Our attention has been focused on hurricanes lately, first Harvey in Texas, then Irma in Florida, now Maria in Puerto Rico, with more to come. It’s a small world, and many of us have friends and relatives living in the affected areas, and, when the Internet is working, we can keep up with them minute-by-minute if not through live video...

“What’s in a name,” Juliet asked in Shakespeare’s play, but like the Capulets and Montagues, labels like Obamacare and Medicare carry meaning with critical consequences. That’s probably why Sen. Bernie Sanders is proposing “Medicare for All” instead of calling it “Canada-style Single Payer” healthcare...

There’s good news and bad news, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal Child Development. The good news is fewer teens are engaging in risky behavior such as having sex and drinking alcohol. The bad news is they’re putting off other adult activities such as getting a job, a drivers license or developing skills they’ll need as independent adults...

Heritage Days is always a highlight of the year in McCook, but organizers have outdone themselves to make sure this year’s, Birthday Bash, for both the town and the state, is something special. Besides the “usual” events, which are always fun, a number of special activities deserve our attention...

Walk through the north door of the Nebraska state capitol and you’ll see a motto carved in stone over the doorway: “The Salvation of the State is Watchfulness in the Citizen.” A series of stories by the Associated Press to be released Sunday indicates that lawmakers nationwide are chipping away at that motto, in the name of fear, security or simple expediency...

Don’t you hate those fall colds? Coughing, sneezing, runny eyes — only it may not be a cold at all. There’s a good chance you’re really suffering allergic rhinitis or hay fever. According to www.pollen.com, Southwest Nebraska is at a medium risk for allergies, with ragweed, nettles and chenopods the top risk. Allergies are worse as one travels to eastern Nebraska, and worse still southward into Kansas...

If you’re one of the folks known as “early adopters,” you probably know all about Tuesday’s announcement of the iPhone X, including the fact it’s pronounced like a translation of the Roman numeral (“ten”) not like the letter (“X”). You’ve probably already started saving your pennies to purchase one, which will cost you a cool thousand bucks, twice the cost of the original model introduced by Steve Jobs himself 10 years ago...

Be careful not to reveal too much personal information online, we’ve been warned. Don’t respond to “phishing” scams leading you to fake websites, and that Nigerian prince who wants to send you money? — you know the routine. As it turns out, it’s all for naught...

Where were you 16 years ago today? For many of us, we were doing exactly what we are today, doing our best to fulfill the demands of our jobs, just another day at work. In the newsroom, it started with a call from a spouse at home — a plane had hit a building in New York...

You’ve probably seen the Internet quiz on the topic, but in case you haven’t, answer this question: What’s the most dangerous animal? The cape buffalo? Pufferfish? Black mamba snake? They’re all dangerous, and we don’t recommend tangling with any of them...

It’s heartening to see the response from people our region as well as all over the country to Hurricane Harvey. That ranges from donations of goods and money to volunteers who helped in the rescue and even to friends and relatives who will help rebuild ravaged communities in the affected zone...

Explosions in a chemical plant in Crosby, Texas, are an example of unexpected complications that can arise during a natural disaster such as the flooding resulting from Hurricane Harvey. It’s not that operators of the Arkema Inc. plant weren’t prepared. They knew that without refrigeration, the organic peroxides they manufactured would quickly become explosive, which they did early this morning...

The official death toll from Hurricane Harvey was officially 18 at latest count, but it’s sure to rise by dozens more as soon as officials can turn their attention from helping the living to searching for the dead. Like any human tragedy, the largest storm to hit the United States can be distilled to cold, hard numbers...

Modern painkillers can be a godsend if you’re experiencing post-surgical pain or a toothache for a few days until you can get in to see a dentist. It’s too easy to get addicted to opioids and others, however, and it’s actually considered abuse for someone other than the person for whom they were subscribed to use them...

We remember the lines of volunteers to give blood following the 9/11 terror attacks in New York, and the sad realization that their donations weren’t really needed by the few survivors of the Twin Towers collapse. Thankfully, loss of life has been limited in the Hurricane Harvey assault on southeast Texas, but the widespread desire to help is still appropriate...

We set out to write a school bus safety editorial today, concentrating on the need for other drivers to stop when they see a bus with flashing lights and extended stop sign. Bus drivers can tell many stories of careless or ignorant drivers rolling by at full speed while young children are waiting to cross the street or road...

Travelers who normally see Nebraska’s open spaces as something to be endured on their way to Colorado’s mountains came to appreciate them Monday when it came time to view a spectacular celestial event. Mother Nature obliged, for the most part, delivering clear skies in most locations and definite darkness, complete with 360-degree sunsets, everywhere there was totality...

How many of you wished you would have taken time off to experience Monday’s eclipse in totality? Yeah, us too. But it was a memorable experience in McCook, the street lights came on for a short while and there are photographs of a 360º sunset in our area, although not as dramatic in an area of totality...

Busloads of children were taking the day off from school, the county courthouse took a few hours off and lots of employees took late lunch hours or extended their regular break to take in today’s solar eclipse. The Gazette hoped to print as scheduled today, but our drivers and paper carriers were advised to take special care delivering the paper in the unusual mid-day darkness...

It’s a transition time for many families, with McCook children heading off to school today, offering new adventures and challenges for both the students and their parents. Just how much freedom should be offered to a child at any given age? How much privacy should a child be allowed, and how far should parents go when it comes to monitoring their activities?...

Lightning safety awareness week was back in June, but Southwest Nebraska seems to be having more lightning events now as we head into a season when large groups of us are outdoors — football season. “When lightning roars, go indoors” is an easily-remembered phrase, but hard to follow when the home team is down by a touchdown and nearly ready to score...

Change is the natural order of things, but that might be difficult for Baby Boomers, who are finding themselves supplanted as the largest living American generation by the Millennials. Boomers, ages 53-69, have long influenced everything from marketing to politics, thanks to simple demographics, the fact there are nearly 75 million of them. But millennials, ages 20-36, now outnumber them at 75.4 million...

“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never harm me.” Well, we’ll see. President Trump is the first president to prefer direct communication with the world through Twitter, bypassing established media and even his own communications staff...

“I love it when a plan comes together,” said John “Hannibal” Smith on the old “A-Team” television show, usually after an unlikely, entertaining series of events. The city of Alliance might have the same sentiment. The Northwest Nebraska town expects a deluge of visitors to arrive in time to see the total eclipse sweep through on Aug. 21...

Let’s face it. McCook motorists have it easy. Compared to Chicago for instance, where drivers are divided into two types — the quick and the dead — we’ve got a virtual automotive paradise. City traffic rules were among the topics at Tuesday’s Coffee With A Cop at Sehnert’s Bakery, recounted on an earlier page today...

We’ve been writing about the upcoming total solar eclipse for a couple of years now, and dearly miss our long-time astronomy columnist, Vernon Whetstone, who passed away after a brave battle with ALS — Lou Gehrig’s disease — before he could share his wisdom with our readers...

Does the age at which boys first see pornography affect the way they look at women? Definitely, say researchers at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, but not the way you might think. Surveying 330 undergraduate men ages 17-54, the psychological research team found that the younger a boy is when first exposed to porn, the more likely he was to believe that men should dominate women...

If you haven’t checked your 401K lately you may be pleasantly surprised at the gains you’ve made in the past months — the Dow Jones Industrial Average topped 22,000 for the first time in history Wednesday. It’s sure to drop again in the future, but there’s one investment that’s much better than the stock market — yourself...

They say that one lawyer will starve if he’s the only one in town, but two lawyers can make a decent living. There are much better lawyer jokes out there, but it’s no laughing matter if you need legal advice and none is available. That’s too often the case, especially for low-income residents in West Central Nebraska...

Licensed gun owners began being allowed to carry concealed weapons on Texas four-year college campuses a year ago, and the law extended to community colleges today. They can be carried on all campuses, but they must be hidden under clothing or in a purse, not open-carried in a holster...

Tensions are increasing between the U.S. and Russia and the military is assuring us they can defend us from the threat of Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles. Welcome to the 1950s. Is it time to dig out the old 16 mm “duck and cover” movies baby boomers were shown in grade school?...

Congress “kicked the can down the road” with the overnight failure to repeal or replace Obamacare, but Nebraska officials are in no position to point fingers at Washington. To no one’s surprise, the closing of four beer stores in Whiteclay has been a boon to the beer business in adjoining cities as Pine Ridge Reservation residents drive to places like Gordon, Hay Springs, Chadron and mainly to Rushville...

Money can’t buy happiness. Or can it? Suppose you were given $40 and told that you had to do something with it that would make you happy. Go out to eat? Take in a show? Buy an item of clothing? According to seven surveys in four countries, your best bet is buying time with that $40, but most of us don’t think about it...

Name a social cause and it’s likely to find its way into a taxpayer-funded entity. From famed atheist Madalyn Murray O’Hair who successfully removed prayer from the classroom to today’s controversy over transgender bathrooms, public schools have provided a platform for those seeking to make social change...

Columnists and online comments have sometimes chided governments at all levels for the attitude that state and federal grants are free money. That’s a valid point. States like Nebraska, with constitutional requirements for balanced budgets, don’t really have balanced budgets if you count the funding that results from federal deficit spending...

A South Dakota candidate for U.S. Senate was one of the first to draw a comparison between food stamp benefits for humans and the National Park Service’s policy on feeding animals. Dr. Annette Bosworth posted a Facebook meme noting that while the U.S. ...

We’ve all heard — we’ve probably even said — there’s nothing to do in this town. But anyone who’s gotten involved in small town life can tell you it’s not uncommon to find yourself busy every night of the week. We noticed a Facebook post on a local for-sale site from a young man and his girlfriend, saying they had moved here from a big city, and were looking to meet people and find places to explore...

If you haven’t signed up to rent out your spare room on the Airbnb app Aug. 21, you still have time. As it is, motels in a wide swath of Nebraska are already full in anticipation of the total solar eclipse that will sweep across the state on that day...

How much cash do you carry with you? For more and more of us, the answer is “not much.” Credit card companies and retailers are trying to hurry the trend along, for obvious reason — profit for the cards and increased efficiency and profit for the retailers...

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Cambridge High School grad Chad Fuller, his family and friends after a weekend accident in which he suffered a broken neck and paralysis. His father, Bob, is a former McCook High School football coach now at Grand Island Central Catholic, and his mother, Jo, is a Cambridge city councilwoman...

When H. Ross Perot was a paperboy, he noticed that, in between each customer, he walked by several homes that didn’t subscribe to his newspaper. Knocking on a few doors, he soon had one of the largest routes in the circulation department by making better use of the footsteps he was already investing each day...

Republicans aren’t likely to be able to carry through with their promise to “repeal and replace” Obamacare, and a proposal to simply repeal the Affordable Care Act has even less chance, according to the Sunday news shows. Sen. Chuck Grassley, Iowa Republican, warned that his party will lose its Senate majority if it doesn’t pass health care legislation, both he and President Trump chided the GOP for failing to carry through on a major campaign promise...

We heard of a drug dealer whose defense included the fact that the prosecution had charged him with possession with intent to sell a substance derived from the cacao bean — the source of chocolate — instead of coca — the plant cocaine is manufactured from...

If a tree falls in the forest and no one’s around to hear it, does it really make a sound? If a policeman doesn’t issue you a ticket for driving while texting or not wearing a seatbelt, does your state really prohibit those activities? No, at least not effectively, says Mark Segerstrom, Road Safety Project Coordinator for the Nebraska Safety Council...

On Jan. 29, 1886, patent number 37435 was issued to Carl Benz for a “vehicle powered by a gas engine.” The tw0-seat vehicle was powered by a single-cylinder four-stroke engine, powering two rear wheels through a differential, with an electrical ignition and water cooling...

Short commuting times was one of the advantages to living in McCook during an economic study a few years back, and that’s true. A lot of us live only a few minutes from our place of work. But a lot of us don’t. Many farm families depend on income from a job in town, and that’s especially true if it comes with family health insurance...

Don’t expect sweeping changes or a big tax dividend from today’s unveiling of the newly created Nebraska Department of Transportation. But it’s not unreasonable to expect long-term results in the form of increased efficiency that will translate into lower costs over the long run...

Until we all have reliable self-driving cars, we’re going to have to exercise caution when taking to the road for holidays like Tuesday’s Independence Day celebration. The good news gasoline will be the cheapest it’s been since 2005, with fuel available lower than $2 a gallon, although not in Southwest Nebraska...

Nebraska political, agricultural and business leaders are applauding a proposal to reverse an Obama-era environmental rule that was excessively restrictive everywhere in the U.S. but especially in the “flatwater state.” After the Obama administration’s EPA redefined the Waters of the United States rule, landowners, developers and municipalities were nearly paralyzed by the prospect of having to navigate federal red tape under threat of substantial fines...

Proponents of a $15 minimum wage got a setback with the release of a major, credible study of conditions in Seattle, where officials voted three years ago to incrementally increase the city’s minimum wage up to that level. A group of economists at the University of Washington, commissioned by the city, concluded that the average low-wage Seattle worker lost $125 a month because of the hike in the minimum wage...

Gov. Ricketts and other fiscal conservatives saw to it that Nebraska didn’t participate in the Medicaid expansion part of Obamacare, with one argument being that the state couldn’t depend on federal funding over the long term. That seems to have become a self-fulfilling prophecy, with the election of President Trump and Republicans intent on repealing the Affordable Care Act...

Americans traditionally celebrate their independence from England with Fourth of July fireworks, but we’ve also struggled with balancing that tradition with public safety and other considerations. A Nebraska company thinks some Iowa cities have gone too far. ...

McCook, Oberlin and surrounding communities were shocked and saddened to learn that a 10-year-old Oberlin boy on a bicycle was struck and killed by a pickup truck Tuesday in McCook. The accident comes in the same week athletes from the McCook and North Platte areas will take part in a triathlon to celebrate the life of Michelle Walters, who lost her life when she was struck by a pickup truck as she was taking part in the bicycle portion of the Boulder, Colo., Ironman Triathlon...

The Stars and Stripes were an act of defiance when, tradition holds, they were first hoisted by the Continental Army at the Middlebrook encampment during the Revolutionary War. The flag has been a lightning rod for attacks and protests ever since. We celebrate today as Flag Day because, 240 years ago, June 14, 1777, the Second Continental Congress passed the Flag Resolution which stated: “Resolved, That the flag of the thirteen United States be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation.”. ...

With apologies to Charles Dickens, Nebraska “is the best of states, the worst of states.” The Annie E. Casey Foundation is adopting the first stance, with the implication that ending the Affordable Care Act and cutting Medicaid and other services will seriously hurt our standings in services for young children...

If the kids (or you) say there’s nothing to do this summer, you haven’t been paying attention. Kudos to all the volunteers who made the 21st annual Buffalo Commons Storytelling and Music Festival a resounding success, from the sold-out History’s Mysteries Bus Tour Friday, to the Fox Theatre finale Friday night followed by an afterglow at the Bieroc Cafe...

There’s no question the typical American lifestyle could use some improvement, such as more exercise and fresh fruits and vegetables and less fast food and screen time. But a desire for healthy living shouldn’t outweigh common sense and accurate information, especially when it comes to babies and children...

Kearney, like McCook, requires dogs to be leashed when they’re outside, especially in parks. Ignoring the ordinance can turn into a tragedy, such as last winter when a dog died after falling through the ice in Barnett Park, despite rescue efforts. This week, a popular swan died after being attacked by a dog in Kearney’s Yanney Park...

Seventy-three years ago today, Americans were glued to their radios and reading “extra” editions of newspapers to hear the latest news about the D-Day invasion, the largest seaborne invasion in history. Each of 156,000 allied troops knew what their mission was, to liberate Europe from one of the most evil forces imaginable...

Teens have a lot on their minds this summer, whether it’s learning about their new job, thinking about school or college next fall, getting to know a new boyfriend or girlfriend, or that new drivers license and the freedom and responsibility that comes along with it...

The annual Bicycle Ride Across Nebraska won’t be passing through western Nebraska this year, starting in Falls City on Sunday and winding up in Tekamah next Saturday. The annual Tour de Nebraska bicycle ride, featured in a story on today’s Outdoors page starts in St. Paul June 21 and stops in Loup City, Broken Bow and Ord before returning to St. Paul five days later...

You may be planning a vacation from work this summer — but are you really? Smartphones, tablets and laptops are a double-edged sword when it comes to work. Yes, they free to be able to work where ever we are. Unfortunately, they make it possible for work to follow us when we’re supposed to be taking a break...

We were chasing down unofficial reports of a coyote, possibly with rabies or distemper, being killed in the McCook city limits, and regardless of what we find out, it’s a good reminder that rabies is a serious problem. he Southwest Nebraska Public Health Department recently received its fifth confirmed case of rabies, this one in Hayes County, all of them involving skunks...

Our thanks to everyone who turned out for Memorial Day observances, especially Sgt. Maj. Dean Reicks, featured speaker at McCook’s event. Reicks’ words Monday drove home the message that the day honors living, breathing — mostly young — people who gave up their hopes, dreams and future for our freedom...

“Three years after the Civil War ended, on May 5, 1868, the head of an organization of Union veterans — the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) — established Decoration Day as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers,” reads the entry on Memorial Day from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs website...

A Eustis woman, 19, pleaded guilty to misdemeanor vehicular homicide in a plea deal after her can ran a stop sign, slamming into another vehicle and killing a 59-year-old passenger in that car and seriously injuring her husband, 64, the driver. Authorities say the younger woman was likely distracted by a text message moments before running the stop sign...

We’ve called the Iowa Breakfast Study into question because it was funded by breakfast cereal companies, but there’s no doubt nutrition and other physiological factors play a part in mental performance. There’s more evidence of that, and it shows that you might want to consider the season when you send your students off to take the ACT or SAT tests that will determine whether they win scholarships...

After declaring “Islam hates us” during his presidential campaign, chiding his predecessor for avoiding the words “Islamic terrorists,” President Trump told Saudi Arabian and Middle Eastern leaders “Islam is one of the world’s great faiths” and it was up to them to stop supporting terror and banish terrorists from their countries...

A Philadelphia court faces a formidable task today, finding 12 jurors and six alternates who believe they can deliver a fair verdict about the behavior of a man who was once America’s most beloved dad. They must do it while spending at least two weeks 300 miles from their homes in the Pittsburgh, Pa., area...

It’s never easy to tighten one’s belt, but how many notches are too far? We’re about to find out. State Department of Health and Human Services and Medicaid officials told lawmakers in March that Gov. Ricketts’ proposed cuts wouldn’t affect access to services for low-income families, the disabled and elderly...

It’s never easy to tighten one’s belt, but how many notches are too far? We’re about to find out. State Department of Health and Human Services and Medicaid officials told lawmakers Gov. Ricketts’ proposed cuts wouldn’t affect access to services for low-income families, the disabled and elderly...

Legalization of marijuana is the most common topic for people taking part in coffee shop debate over drugs, but a more appropriate substance might be right under their noses. Not the coffee, necessarily, but the caffeine it contains is what deserves another look...

Catherina Hettinger patented a small spinning toy with bearings back in the early 1990s but got tired of paying fees required to maintain her rights to the invention more than a decade ago. Had the Winter Park, Fla., native sold those rights to a major toy company, she might be a billionaire today...

You’ve probably heard about the 22-year-old software engineer who became a hero by accidentally stopping the “WannaCry” cyber attack last week. The man, who lives with his parents in England, spent $10.69 to register and activate a website buried in the “ransomware” software, causing it to shut down...

As we’re going into the hot summer season, it’s more important than ever to make sure your air conditioner is in good shape, but not for the reason you may think. It may be expensive, but if you wait, it may cost even more, and you’ll want some warning if it does...

A McKinney, Texas, woman is being blasted on social media for her post, warning a young burglar that he risked being shot should he break into her family’s home again. After she encountered a young masked man in her home, and he ran off, Maria Luce posted a photo of herself and a shotgun on Facebook...

FBI Director James Comey was speaking to field agents in Los Angeles Tuesday when he noticed television graphics announcing he had been fired. He chuckled, finished the speech, left the room and didn’t return. We assume the FBI paid for his flight back to Washington...

Utility crews are still repairing power lines taken down by the April 30 snowstorm, but the overnight thunderstorm was a reminder that a different type of weather is of a greater concern this time of year. A major storm dropped large hail in the Denver area Monday afternoon, grounding flights out of DIA, destroying the roof on a mall and pounding cars throughout the area...

Community leaders have been justifiably concerned about the loss of a couple of major retailers in McCook, but this week draws attention to one of the sectors of the economy where Southwest Nebraska has a real advantage. Gov. Pete Ricketts has proclaimed May 7-13 Nebraska Travel and Tourism Week, and the celebration will include a visit to McCook by John Ricks, Nebraska Tourism Commission executive director...

President Donald Trump said he was giving churches their “voices back” with an executive order, issued on the National Day of Prayer, directing the IRS to limit restrictions on political activity by churches. The order affects the Johnson Amendment of 1954, sponsored by then Sen. ...

The Legislature has kicked the Whiteclay beer can down the road — to Rushville, Neb., 21 miles to the south, where the neared liquor stores are still open. But that shows at least some movement toward a solution of the alcohol problem that has been plaguing the Oglala Lakota Tribe on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Indian reservation for generations...

A lot of parents may have mixed feelings about President Trump’s decision to scrap Michelle Obama’s healthy school meals system, dropping sodium limits and requirements for whole grains. There’s no question that kids need to eat more fruits and vegetables and fewer processed foods, but lunch ladies know that a lot of those healthy foods wind up in the trash...

Local media like the Gazette put a premium on local news because let’s face it, nobody is more interested in nearby events than our readers. There are times, however, that the lines are blurred, and “local” news is just as interesting to people thousands of miles away as to people within a few miles of the event...

If your radio alarm clock woke you up on time for work this morning, you can probably thank a line worker. If you’re still shivering in the chill, you can be thankful it’s May 1, your power will soon be restored and the snow that caused all the problems will soon be converted to runoff headed toward the nearest river...

Adam Conover, host of truTV’s “Adam Ruins Everything” enjoys poking holes in popular opinion about almost every subject, from herpes to tipping wait staff. Adam might want to look into a move to lower the legal blood-alcohol level for driving to .05 from .08...

To be fair, Gov. Pete Ricketts probably would have faced criticism regardless of his decision on a routine proclamation honoring the Nebraska State Education Association’s 150th anniversary. Had he issued the proclamation, he would have called a hypocrite, honoring an organization that’s been on the opposite side of issues such as school vouchers, charter schools and, most recently, third-grade reading requirements, some positions he has held since before he entered politics...

Gambling such as keno is growing, and the Nebraska Lottery is adding a new game, but problem gambling is a relatively small problem in the Cornhusker State, at least according to the benchmarks used by the personal website WalletHub. Nebraska is the second best state when it comes to gambling addiction problems, but not so neighboring states South Dakota, which is the second worse, Colorado 15th, Wyoming 22, Iowa 24 and Kansas 36...

If you spend much time online, especially on a subpar Internet connection, you know the problem. You’re trying to view a cat video link from your cousin or stream an old Star Trek video, and you see the annoying “loading” message on your screen. Now imagine your computer or smartphone is operating a young child’s brain instead of providing entertainment...

Anyone involved in education can tell you it’s usually the teacher who learns the most. That’s even true when the teacher is the student, according to a new University of Nebraska-Lincoln study. The topic of the study was getting children to eat vegetables, one of the challenges facing every parent...

A local first grader was learning about opposites in school — cold? “Hot.” Up? “Down.” His next answer provided the wisdom only a child could offer. Sweet? “Healthy.” The teacher was looking for “sour,” but there’s growing evidence America’s sweet tooth is doing it harm — even if the sweet isn’t provided by sugar...

Something about the word “high” seems to create controversy. Today is “National High Five Day,” which was invented, depending on whom you believe, by Dusty Baker and Glenn Burke of the Los Angeles Dodgers on Oct. 2, 1977, by Wiley Brown and Derek Smith of the Louisville Cardinals men’s college basketball team during the 1978-79 season, or by ancient Egyptians...

After reading his premature obituary, Alfred Nobel felt so guilty about being remembered only for inventing dynamite that he gave his fortune to found the Nobel Prize. He might have consoled himself with the knowledge that explosives have done much for mankind, in mining, construction and building demolition, but like most technologies, man immediately found ways to use the invention to kill fellow human beings...

As we approach Saturday’s Earth Day, a study shows Nebraska, like most “red” voting states, isn’t very “green.” A study by WalletHub.com shows the Cornhusker state ranking far below “blue” states like Oregon and California in conventional measurements of environmental progress...

Most Nebraskans list “Going to church” as their favorite Easter tradition, although the crowd in Norris Park for the annual MNB Sparky’s Kids Club Easter Egg Hunt Thursday evening shows that activity is a close second in McCook. Offers.com found that Easter Egg Hunt was the leading Easter tradition nationwide, 33.1 percent, followed by going to church, 32.7 percent, Easter baskets 29.9 percent, dying Easter eggs, 29.8 percent, confetti eggs, 6.0 percent, photos with the Easter Bunny, 5.7 percent, and “other,” 4.2 percent.. ...

With the advent of spring comes farming operations, and, unfortunately, an uptick in collisions involving agricultural implements traveling to and from the field. It’s more important than ever for those of us driving faster conventional vehicles like cars and trucks to commit our full attention to the road...

The teen years are always difficult, but the advent of electronic communication has ramped up the potential for accidental or deliberate harm. A 13-year-old girl faces criminal charges after she allegedly faked her own death via a text, causing her 11-year-old boyfriend to kill himself...

We haven’t seen one yet, but it’s probably only a matter of time before you can buy locally one of the fastest-growing categories of desserts — a divorce cake. We do mark milestones like birthdays, weddings are retirements with cakes, so it was probably inevitable that bakeries around the world have begin offering “divorce cakes” to help ease the pain of a breakup by taking in some calories with our remaining friends...

Easter means colored eggs, new dresses and bunnies for most Americans, but the faith of at least 45 Christians in two Egyptian cities cost them their lives. Islamic State suicide bombers killed at least 17 people in St. Mark’s Cathedral in Alexandria, the place where Christianity started in Egypt, and at least 28 died at St. George’s Church in the Nile Delta city of Tanta...

Smile, you’re on camera! We won’t say “Candid” Camera like the old television, because there’s nothing unusual about being photographed at any time or any place, from walking along the street, to shopping to our own homes. And these days, that image is just as likely to be broadcast over the Internet as stored away for later viewing by a few people...

Over the past 20 years, the U.S. suicide rate has been increasing to the point that it’s one of the leading causes of death. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, reports the suicide rate is up among every age group under 75, but as tragic as that is, worse is the fact that it’s tripled among young girls between 10 and 14...

Area residents enjoy their live music, as evidenced by expanding local nightlife offerings, but more traditional types as well, as evidenced by Sunday’s “Folk Songs and Fiddle Tunes” concert at the Fox Theatre. Congratulations to everyone involved in the Simply Strings organization, such as director Charles Coleman, soloists Elizabeth Knedlik and Leanne Miller, and it was touching to see a tribute to the late Maribeth Augustyn, who probably played an important part in the lives of the majority of the musicians on stage Sunday afternoon.. ...

The announcement that McCook’s JCPenney store will close next month has put new emphasis on the loss of shopping opportunities and the need to support local businesses. Yes, it’s important to do what we can to keep our friends and neighbors in business, but it’s good for the economy in general, not just the local business climate. Our total U.S. economy depends, in large part, on small mom-and-pop ventures. The U.S. Small Business Administration defines a small business as an enterprise having fewer than 500 employees. There are almost 28 million small businesses in the U.S. and more than 22 million self-employed workers with no additional payroll or employees — mom-and-pop businesses with annual receipts of $1,000 or more and subject to federal income taxes. More than half of the working population, 120 million of us, work in small businesses, which have generated more than 65 percent of the new jobs since 1995. It’s not an easy task to start a small business; some 543,000 owners try every month but more than that shut down. Seventy percent of new firms with employees survive at least two years, half at least five, a third at least 10 years and a quarter stay in business 15 years or more. More than half of all small businesses are home-based, and there were 22.5 million nonemployer firms in 2011, up almost 2 percent from the year before, according to the SBA. About three-quarters of all U.S. businesses are nonemployer businesses, 19.4 million of those are sole proprietorships, 1.6 million are partnerships and 1.4 million are corporations. The latest figures show the fastest type of freelance business is auto repair shops, beauty salons and dry cleaners. “Nonemployer” business people aren’t getting rich; the average revenue is $44,000, but many Southwest Nebraska residents would be happy to establish that sort of enterprise. So while we mourn the loss of a landmark downtown retailer, and work to maintain and cultivate local business activity, let’s make sure we at least do as little as possible to hinder local entrepreneurs and all we can to encourage them.

Get a better education, and have a better life, goes the oft-repeated mantra. Now you can add “have a longer life” to the advice young people should heed. Unfortunately, according to research by two Princeton University economists, lack of education can lead to early death...

Do you have a young person trying to choose a career? Looking to change careers yourself? If you have the aptitude, you’ll find yourself in demand if you can become a doctor or pursue many other types of medical careers. Thanks to aging baby boomers requiring more medical care, and an increased number of retirements, the demand for physicians and other health-care workers is expected to boom...

If you haven't filed your tax return yet, perhaps it's because you know you'll have to pay the IRS instead of collecting a refund. While you're collecting forms and thinking about your financial situation, we've got one more chore you should add to your list...

It was not that long ago, it seems, that businesses and organizations were debuting their first websites in a nod to the changing times and widespread availability of Internet access. Too many websites are zombies, living on in web surfers' browsers despite being devoid of content rarely if ever being updated...

The idea of eliminating daylight saving time in Nebraska seems to be gaining traction. Friday, four people spoke in favor of LB 309, which would eliminate daylight time, four against and two letters in support were submitted to the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee's hearing on the subject...

Have you received one of those "can you hear me now?" calls? Scammers, supposedly, want to have a recording of you saying "yes" so they can bill you for a product or service you really didn't order. So far, there are no confirmed cases of that actually happening...

On the 150th anniversary of a state named after a Native American term for "flat water," Nebraska leaders are celebrating President Trump's move to direct the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider the Obama Administration's controversial "Waters of the United States" rule...

We got a letter from the lawn service the other day and you can see the bags of garden soil and mulch piling up outside the garden departments -- can spring be far away? While we're getting soil ready to plant some tomatoes, we'll also want to think about where we want to spend our summer vacation...

Never mind the "bear in the air," watch out for the "seat cover" in that truck behind you. In case you weren't around in the in days when CB radios were the fad, the first refers to state troopers catching speeders and the second to the person in the truck driver's passenger seat...

Lawmakers wrangling with fiscal issues and public health might be keeping an eye on the Philadelphia situation. That's especially true in the Obamacare era, with the government involved in health care to an unprecedented degree, but President Trump's election throws that into question as well...

Faced with potential state funding cuts, Mid-Plains governors will discuss raising tuition and fees at their meeting today, but regardless of their decision, the local community college will remain a bargain. In-state tuition is $84 per credit hour for the 2016-17 year, and that includes the adjoining states of Colorado, Kansas, South Dakota and Wyoming as well...

The largest Powerball jackpot in history was drawn more than a year ago, Jan. 13, 2016, with a number worth $1.6 billion was split three ways. Two of the winners came forward almost immediately, but the third, a Chino Hills, Calif., couple, claimed their prize six months later, after they had assembled a team of advisers...

A particular diet has been enjoying some popularity over the past few years, but there's new information that may extend the cuisine beyond fad status. It's long been believed that the Mediterranean diet can help prevent heart disease, diabetes, joint diseases and cancer, but a new study found that it can also help prevent brain decline in elderly people...

A particular diet has been enjoying some popularity over the past few years, but there's new information that may extend the cuisine beyond fad status. It's long been believed that the Mediterranean diet can help prevent heart disease, diabetes, joint diseases and cancer, but a new study found that it can also help prevent brain decline in elderly people...

Opponents of President Trump have long been critical of his continuing ties to the family business, most recently adviser Kellyanne Conway's endorsement of Ivanka Trump's line of clothes. For a look at what can happen when business and government mix, check out recent events in South Korea...

On the surface, national security adviser Michael T. Flynn's resignation seems cut and dried. In the cold war years, any hint of collusion with Russia, then the Soviet Union, would have resulted in the immediate death of an American political career, if not a prison sentence or worse...

On the surface, national security adviser Michael T. Flynn's resignation seems cut-and-dried. In the cold war years, any hint of collusion with Russia, then the Soviet Union, would have resulted in the immediate death of an American political career, if not a prison sentence or worse...

When the going gets tough, the tough tend to look out for number one. Experience seems to confirm that twist on an old adage when it comes to people. We've noticed that crimes like embezzlement and Ponzi schemes like Bernie Madoff's seem to turn up when the economy turns down...

The old adage that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" used the "Iowa Breakfast Study" of the 1950s as supporting evidence. The saying lost some credibility when it was noted in the 1980s that the study covered only a small number of students -- and was financed by the Cereal Institute and included only 50 people, age 12 to 83...

California officials have their fingers crossed as they keep an eye on the nation's highest dam, where erosion damaged one spillway and threatened to wash out an emergency spillway, sending a 30-foot wall of water toward the homes of at least 188,000 people...

It won't be anything spectacular, but sky watchers are in for a treat as today's spring-like weather is followed up with a chance for some astronomical observations. Tonight's full moon will rise under a "penumbral eclipse," when it passes through a partial shadow from the earth...

It's the time of year when those of us in a relationship, be it long- or short-term, can find ourselves in a struggle -- is a card enough for a long-term spouse? Is jewelry too much for a new crush? Judging from the numbers, more of us seem to be giving up rather than risking a wrong move...

Lucas Kotschwar is to be commended for his effort to turn a close call for himself and the tragic loss of his dog into something positive. Kotschwar risked his own life to try to save his dog after it fell through thin ice in Barnett Park. The McCook Fire Department used a ladder truck to try to rescue the dog, but it was too late...

Motorcyclists love the feeling of freedom they get when they take to the open road, and naturally resist anything that takes away from it. There are stories about helmets littering the roadsides every summer, when riders no longer need their headgear when leaving the Cornhusker state on their way to the annual Sturgis motorcycle rally...

One of President Trump's first executive orders was to begin construction of a border wall with Mexico, but exactly how the relationship between the two countries plays out is anybody's guess. There's a near 100 percent consensus when it comes to one commodity from Mexico -- illegal drugs -- but a trade war with our neighbor to the south would affect all of us in ways we wouldn't like...

"Go outside and play!" Your mom's advice was good when you were a kid, and there's even more evidence it is good today. That comes from a study at King's College in London, which found that the more time young people spend outside, the less likely they are to develop nearsightedness...

It's a tired old adage, but as true as ever: If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. The latest to learn the hard way are customers of Creative Creations, which got a little too creative with travel packages back in 2014 and 2015. PatriciaUrbanovsky of Omaha, 31, was sentenced to 63 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release and ordered to pay $4.7 million in restitution...

We've been complaining "It's 20_ _ (fill in the blank with the current year) where's my jet pack?" for at least 17 years, and the unfulfilled dream of a practical flying car has been around almost as long as airplanes themselves. A nexus of technological advances promises to make the dream a reality -- for those who can afford the luxury, at least...

A "phishing" scam reportedly played a part in this year's election by exposing thousands of internal Democratic National Committee emails to public scrutiny. The actual results are debatable, but there is no question that identity theft will be devastating to individuals. Even after you find out your identity has been compromised and take the proper steps, "you have a new hobby," according to one famous financial adviser...

You should always have a plan in mind, even when you can't immediately see a way to accomplish it. Gov. Pete Ricketts has proposed a 3 percent cut in funding to community colleges, but that doesn't mean officials and the communities they serve should stop planning for the future...

A bill that would prevent known drug users from collecting welfare payments has been proposed in the Legislature, and regardless of whether it becomes law, we're going to be dealing with the drug testing issue for a long time. Living near Colorado, Southwest Nebraskans should be concerned about the topic, especially if we are subject to drug testing at our place of employment, as many of us are...

We mentioned Madonna's admonition to get more involved in the political process, but we didn't include another of her statements at an anti-Trump rally. She said she had thought about blowing up the White House, which has reportedly piqued the interest of the Secret Service...

Not to contradict Bob Dylan, but you might need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows. If the weather service issues a warning, it's a good idea to pay attention. We received several tragic reminders of that this weekend. On Sunday, the Atlanta Falcons won a chance to play in the Super Bowl, but while that game was going on, four people were killed at Albany, Ga., bringing to 19 the number of people who died in two days of tornadoes across the South -- 15 in south Georgia alone...

You won't find many Red State voters agreeing with Madonna much, but we've found a point in common. Dressed in black with a shirt reading "Feminist," the Material Girl told an anti-Trump audience they should read the Constitution and get more involved in the political process...

A day before the first African American president leaves office and Donald Trump checks into the White House, there are few things less important than daylight saving time. That's especially true in Nebraska's capital, where Gov. Pete Ricketts, in response to projected budget shortfalls, is proposing sweeping changes to the state's property tax system as well as agency reform and spending cuts finding opposition in from many quarters...

Perhaps we should be outraged by the Oxfam report that the six richest people on earth own as much combined wealth as the poorest half of the earth's population. Outraged, but not surprised. According to a 2014 World Bank study, while poverty is on the decline globally, two-thirds of the world's poorest people live in India, China, Nigeria, Bangladesh and the Democratic Republic of Congo...

The weekend brought a couple of reminders of how our attitudes have changed about space exploration. One prompted images of just how much history we are losing as the prior generation of explorers leaves the earth. The other shows possibilities for the future...

Winter Storm Jupiter (the Weather Channel's name) turned out to be somewhat of a bust in McCook, but there were scattered power outages in the area and a few non-injury accidents reported around McCook. The latter is probably true because many businesses, including the Gazette, chose to close their doors Monday rather than risk the safety of their employees and customers on the icy streets and highways. ...

Gov. Pete Ricketts' budget proposals were just as predictable as the response. Faced with a projected $267 million shortfall in the current budget and the potential for a $900 million gap through 2019, Ricketts did what most of us do when our paychecks won't make it to the end of the month...

Protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline picked up, with gusto where the Keystone XL protests left off, only backing off slightly when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied a construction easement under the Missouri River in the final months of the Obama Administration...

There was a day when you couldn't post pictures of your breakfast to hundreds of friends, share a Tweet from the president-elect or berate officiating in front of thousands of football championship game viewers. In those days, one had to be a professional journalist, dedicated to getting the story first, getting it right, and getting it past your editor before anyone could read a single word of your report...

McCook has been an area trade center since before the time the Newsboy plied the skies of Southwest Nebraska and Northwest Kansas delivering the Gazette. Generations of area high school students have traveled to Nebraska's oldest two-year college for events like Band Days and Inter-High Day, many of them returning after high school graduation once they got a taste for the quality education it could offer on one of the most attractive campuses around...

We've know or have heard of people who have contracted lung cancer, "but have never smoked a day in their lives." We've also heard anecdotal evidence, and some empirical as well, of high cancer rates in Nebraska. The answer could lie with radon, which health experts know is the second-leading cause of lung cancer in the United States, and the leading cause of lung cancer in nonsmokers...

If you were still awake, or not too busy celebrating, you might have caught Mariah Carey's botched performance in front of a billion people on New Year's Eve. We tend to believe her producer's story, that she repeatedly complained about faulty earpieces before ever going on stage. Her dancers, however, didn't seem to have any trouble following the music...

If you're like most of us, you've gained a few pounds over the holiday season, and taking them off may be a high priority. When it comes to our bank account, however, excess probably isn't the problem. Like many things in life, less is more where finances are involved...

The supply of ammunition seems to have improved and not everyone was clamoring to buy guns following the November election, thanks to the perception that Trump was less likely than Hillary Clinton to push for gun control. That's not the case in California, where sporting goods stores have been struggling to supply semi-automatic rifles ahead of a new law which bans certain features...

It's been quite a year if you follow celebrity deaths, and 2017 promises to be even more "interesting" as the Trump administration takes power. It's always best to practice moderation when marking the end of one year and beginning of a new one with celebration and/or dread, but if you've succumbed to temptation, there are some steps you can take to make New Year's Day a little more tolerable...

Montana's motto may be "Big Sky Country," but there's plenty of "big sky" in our neck of the woods as well. We've always enjoyed stargazing, especially in the countryside away from the city lights, and we were pleased when Vernon Whetstone, then of Benkelman, offered to add us to the list of papers carrying his "What's Up?" column...

We wrote about a study linking heart attacks and the holidays in Friday's weekend edition and almost on cue, three celebrities died of heart attacks, one despite the quick actions of passengers and crew of the airliner on which she was a passenger. The first was Alan Thicke, who died from a ruptured aorta three hours after suffering a heart attack, according to his death certificate...

If you have a heart attack at Christmastime, it might not be because of shoveling snow in the cold weather. With temperatures expected to be in the 40s and 50s over the holiday weekend, we're not likely to have much of a white Christmas. It's the holiday itself that stresses the heart, not the weather, Australian researchers have concluded...

Many of us are basking in the pre-holiday glow, feeling comfortable and charitable, watching "It's A Wonderful Life" and attending children's Christmas programs. The stock market is ready to top 20,000, an all-time high, unemployment is at a nine-year low, and consumers are spending like it's 2007 -- just before the 2008 meltdown...

It's always fun to try to figure out what's hiding under the Christmas tree, but there are some gifts that shouldn't be a surprise. One of those is a firearm, and that's a popular category of gift, according to FBI statistics. More gun background checks were conducted on Black Friday than any other day in history, the federal agency said...

If you've flown recently, you know the drill; take off your shoes, pack all your liquids over 3.5 ounces in your check-in luggage, take off your shoes and subject yourself to a full-body scan. All because of the 9-11 terrorists, and others, who sometimes choose to use loaded airliners to make a political point...

John Glenn was an inspiration to the generation of Baby Boomers now moving into their retirement years, from his initial exploits as America's first astronaut in orbit, to his political career in the U.S. Senate, to his return to orbit aboard the space shuttle Discovery at the age of 77...

The late Gov. Frank Morrison once mused that there was something in the water that caused so many residents to seek political office. Storyteller Garrison Keillor once observed that the nearby Republican River was shallow, winding to and fro, "following the most expedient path."...

It's always big news when the president travels, but the subject has drawn more than it's share of attention this week. President-elect Trump, Time Magazine's Man of the Year, found time to tweet about the price of a couple of new Air Force Ones. "Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump" tweeted...

The U.S. military has 1.3 million troops on active duty, the fewest since before the Pearl Harbor attack 75 years ago Wednesday. Yet it has more full-time employees involved in logistics or supply chain jobs than the entire United Parcel Service workforce, and its purchasing bureaucracy would rank among the top 30 private employers in the United States...

Technically, it's nearly three weeks until winter arrives, but we've already found our heavy coats now that "meteorological" winter arrived with Dec. 1. Cold winds can be dangerous out here on the Plains, but they're nothing like conditions thousands of feet above our heads, where jet streams can bring in snow, ice and whiteout conditions at 200 mph...

We've got a few weeks until the end of the holiday overindulgence season, but it's not too early to think about burning off those extra calories stored as body mass. The popularity of racquetball ebbs and flows, less demanding pickleball is gaining popularity and tennis seems to hold steady...

We've made great strides in modern public health, but it's easy to take it for granted. Unfortunately, old diseases like measles and polio are still around, decades after they should have been wiped out -- perhaps we mean centuries -- bubonic plague bacteria is still being detected in squirrels in the California mountains...

Schools should be a safe place, but they can also be a "soft target" for someone with evil intent. One side thinks there are already too many guns in circulation, while the other is fond of the quote "the only thing that can stop a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."...

Will you dread opening your credit card bills come January? If you're concerned, you might want to turn off your "one-click" purchase button on your favorite online shopping account. If it really gets out of hand, say you're considering a consolidation loan to clean up last year's Christmas credit card bills, you might want to get professional help...

If you survived your Black Friday shopping excursion (that started Thursday afternoon) you and your family may not be in the clear yet. If you already bought toys for the kids on your shopping list, you might want to check with the safety experts before putting them under the tree...

During the presidential campaign, President Obama voiced concern about his legacy -- unless Hillary Clinton won, his achievements would be lost to posterity. He probably didn't expect it to begin before he even left office. Businesses across the country were struggling to comply with a regulation going into effect Dec. 1, that would require them to pay overtime for salaried administrative or professional workers who make less than about $47,500 a year...

They say one lawyer will starve to death in a small town, but two lawyers will each be able to make a living. There are better lawyer jokes, but it's true that lawyers are becoming a rare commodity in many rural Nebraska communities. That puts rural residents at a disadvantage, should they need legal help...

A neighbor in trouble seems to bring out the best in small-town Nebraska, and Sunday morning's fire in Cambridge was no exception. Someone who stopped at a convenience store about 5:30 a.m. turned in the fire, and volunteers from at least seven neighboring towns were on scene or on the way within a few minutes to help out Cambridge volunteers...

Many a stand-up routine and more than one movie have created around the personal interactions that accompany the Thanksgiving holiday. Traveling on a tight schedule, as demanded by a Thursday holiday, dining with relatives who may have differing political views (horrors!) and seasonal illnesses can take their toll on what should be an enjoyable day off...

We recently saw an Internet meme about all the things a high school graduate should know how to do, like drive a stick shift and balance a check book. Good luck finding a stick shift; only 10 percent or fewer of American cars are sold with a clutch pedal these days...

If the election didn't go your way, and you decided Canada is too cold and you couldn't get the immigration website to work anyway, there's another place you might consider moving. A Hungarian parliament committee has given initial approval for the country to remain on daylight saving time all year around...

Kudos to the groups organizing the Buffalo Jones Outdoor Festival, set for next June in Barnett Park. Inspired by this year's HEAR Nebraska event, The McCook Area Chamber of Commerce, McCook Economic Development and McCook/Red Willow Visitors Bureau got together to plan a festival honoring the bison conservationist while filling out a busy Buffalo Commons Storytelling Festival weekend...

Health insurance and immigration are the first things to come to mind when the subject of Donald Trump's election comes up, but no issue is off the table when it comes time for the new administration to take over the reins of power. The Dakota Access pipeline was the current flash point, drawing protests before and after the presidential election...

Demonstrators are protesting the election of Donald Trump and some schools, where teachers have been seen crying, are offering counseling for students who are afraid how the results of the election will affect them. You won't see much of that in Nebraska, especially in our end of the state, but that doesn't mean we're immune to effects from changes in Washington leadership...

The voters have spoken. They wanted the death penalty back, and they were willing to go over the heads of the Legislature to do so. Perhaps turnabout's fair play, since the Legislature went over the head of a veto by Gov. Pete Ricketts to abolish capital punishment in the state...

We were little surprised when a mock election at Central Elementary this week went for Donald Trump. Such votes have been very accurate over the years, in our recollection, and all the polls indicated that Hillary Trump would win. Score another one for the kids...

There's an Internet meme going around that would be funny if it weren't so true. Me: I don't like Trump. Everyone: "So you support a liar like Hillary? She should be in jail!" Me: I don't like Hillary Everyone: "So you support a racist like Trump!? He doesn't stand for American values!"...

Most of us need all the friends we can get, but how strong is "friendship" in this day of social media? The 2016 election has provided an answer: Not very. Facebook says the election has generated over 5.3 billion posts, likes, comments and shares, with nearly 110 million Americans taking part in the online debate between January and October this year...

Looking forward to an extra hour of sleep this Sunday? You might want to rethink that strategy. Sleeping in seems nice, but the abrupt change can throw off your body's internal biological clock, or circadian rhythm. That can lead to sleepiness in the day, accidents, depression, migraine headaches and other health problems, according to some studies...

Cynics see U.S. elections as a contest between politicians to see who can bribe the most voters with handouts and other goodies. They are not without a certain amount of justification in their beliefs -- although some Republicans might be shocked to learn that the promise of "a chicken in every pot and a car in every garage" originated with one of their own, Herbert Hoover, in 1928...

Somebody should do something about that. How many times have you thought that after you saw someone suffering through an injustice, abuse or neglect? Someone in need or with a potential unrealized? Many are quick to act on their own, and we're grateful people like them...

It's almost boring to watch television shows about fictional political intrigue -- it can't hold a candle to the real thing this election year. Despite the controversy over both candidates' character issues, way too many of us don't care enough to vote...

We all remember the true-life Halloween scares over the years of children finding razor blades and other objects in the treats they going door-to-door. Fortunately, most of the stories turn out to be false and dental cavities and obesity are more realistic Halloween hazards...

Are the PC police fashion police as well? Apparently they are, in the tiny town of Bulverde, Texas, 30 minutes north of San Antonio. Brett Bartlett Mauthe arrived to vote wearing a hat supporting Donald Trump and a "basket of deplorables" T-shirt -- a reference to Hillary Clinton's remarks that half of Trump's supporters were "a basket of deplorables" such as racists, sexists, homophobes or xenophobes, a generalization she later said she regretted...

It's every reporter's nightmare. No, not making a mistake in a story, that's a serious issue, but something that can usually be corrected in the next news cycle, if not sooner. This is something worse: Becoming part of the story. That's the situation NTV News found itself in this week, when a mistrial was declared after the Kearney television station inadvertently aired video footage of potential jurors in a Norton County murder trial...

"Spooky" season will soon be over and we'll be on the slippery slope toward Christmas, with only a brief pause -- for Thanksgiving. We'll get together the last Thursday in November, but just how thankful are we? It feels good to give to a worthy cause, not only for the affluent but for those who may have received help from a charity in the past, who are often among the most generous...

Despite America being involved in foreign conflicts for decades, the war protests that marked the 1960s are absent for the most part in the 21st century. What's the difference? We'll leave it to sociologists, psychologists and other academics to answer that question, but the obvious answer is the simplest:...

If you're one of those who can't resist posting a picture of your lunch on Facebook or your cat on YouTube, you might be surprised to learn you might be subject to a fine for taking a selfie during a patriotic activity. Until this year, you could have been fined $100 for sharing a photo of your market ballot in Nebraska...

It's impossible to read the story of a family of six, including four little girls, killed in a farmhouse fire in southeast Nebraska without shedding a tear. We can only imagine how the friends, family, neighbors and firefighters who responded to the scene in rural Nehawka early Thursday...

Major outlets seized on Donald Trump's offhand remark that he would cross the concession bridge when he came to it, leading nearly every story this morning with speculation over a possible coupe. We're involved in a land war in Iraq to retake Mosul from ISIS forces, and Turkey just killed 200 of our Syrian Kurdish allies north of Aleppo...

Journalists often hear charges that their stories are biased, but if they're doing their job, what the critics are more likely saying is that the story isn't slanted in the direction they would like it to be. Occasionally, they hear complaints from both sides of an issue, which many writers wear as a badge of honor...

Spend time talking to the servers or clerks in a resort town and you'll probably hear stories about one or two of their other jobs. It's expensive to live in a ski resort town, so it takes several streams of income to make ends meet. More and more, however, holders of multiple jobs are living in everyday American communities...

Spend time talking to the servers or clerks in a resort town and you'll probably hear stories about one or two of their other jobs. It's expensive to live in a ski resort town, so it takes several streams of income to make ends meet. More and more, however, holders of multiple jobs are living in everyday American communities...

Officials have been hammering drivers of all ages with the message for years. Be sober, rested and pay attention to your driving. Mobile devices have added to the distractions, with more restrictions put in place to deal with them, especially on younger drivers...

Not that many years ago, it wasn't that unusual to read on these pages stories about "meth labs" being broken up around our area. Laws were passed to make it more difficult to obtain the cold medicine necessary to manufacture methamphetamine -- be prepared to spend extra time at the pharmacy counter and have your ID handy if you're looking for effective relief from sniffles and coughing of the common cold...

Too late for an October Surprise? Politicos often talk about incidents like the release of Donald Trump's "locker room talk" video as "October Surprises," but any campaign counting on just such a game change may be in for a shock. It's already too late...

Think you have problems? You could be the CEO of Samsung Electronics. The South Korean company has halted entirely production of its best smartphone, the Galaxy Note 7, after a number of battery fires were reported in the phones, as well as fires in the supposedly safe replacement phones sent to consumers...

The issue of immigration came up in Sunday night's presidential debate, as it has throughout the campaign and as it no doubt will in the administration of the next president. It's also a topic of discussion this week, with governmental offices observing Columbus Day today while the traditional holiday was Wednesday, Oct. 12...

Few issues are more divisive or generate more controversy than abortion, legalized on a 5-4 Supreme Court decision in 1973. "Pro-choice" women and men took to the streets in Poland Monday to derail a complete ban on abortion that was making its way through the national legislature...

Check out almost any governmental budget, and you'll see the largest line item is salaries. Paying people is the most expensive part of almost any enterprise, and it's the obvious choice when budget cuts are needed. What happens, however, when you don't have people to do important jobs like deposit checks and reconcile accounts?...