Opinion

As I watch the recent street violence unfold and listen to the partisan punditry surrounding it I find myself amazed by the amount of time and energy we spend agonizing over symbolism. I’m not referring to the literary device or the 19th Century European artistic movement, but the endless wave of nationalistic symbols being violently attacked and passionately defended in our nightly news...

The men and women who used slide rules and building-sized tube computers to send Apollo 11 to the moon 51 years ago this month would be in awe to see the digital power that everyone from preschoolers to senior citizens carries in their pocket or purse...

If there is one thing which has changed for my family over the past few months, it is the reduced number of miles on our vehicles. For the past decade, if we weren’t hosting a road race for the Republican River Fitness Series, we would be driving to a nearby state for an athletic event. ...

For the past several years (many) I have taken my 1925 Model T Ford to Culbertson to drive in the annual 4th of July parade. Bummer. The 2020 version of their Independence Day parade was cancelled due to an abundance of caution for the ongoing coronavirus pandemic...

A memorable trip to New England Dear Editor, The summer of 1953 was an exciting time for me. I was working for the National Girl Scouts at Pleasantville, N.Y. 40 miles outside of New York City. Our plane was a United Airlines flight which took off at the old Stapleto Airport in Denver. A few minutes after 12 noon, our plane was over Cleveland, Ohio., when a tornado hit. It flipped the plane over. That was a frightening experience...

Yankee Doodle went to town, Riding on a pony, Stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni. It was a pejorative song about unsophisticated, provincial Americans sung by pre-revolutionary British. You know how we reacted to it? We adopted it as our own. We owned it. We sang it back to them. How American is that?...

“There’s nothing to do here.” “I can’t have a career here.” “There’s no entertainment.” On the flip side….”Good schools.” “Low crime rate” “Great outdoor recreation.” These are just a few of the views from McCook youth as part of a recent survey. This past spring, the McCook Community Foundation Fund conducted a youth survey through the McCook High School. All 400-plus high school students were given the opportunity to voice their opinion on a variety of topics related to their community...

Dear Congressman Adrian Smith, In response to your E-news of 27 June 2020, “What About the Dent?” and your commentary on a National Infrastructure Bill … While deficit and debt reduction are laudable goals, this is not the time to raise such concerns...

A year ago some wag suggested, only partly in jest, that an extra sales tax be imposed on fireworks sales with the proceeds going to the McCook Humane Society to help care for the dogs that wind up there after being scared by all the explosions. Perhaps part of the proceeds should go to pet owners to help pay for cleaning carpets soiled because Fido refuses to go outside to do his business...

It was well after midnight and the really bright flashing lights were lighting up our front room from about a block away. Old people get up at odd times of the night to tend to a bathroom break! I couldn’t tell if it was fire or police and speculated that it could have a neighbor having a small fire, a drug bust or maybe a car wreck. ...

We hope you’ve learned to temper your social media surfing with a healthy dose of skepticism, fact-checking before you share, or at least resisting the urge to share everything that comes across your screen. Even the most responsible social media user is going to face unprecedented deception in the coming years...

As I piece together dates and places from the past, my best guess is that it was the Christmas of 1969 when I was given my first shortwave radio. We were at Sheppard Air Force Base that year, and Santa brought me an ICP Nine Band-Portable that he probably picked up at the on-base Air Force Post Exchange. Santa didn’t like to pay sales tax...

If you want to get noticed, take out a billboard, wear a Big Bird costume for the day, write a column about your mundane life. Or even easier - go for a bicycle ride. Earlier this week, a friend along with a few family members went on an early morning bike ride to Culbertson to get breakfast. i spent the rest of the day responding to everyone who had seen us out riding...

Atwood, Kansas can be proud of one of their former residents that passed this last week. He was Ramon Horinek, LtCol USAF Retired and had the distinction of spending five and a half years as a guest of the North Vietnamese Army in the Hanoi Hilton as a POW. Tough duty following his capture after being shot down in his F-105 in 1968. Your columnist met him once and visited when the Vietnam Wall came to Norton, Kansas. A hero in my eyes. May he rest in peace...

Reparations and white privilege As I watch the current racial tensions play out and reminders of the Confederacy being toppled, my mind goes back to the reparations issue that was tossed around lightheartedly during the Democratic primary. I find it odd that it has been seriously considered this many generations after the fact, but self-interest being what it is, it grabbed the attention of a good many voters...

As I mentioned in my last article, I would like to update you on bills that have a priority status and will be debated when the Legislature resumes the 2020 session on July 20th. Each of the standing committees are allowed to designate up to two bills as committee priority bills. ...

A few fun facts about Kitten Season I am constantly reading, have radio news shows playing for hours on end and have downloaded so many podcasts I could drive across the country without repeating a show. Yet, I learned something this week that I had never even considered. And it had nothing to do with a disease or injustice or even the never-ending, incessant, mind-numbing wind...

No one was really surprised Monday when city officials asked water users to avoid outside watering between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m., because water usage was extremely high. Some of us, in fact, are surprised that anyone would try to water when temperatures were in the 90s and winds in the 30s, when water is more likely to evaporate on its way to the neighbor’s yard than to help our lawns survive...

It will be bad news. Just wait until the Hillary voters discover that our town of McCook was named after a Civil War General. Can you imagine having to change the name of a long time established town? Maps will have to change to the new name and every address will be changed as well. ...