Opinion
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Original views on life from rural America
Over the weekend, Scott and I attended the annual Nebraska Press Association convention in Lincoln. Trust me, it’s one convention we likely won’t forget. Imagine being in a room with 100 other ind...
Fifteen senators will be replaced
Term limits claim 13 Nebraska state senators while two are leaving for other reasons. That'll mean 15 new faces in the nation's only one-house nonpartisan legislature come January. I've made it clear...
Renewable Fuels Month is a reminder
This month is Renewable Fuels Month in Nebraska. It’s a chance for us all to celebrate the hardworking farmers, ranchers and producers, who help fuel the world from right here at home. But it’s also a reminder that while Nebraska is leading Ame...
Isms: Original views on life from rural America
There will never be another Rita. My first memories of the Orchard elementary teacher are from 2008, when I filled in during maternity leave for Kortney Sayers. Rita Shabram was one of the first...
DeKay reflects on Legislative session
On April 18, the Legislature completed its work for this 60-day legislative session. Although the last day is typically reserved for veto overrides and closing remarks, the Legislature also took...
Special session talk abounds at the capitol
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...
Telecommunications, broadband top PSC workload
It has been a very busy and productive past several months at the Nebraska Public Service Commission. As spring arrives, I wanted to share another quarterly update on the work over the past three...
Isms: Original views on life from rural America
April is National Poetry Month, a time to celebrate the creative written word form, its expressive ebb and flow pulling you in. Reading poetry is great. Watching someone bring those words to life,...
LB1402 draws debate, moves forward
Although the Legislature was only in session for three days this week, senators were productive in moving legislation to Final Reading. This year, there was not enough time to take up every bill that...
Six words seem to have a Legislative curse
"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...
Energy funding available for Nebraska communities
Renewable energy development, energy conservation and energy efficiency improvements offer an opportunity for rural communities to save money, become more energy-resilient and increase the...
Isms: Views on life in rural America
The 11-year-old version of LuAnn was enthralled with studying the globe in our sixth-grade classroom. Pastel blue denoted water on the curved, glossy sphere. Continents lifted from the surface,...
Legislature searches for property tax relief
The beginning of April brings us closer to the end of this year’s legislative session. There are many bills still left to debate and little time to consider all of the priority bills brought f...
Crunch time in Lincoln, it has even been thus
It's easy to understand but hard to remember that the one task of the Nebraska Legislature is to pass a balanced budget during the 90-day session and to make adjustments to and pass that budget again...
Unrestricted endowments prepare Greater Nebraska for the future
Humans have a penchant for looking far ahead. Ask a room of kids what they want to be when they grow up, and you’ll quickly discover just how creative we can be when it comes to envisioning our f...
Isms: Views on life in rural America
I saw a quote recently and it’s been on my mind since then: “The nice part about being a pessimist is that you are constantly being either proven right or pleasantly surprised.” I like surpr...
Funding for small businesses, conservation program valuable to rural communities
A new farm bill is top of mind for many farmers, ranchers and rural community members. However, amidst the ongoing discussions and negotiations, another important conversation is beginning to unfold....
Nebraska Unicameral makes headlines for the wrong reason, again
"If you can't say something nice, don't say nothing at all." – Thumper "The tongue of the wise makes knowledge attractive, but the mouth of fools blurts out foolishness." Proverbs 15:2 CSB Nebraska's...
Budget, taxes dominate legislature last week
Last week, the Legislature gave final round approval to the two mid-biennium budget adjustment bills: LB1412 and LB1413. The two bills will increase the state budget by 2.7% in this two-year period,...
Isms: Views on life in rural America
Either it’s irony or a divine sign that SPS English instructor Katie Schneider shared a blog post on social media last week about the teacher shortage. I’ve been gathering data on the topic for nearly...
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...
An Open Letter to Parents
Do you want to know why there’s a teacher shortage? Why, this year, in Nebraska alone, there are approximately 1,000 open positions in education, why the number of post-secondary education majors is plummeting? I think any teacher, para, bus d...
Legislature entering final three weeks
This week, my personal priority bill, LB1301, was put before the Unicameral for the first stage of consideration. LB1301 would modernize our state’s existing laws relating to foreign land o...
Isms: Views on life in Rural America
Coming to a TV or social media channel soon: “How To Survive Cooking With Your Spouse.” You no doubt think I’m joking, but Scott and I have talked about it for years. It might not be like the Food...
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...