Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
Reliable, Trustworthy Reporting, Capturing The Heartbeat Of Our Community
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Many have tried, and few have succeeded in expanding the state’s sales tax base by taxing things now exempt from taxation. But that is where Gov. Jim Pillen is venturing in his pursuit of property tax relief. His initial plan, which failed to win approval in the state Legislature this spring, would have imposed new taxes on a host of items that could be labeled “low-hanging fruit.” I mean who’s going to get upset if we start imposing taxes on edibles infused with hemp, those slot machine...
Film producer Rick McCallum said, “It’s easy to be a backseat driver. It’s even easier to be a backseat driver when you’re not even in the same car.” Spoken like a true backseat driver. I never realized how often I make driving suggestions to Scott until Sunday, when he drove to Verdigre. As we near Royal, I politely suggest we should take the road past Grove Lake to avoid road construction on Highway 14. There was construction earlier in the week when the grandkids played baseball in the Kolac...
Have you been to the grocery store or courthouse lately and been approached in the parking lot by not one, but two people seeking signatures on initiative petitions concerning abortion rights? Confused? You’re not alone. For what appears to be the first time in history, Nebraskans are being asked to sign not one, not two, but three petitions seeking to determine if and when a woman can have an abortion. And, according to Secretary of State Bob Evnen, if more than one petition makes the ballot, t...
As planting season winds down, farmers impacted by adverse weather events this spring may find themselves concerned about future crop yields. According to the National Weather Service, May 2024 had the most severe weather in more than a decade, with thousands of thunderstorms and hundreds of tornados reported across the country. Because newly planted seeds are vulnerable until the plant has emerged and is well established, operations hit by severe weather could incur a significant loss of...
Challenge your limits. I’ve been flirting with the idea of trying a no-buy challenge. Unfamiliar with a the concept? It’s pretty basic. Make a list of non-essential items you won’t buy for a set period of time. Then, stick to the plan. Sounds easy, right? I’m not so sure. A year seems impossible, heck, a month may be, too. Maybe I should try a week and see how it plays out. The first step: owning up to my weaknesses. Check that off the list. Do I need to visit the convenience store for a glass...
Let's face it, Nebraska has high property taxes, the seventh highest in the country according to the Tax Foundation, which tracks such things. "Lots of land, not a lot of people," has always been the catchphrase, which translates into a higher burden of property taxes. But I almost fell out of my chair when Gov. Jim Pillen proposed, initially, to raise the state's sales taxes by two cents to achieve property tax relief. Never did I imagine that a conservative Republican governor would propose a...
In June 2023, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled President Biden did not have the constitutional authority to mass transfer up to $400 billion in student loan debt from borrowers to American taxpayers. Rather than properly acknowledge the ruling of the court, earlier this year, the president unveiled a new student loan forgiveness plan, again handing the bill to hardworking Americans. Biden’s new plan already faces similar legal challenges on which the Supreme Court will likely again weigh in. Many Ne...
Baseball, hot dogs and apple pie are considered All-American staples. Should ranch dressing be added to the list? The condiment - oh, it’s more than a salad dressing - is an every-meal accessory for a couple of our grandkids. Drizzle it on pizza? Check. Add dry ranch seasoning to oyster crackers for “squeaky snacks,” as my kids call the treat? Absolutely. Dip chicken strips and fries in a dollop or twenty? All the dang time. Buy it by the gallon? Heck no, not in this house. (Dorothy, on the o...
Memorial Day was born out of our nation’s most fractured and pivotal moment: the Civil War. Battered and worn after four years of internal strife, America nonetheless emerged intact in 1865, the dream of the Union preserved. The price of preserving our nation, our ideals, and our freedoms was approximately 620,000 American lives — nearly a quarter of a million more souls than our nation would give 80 years later to liberate Europe and defeat the Empire of Japan. In the aftermath of such ext...
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...
Ahh, sweet summertime. As the unofficial start of the summer season kicks off this weekend, I’m making a list of everything I want (and need) to accomplish this summer. It’s a long list. It got me thinking, wouldn’t it be great to go back in time, when summer days were spent at the swimming pool. My sister and I would arrive when the doors swung open for business, grab a basket for shoes and towels and pretend to take a shower before dropping off the wire container at the guard shack. Then...
As is its wont to do, U.S. News and World Report recently released its Best States "rankings," a list on which Nebraska placed third, up one spot from 2023. Only Utah and New Hampshire bested our fair environs in the best states standings. So, yes, go ahead. Yay, us! The magazine's methodology included rankings in eight primary categories: fiscal stability, opportunity, infrastructure, crime and corrections, economy, education, health care and natural environment. Each of those were subdivided...
Welcome to a new corner of your newspaper. For years, this column has been called "Capitol View" and for the past several years, it's been written by J.L. Schmidt, an old buddy and former Associated Press reporter at the Lincoln Bureau who could turn a phrase or two. Before that, it was written by someone named "Melvin Paul," who was really a long line of statehouse reporters (including me) who penned a weekly missive using the nom de plume about happenings from the "Hall of Hot Winds," an old...
Recently, a friend and I had a conversation about relationships and whether we argue with our spouses. I found the topic humorous because A.) A press release landed in my inbox that day about the very topic and didn’t provide solid advice or facts; B.) Most arguments in our household are political in nature, usually ending when I fact check Scott’s rhetoric; and C.) We rarely have over-the-top arguments. Occasionally, an intense conversation about business takes place, but those are at a min...
In 2014, President Obama famously said, “I’ve got a pen and I’ve got a phone,” telling the American people he didn’t care whether Congress had provided legislative authority for his favored policies—he would go it alone whenever he felt like it. Ten years later, Obama’s then-vice president, now-President Joe Biden has been ruling in the same fashion daily. Biden’s executive actions don’t just ignore congressional intent; they are expensive, unwise and unworkable. A recent report by the Hou...
A reprieve, for now. On May 13, Sens. Deb Fischer and Pete Ricketts confirmed that U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy confirmed the U. S. Postal Service will pause the movement of mail processing operations, including the processing and distribution center in North Platte. Ricketts said, “The Postal Service’s primary responsibility is to provide timely and reliable delivery to every community across our country. Modernization plans should improve customer service, not reduce it. I’m glad the postmaster general listened to our call to delay...
"Wear sunscreen.” That is the first piece of advice given in “The Sunscreen Song,” a list of recommendations to the graduating class of 1999, set to music by Baz Luhrmann. It’s solid advice. Trust me, I wish I’d taken the same guidance when my mom pounded it into my head. I kinda, sorta listened, but when you’re 18, you think you’re invincible, that you are way smarter than everyone else, and you’re going to live life on your terms. I get it. Here’s my advice to you, members of the class of 2024...
I never expected that after attending a couple events in Omaha I’d be rushing to a friend’s basement for cover from massive tornadoes at the end of April. But that’s what thousands of Nebraskans were doing that weekend. The strongest tornadoes our state has seen in years swept across Nebraska, leaving unbelievable damage in their wake. Miraculously, there were no fatalities in Nebraska. But tragically, the tornadoes did destroy people’s homes and livelihoods. They derailed train cars and upr...
There is a lot of information floating around on social media about the integrity of elections. Since the May 14 primary election is around the corner, I wanted to share more insight into election procedures in Holt County. Holt County, like every other county in Nebraska, operates its own elections. Our duties include handling our county’s voter registration list, operating precincts on Election Day, operating and testing election equipment and completing other election-related requirements. Our office, including the permanent and temporary e...
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 individuals when 100 cell phones start blaring the emergency warning due to a tornado warning in Lancaster County. We were already in the lower level of the Cornhusker, so the session we were in continued. When the speaker wrapped up her presentation, we mostly remained in the basement, networking wit...
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...
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 America’s energy revolution today, we have a lot of work to do if we want to deliver more of our homegrown fuel in the years to come. There’s no better example of this next chapter, or of what Nebraska needs to do to help write it, than one of this year’s hottest topics: sustainable aviation fuel. SAF is on...
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 people to welcome me. We’d stop to chitchat when we had a few moments. Occasionally, our lunch times would overlap and we’d talk about education and current events. The best times, though, were after school, when we’d venture to one another’s classrooms and spend an hour or two, talking about and bon...
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 action on 15 bills remaining on Final Reading. Notably, the governor’s proposed property tax package contained in LB388 stalled when it became clear that the bill did not have the votes to break a filibuster. LB388 was then passed over on the agenda at the request of the introducing senator, meaning t...
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 measure, which would bring Nebraska into the same fold as 48 other states, worth the money. For that matter, is a so-called solution to the state's property tax problems worth it? They're bantering the words "special session" around like it's nothing short of expected. Gov. Jim Pillen says he will call a...
