Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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As we're reminded over and over, Nebraska doesn't have mountains like Colorado and Wyoming, and doesn't have the beaches of California or Florida. That's one of the reasons, we're told, the Cornhusker State is among the least visited of all the states. I even heard this during a recent distillery tour out in Kentucky: "You're from Nebraska!" the tour guide exclaimed. "Isn't that the least-visited state in the union?" Geez. But we have an abundance of rivers in our state. From the "mile wide and...
Have I got a story for you. Since I believe in transparency, I want you to take a look of the photo of Ryan Rifer sliding into home plate on Page 3. Go on, I’ll wait. It’s a good photo, and it would be even better if I could remove Coach Kevin from the first-base line, so the slide and defender’s stretch were in full view. I decided I would try a photo-editing tool to remove the coach and make note of it as an editor’s note in the cutline. I open the editing program, use the lasso tool around...
This past week marked the final full week of the 109th Legislature’s first session. Since the beginning of April, senators have been spending four days a week in session and also having debate go into the evening three days a week. Late-night debate can take its toll on senators who spend many hours trying to pass legislation or stop bills from reaching the governor’s desk. One such example occurred during Select File debate on LB306, a bill which would create the School Financing Review Commiss...
Federal grants often serve as the backbone of rural library services. Without their local library, many communities would lose access to basic resources. However, recent federal actions have placed critical funding for public libraries and museums in jeopardy. Following an executive order from President Trump, the future of the Institute of Museum and Library Services has been uncertain. Staff were placed on administrative leave, and grant processing came to a halt. The consequences are...
Let's get this straight – 71% of Nebraskans voted in November to legalize the use of marijuana as medicine. But when the State Legislature got around to adopting regulations to dole it out, lawmakers decided "whoa," let's not get too hasty about this. It's a crazy world, right? But how crazy is it when the state's voters, by not just a slim margin but a landslide, approve new laws and the State Legislature decides 'nope.' Medical marijuana is now legal in 47 states. Nebraska, Kansas and Idaho t...
What are you most proud of in your community? Civic pride consultant Jeff Siegler, known as the Revitalize or Die guru, recently posed the question on social media. Several responses could correspond with any of our villages - a mighty cadre of volunteers, appealing landscape in public places, entrepreneurs and mom and pop businesses, a strong school system, welcoming churches and locally-owned media that promotes and creates a sense of community. Sounds like home, right? Another comment resonated with me, prompting consideration about an...
“Old soldiers don’t die, they just fade away.” Gen. Douglas MacArthur, a World War II hero, used that phrase in his farewell address to the U.S. Congress more than 70 years ago. But the comment doesn’t come within a country mile of describing one, old Nebraska soldier. Tom Brewer, a native of Gordon and a member of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, served six tours of duty in Afghanistan during his 36 years in the Army, earning a Bronze Star and two Purple Hearts. He served two terms in the Nebrask...
This past week, the Legislature considered a measure to increase property tax relief. LB170 by Senator Brandt would raise revenue through (1) the removal of sales tax exemptions on eighteen luxury goods and services like limousine rentals, (2) increasing the excise tax on cigarettes, and (3) creating new taxes on cigars and vapes. The purpose of this bill was to raise revenue which would then be allocated to help offset school district property taxes paid. During debate, however, it soon became...
At 3 p.m., on this upcoming Monday, what will you be doing? Packing up belongings from an extended weekend camping trip? Clearing leftover barbecue and potato salad from the picnic table? What you should be doing is pausing, for one minute, to honor those who died during military service to the United States, an action established by Congress in 2000. In more than 1,500 communities across the nation, the lonely echo of “Taps” will resonate though the air at that time, as part of the Nat...
The Legislature passed the budget bills this past week containing its recommendations for the fiscal year 2025-2026 & fiscal year 2026-2027 biennial budget. Now, it will be up to the governor whether he signs the legislation as is or uses his line-item veto authority. When the Legislature convened in January, senators initially faced an estimated $432 million shortfall for the next two years, a number that soon grew. A large part of the increased deficit, but not all, came because the state’s ec...
With the exception of being a state trooper, the toughest job in state government in my estimation is working as a corrections officer in a state prison. You're dealing with a population of men and women who, for the most part, are adept at manipulation and have some history in assaultive behavior. Corrections officers deal with a difficult group of people while trying to steer inmates to a better, law-abiding life. It's a tough job, made tougher by the decades-long overcrowding to state prisons...
Graduation makes me think about a column I wrote a few years ago regarding high school as a student’s first job and graduation as an exit interview. It’s a valid topic for seniors to consider. Sure, you have a signed diploma in hand, but as you head to the next stage in life - the workforce or college - it’s important to evaluate what you learned and areas you need to improve. One of the most important skills an employee should master is time management. How good are you at meeting deadl...
A rarely discussed legal term is getting its day in the sun. "The rule of law" is the crazy idea that everyone in a democracy is accountable to the same laws and that everyone is entitled to their day in court (and to be represented by an attorney). The legal term took top billing in a recent episode of "60 Minutes" as well as in letters penned by a group of professors at the University of Nebraska College of Law and a collection of the state's legal groups. The professors' letter was directed...
The Legislature gave first-round approval this past week to a $10.8 billion biennial budget for fiscal years 2025-2026 and 2026-2027. It consisted of five bills advanced to the floor by the Appropriations Committee. Going into debate, senators faced a nearly $262 million projected budget deficit over the next two years due to federal rate changes for Medicaid and a late report by the Economic Forecasting Advisory Board. In developing the budget proposal, the Appropriations Committee had used Feb...
A recent article in “The Daily Yonder,” had the following sub-headline: Want to better understand rural people and how we think? Try taking a peek in our freezers.” Please don’t. When we moved to town 11 years ago, we brought an upright freezer filled with bags of nature’s bounty and jars of homemade freezer jams, salsa and spaghetti sauce. The appliance took up permanent residence in one of the garages. A new black side-by-side Whirlpool refrigerator offered enough freezer space to keep nece...
The question of whether Delta-8 and similar hemp-derived products are to remain legal in Nebraska was the topic of debate this past week. The federal 2018 Farm Bill legalized hemp production with 0.3% or less Delta-9 THC, but other compounds like Delta-8 THC and Delta-10 THC were not limited. The result has been the rapid rise of vape and smoke shops offering for sale Delta-8, Delta-10, and similar hemp-derived products across the state. While some establishments comply with the federal law, oth...
Jack Benny used to say that "kids say the darndest things." But every time there's an election, we can honestly say that "political ads say the darndest things." A seemingly innocuous vote or comment by a campaign becomes a negative TV ad or campaign mailer. Forget about the issues and whether a controversial vote was cast for a good reason. It's all about whether a candidate is a scoundrel or not. You might remember a few years ago when a group of state senators were targeted for re-election...
Whew! I’m still trying to recover from the 2025 Nebraska Press Association Convention, held in Kearney. I enjoy the annual conference for multiple reasons: great educational sessions, networking with fellow newspaper folk, meeting new vendors, great (but too much) food and an overall fantastic time celebrating the written word. It’s not all fun and games ... except for trivia night. That was a blast. I never thought I would hear “God Bless America” sung a beat box rhythm. Sessions begin early a...
This past week, the Legislature made some progress in breaking through the logjam of bills currently sitting on the agenda. Senators are trying to find ways to move their bills since time for debate on non-budget bills is growing short. The budget is scheduled to be advanced to the full Legislature on April 29, and Speaker Arch announced that debate on budget bills will begin on May 6. One measure advanced to Final Reading this past week was Sen. Hallstrom’s LB80. This bill builds upon legislati...
As a kid, our grade school class was one of many that got to visit John Brown's Cave in Nebraska City. There was a cool log cabin, the Mayhew Cabin, hewn from local cottonwoods before Nebraska became a state. There was this kinda spooky, underground "cave" -- a hand-made tunnel to a nearby ravine that was billed as a hiding spot for slaves escaping bondage in nearby slave states (but was really an effort to increase tourism and the tunnel was never used by escaping slaves). Back then, John Brown...
Approximately 20 years ago, I taught a student who, for the sake of this column, I’ll call him John. To those who didn’t know John, he looked like any other typical high school male. His athletic, 6-foot 2-inch frame ducked every time he walked in my classroom, even though he was nowhere near hitting his head on the door frame. John was smart, too. He excelled in English and his voracious appetite for reading and use of language (especially humor) set the stage for multiple classroom dis...
Now that the Legislature is over two thirds of the way through this year’s 90-day regular long session, progress on the floor is beginning to slow down. More bills are being filibustered, delaying debate on other bills further down on the agenda. One measure considered was LB632 by Sen. Hansen. LB632 would require health-care facilities to dispose of fetal tissue following an elective abortion via cremation, interment by burial, or as directed by the Board of Health. Approximately 15 states c...
When it comes to the whys and hows of state tax policy, it's hard to beat public hearings of the Revenue Committee at the Nebraska Legislature. There's a fascinating mix of folks testifying, from dark-suited corporate lawyers and accountants asking for tax cuts, to blue jean-wearing farmers wondering why property taxes are so high. But you always heard a common refrain from the state's business community: Our income and property tax rates are so high, we've got to remain competitive with...
Easter takes me back to childhood holidays at our grandparents’ farm, where we gathered with cousins for a weekend full of tradition. Some of us would rise before dawn for sunrise service, either at the church in Tilden or out in Ritter’s pasture. We’d return in time to change into our brand-new Easter outfits—flowery dresses, pastel-ribboned hats, white gloves and shiny patent-leather shoes—before heading back to town for church. After the service, we’d return to the farm for a feast, then...
Nebraska is seeing an increase in a type of scam tied to cryptocurrencies and social media called “pig butchering.” This has nothing to do agriculture; it’s a scam initially developed by criminal organizations in China in which scammers develop a relationship with their victims over a long period of time to repeatedly steal money. This form of fraud is also known as a relationship scam, financial grooming, or confidence scam. How Pig Butchering Works Scammers often initiate contact by sending a “wrong number” text, email, or social media mes...
