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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In 2024, NASA will send a small surgical robot from Nebraska to the International Space Station. The tiny, two-pound robot will be able to perform surgeries on the space station that would normally require a surgeon’s expertise and much larger equipment. The surgical robot can operate more or less on its own, performing complex procedures at the flip of a switch. The device, developed by Nebraska-based Virtual Incision, is a significant step toward making it possible for surgeons to operate r...
News broke early this month that school officials at New York University fired an adjunct organic chemistry professor named Dr. Maitland Jones, after 82 of his class of 350 students signed a petition, that charged Jones with making the class too hard. The mean grade on one midterm was 30 percent. In their petition the students did not ask school officials to terminate Jones’s employment, but just to address his degree of difficulty when grading. Jones is eighty-four years old, and was a w...
I am an 87-year-old woman who has voted in every election since I was old enough to do so. I have voted at the polls on election day every time except one time when I had to be out of town. That one time, I went to our county courthouse and case my ballot. I have never early voted and I consider it a privilege to walk into the polling place and cast my ballot. As I was traveling several highways in Nebraska this spring, 2022, I kept seeing huge signs for Jim Pillen. My thought was that, Wow! Someone really wants him to be elected by spending...
I support public education and our great teachers. My kids love school, and I am incredibly happy with the quality public education they are receiving. A short while ago, I would not have dreamed that the Nebraska Department of Education and State Board of Education would suggest that it is necessary to teach kindergarteners names of genitalia, first graders about gender identity, third graders about sexual orientation, fifth graders about hormone blockers, and seventh graders about a*** sex. Those were just some of the topics outlined in the...
In this divisive world of politics there is an election at the regional level that seems to have heated up. The race between newcomer Elizabeth Tegtmeier and Incumbent Robin Stevens is turning quite spicy. Robin Stevens seems to think showing up late to the game and throwing darts is a winning strategy. He and his campaign surrogates have decided attacking Elizabeth has a better chance of winning than his record. People became very involved in the Nebraska State School Board race due to the CRT and SEL curriculum being promoted by the board...
Nebraskans are hard-working, resilient, and innovative. One of the many reasons I love traveling the state is that I get to see that spirit on full display in communities across Nebraska. Just this past week, I had the opportunity to visit with many entrepreneurial Nebraskans and see how their efforts are creating exciting new economic opportunities. In North Platte, for example, I attended the groundbreaking ceremony for Sustainable Beef – a new project to create a regional processing plant o...
The general election will be held on November 8. Please make it a point to vote. As the election date nears, the matter of election integrity is once again taking center stage. Election integrity has become such an important issue to so many Nebraska voters that today I would like to address some of the core issues which are challenging the integrity of Nebraska’s elections. First, the Nebraska Legislature has a lot of work to do to make our elections more secure. Issues such as voter ID i...
By Calvin K. Sunderland, edited by Michael K. Sunderland When Roosevelt came in, things worsened quickly for the Sunderlands. FDR’s first act in office was to close every bank in the nation for the historic bank holiday. There was panic in some quarters and banks went under to the dismay of their depositors. A flood of emergency measures came from the White House quickly rubber-stamped by a thoroughly cowed Congress. Whatever Roosevelt wanted, he got with hardly a murmur of dissent. The radical...
A thought came to me recently that some might call a moment of doubt, even dark. However, that perception misses the mark. Here is the question: What is your legacy? Maybe we can’t know until there’s a post-mortem assessment. So maybe we need to reword the question a little. What are you known for, followed by what do you want to be known for? Pay attention to the change in time sequence. What are you known for is about the present state, what do you want to be known for implies a desire and...
“You are fearfully and wonderfully made in the sight of God.” God has plans for you! Psalm 139. Psychological growth begins in the womb, as you sense your mother’s reaction to situations. You hear at 16 weeks and feel pain at 20 weeks. Your little brain is developing its synapses, but your lungs aren’t ready for air. When Mom and Dad pick you up and love you, your brain starts working to grow you up, physically. Mom’s hugging, nursing and rocking brings together your thoughts and system ne...
I’m an avid reader. From soup can labels, magazines in doctors’ offices, street signs, newspapers, and just about anything that has the printed word I’ll pick up and read. Early in my life, around 7 or 8 years old I discovered the Tom Swift books and I was hooked. By my early teens I had read every sci-fi book in the Fairbanks Public Library from the Tom Swift series, to the great authors. Over the years the list grew to include Robert A. Heinlein, Arthur C. Clarke, H. G. Wells, George Orwel...
Nebraska has always been a leader in public education, even during the pandemic. Nebraska K-12 education was considered to have had one of the best responses in the US. This was due to the leadership of our State Board of Education, the Nebraska Department of Education and the good practices of local school leaders and staffs. As of today, schools are now open to all of our students providing them a safe academic environment. So, as school administrators, we were shocked and appalled when we read that certain candidates for the Nebraska Board o...
In the year 2000, the horror fiction writer Stephen King came out with a different kind of book, a nonfiction book that he entitled, “On Writing: a Memoir of the Craft.” He begins with a series of scenes from his childhood, and explains how he launched his career of writing popular fiction. King uses a metaphor, that of a toolbox, to describe how he works when he writes. At the bottom of the toolbox lie the fundamentals: appropriate vocabulary, sticking with accepted grammar, the use of act...
Even in the 1970’s some of the old gold rush style miners lived the life of a hermit and it was a risk to life and limb to explore the mountains in Northern Nevada. You never knew when you would stumble across one of these characters. The first indication you were trespassing on their claim would be the sound of a bullet ricocheting off a rock at your feet. Taking a page out of Wild West history, in mid-summer of 1974 one of Winnemucca’s sheriff’s deputies decided to put together a gang and r...
“For he who sows to his flesh, will, of the flesh, reap corruption, but he who sows to his spirit will, of the Spirit, reap everlasting life.” Galatians 6:8 “He who rules his spirit is [mightier] than he who takes a city”. Proverbs 16:32 Culture, no matter where one lives in the world, is learned behavior. Human beings grow physically, psychologically, intellectually, emotionally (as in coping devices), socially and spiritually (p.p.i.e.s.s.). We addressed the Will, Emotions and Thought...
All of the signs are indicating that the U.S. economy is entering into a long-term recession. Last Wednesday the Federal Reserve raised the key interest rate by three quarters of a point and raised the short-term interest rate from 3 percent to 3.25 percent, the highest level since 2008. Add to this the Biden Administration’s plan for student loan forgiveness plus $13.7 billion in assistance to Ukraine, $22.4 billion to fight COVID-19, $4.5 billion for a Monkeypox vaccine, and $6.5 billion f...
As a retired educator and supervisor of student teachers in the western part of NE. I have been in many public and private school classrooms and I’m very proud of the teachers and administrators who are educating our students. I have not witnessed in district 7 schools the teaching or grooming of (CSE) Comprehensive Sexual Education, or about CRT Critical Race Theory. I’m very concerned for those supporting Elizabeth Tegtmeier running for a seat on the State School Board and her so called dream team spreading lies about how Nebraska sch...
As a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, I believe it’s critical we ask ourselves the following the questions: Is the United States fully prepared to respond to the changing threat environment of the 21st century? And if we are not, what actions do we need to take? There is no one-size fits all solution, but one immediate action we can take to boost our preparedness is to strengthen U.S. munitions manufacturing. Unfortunately for years, we’ve underinvested in our munitions production....
By Calvin K. Sunderland Edited by Michael K. Sunderland The following is a short excerpt from the Family History my father worked on until Alzheimer’s progressively destroyed his memory. The nation, and the world, found itself beginning the slide into The Great Depression by 1930. The unprecedented economic disaster began with the stock market crash of October and November 1929. It can hardly be argued the crash caused the depression, but it was the curtain raiser. The Great Depression is s...
“For by your words you will be justified and by your words you will be condemned.” Matthew 12:35-37 Every word we speak leads to a life-or-death decision. “Death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love [using their tongue] will eat the fruit of it.” Proverbs 18:21. God simply speaks truth. Satan knows the legal meaning of every word and will hold us to that legal meaning. Father God says, “Do not take (carry) My Name in vain (futility, fruitlessness, emptiness)” Commandment...
A few years ago, my wife and I saw a movie called “Words.” It is labeled as a romance story, but it goes much deeper. Yes, there are two primary characters in a relationship. After that, there is a moral dilemma brewing. He is an aspiring writer, as the reviews call him. I sort of take issue with the phrase since attending a writing workshop years before. A speaker and published author made it clear that many people overthink the process, or better said the identity. Who is a writer, or art...
This week I participated in a Ways and Means Committee hearing on the future of our trade relationship with Taiwan. The hearing explored opportunities provided by ongoing trade talks between the U.S. and Taiwan. In the midst of increased pressure from China through dialed-up military exercises and heavier tariffs, Taiwan is eager to strengthen ties with the U.S. and our democratic values. Done right, expanding our trade relationship could be a win for American businesses and consumers, and a win...
Over the years, Nebraskans have built thousands of miles of trails, rails, power lines, and highways to connect our state. This connectivity has helped our urban and rural communities thrive. Yet as more of our lives have gone online, we’ve seen a digital divide develop. It’s easier and less expensive to deliver high-speed internet to houses close together in cities than it is to reach ranch homes spaced miles apart. For this reason, broadband infrastructure in rural Nebraska has lagged beh...
I often talk about the importance of investing in our core infrastructure. That’s things like our roads, bridges, railways, airports, drinking water systems, and ports. But in today’s digital age, internet connectivity is just as integral to modern life as any other more “traditional” form of physical infrastructure. Many small businesses need reliable access to broadband services to function. Family farmers and ranchers, who are increasingly integrating digital sensors, “smart” devices, and oth...
It started in the work environment. I had a routine every morning. Young in the trade, routine was even more important than it is now. I would make four to five stops before getting to the office in the morning. At one of those stops, I met a night crew of nurses. They had the look of professionals who finished a long and hard night. Among that crew stood one who had a twinkle in her eye like even with her occupation she didn’t take life too seriously. She also had the look of someone I had a...
