Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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In the past three weeks, I outlined all six ballot initiatives and referendum measures that will be on this year’s general election ballot. This editorial is dedicated to my personal perspective on two ballot measures: Initiative Measures 434 (Protect Women and Children) and 439 (Protect Our Rights) relating to abortion. In my mind, we should strive to do the most good and preserve human life. This is why I am encouraging pro-life voters in Nebraska to consider voting for Initiative Measure 4...
We have a choice in the November 5 election between two initiatives regarding abortion, Initiative 434 or Initiative 439. Initiative 434 would protect unborn babies from abortion in the second and third trimesters except for cases of medical emergencies, sexual assault or incest. The laws we currently have regarding parental notification for minors, informed consent before abortion and in-person requirements to receive abortion pills would remain in place. Common-sense laws like basic safety regulations for abortion facilities and requiring a...
Good dental health in children is crucial for overall well-being. Healthy teeth enable proper chewing, speech development, and contribute to self-esteem. Prioritizing dental health through education, preventive care, and regular check-ups lays the foundation for a lifetime of healthy smiles. The following topics are common discussion points of children's dental health. First dental visit Children should visit the dentist by their first birthday or within six months after their first tooth...
For several Summerland FFA students, school never is out of session, even during summer months. Through a Supervised Agriculture Experience, FFA members are able to explore career options and learn about workplace life. Summerland FFA Advisor Jacob Goldfuss said, "Essentially, it is some type of job or project that an FFA member should have to help them learn skills and knowledge that they can use in the classroom and in FFA contests." The sky's the limit when it comes to a job or project for an...
The short summer months are winding down and the new school year is fast approaching. The return to school is often a time of adjustment for families. New teacher, new classroom, new classmates, maybe even a new school - these are only a few of the many changes children and families encounter at the beginning of a new school year. Making a smooth transition between the summer break and the beginning of school can help children feel good about all of the changes, and it will help foster a...
Half of U.S. children depend on government programs for health care, and in some states, they're beginning to lose that coverage at rates that have concerned the federal government. Foothold Technology analyzed data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and state health departments collected by the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families to illustrate which states have allowed children to lose health care at an alarmingly fast pace. Passed in March 2020, the...
Several defendants were scheduled for first hearing or preliminary hearing on felony charges in the Antelope County courtroom in Neligh last Wednesday, June 5. Shane R. Farrier, 32, of Genoa appeared for first hearing on a charge of theft by unlawful taking, more than $5,000, a Class 2 felony. Farrier requested court-appointed counsel. As the Honorable Donna Taylor questioned him regarding finances, he indicated he had been incarcerated for the last six months in a different jurisdiction. Taylor found him indigent and appointed Antelope County...
It has been a few years since my children were babies. Having spent my youth as a babysitter and a career in pediatrics, I was pretty comfortable in watching the developmental of babies, toddlers and young children. (Teenagers are another story for another day.) That isn't always the case for young parents who may not have experience with this age group. Babies develop in a somewhat predictable fashion. As you think of a newborn, you might think of the poor neck control which changes drastically...
Last week, a jury convicted a Ewing woman of making terroristic threats against a former romantic interest, stemming from incidents that happened between Sept. 28 and Oct. 9, 2023. Jessica J. Snyder, 41, was found guilty of terroristic threats, a Class IIIA felony. Jury selection began May 1, with testimony commencing that morning. On Thursday, May 2, the jury deliberated for approximately two hours and found Snyder guilty. According to Holt County Attorney Brent Kelly, two minor children were...
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 before how I feel about term limits. I don't like them. This isn't the Washington, DC, swamp. This is Nebraska, one of those mostly square states out west where it's not that hard to vote somebody out of office. It has worked for years. Then along came the two-term limit, eight years, and...
Shane Sleister, 49, (in custody), appeared in the Antelope County courtroom in Neligh last Wednesday, April 17, for sentencing in two similar cases. The Honorable Donna Taylor sentenced Sleister to terms in the Antelope County Jail on each of two charges in each case. In the first case, committed Sept. 20, 2023, Sleister was committed to the Antelope County Jail for 60 days on Count I, obstructing a peace officer, a Class 1 misdemeanor, and 10 days on Count II, driving under suspension, a Class 3 misdemeanor, and he was taxed $1 costs....
It’s human nature to tell stories about the past and doctors aren’t immune to that impulse. The second year medical students rotating through my clinic have me reflecting on my own years as a fledgling physician, and the changes I’ve seen in my decades of practice. I remember one late evening spent in the PICU watching over a toddler who had meningitis. At one point I turned and bumped into a bedrail, which came crashing down. Both my preceptor and I jumped and I probably even shrieked. The child, however, didn’t even blink. That’s when we k...
"We had no idea anything was wrong." That's how Skylar and Cabre Reynolds describe the first few minutes of their daughter Teigyn's life. The 5-pound 8-ounce bundle of joy, the couple's first child, arrived Sept. 12, 2023, at Boone County Health Center in Albion. It would take approximately six weeks before the Reynolds would learn Teigyn was battling neuroendocrine cell hyperplasia of infancy, a rare disorder of the lungs. This Sunday, residents from Skylar's hometown will host a benefit for...
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 driver, administrator, lunch lady or secretary would give you the same answer: A lack of parenting. We have so many students in our school systems who come from broken homes, from absentee parents, from hostile environments, from neglect, and on the opposite side of that coin, from coddling, from ...
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 Nebraska state government is a topic for discussion by state lawmakers and political observers alike. Currently there are 18 code agencies, which answer to Governor Jim Pillen. The Legislature is considering measures addressing the situation. Sen Steve Erdman of Bayard wants History Nebraska (formerly...
LINCOLN--In week six of the 2024 Nebraska Legislative Session, Nebraska lawmakers continued discussion on LB 1339, a bill that would allow school districts to authorize employed security personnel, law enforcement and members of the U.S. Armed Forces to lawfully carry concealed handguns on school grounds. Initially introduced on Jan. 17 by Sen. Tom Brewer of Gordon, LB 1339 has garnered attention from both sides of the aisle in the Legislature as well as many Nebraskans and organizations. Speaking on behalf of the Nebraska Council of School Adm...
A Petersburg man accused of passing a counterfeit $100 bill last fall doesn’t want a lawyer but wants his bond modified. Thomas R. Miller, 54, had waived his right to counsel at his first court appearance last month and was denied a request for a bail refund. Miller appeared in front of the Honorable Donna Taylor last Wednesday, Feb. 7, for further arraignment on a Class 2 misdemeanor, second-degree forgery, alleged Oct. 11, when he is accused of passing the bill at Elgin One Stop. He again waived his right to counsel. He entered a not g...
On Thursday of this past week, Governor Pillen delivered his State of the State address. The governor began his speech by thanking members of law enforcement, first responders and road crews who have worked countless hours in recent days in the brutal winter weather conditions across the state. He next touched on his priorities for this year, which included property tax relief, reducing the regulatory burden of state government and protecting Nebraska from foreign adversaries. He lent support to...
Military veterans interested in agriculture are invited to attend a series of on-farm and virtual workshops highlighting farm stores, onsite and off. This course is free for active military service members and military veterans. Hosted by the Center for Rural Affairs, the 11-session series, “Agritourism Through Farm Stores,” starts Feb. 19 and runs through August. The workshops will rotate between online classroom sessions and on-farm sessions with an online option. “In our classroom sessions, participants will hear from experts, learn busin...
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 struggle. A short recap. An Omaha senator introduced a measure to limit medical care for transgender youth, clearly something that is part of the Republican Party national agenda, but not a Nebraska issue. What resulted was months of filibuster by two other Omaha senators that slowed the Legislature to...
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 Spaces Act, remains poised to be the topic of contention during the next session. This bill would require sports participation and access to bathrooms in schools to align with one's biological gender. With the attention Nebraska received this year from an historic filibuster, state senators were...
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 deserve to be included among bills under consideration next session. It's time to start looking at problems affecting Nebraskans and not the national agenda of one political party. For example, the state could help encourage more doctors to dedicate their time and specialty to labor and delivery care...
At a time when people's trust in government is waning, Nebraska Attorney General Mike Hilgers issued an opinion that the Legislature's Office of the Public Counsel, better known as the Ombudsman's office, is unconstitutional. The office exists to promote accountability in government by independently and impartially investigating issues related to state agencies and employees. The departments of Health and Human Services and Corrections, which are subject to this oversight and often make...
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...
Assuring effective health care to a population is a challenge for every society. As care options become more complex – and expensive – the challenges increase. In the US, both the organization and financing of health care are perennial issues in public discussions, political campaigns and among social policy researchers. Basically there are two distinct, but intimately related, concerns: providing access to care and paying for that care. There is widespread agreement that when folks are sic...
