, w...
Opinions on the significance of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine vary from a regional dispute to the brink of World War III. But one thing most astute observers will admit is that the ongoing war on Europe’s eastern flank has been highly instructive. We learned this week that U.S. Green Berets had been in Ukraine training its soldiers in recent years. One area of instruction focused on how to effectively resist a superior armored force with small, highly mobile, well-armed units. This tra...
Edited by Michael K. Sunderland Calvin K. Sunderland, my dad was, among many things a storyteller. It’s a trait that seems to have been passed on to me. I recently unearthed the following story of my dad’s while sorting through a stack of his letters and papers. It reveals a lot about where I got many of my traits. “The summer of 1941 was not over and by late summer I’d recovered enough from my exposure to poison ivy to be feeling frisky again. Horsing around got me into worse trouble just a...
It seems like a generation ago people were excited about MySpace. It was marketed as a way for people to stay connected. The fun and silliness of life could be shared; party town for the world to take part in. A few years later, I press convention and the chatter was all about the excitement of publishing breaking news, as long as it was 160 characters or less. Within this timeline Facebook was also “born.” I often wonder how many people envisioned how complicated things could get. The more mob...
Jesus never does ministry alone. He trains DO-ers! Twelve do-ers became Disciples; Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers. Mark 16:16-20. Three stout-hearted fishermen, Peter, James and John, knew how to separate good from bad, how to catch, clean, present and market appetizing, fresh fish for all. These businessmen provided order, leadership, experience and example. Matthew, a tax collector, understood financial laws under Roman rule; savvy about who to trust and who not to...
State Senators in the Nebraska State Legislature recently voted to pull LB 933 out of the Judiciary Committee and up to the floor for debate. LB 933 is the Nebraska Human Life Protection Act, which prohibits abortions in the event that the U.S. Supreme Court overturns its 1973 decision in Roe v. Wade, the U.S. Congress passes enabling legislation, or the U.S. Constitution gets amended to let states decide for themselves whether or not to ban or put restrictions on abortions. Although I have...
From the Publisher's Desk To sound like a moment in Dr. Seuss land, it happened without warning or prompting. It happened without need or greed. It happened to warm one person's heart, which lead to another, and another until the chain could be seen to the entrance of “WhoVille.” Friday, March 18, started like any other day. The workforce went to their respective time clocks, travelers headed to their destinations. All was as it should be until, one person offered a moment of kindness to a stranger at a local restaurant. Dairy Queen man...
The images we’re seeing from Ukraine are upsetting. Families displaced, combat in the cities, buildings leveled and innocent lives snuffed out. And let’s not forget each Russian tank we see set ablaze burns a crew of soldiers inside alive, soldiers who, we’re told, often have no idea why they’re even fighting. And each of those dead men has loved ones at home whose lives are devastated by the loss of a son, husband or father. We shouldn’t react joyfully to any death. Yet as we watch the comba...
When advanced Navy boot camp training commenced in earnest our recruit company was quickly immersed in fire fighting techniques, first aid, NBC (nuclear, biological, chemical warfare), among other necessary skills. We spent two sweltering days in Southern California heat at the San Diego Navy boot camp learning to handle fire hoses and how to put out a shipboard fire with nothing but water. It was hot miserable necessary training. When you are 100s of miles out to sea there are no fire...
I was recently perusing some of the book titles in my collection at home. My collection doesn’t say laser focused, although there is a prevailing theme. Depending on the shelf there is adventure, various philosophical thought or writers using fiction to search for the meaning of our existence. Some shelves look like I’m guilty of “Rabbit!” and take off on the chase, which I frequently am. One particular short series is actually rather interesting. What would you do if you were asked to do the eu...
In the spirit of democracy, the League of Women Voters of Nebraska provides a statewide compilation of candidate information via VOTE411 (www.vote411.org). The online voters’ guide asks impartial questions of candidates running for local, state and federal offices in Nebraska. It is published before the primary and general elections. VOTE411 requires the LWVNE to obtain email addresses for candidates to invite them to participate. To obtain the names of candidates, office, party, and contact information – including an email address – volunteers...
America is God’s country. By His design it was founded in 1620 by godly people we call Pilgrims. With no book but the Bible and no king, but King Jesus, their intrepid spirit survived starvation and exposure. Natives took note of this never-before-seen strength, or anointing, which they call ‘medicine’. Pilgrim families came to build, unlike the pillage and plundering of Vikings and other raiders. This same, fearless, brave, forward moving quality is found here, in America’s heartland where w...
Last week the Nebraska Legislature debated the main budget bills for the State. These budget bills always tell State Senators what the State cannot afford, but we end up spending the money anyway. That’s very easy to do when you are spending other people’s money. Budget bills are always controversial. Although the main budget bill (LB 1011) survived the first round of floor debate by a vote of 40-6, every State Senator in the Unicameral Legislature believes the State’s money should be spent...
The Nebraska Legislature has reached a critical juncture. In the coming weeks, Senators will make important votes on a budget that will shape the future of our state. On March 11th, the Legislature’s Appropriations Committee released its amendments to my proposed budget. This week, Senators will begin debating what to do with billions of taxpayer dollars. Specifically, they will decide whether surplus State revenues should be used for more government spending or returned to Nebraskans through t...
Even big media outlets have been forced to acknowledge inflation is a big problem. It’s sad those running our country are so disconnected from the people they govern that they’re unable to understand how devastating our current wealth-evaporating economy is. The latest official core inflation figure I saw was 6.4 percent, the highest since August 1982. This is misleading as it’s an average across a range of categories that don’t even cover all of the necessities of life Americans pay for every d...
Working for a local newspaper may not be as glamorous as working for a big city daily, but it is not boring. Where else can you do a story on a carrot that looks like Abe Lincoln, a 2-headed snake, or cover a cat rescue? One of the memorable stories I covered gave me opportunities to do it like the big city boys. In mid 1974 Northern Nevada from the Black Rock Desert on the west thru Elko County on the east was hit with high winds. For many hours from early in the day the wind blew at 70 mph wit...
