Opinion

Once an obscure figure to most Americans, the European holiday character, “Krampus,” has emerged in recent years as a darkly comic symbol of holiday counterculture. Although Krampus feels like a recent arrival in the American holiday landscape, his roots run far deeper than pop culture...

We are in the season of lists. Santa is looking at his naughty and his nice lists. Many are working on their New Year’s resolution list. Others are making their way through their long gift lists. One of the lists we should be considering is what we want to be involved in and what we need to remove from our schedule as we start the new year...

It has been a while since anything out of the Governor’s Office invited genuine optimism, but yesterday brought welcome news. Gov. Jim Pillen announced that Nebraska will participate in the next round of the federal Opportunity Zone program, a tool designed to direct private investment into communities that have struggled to attract it. ...

Oh, but Nebraska got lucky when Nebraska native Tim Walz moved to Minnesota. Yes, it was an honorable move when he relocated to his wife’s home state. Born and raised in Nebraska, West Point and later in the Alliance area, he graduated from Chadron State University...

I was pleased to see that McCook’s Christmas Light Parade drew a robust crowd Saturday evening. It’s a welcomed confirmation that the event has become a permanent fixture on the community calendar and a must-do for families with young children. It is easy to assume that was always the case, granted, but the celebration’s success didn’t happen overnight, and its continuation was never inevitable...

Last week, I had an experience worth noting. A random drive through town rendered an idyllic, if not exaggerated, snapshot of our recent progress in McCook. I had driven from the Gazette office to the North Pointe subdivision to grab a photo for our reporting on the Coffee Talk discussion with MEDC housing director Amanda Engell...

I know that I’m in the minority on a lot of thoughts and opinions. Perhaps the most obvious is my love of winter versus summer. Every June and July, I hear people expressing their desire for hot weather over cold temperatures. With sweat dripping in their eyes and their thighs sticking to their carseats, people relish the sun and heat...

Grannie Annie and your old columnist really enjoyed a sumptuous Thanksgiving meal with daughter Nancy and family. Turkey, sliced ham, green bean casserole, cranberries, stuffing and my list of favorites goes on and on. Followed by watching football on TV, it was a perfect day...

Last week’s announcement from U.S. Transportation Sec. Sean Duffy, launching a national civility initiative under the banner “The Golden Age of Travel Starts with You,” landed with unusual resonance in communities like ours. The campaign arrives in response to an alarming spike in bad behavior in the nation’s skies—a 400-percent rise in unruly in-flight incidents since 2019, more than 13,800 such cases since 2021 and physical assaults on flight attendants at a rate unthinkable a decade ago. ...

We have been able to enjoy the beautiful Fall weather and every one of us has so much to be thankful for as we head into the holiday season. There will be some empty places around some of our Thanksgiving dinner tables but there will also be gatherings that have new faces. When we have friends and relatives stop by McCook this holiday season, we have a lot to share with them so take them for a ride around McCook...

Thanksgiving has always carried far more meaning than the schoolbook version of the 1621 Plymouth gathering suggests. While the simplicity of “Pilgrims and Indians breaking bread” carries a valuable lesson, a deeper dive into history makes it far more interesting...

Yes, a favorite United States holiday will be here in two days. It is my favorite. Grannie Annie and your old columnist have celebrated all over the USofA, but of course, the food at home is always the best. Food, family, and friends enjoying it all. What could be better?...

An employee recently gave me a tremendous gift. It’s a copy of the McCook Daily Gazette dated November 22, 1963. For those of you who recognize the date, be patient. I’m burying the lede intentionally because the newspaper is a time capsule; a mid-century snapshot of McCook preserved in tangible newsprint...

The names of those people who have made a generational impact on McCook and Southwest Nebraska is a long list. Many of them are working day-in, day-out right now to make their mark on the community. And then there are those people who no longer call McCook home but still make an impact long after they are gone...

Although the exact origins have been challenged, Mark Twain is most credited with the quip, “God created war so that Americans would learn Geography.” The line feels newly relevant as Venezuela becomes the next potential flashpoint, forcing us to reacquaint ourselves with a part of the map most Americans rarely study...

Sadly, your old columnist just learned of the passing of a dear friend from being a roommate in college, in this case at the brand-new Air Force Academy. Jon Black was his name, and he came to McCook to stand with me in Grannie Annie and my wedding. ...