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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As we enjoy the traditional holiday season of food-centered celebrations, let’s not only consume, but also reflect on, discuss and consider, what we can do to shape our food future. We’re presented with two starkly different visions of that future: the industrialized, conglomeratized, globalized, monopolized, plasticized and heavily subsidized vision of Agri- business, and the localized, democratized vision of Agri- culture, in which sustainable farmers and food artisans practicing the art and science of cooperating with Mother Nature, rat...
Regular readers of this column (otherwise known as shut-ins) will know that for years, we had a scruffy, disgruntled West Highland Terrier named Harry. Harry and I did not get along, mostly because Harry loved my wife, and I loved my wife, and both of us wanted to spend time with her. Harry saw it as his mission to get there first, and because he was often faster than I was, he’d be snuggled up with her on the couch or bed when I came in the room, growling at me if I got too close. My wife thought this was hilarious, and spent many evenings c...
In June 1944, polio was sweeping across the country with devastating swiftness. Children would leap out of bed in the morning, and by nightfall, they were unable to feed themselves. It was only a matter of time before it swept through Hickory, N.C. “like a tidal wave.” “Youngsters with painful, useless limbs,” Life magazine reported at the time, “some unable to swallow or scarcely able to breathe, they came from mining villages up in the hills, mill towns in the valley, from outlying farms and urban centers.” Fear reigned, but it was no matc...
Many people stop and contemplate the various things they are blessed with during this time of the year, and of course I am no different. It never ceases to amaze me how very many things I have to count when I think about how many ways God has blessed me – with so many gifts, both seen and unseen. The seen is easy to understand, as I have been blessed with my husband and all three children. Even though our family has been hit with many blows over the past few years, the kind of emotional blows that knock people on their backside, we are all s...
In the wake of the Newtown, Conn., tragedy, every politician who has me on their email list — and there are many, on both sides of the aisle — has been filling my inbox. All of the messages begin with the requisite expression of shock and horror, the business of sending out our hearts and prayers to those who mourn. Then the gun control advocates insist that now is the time for congressional action, and the opponents caution that no legislation is going to stop people (not guns) from killing. Conservative columnist Jonah Goldberg remembers tha...
By mid-December of 1776, George Washington was despondent. The American War for Independence was not going well. His troops were undisciplined, often bootless, lacked firearms and ammunition, had little access to food and clothing, and faced two well-equipped substantial European armies: the British red-coats, plus their mercenaries from Germany, the hated Hessians. William Howe, the British general, had chased Washington out of New York, had pursued him hotly across the state of New Jersey in...
My Nebraska Christmas tree Saying that the Pacific Northwest is different from the badlands of Nebraska is an understatement. I love both places for different reasons, but the distinctions in topography can’t help but stick out like a sore thumb to me. The biggest change to hit me this holiday season is the lack of large, bushy, green Christmas trees that go on for what seems like forever. Every year my parents, brother and I usually go chop down a sweet smelling pine tree in the forested area surrounding the Atlantic salmon farm that we l...
In previous columns, I defined parenthood as an infinite act of optimism. You enter the job with open arms and an open heart, trusting the child you’ve been entrusted with will learn, grow and love under your humble tutelage. Loving one child is optimistic – two, doubly so. Imagine taking responsibility for 20, or maybe 25. I define that as optimism on steroids. As a parent, you get to keep the same kids season after season. As soon as you’ve known your own for about a minute and a half, they start to grow on you and you wouldn’t dream of swap...
Many things outside of the festive thoughts have been on my mind lately; such a wide variety of things to write about! However, it seems the one theme in my head this week has been goals or life plans. Goals I have set, no matter how big or small, for a brief time I lost track of. Prior to taking the job here at the paper in September, I set a five-year plan\goals for myself, for my life path. This well thought out plan included things I have wanted to do before I began my family. For those who don’t know I chose to raise my family first, befor...
Traditions. In life there are things which generate traditions. Sometimes it is birthday tradition or maybe even each holiday will have family traditional holidays. I can say when I was younger even my microscopic family had holiday traditions. The two largest at our house were Thanksgiving and Easter. Christmas, when I was a child, was not a big deal as I had to go off to another town each holiday. When my wife Marilyn and I married Christmas became an important element of our lives. From that very first Christmas when Carol had just come...
Two-lane roads I’ve noticed beside the major highway that runs through the spacious state of Nebraska, almost every outlet from town is a two-lane road. Unless you hit the right time of day and you see no one, you usually pass a car or two. It’s just you, the road, and that passing car for a few brief seconds. You are going your way and the other drivers are traveling their own path. You most of the time never know who is in the other car, where they have been, or their story. Well, unless you are from Rochester, Wash. because in that town it’s...
A tragedy. People in the media wonder why the general public has no trust in them or on an even broader scale a disdain for the media in general. I’d like to take a few lines of this column, which is running on a day I usually do not include a column, to say that the radio people from Australia who phoned Kate’s hospital room pretending to be the Queen checking on her granddaughter should be humiliated and ashamed. First I want to clearly say there was nothing about this that passed for entertainment or even fair-minded journalism. I ack...
Aggressive. First. Accurate. Followed by honesty and integrity. These three words sum up the editorial mission of The Sidney Sun-Telegraph. As a small town, daily newspaper it is always our mission to gather news in a responsible manner. First, being aggressive allows a certain amount of esteem to be latched onto our journalistic pursuits. It’s essential that those reporting for our newspaper, editing copy, or preparing the printed pages through design apply specific principals in the field of journalism. I have learned over the years to study... Full story
Welcome to Somewhere. Washington State University in Pullman, Wash. has served as my home for the past four years. Although it is a university, it’s understandable that most people haven’t heard of the town of Pullman, and I doubt I can find one person in this town who has been to Rochester, Wash., my hometown. Miles of wheat field hills surround Pullman from all sides. Sitting on top of one of the highest points in Pullman, you can see that the golden bumps seem to travel on forever. We might have in fact been in “the middle of nowhe...
I did a bit of thinking this week about what I wanted to write about and one topic kept coming to mind – underappreciated. Now that word will bring up a lot of thought for people – well, for most it will. Such as being underappreciated at home for the amount of things a person does, like a mom or dad who is always there for the family but yet it seems everything they do goes unnoticed or is expected. Whether it be to constantly pick up after the rest or making sure the meals are cooked, and even if the bills are paid. May be it is the mot... Full story
