* For those who try to avoid news from the eastern end of the state, a proposal has been made to create a huge lake between Omaha and Lincoln. A bill has been proposed for a $3 million study of the environmental impact of a hydroelectric dam and an 80-square-mile lake between the two towns near Ashland north of Interstate 80.

Proponents want to use the lake to encourage economic growth in the Omaha-Lincoln corridor.

Beside the environmental impact, legislators need to consider the personal impact because the lake would eliminate the town of Ashland, population 2,500. This small town, which could see itself underwater and possibly relocated, is trying to grow through the addition of an art community in old buildings. It's a little hard to relocate old buildings and new buildings just don't have the same ambiance. To add insult to injury, community leaders say just the idea could scare away current development. After all, who wants to build in a community which could be underwater in the next 10 years?

Upon hearing about the proposed lake, I skimmed through the article quickly, just picking up the basic facts. Upon reaching the end, I knew without rereading where the state senators who had proposed the study were from: Omaha. I was correct. Legislative Bill 1121 is sponsored by State Sens. Pam Brown and Rich Pahls, both of Omaha.

Of course, this proposal does not come out of the blue. The proposed area has been under heavy development for more than the past decade. Mahoney State Park is located at the base of the proposed hydroelectric dam, a golf course has been built in this area and Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo has a drive-thru animal viewing area at this site.

In fact, the idea of a "Midwest Disney World" has been floating about for at least 30 or 40 years. At least, if that idea came true, a blossoming community would be swallowed whole by water.

And finally, one last question about this proposed lake: Where would all this water come from to fill this lake? Last I checked, the entire state was lacking in moisture.

But even more obvious: Anyone who has driven over the Platte River, whether at this end of the state or on the eastern end, has seen how low the river can become. Having spent the first 15 summers years of my youth camping next to the Platte, I can't count the number of times a person could walk from one bank of the Platte to the other because the river was so low. I'm sure that walk would become even easier if the proposal goes through, given that this camping site sits below the dam and would be reduced to a trickle -- all in the name of economic progress.

* With the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito slowly moving through the Senate, Nebraska Sen. Ben Nelson has been in the news more than usual. But his 15 minutes in the spotlight may be dimming.

With nearly every news story about the line-up of the voting for the Supreme Court nominee, Nelson was mentioned as the lone Democrat to already have said "yes" to Alito. But now, Sen. Robert Byrd of West Virginia and Tim Johnson of South Dakota have given their approval of the nomination, swelling the ranks to three and taking away some of the spotlight from Nelson. The notoriety was nice while it lasted.

* Finally, a hats off to Missy Nelson and her entire Share-A-Seat Committee, who in a short amount of time raised support and funds to install seats at Memorial Auditorium. Most people, including myself, would be overwhelmed by the task of persuading others to give money to your cause and then persisting to make sure the goal was met

And to add to the drama, they had the seats installed at literally the last minute in order to have them in place for the Women's Winter Conference. The group could have easily admitted defeat and lived with the idea that the seats were not going to be in place. After all, they had gotten by with the cement slab seating before. People were going to come either way, but it sure would be nice to give them comfortable seating -- and the committee did it.

This accomplishment highlighted not only the group's persistence and perseverance but also their faith that the project could be completed on time.

Of course, there was the alternative if the installation had only been partially finished before the conference: Have everyone bring their own seat cushions to sit atop the brackets.

After watching and reading about all these legislative hearings and nominations, Ronda Graff knows she will never become a politician. She can't stand meetings.