Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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Medicare enrollment period begins on Oct. 15, extending through Dec. 7th. Throughout this time, seniors across Greater Nebraska will receive numerous calls and letters urging them to switch to Medicare Advantage plans. While these plans often promote cost savings and added perks, the reality for patients and health care providers can be much different. Patients face delays and higher costs Unlike traditional Medicare, Medicare Advantage plans often require prior approval for care. In fact, nearly all Medicare Advantage enrollees must get prior...
Over the years, I've covered a few elections – probably more than I'd like to remember. Back in the day, we didn't get the wall-to-wall commercials slinging mud or the daily update on what the polls say. But one thing hasn't changed – elections are maybe the most observed, double checked and overseen functions of government. Vote counting machines are double- and triple-checked. Each political party employs "poll watchers" to make sure there's no hanky panky and the boards that count and rec...
With its handmade ice cream and prime location at the entrance to East Campus, the Dairy Store is a crowd favorite at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and a fitting venue for welcoming a university president. The Nebraska Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources hosted an event Sept. 19 at the Dairy Store to unveil an ice cream flavor created in honor of the new University of Nebraska-Lincoln president, Jeffery Gold. Dairy industry leaders and university partners who provide product t...
Ironic, isn’t it, that a system that provides so many advantages for its citizens also provides the means of its own demise. Unlike nearly every other system of government that came before it, U.S. democracy offered its citizens individual freedom, respect and relative equality. Yes, it’s true that the founders left women and enslaved people out of their plans, but, thankfully, the nation has moved to implement the founders’ original principles as we have learned more about and moved to embrace what they actually mean. American democracy makes...
Jeffrey P. Gold, M.D., was formally installed, Sept. 5, as the ninth president of the University of Nebraska System during an academic ceremony in Lincoln. The event marked exactly 10 years to the day and hour from his year as chancellor of the University of Nebraska Medical Center in 2014 and exactly five years from his year as chancellor of the University of Nebraska at Omaha in 2019. It was also the first time a presidential investiture was held at the Nebraska State Capitol. "The ceremony...
The year was 1974. It was early fall. Or was it late spring? Never mind all that, Gary Hergenrader says. It isn't the season he remembers today, but the site: the old campground across the water, a dozen red cabins clinging like ticks to the canyon walls, the lodge overlooking Keystone Lake, the geology exposed in the rocky shelves above. Before retiring in 2005, Hergenrader served nearly 25 years as the Nebraska state forester. But back in 1974, he was a 34-year-old professor at the University...
SUBMITTED ARTICLE Antelope Memorial Hospital welcomes Anita Murphy, PA-C, to its medical staff this month. Originally from Petersburg, Murphy is a 2003 graduate of Boone Central High School. She attended Doane College, graduating in 2007 with a Bachelor of Science Degree in biology and a minor in chemistry. While at Doane College, she did biomedical research that included HIV and pseudomonas research. In fall 2007, she began a 28-month physician assistant program at the University of Nebraska...
One of the great, unsolved mysteries in the state has been why the beloved Trev Alberts left his alma mater to become athletic director at Texas A&M. Alberts was an All-American football player at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, then eventually became athletic director at the school after a successful stint at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. Seemed like a match made in heaven, and a job Alberts would hold for many years. But then, suddenly, it was over, and Alberts was trading Husker...
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 March-born she was special because she shared a birthday with the State of Nebraska! (I'm pretty sure it didn't work.) So, happy belated 157th birthday Nebraska. And happy 82nd to my late sister. Too much cake and party hats? Where are we now? Let's take a look. A is for agriculture. Still more counties...
Dozens of Nebraskans lined the rows and walls of Room 1525 at the Nebraska Capitol, waiting to testify during the Education Committee hearing Tuesday, Feb. 13. The hearing, lasting late into the night, saw more than 70 people testify in-person and more than 500 people submit online testimony about LB 1330, a bill aimed at eliminating some diversity, equity and inclusion – better known as DEI – programs for public educational institutions. “This ban is an erasure of the soul and essence of people from racially marginalized groups and other...
People gathered at the Nebraska Library Commission’s meeting, Nov. 16, to urge commissioners to limit the accessibility of certain databases and books available to Nebraska children in city and public school libraries. The Nebraska Library Commission, established in 1901 as a part of the Nebraska executive branch, promotes, develops and coordinates statewide library services in city, school, university and institutional libraries. The commission is governed by a six-member board appointed by the governor. The Nebraska Library Commission’s Nov...
As the conversation and stigma surrounding mental health continue to evolve, access to care, or lack thereof, remains a barrier, even in the presence of heightened public awareness and empathy. “We need kind of both,” Dr. Marley Doyle said. “We need an increase in mental health awareness. But then we also need an increase in access to care. Because if you don’t have both, then it’s not going to really improve things.” Doyle, a psychiatrist serving as director of the Behavioral Health Education Center of Nebraska, said the shortage of mental h...
There are plenty of distractions. Ukraine vs Russia, Israel vs the Palestinians, Republicans vs other Republicans. The list is endless. But let’s turn our attention to a couple of Nebraska issues about which we can possibly do something. I’m talking about civility and transparency, or the lack thereof. Civility was cited in the recently-released Nebraska Rural Poll. A number of court filings for public records and a pending legislative bill speak to the transparency issue. Most rural Nebraskans see the lack of civil discourse in the pol...
Wayne State freshman and Summerland High School graduate, Faith King, is experiencing many firsts at college. Her most impressive is being the first student to be a criminal justice major while a part of the Career Scholars Cooperative Education Program, Rural Law Opportunities Program and Honors Program. The Career Scholars Cooperative Education Program allows students to have three years of building skills for leadership and the workforce, with a fourth year in the chosen career field. Student...
John Heaston opens the door to a brick warehouse next to Johnny's Cafe in South Omaha and walks through rooms holding his life's work. "It's kind of a hot mess," says the 52-year-old longtime publisher of Omaha's alternative newspaper, "The Reader." Here's a garage bay holding empty green newspaper boxes emblazoned with the word, "FREE." Here are floor-to-ceiling shelves stacked with yellowing copies of "The Reader" and "El Perico," a separate publication that Heaston owns. Sticky notes...
There are more than 900,000 child care workers across the United States. Think of the impact they have on the millions of young children and families they serve. Trusted early educators allow parents to work. They help businesses run at full speed. As small business owners, they invest their dollars right back into their communities. And, Buffett Early Childhood Institute Executive Director Walter Gilliam argues, the early childhood workforce just might be the linchpin to our country’s economic...
If you thought that the mostly one-sided filibuster-driven debate on transgender issues and abortion was the thing that dragged the 2023 Nebraska Legislature to a near standstill, steel yourself for what could lie ahead. State Senator Dave Murman of Glenvil, the chair of the Legislature's Education Committee, says he wants to study the use of critical race theory and other controversial subjects in the classroom. Innocently enough, the studies stem from a request to investigate the Nebraska...
SUBMITTED ARTICLE Biologists are continuing to tag and track walleye and sauger in the Missouri River and Lewis and Clark Lake between Fort Randall and Gavins Point dams as part of an effort to understand declines in the fishery following historic flooding in 2011. Since 2021, 201 fish have been tagged in the river and reservoir as part of a study of fish movement. The fish sport metal jaw tags, but also have acoustic transmitters implanted in their abdomens. Fifteen receivers spaced every 5...
Each year, dozens of American farmers are injured or killed after they climb into a grain bin. A father-son duo from Aurora founded their one-of-a-kind company with one mission: No more boots in that grain. Chad Johnson and son Ben Johnson have created a robot, the Grain Weevil, meant to do most of the necessary – and oft-dangerous – tasks that farmers do inside their bins. The pair started developing their robot in 2020, after a farmer friend asked them to build a robot so the farmer would nev...
Agriculture, broadband connectivity and tax savings were key topics addressed during Gov. Jim Pillen's town hall meeting, June 28, in O'Neill. Pillen opened by telling the crowd of approximately 80 that his team strives to work for "all Nebraskans. "I can't stand politics. I can't stand politicians," the governor said. "The privilege I had in the first six months, it is unbelievable how many incredible public servants we have serving the state of Nebraska." One of Pillen's goals has been to...
Northeast Nebraska teachers visiting the Haskell Agricultural Laboratory this month learned that the 550-acre site is full of learning opportunities for students. Teachers from Summerland Public School participated in the event. The arboretum at the Haskell site, part of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln’s network of ag research centers around the state, can help children learn identification and biology for trees and plants. The beehives and pollinator gardens illustrate the interactions of insects and plants. The sweeping fields of corn and...
Seward County routinely seizes money from motorists on Interstate 80, keeps the cash – and never convicts the drivers of a crime. The county's sheriff's department and county attorney use this practice, known as civil asset forfeiture, so often that a third of all cases of this kind in Nebraska state courts come from Seward County, population 17,962, a Flatwater Free Press analysis of court records shows. The county has hauled in $7.5 million in forfeited cash in the past five years, some of i...
Amid nasty debate about social issues, filibustering and theater playing out in the legislative chamber, lawmakers did manage to meet their constitutional obligation and pass a balanced budget on day 80 of the 90-day session. The two-year budget calls for about $5.3 billion a year in spending, with an average increase of 2.2%. It sets aside a generous amount for cuts in state income taxes and increases in tax credits for property taxes, as well as allocating the final funds for a $366 million...
Lauren Behnk, of Clearwater, always knew she wanted to travel and experience life outside of Nebraska, especially in a Spanish-speaking country. Several people introduced travel as a way to study on Behnk's radar. Leenda Thiele, Behnk's high school Spanish teacher, shared her journey of coming to the states from Puerta Rico. Thiele encouraged her to experience travel for a better opportunity to learn. Behnk's cousin, Valley, also traveled and spurred her interest in seeing the world. Finally,...
The Appropriations Committee advanced its finalized recommendations for the Fiscal Year 2023-2024 and 2024-2025 biennial budget to the full Legislature. This proposal calls for an average increase of 2.3% in spending over the next two fiscal years. The main differences between the governor's proposal and the Appropriations Committee proposal are that lawmakers included an additional $80 million to increase both (A) the reimbursement rates for providers of Medicaid services by 3% this year and...
