The Summerland Advocate-Messenger - Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community

In 2021, the last special session of the Nebraska Legislature lasted 13 days and cost the state $105,436. Do the math, that's $8,076.92 per day. Then ask yourself, is a winner-take-all election...

"I believe I have the votes." Those six words have become the curse of the Nebraska Legislature. The buzzkill. The harbinger of failure. Sen. Kathleen Kauth of Omaha learned that on Day 56 of the...

Three of the four kids in my family were born on the same day in December over a span of 14 years. The "other" one was born on March 1. To appease her, my older sister and brother and I told the...

With the short session of the Nebraska Legislature slightly more than half over, repeat after me: When it comes to taxation, it's all about whose ox is getting gored. The governor wants a 40%...

Wait, what? Governor Jim Pillen has reversed his opposition to a federal summer grocery program that would aid around 150,000 children of low-income families. Pillen succumbed to a lot of outside...

I'm sure that a year ago the Revitalize Rural Nebraska Grant Program proposed by Sen. Myron Dorn of Adams and passed by the Legislature sounded like a great deal. Administered by the Department of Env...

Full disclosure: My wife and I drive a four-year-old hybrid sedan. It runs on the electric motor up to 15 miles -per- hour before the gasoline engine engages. It feels and sounds like it's dead at...

I was not shocked, just disappointed when Governor Jim Pillen announced that he was going to reduce Nebraska's collective property taxes by $2 billion this year, somehow. Imagine that. In a short...

Comments from two state senators from Omaha have pretty much diminished hopes for a "normal" session of the Nebraska Legislature this year. "I think it will be a difficult session again. I'm not...

The hole keeps getting deeper. Remember when I suggested someone should give the governor a shovel so he could dig a deeper hole for himself? That was when he had refused to read a published report on...

They're back. The 108th Legislature, Second Session, convened Wednesday. One can expect proposed bills and discussion of some hot button issues, as well as what could be a protracted debate on rules....

A change is gonna come. Leaders of the Nebraska Legislature want to streamline the process and perhaps change a few rules during the upcoming short session to avoid the mess of last year's 90-day...

Remember the Christmas bonus? Probably a thing of past given the changed face of the workplace. Perhaps your "bonus" allows you to work from home. Be grateful the next time you slide in behind your...

Governor Jim Pillen wants all state government employees at their desks in their assigned departments beginning next month. He said the pandemic-era remote is over, although both empirical and...

Just when you thought the drought was bad, deserts have started popping up in Nebraska. Pick a topic: childcare; food; maternal health care. They have been discussed in the interim by lawmakers and de...

So, how about we rethink Thanksgiving? Oh, I don't want to take away the tradition of turkey and football and listening to Uncle Harold's stories about the big war in which he never fought but he...

I don't remember much about my recent 64-block ambulance ride from my house to an urban hospital, but I was told after the fact that it was a matter of a few minutes to keep my body from going into...

There has been no formal request, but speculation runs high that the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Athletic Department may ask for funds to help with the planned $450 million renovation of Memorial...

At a time when people's trust in government is waning, Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers issued an opinion that the Legislature's Office of the Public Counsel, better known as the Ombudsman's...

Suicide. It's personal. Sometimes it's up close and personal. Often, it's the 800-pound gorilla in the room. Everyone knows someone who knows someone who has been impacted. I've had one of those...

If you thought that the mostly one-sided filibuster-driven debate on transgender issues and abortion was the thing that dragged the 2023 Nebraska Legislature to a near standstill, steel yourself for...

In a rare move, seven months into the Jim Pillen reign, I'm going to suggest we cut the new guy some slack. Seems that a social media tweet raised concerns about First Amendment rights and dredged up...