Opinion

Tuesday of this week committees commenced hearings on bills introduced this year. I will be addressing the contents of LB 861, LB 862, and LB 899 this week. These bills have been referenced to the Natural Resources Committee. Over the past decade, numerous cities and other local governmental units have been subject to special interest activism that would either ban or tax consumer merchandise packaging and other containers or products used by consumers. ...

It’s tempting to push the speed limit while traversing Nebraska on Interstate 80, which is on the state’s flattest, most boring terrain because is it was the easiest and cheapest place to build it. No matter the road, however, shaving a few minutes off your trip isn’t worth endangering the lives of you and your passengers, other drivers or first responders who have been called out to care for travelers who have encountered misfortune...

Our morning devotion asked the question “How might the hard-hearted heat of hostility eat away at our personal joy and our world’s peace?” Hey hey say that real fast: hard-hearted heat of hostility. Almost a tongue twister and it really applies to what we watch daily on 24 hour news cycle TV...

A popular meme notes that 18- to 30-year-olds are the largest voting bloc for this year’s election, and should exercise that right. Statistics on the health and outlook for millennials point to issues that should be of concern them and Generation Z and all upcoming generations...

Those of us who don’t adjust well to to the semi-annual time change momentarily saw a ray of hope in LB 1015 introduced by State Sen. Tom Briese of Albion. While the headline hit the highlight -- putting Nebraska on daylight saving time year round -- the devil, they say, is in the details...

If you’ve ever had the flu -- the real flu, influenza -- you know what we’re talking about. “It feels like you got hit by a truck -- a Mac truck,” is how one victim described it. Whatever the brand, the viral semi-tractors are rolling through the state this year, killing 14 Nebraskans so far, including at least one child...

Vaping: On December 20 of last year, the minimum legal age to buy and use tobacco products, by smoking, chewing or using one the newer e-cigarette vapor products, was raised from 18 to 21 by the US Congress and signed into law. The popular reaction on social media was generally negative. ...

Dear Editor, My tour of Israel 24 years ago left a lasting impression on me. Important symbols can be found in the New Testament. Olives are produced there in modern times in large quantities. The olive tree, or olea-europea, was extensively cultivated in Palestine for its oil...

For quite some time now, a standard item on the McCook school board agenda is “positive comments.” It’s not just a P.R. ploy, although it does virtually guarantee a bit of good news out of each school board meeting. It does, however, force board of education members who might be weary of dealing with problems and complaints, to look for something good to share with themselves and the public...

McCook High School’s newest extracurricular club probably won’t score any points with physical fitness enthusiasts, but hold that thought for now. Principal Jeff Gross told school board members that students came to him asking to form an e-sports club for online videogame enthusiasts...

The One Hundred Sixth Legislature’s second session kicked off last week on Wednesday. This week we will begin floor debate on a few of the carryover bills from last year which range from abortion to property tax relief. Governor Ricketts’ State of the State Address will commence at 9 am MT/10 CT this Wednesday...

Nebraska teachers value and appreciate the enduring, strong support that Nebraskans have demonstrated for students, educators and our great public schools. We are again asking for your support. There are an increasing number of incidents where students lash out at other students or school staff, threatening and committing assaults. ...

I’m reminded of the method of succession in case of loss of our U.S. President. First in line is the Vice President and we saw that happen when President J. F. Kennedy was assassinated and Vice President L. B. Johnson was then sworn in. Then in a later era the Vice President slot was vacant so when President Nixon resigned due impending impeachment and removal from office the role of President was given to Gerald Ford Speaker of the House...

Benjamin Franklin said an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. But does that hold true if the “disease” keeps reoccurring? A Nebraska state senator wants to find out. Our state is enjoying low unemployment and high demand for qualified workers, but convicted felons don’t benefit. Nebraska’s current seasonably adjusted unemployment rate was 3.1% in November, compared to 3.5% nationally, but about 27% of ex-cons don’t have jobs, according to the Prison Policy Initiative, a national research and advocacy group. With the state struggling to maintain staffing for Nebraska’s overcrowded prisons, it’s not a problem that can be ignored. The vast majority of those prisoners will return to society, and finding and keeping a job is one of the most important factors in keeping them from returning to prison. Sen. Justin Wayne’s bill would allow companies to deduct 65% of the wages paid to workers with a felony condition for their first year of employment, capped at $20,000 per employee. Iowa, Louisiana and Texas have similar laws. It is estimated the direct cost to the state would be about $2.4 million a year in lost revenue starting in fiscal year 2021, and Wayne doesn’t know how that would be made up. His similar bill wasn’t designated a priority and didn’t make it out of committee. There’s already a federal tax credit available for up to $2,400 for hiring ex-offenders, and the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services and Nebraska Department of Labor have a “workforce Academy” to help prepare inmates for job interviews. Is Nebraska investing enough in prevention to prevent the need for a cure? That’s for the Legislature to decide. But Benjamin Franklin’s advice is as true today as it was in his day.

Senator Arthur Vandenberg, who was the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee during the Truman administration once famously said that “Politics stops at the water’s edge.” If recent events are any indication, those words deserve to be inscribed on the side of a mountain, right next to bigfoot and the Easter Bunny...

A new report confirms what we’ve always thought; you’re seriously missing out if you don’t take advantage of our local community college. What are you missing? Well, if you’re a single mother, you’ll make more than a million dollars over your lifetime if you obtain a bachelor’s degree. That’s more than half a million dollars more than a woman who has only a high school education...

Happy New Year! As we swing into the next decade the second session of the 106th Legislature commenced on Wednesday, Jan. 8. This will be a 60-day session that is scheduled to last until April 23. Bills will be introduced in the first 10 days of this session plus we still have all of the carryover bills from the first session. ...

One of the biggest challenges all of Nebraska and most of the country faces is a workforce shortage. It is estimated there are 56,000 more listed jobs open right now than qualified employees available in Nebraska. This is true in McCook in certain areas. Many employers have told me, it is difficult to find enough employees with the right skill set or education for the job opportunities they have available...

You’ve probably seen the videos, of Nancy Pelosi drunkenly stumbling over her words, Donald Trump in an episode of “Breaking Bad,” Mark Zuckerberg copping to stealing users’ personal data. The video of the Speaker of the House was basically just put into slow motion, but the others are example of sophisticated “deep fake” technology that is making it impossible to distinguish authentic video to images manipulated in a microchip...

Yes I know the proper title is Former President James Earl Carter, Jr. Democrat. I mean no disrespect but the present embroilment in the Middle East can be laid right at the feet of our former president. He had a chance to change the vector of history but through inaction we now have the heightened tensions we see minute by minute on the current news...

Always trend-setters, the Italians had an unusual taste in fashion a number of years ago. Shirts with a black stripe across the front, extending from the left shoulder to the right hip, were a hot seller. That’s because the polizia were enforcing one of the world’s first mandatory seat belt laws. Scofflaws could risk their lives and escape detection by purchasing one of the above-mentioned shirts...

Dear Editor, Imagine quarterback Martinez racing down the football field when three or four defenders hit him almost simultaneously and several more pile on. Silence comes over the stadium as he is carried off the field on a stretcher. No one knows if he'll be out for the rest f the game, for several games or the rest of the season...

While most of us were worrying about mystery drones or watching the Golden Globes, a Nebraska observance slipped by with barely a mention in McCook, where it should have been in the spotlight. Jan. 5 is designated “George W. Norris Day and shall be set apart for holding suitable exercises in the schools of the state in recognition of the many great benefits bestowed upon the people of the State of Nebraska and the United States as a whole, due in large part to the influence of George W. Norris.”...

As much as we might expect a lull in the news cycle during the holidays, it’s been a tough week. An incursion into our embassy in Iraq, a rash of antisemitic attacks in New York and a thwarted mass shooting in Texas have still failed to drown out continued bickering in the impeachment saga. The light spot in the news has been the unexplained drone show taking place in the midwest, but now that’s beginning to upset people too...

I think that I figured it out. All those congressmen who voted to impeach President Trump were using personal judgement to make that decision. They listened to the tape of the President visiting with the Prime Minister of the Ukraine. They heard Trump asking to look into the Biden record of corruption in Ukrainian affairs and decided in their own minds what all that meant. ...