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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Sixty thousand years ago perhaps as few as “a couple of hundred people,” members of the species Homo Sapiens, departed “humanity’s birthplace in the Great Rift Valley of East Africa,” and ventured out of Africa and crossed into Arabia. Some of their progeny walked north into Europe, but others headed east into Asia and down to Australia, or crossed the Bering Sea and walked south into North and South America. Now, after 2,500 generations, human beings claim the Earth. The National Geographi...
Two times in my life I’ve picked up and moved to a seemingly random place where I knew no one, or almost no one. When I moved to Denver, I knew only the person I moved there with. I left an extensive network of friends in Indiana that I’d been making basically since birth and a gigantic extended family. Many of my relatives still live on Sievers Road in Vincennes, Ind. When I moved to Denver I faced anonymity for the first time in my life. When I lived in Vincennes, everyone knew my dad. In Denver I knew one person. I found making friends fro...
Watching football with my family on Thanksgiving, I noticed that a large portion of black Friday commercials indicated that they were to start Thursday night. The holiday already gets the short end of the stick with Christmas decorations and music starting on the first of November, now we can’t even have a full day dedicated to being thankful for the things we have in life. When did saving a few extra dollars start to take precedence over spending time with family? People always complain that time is going too fast, and this is probably one o...
Over the weekend Babe Heffron died. No big deal, really. Heffron was 90 years old—the range in which time claims so many people. The shadow moves, as poet Rolf Humphries wrote. Of course, late in life Heffron had advanced from the position of regular old World War Two veteran to something special. He served in the company featured in the HBO mini-series “Band of Brothers.” Following on the heels of “When Trumpets Fade” and “Saving Private Ryan,” it was one of the productions responsible for imposing realism on our normally whitewashed i...
Obviously this is Thanksgiving week. You know and fear the stories: six lane highways running bumper to bumper, even past the mall exits; airport security lines clogged by once-a-year novices clumsily untying shoes or elbowing their way back through the masses to toss a jacket on the conveyor belt; hour long waits to pay for a tin of cranberry sauce as someone up ahead grills the cashier about turkey recipes. AAA Travel Services anticipates that more than 43 million Americans will venture 50 miles or more to gather with family, watch a little...
Rex Walls was a character. Brash, loud, full of opinions, and convinced that he knew all that needed knowing, he stormed his way through life. When his daughter, Jeannette, then only four, burned her stomach when cooking some hotdogs, Rex got into a shouting match with the doctor, and then took her home. When attending mass, Rex would shout blasphemous words at the priest, embarrassing his wife and four kids. He was able to talk himself into a job as an electrician anytime and anywhere, but he could never keep the job once the supervisor gave h...
Real criminal court cases are not that much like Law and Order. Anyone who’s ever watched the show and then actually attended a criminal trial knows exactly what I’m talking about. Right now I’m in the midst of covering my second criminal trial, so by no means am I an expert. I have learned that real trials have some similarities to the show, but for the most part they are much different. In many episodes of Law and Order it seems that a criminal trial takes place very soon after the police investigation. In some episodes, the inves...
It’s a funny feeling when your perspective on something changes. In this instance, my opinion of my hometown changed dramatically between ages 18 and 22. As a senior in high school, I couldn’t wait to get out of Terre Haute. I was a few months from going “away” to college—Indiana University was only about an hour from home, but the majority of my schoolmates stayed in town to go to Indiana State, so it still counts. I absolutely could not wait to get away. I had been around the same people for so long and I was just over the drama of high schoo...
It startles you the first time. You are driving down Elm St. toward the point where the towering blocks of downtown fizzle to an end when the realization comes. That is the Texas Schoolbook Depository building. That is the Grassy Knoll. This is Dealey Plaza, where the world stopped for a moment, where a new generation was cast adrift, where the imagined America began to unravel. On Nov. 22, 1963, John F. Kennedy—America’s youngest president—was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald in Dallas, Texas. It was 50 years ago, yet the sights and sound...
Omaha World-Herald on the need for a farm bill The track record of Congress in neglecting its basic duties is remarkable. Lawmakers’ most glaring irresponsibility is of course the failure to pass an actual budget, let alone any type of serious, long-term fiscal agreement. Among the most frustrating failures of Congress is the continuing inability to agree on a farm bill. This week there’s a smidgen of hope. A group of four key members of Congress — leaders on the House and Senate Agriculture Committees — are meeting on the issue and signaling t...
There’s a lot of hate in the world. I can admit that some of it lies within myself. I have very little patience for lazy people and those who are needlessly rude. Some people say that hate is growing and that the world is becoming a worse place than it was back in the good old days. I’m not sure this is true. I doubt those living in the south during slavery would say there is more hate in the world now than there was at that time. I also don’t think victims of the Crusades or any of the other past religious wars fought in various parts of th...
I am a minimalist in some way. I believe in living simply while living life to its fullest. When I travel, I camp or stay in hostels to save money. While I am sightseeing, I realize I won’t be cooped up in a motel room for the duration of the trip, so why spend loads of money on a room to sleep in? I have numerous times also slept in my car in places like New Orleans (before I lived nearby). No one cares if you sleep in a car they; the meter maids will tap on your window to remind you to feed the meter every now and then. Sleeping in a car w...
Mothers give us guidance in times good and bad. Mothers tend to injuries, wash out stained sports uniforms and tote cameras to every event, recording the memories of our lives we will later cherish. Mothers sit up all night when children are ill. They prepare lunch and other meals, birthday cakes and special treats. By some estimates, mothers spend up to 90 hours a week caring for their families--perhaps even more. And their work doesn’t stop once the children leave home. Sentimental songs like “Just Before the Battle, Mother” during Ameri... Full story
Grandstanding has no serious purpose in the Benghazi investigation, other than those purely political. Oh, we know how advocates on either side will respond. It’s a predictable circus act, sadly played around an attack on a U.S. consulate, the deaths of three Americans and the mismanagement of facts afterward. Clearly military, intelligence and government officials misread the situation before and during the attack. Clearly they had no proactive preparations to act in case of an assault in what is a volatile part of the world. But Rep. D... Full story
Nebraska’s former second in command, Rick Sheehy, reimbursed the state some $500 to compensate for thousands of calls to four women on a cell phone issued to him by the government. Then Lt. Gov. Sheehy resigned when news of this personal overreach came to light. Former governor of South Carolina Mark Sanford won a special election in that state’s First Congressional District, sending the tarnished politician to Washington. In 2009, while serving as governor, the popular Republican disappeared from view. He told his staff he was “hiking the A... Full story
During my time at the Sidney Sun-Telegraph I have described two skills that I greatly lack – decision-making and memory. But I have left out one skill that I am completely horrible at, and that is saying goodbye. I have found that the best and worst goodbyes are those that you never get to make or decide not to. I think that unless it is the unfortunate circumstances of a family member passing, sometimes not saying goodbye is the best way, for me personally, to handle leaving a person or situation. After all, they always say “it’s not goodb... Full story
Walk down any Main Street, and you’ll see storefronts of small businesses that fuel local economies. From quaint “mom & pop” shops to sleek and trendy boutiques, these businesses often provide a human element that helps define the character of our communities. But many of these small businesses, the source of nearly 70 percent of American jobs, face an uphill battle when competing with out-of-state Internet merchants benefitting from outdated tax policy. In most states, including Nebraska, businesses collect sales taxes from patrons and remit...
Saturday’s volunteer effort to pick up refuse around Sidney, billed as the Great Trash Race, led to one of my better Facebook posts. Somewhere along the railroad tracks a member of the Sun-Telegraph team scooped up a discarded liquor bottle still in its cliché brown paper bag. I posed with the find and tapped out the caption “Sure you spend the morning picking up trash, but there are perks.” OK—not very original. And that was in the giddy moments before we learned that the Girl Scouts, UPS, Cabela’s, Saunders Construction and other teams kick... Full story
When President Barack Obama again turned his attention to the prison camp at Guantanamo Bay—the same facility he promised to close quickly when campaigning back in 2008—it reminded us that our response to the 9/11 attacks has now consumed almost a dozen years. This nation’s political leaders, unfortunately, seem unable to fully grasp Clausewitz’s assertion that war is an extension of foreign policy and therefore must be conducted with a clear (and achievable) outcome in mind. They receive less than valuable advice from this nation’s military... Full story
Maybe it just appears as though politicians and pundits are more prone to fabrication and logical flaws these days. The 24-hour news cycle, the advent of online programming and the election of those appealing to narrow electorates allow for such abuses, after all. But neither party benefits from misstatements, selective data or outright abandonment of fact. On the house floor, Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-Tex.) charged during a diatribe against revisions to FBI intelligence terminology in training manuals under the Obama administration that “they can... Full story
As graduation rapidly approaches and yet another school year is winding down, for many life seems to pick up pace and a different kind of schedule adopted. Kids are starting the last day of school count down, much like they do for Christmas break, and adults start to make arrangements to accommodate the three months of no school. Nonetheless, everyone in the family making plans for the summer; adults looking forward to summer vacation with the family, away from work and the stress there; kids looking forward to the long days of hanging out...
“Personal charm may be Obama’s last best hope” headlined the Washington Post on Monday. That charm was on ample display at the annual vanity fest called the White House Correspondents Association dinner over the weekend. The dinner always features two comedians — one professional, and the other, the occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Skilled joke writers contribute the one-liners, but delivery counts, too, and President Obama has clearly improved over the course of four years. In 2009, some of his jokes were in bad taste. He said Dick Cheney...
As a U.S. Senator, I have the privilege and responsibility of nominating Nebraska students to our nation’s service academies: the U.S. Military Academy, the U.S. Naval Academy, the U.S. Air Force Academy, and the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy. Nebraskans have a long and proud history of military service. Since our state’s founding, our sons and daughters have served our country with valor. This legacy, passed from one generation to the next, is foundational to America’s strength. As the war in Afghanistan winds down, new challenges face the n...
Five cubic yards of sand. It hardly seems like much to talk about—common grit moved from one spot in Sidney to another.Earth movers accomplish this simple task at just about every construction site. At the end of April, however, the folks at Peeley Landscaping & Irrigation donated that small but significant amount of sand—with the full support of Milestone Ready Mix—to complete the playground at Here Wee Grow Child Development Center. Not only did they donate the material, Peeley staff members moved, poured and spread everything. This is just...
I encourage all Nebraskans to get involved in their communities as a volunteer during ServeNebraska Week of Service, April 22-28. Many Nebraskans generously give of their time through volunteerism every day, and this special week is set aside to focus on the ability of all Nebraskans to serve others. First Lady Sally and I look forward to volunteering that week alongside many others in our state. The ServeNebraska Week of Service works to inspire Nebraskans to seek out creative ways to serve their communities. This statewide effort encourages...
