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

In life and legislative work, a new year brings new opportunities and new undertakings. As we enter 2024 and the second session of the 118th United States Congress, there is much work to do and I’m o...

What does it mean to be authentic? Credible. Trustworthy. Real. Genuine. These synonyms for the 2023 word of the year, as selected by the folks at Merriam-Webster, make an important statement about th...

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....

The final minutes of Christmas 2023 are counting down. It's nearly midnight, the house is quiet except for the steady hum from the corn stove and an occasional cough from Scott, who is tucked in bed,...

The expansion of wind generation has been, and continues to be, a boon for rural development. Wind energy is one of the fastest-growing sources of electricity across the nation. Several Midwest states...

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...

This is kind of a Christmas story. It's a reflection on angels and the meaning associated with giving, it's about Gloria in excelsis Deo and shepherds and proclamations of good news. She first...

With the end of the darkest days of the year and the anticipation of Christmas, we, in the Legislature, are making final preparations for the session in January. Sen, Kauth's LB575, the Sports and...

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...

Have you started Christmas shopping or are you one of those people who have completed the task and have everything wrapped? I belong to the first group. While I blame my tardiness on my...

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...

This week, House Republicans took action to push back on proposals by President Biden’s Environmental Protection Agency effectively forcing consumers to drive only electric vehicles by 2032. The E...

What is the best gift found around any Christmas tree? According to syndicated columnist Burton Hillis, the answer is "a happy family all wrapped up in each other." Friday, while sorting a few holiday...

As the harvest finishes and we enter the upcoming holiday season, senators remain hard at work preparing for the looming legislative session in January. One such topic I am investigating is the future...

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...

This week, we will celebrate the 150th birthday of one of Nebraska’s foremost literary icons: Willa Cather. Cather, who died in 1947, was born on Dec. 7, 1873. One hundred and fifty years after t...

An email landed in my inbox and caught my attention. I don’t watch a lot of television, unless the Weather Channel and sporting events count. And, if by some chance I watch a network show, I’m con...

Two weeks ago, I supported a one-year extension of current Farm Bill programs. While a conventional five-year reauthorization of the Farm Bill is preferable, many of these critical programs lapsed...

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...

Nearly 1.2 million Americans live in nursing homes today. The vast majority of those Americans are seniors, people who urgently need the specialized care that long-term nursing facilities provide. Tha...

“I don’t need stress; I need my shopping bag. It’s almost Black Friday.” Um, I’ve never uttered those words, much alone given day-after-Thanksgiving sales a lot of thought. I’ve gone shopping on...