Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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You could always tell when I had attended a faculty meeting. The margin of my legal pad was outlined with daisies of all sizes and colors, a result of sitting through the bi-monthly after-school requirement. As soon as the principal uttered his last words, I’d slip across the hallway, toss the paper on my desk and start speech practice. Those doodles were the closest thing to art I could create. Don’t get me wrong. I can visualize how something should look, see how texture and color add dim...
American playwright Arthur Miller wrote, “A good newspaper, I suppose, is a nation talking to itself.” What happens when a newspaper quits talking? One community in Nebraska is discovering the effect of no longer having a local newspaper. When Coleridge residents received the Jan. 1 edition of the Coleridge Blade, a bold hammer headline stretched across the top of the page: Final edition. The paper, published for 131 years, was part of the Northeast Nebraska News Company, which owns new...
Author Eugene O'Neill, when writing his Dalmatian's last will and testament, wrote, "Dogs ... do not ruin their sleep worrying about how to keep the objects they have, and to obtain the objects they have not. There is nothing of value they have to bequeath except their love and their faith." For 12 years, our chocolate lab, Copper, freely gave her love and showed faithfulness, especially to the master of our house. Copper crossed the rainbow bridge over the weekend, entering doggy heaven, where...
I spent the summer of 1998 at Northwestern University, one of 10 speech instructors from across the United States selected as a fellow in the communications program, with an opportunity to work on a master’s degree. Despite living half a block from the El and easy access to Chicago and all it offered, despite the bustling city life surrounding me, I savored the silence and solitude of my dorm room, quiet walks around downtown Evanston, time to reflect on life and love and the future. I never f...
What word do you associate with German Chocolate cake? For me, it’s love. Every birthday, Grandma Larson would have her best friend, Anna Kuhl, bake a three-tiered German Chocolate cake. I looked forward to that cake each time. It’s my favorite cake, especially when coconut pecan frosting tops it. Homemade, of course. Okay, I’ll be honest. I associate chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies and gooey rice krispy bars with love, too. Primarily because Grandma made those goodies and toted them to...
The other day, I was sorting through a pile of jewelry on my dresser - the catch-all for necklaces and bracelets. (Yes, I know. I should put them away immediately instead of letting everything pile up until I cannot open the doors on my jewelry box.) One pair of drop earrings, comprised of five squares of cubic zirconia, was in the mix. When did I wear these? What special occasion required pushing the finding through my semi-closed pierced ears? Your guess is as good as mine. I opened the...
What will the world look like in 2030? The New York Times posed that question to a group of public figures, ranging from politicians to authors to academics. After reading most of the responses, the outlook seems pretty bleak. Former N.S.A contractor Edward Snowden discusses how the things society demands for the sake of convenience will be our downfall. He writes, “As consumer electronics get cheaper and more disposable, the more they will leach their minerals into our groundwater, poisoning t...
It’s late Sunday evening, the wind sounds like a freight train racing through town, and when I glance out the front door, I cannot tell if it is still snowing or if it’s simply blowing what snow already has landed. Scott is stranded at the farm. He tried to make the drive home, but after a mile, the pickup slammed into a drift. Thank God for cell phones and Dad, who brought a tractor to extract the vehicle. Farmers and ranchers never get to experience snow days. Livestock need to be fed and che...
For more than a year, I’ve been navigating the health care system for Dad. It’s been an eye-opening experience. I’m not sure you’re ever prepared to take over your parents’ finances and deal with insurance, Medicare and hospice requirements. I know I wasn’t. My saving grace: a family of medical professionals who are willing to help me understand the system and endless forms I’m filing. Our family agrees he receives excellent care at the facility in Battle Creek. We’re encouraged by his willingne...
Not that I’m in a Bah Humbug kind of mood, but Christmas has lost some of its luster. Wait! Hear me out, says the women who hasn’t - and probably won’t - deck the halls of the Schindler casa this year. (In my defense, the miniature Husker-themed tree stays up year round, so one room is decorated.) I like Christmas, the story of peace, joy and love brought to the world with the birth of Jesus. Listening to the story of his miraculous entrance in the world gives me hope and makes me realize how pr...
I don’t get enough sleep. I’m guessing, neither do you. Daily, as I sync my FitBit, I’m reminded that a sleep score in the 70s isn’t good. “Catch more Zzzzzs,” the app taunts. When I look at my REM pattern, frankly, it scares me. I know I need more deep sleep. Four to five hours a night may have been sufficient in college, or most of us convinced ourselves it was enough to get by. But now, four or five hours of rest leaves me feeling more tired then when I went to bed. The biggest reason I kn...
How do we sustain rural America? The question was discussed Monday in Norfolk during a town hall meeting titled "Growing Together." The event, sponsored by the Aksarben Foundation, included speakers who addressed brain drain - students who leave the area following graduation and do not return home - and how to make the northeast region of the state a more desirable place to attract young professionals. Former state senator Mike Flood presented data regarding the ages of population in area... Full story
A recent New York Times article, "Farm Country Feeds America. But Just Try Buying Groceries There," by Jack Healy, nailed what happens when a community loses its grocery store. The article shares the story of Winchester, Illinois, whose only grocery store shuttered. After fundraising efforts, similar to a grassroots movement we experienced in Clearwater, a community-owned grocery store opened; however, members were unable to land a produce supplier. Now, the store sells produce and baked goods...
A faded envelope sat tucked inside Dad's top dresser drawer. On it, a list of dollar amounts written in his precise penmanship. More than 10 columns crossed the expanse of that pouch, each line crossed off, with the next entry either increasing or decreasing. A childhood throwback, the envelope held chore money. Laurie had one too, and if we wanted to spend any of our hard-earned cash, we asked permission first. Mom or Dad would question if the purchase was something we honestly needed and...
It's funny when people on the coasts figure out Midwestern culture. For several months, I've read magazine articles about and website postings dedicated to what may be a true middle-of-the-country delicacy: the pairing of chili with cinnamon rolls. It's even funnier when Midwestern folk figure out what's popular in the Midwest. Even a Sioux Falls radio station featured a segment on the union of soup and dessert, noting it's popular in Nebraska, Colorado, Utah Montana and Kansas. In South Dakota?...
Success breeds success and fuels momentum. At the moment, momentum and success for Summerland activities and events are cause for excitement. In the co-operative's inaugural year, the cross country program made major strides, drawing approximately a dozen students into competition and qualifying two athletes for the state meet in Kearney. If you have not attended a cross country meet, add it to your bucket list next season. What a great showing of dedication and determination! A definite sense... Full story
Most of us have one, that single being who keeps us grounded and offers support even when we don't deserve it. I'm talking about man's - and woman's - best friend that is not of the canine persuasion. In a time seemingly filled with countless obligations, family demands and self-imposed craziness, we rely on friendships for a sense of stability, a key element for living a happy and fulfilling life. Even when we reach a low point in our lives, friends provide a sounding board and offer guidance....
It's definitely Monday. Five pairs of leggings, three shirts and two sweaters lay on top of the bed. Since 6 a.m., I've been trying variations of each outfit, with no luck. In the back of my mind, black jeans, a purple print top and coordinating cardigan felt like Monday. Except it didn't. Feel like Monday, that is. Monday ended up feeling like a black leggings, mustard tunic, herringbone vest and blue scarf kind of day. Perhaps it's texture or the type of material that makes the difference....
Almost every time I tell Dad goodbye, see you in a few days, he makes a simple request: Maybe you can eat lunch with me soon. I try to visit and share a meal with him at least once a month, more, if possible. It didn't dawn on me until last Friday, while he made his way through a plate of beef tips and noodles and I picked through a salad, why sharing mealtime still matters. Sunday dinner at our house was a thing. A big thing. A fried chicken and mashed potatoes kind of thing. Or pot roast and g...
It's National Newspaper Week. Normally, I would write about the week's theme and how it relates to you, the reading public, and me, as a journalist. Think F1rst - the 2019 theme - resonates with us because it forms the backbone of our democratic society. The first amendment is important, maybe now more than ever, as we the people hold governmental entities accountable. Limits to the five freedoms - religion, speech, press, assembly and right to petition - exist. Harmful speech is not protected....
I predicted how the latest episode would play out; I didn't know exactly when. Once the prodigal son decided to return home and resurrect a football program clinging to life support, I told Scott - my Scott, not the Frosty version - fans would flip out and sport their badges of negativity proudly, if he didn't win immediately and turn the program around in two years. And, without missing a beat, the bandwagon chanting "Fire Frost," sung by armchair quarterbacks and hidden social media trolls,...
In "An Enigmatic Escape: A Trilogy," Dan Groat writes, "The bones of the oak tree that had stood by the spring branch during my youth were scattered about the ground, pieces of the skeleton of a majestic life that had passed while I was growing up and old." I know how he feels. For the first time in my life, the giant bur oak tree in the backyard of my great-grandparents, then grandparents, then parents and now sister's house, in Tilden, no longer shoots toward the heavens. Saturday, family memb...
I walked into my home office the other day and wondered when it transformed from functional work space to messy craft room. There's a half-finished Valentine's Day wreath I started making for Dad's door at the care center. A pile of scrapbook materials lay atop the counter. Obviously, I started cutting out something - what, I have no clue; maybe a cutout for my Happy Planner - because a pair of scissors is next to a piece of paper sporting one swift cut. Wood letters I picked up for the...
Throughout the summer, as Scott and I watched preseason coverage of the Husker football team, we both noted the number of young men sporting mullets. I always thought Mike Gundy earned best mullet honors until my 'Skers proved they're rockin' the tunnel walk with the achy-breaky hairdo. Since my main man decided to bring back the party in the front and business in the back, a flashback from his high school senior year, he thinks the modern mullet obsession is cool. Awesome. So cool that this sum...
One of my childhood icons celebrates 60 years of entertainment and controversy in 2019. Barbie originally featured strawberry blonde hair, pulled back into a ponytail, with a tightly curled poof of bangs. Her painted on blue eyeshadow, cherry red lipstick, black and white striped one-piece swimsuit and cat eyes mascara were on fleek for the time period. By the time I received my first Barbie® as a gift, she'd grown up a little - or at least her clothing choices kept evolving with the times....
