Opinion

Dear Editor, 4/10 A.D. 2021 I read in your paper about the fair city of Hayes Center and it being the “Sanctuary City for the Unborn: Bravo! Well done! I like it I love it, I wamt same more of it! The fine citizens of Hayes Center can rest easy tonight, Resurrection Eve, knowing that no innocent helpless baby is being brutally murdered as they sleep...

In my house, we have a bookshelf in every bedroom and on those bookshelves is every genre of book. But I repeatedly return to one book on our shelves, which I stumbled upon years ago at the McCook Library and then had to purchase because little hands like to color in inappropriate places but am glad I own...

Last week we began debate on the budget bills. Our only constitutional responsibility as a Legislature is to pass a biennial budget. It’s been a while but we actually have more money than was projected which makes it easier and also a bit harder to create a budget. ...

An interesting article in the Gazette last week reviewed a discussion of the spending of the recent largess of a Cares Funding grant to our local District 17 School District. I wasn’t present and can only comment on the reportage of the Gazette’s Associate Editor...

The Arc of Nebraska advocates for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Senator Machaela Cavanaugh has introduced AM 896 to LB 380 to fund Nebraska’s long-neglected Developmental Disabilities, Waiting List fully. For nearly 3000 people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, this will make a tremendous difference in their lives, for The State of Nebraska, this means creating long-term savings in our Medicaid System, and for families, this means they can rest easier. ...

Dear Editor, Southwest Nebraska Community Betterment would like to take this time to let the residents of southwest Nebraska to know and understand their fair housing rights. The Fair Housing Act makes discrimination in the sale, rental, and advertising in housing unlawful, and assures that our citizens are treated equally. It prohibits housing discrimination based upon race, color, national origin, religion, age, gender, disability, marital status, or familial status...

I’m getting to the age where my peer group begins to joke about walking into a room and not remembering why we went there. It’s humbling when we feel ourselves begin to slide in that direction. It’s good that we can make light of it. The experience reminds me of my earlier education at the hand of the Jesuits. ...

These past few weeks we’ve covered a wide array of topics at the legislature. One example is that we will start a day with debate about telehealth and then just like that we will talk about ready-to-drink cocktails. Some of the topics you think would create more of a stir don’t and then you spend hours talking about what you thought would pass easily...

“Wait for your turn,” my mom would say when one of the family of five would be knocking on the door of the only bathroom we had. “Your turn is next,” my sixth-grade teacher said as we stood in line at the water fountain. The Army recruiter said, “your turn” at the draft board as the Vietnam war raged on...

NORFOLK, Nebraska – As winter turns to spring and dreams of summertime travel and adventure appear to be real possibilities, I find myself trying to dust off the cobwebs of the past year and figuring out how to transition to the post-pandemic world. There is an opportunity in this in-between-space to pause and consider what’s next...

“I’m just going to wait and see,” the healthcare professional said, when asked whether she would get the COVID-19 vaccine. Wait for what? the patient wondered quietly to himself, while not hesitating to entrust himself to her care. So far, 147 million people worldwide are fully vaccinated, about 1.9% of the total population. That includes 62.4 million U.S. residents or 19% and 402,000 Nebraskans, or 20.8% of the state’s population...

The doors of my hangar were opened wide. Sixty some church people were gathered. A short inspirational message and a couple of songs. Then the sun slowly rose over the unobstructed horizon. Perfect. Awesome. See you next Easter. Your old guy columnist’s heart was stabbed this last week at the TV image of two young sisters being dropped from the top of the fourteen-foot high southern border wall. ...

Faith is a bird that feels dawn breaking and sings while it is still dark.” ~R. Tagore Summer is just around the corner. Although Covid-19 is curtailing Church camps, Scout camps and 4-H camps, they are still distributing brochures, cleaning cabins, and gearing up for a smaller than usual invasion of antsy, wildly energetic people under four feet tall. The camping season is almost upon us...

We have a complex relationship with our elected officials in this country. On one hand, they are elected to represent our wishes, yet we tend to distrust those who rely upon polls rather than their personal principles. A politician with a finger in the air to see which way the wind is blowing has become a perennial negative stereotype...

Dear Editor, I am writing as a point of needed clarification. Over the preceding months, there have been repeated stories and letters to editors with incorrect understanding. Nebraska did not join the Texas election lawsuit last December. Nebraska joined an amicus brief highlighting important separation-of-powers issues under Article II of the U.S. Constitution for the Court to consider. The Supreme Court voted 7-2 in choosing not to hear the matter, and the issue is closed...

Dear Editor, The Nebraska State Board of Education (NSBE) has submitted for public review and commentary a proposed set of eight health standards from the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE). Two – ‘Human Growth & Development’ and ‘Social, Emotional & Mental Health’ – are cause for alarm; because I’ve seen this plan in action before …...

Lawmakers reach halfway point in session Last week we passed the half-way mark for this year’s session. We were supposed to receive the proposed budget from the Appropriations Committee last week but there were a few minor changes they wanted to make before releasing it. We should get it sometime this week...

It goes both ways. On one side of the coin, citizens need to take the responsibility to get involved. They need to attend public meetings, even if it is three hours of budgets and spreadsheets. They need to belong to service organizations, which bring together a diverse group of people to better their community. They need to appreciate what is already in place, while working together to make it even better...

Dear Editor, Having relatives in McCook and Red Willow county, I was relieved to read the McCook Gazette article: “County health department opens COVID-19 shots to 18 and above” (March 26 issue). This is a welcome relieve to the various phases and stages of prioritization of ‘who’ gets the vaccine ‘when’.  I was fortunate to get my first Moderna shot on January 20th, with my second shot about three weeks later.  In my own individual case, I had a bit of a reaction to the first shot; but, had no reaction to the second. ...

Yes it happened right here in Southwest Nebraska. A master spy, well actually he was the pilot in the U-2 “reconnaissance” aircraft that flew at ultra-high altitude taking pictures over both friendly and not so friendly territory almost the world over. Gerald (Jerry) McIlmoyle was born on February 24, 1930 in McCook and sadly passed away, last week, on March 24th in Venice, Florida...

“What are the sirens blowing for?” a friend texted on Wednesday. The text was an unintentional jab at a news source that should have done a better job of making readers aware that yes, this was Severe Weather Awareness Week, and testing sirens was part of the exercise...

Dear Editor, At the most inopportune times, my Peruvian wife will mispronounce an American phrase – as for instance: the custom of lowering Old Glory to half staff. In Spanish, the phrase is “media asta;” But, until I corrected her pronunciation, she would say “we are lowering the flag to half-assed” – which would invariably leave me LMAO. Considering how the tradition is presently practiced, I may seriously advise my wife to again use her erroneous expression...

I spend way too much time on social media. It’s not good. It doesn’t bring out the best in us. It certainly doesn’t bring out the best in me, but it is an interesting gauge of public opinion. In the past several months, friends of mine have been passing along memes about the student loan debt crisis and discussions of a possible government bailout. ...

Last week a total of 89 bills were named either a senator or a committee priority bill. If priority bills are advanced out of committee they will have a better chance of being heard on the legislative floor this year. The speaker also named 25 bills as speaker priority bills. This may sound like a lot of bills and although some of these bills are controversial, most are not...

What a difference 20 years makes. For years, Floyd Hershberger had watched other communities grow and thrive because of a local charitable foundation and knew McCook would benefit from having something similar in place. So in 2001, the McCook Community Foundation was created - with a zero balance...