(102) stories found containing 'nebraska press association'
Sorted by date Results 1 - 25 of 102
Hope abides this Easter, seize it!
Let's talk about that big day coming up this weekend, Easter. Some of you, like me, consider it a holy day. To others, it's just a holiday. It's also a family day, a time to gather around the table...
How much power is too much
Power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely is a proverbial saying reportedly coined by the English nobleman Lord Acton in 1857. How much power should be given to the executive branch of...
Slama bowing out, Chambers launches comeback
There are a lot of ins and outs in party politics during an election year. Who's in the race and who's out? All eyes have been on the Legislature where the big surprise came from Republican Julie...
Happy 157th birthday Nebraska, My how you've grown
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...
Handing out property tax cuts? I'll take one
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%...
In the mailbag
Ed. Note: Sen. Dorn’s letter to the editor is in regards to an editorial by J.L. Schmidt, statehouse correspondent for the Nebraska Press Association. A recent editorial in this publication showed no understanding of the constraints on city g...
Wait, what? Governor reverses stand on aid for kids
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 not sure that I love this program
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...
Ricketts and Pillen on right side in electric vehicle debate
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...
Governor vows to cut property taxes by $2 billion, somehow
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...
Mini statues of liberty brought patriotism to towns across Nebraska, then Omaha's disappeared
John Lajba has grown accustomed to having Lady Liberty loom over him while he works in his downtown Omaha studio. Still, the sculptor would rather see the weathered 9-foot copper statue depart his...
I like the idea of the Legislature running the state prison system
Omaha Senator Justin Wayne, chair of the Judiciary Committee, has offered a bill that would put Nebraska's Legislature in charge of the state's prison system, which is currently under the purview of t...
Nebraska volleyball pioneer helping bump game to its next level
Volleyball is set to start a new chapter in Nebraska and at the helm is a woman who quietly helped establish the game's stronghold in the state. Few own the imprint on Nebraska volleyball that Diane M...
Hopes for a "normal" legislative session have diminished
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...
Sorry you're hungry kids, the governor doesn't believe in welfare
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...
More guns in schools, pool for Legislative clerks and more
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....
Legislative leaders want to change the way they do business
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...
No more work from home? Is hybrid the answer?
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...
Some question sustainability of education future fund
The chickens are coming home to roost. Several tax watchdog groups say the Legislature, at the behest of the governor, has gone overboard in depleting state revenue by earmarking too much for...
Pillen wants all hands on deck
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...
It's a desert out there Nebraska
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...
Let's take a different view of a popular holiday
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...
Rural health care system needs help as basic levels
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...
Should state funds be used for Memorial Stadium updates?
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...
Whatever happened to people who apologize?
Quick, somebody give the governor a shovel, I want to see how much deeper he can dig the hole. Weeks after he insulted a reporter who questioned the high nitrate levels on his pig farm, Governor Jim...