Columns

RAMBLES

This past weekend has been one to remember, at least, it has been for me.

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BULL

Weekend times around the news office, with many weekends full of activities, sports and many other events, can give you plenty of time to observe and unjumble things in your mind, because each activity, each event, sporting or otherwise, brings many thoughts to my head.

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Sutton’s Brian VanderLey, with the Great Plains Veterinary Education Center, was named among 10 others by The Cattle Business Weekly as an industry leader under the age of 40.

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RAMBLES

Ihave one pet, and it’s not a dog or a cat like most people would assume. Instead, I have a turtle named Crush.

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When the dishes start piling up it’s the worst thing in the world.

Because what if someone stops by and can clearly see the large stack of pots and pans from a week’s worth of suppers? Or what if they notice the plates and bowls toppling over one another on the counter, slowly making their way into the sink?

When the dishes start piling up, it must mean you don’t care too much about what your home looks like. Because a kitchen is where the heart is, right? Where the meals are made and the counters become messy with memories with the kids and grandkids.

When the dishes start piling up it meant anyone who came into the house was going to judge you, and growing up and even into my early adulthood, that bothered me.

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Sometimes it just feels that time passes by so quickly. As is the case of the 2019 fall activities season for our area schools. This week will mark what I often times consider as the busy run of the fall sports season, and for that matter, the community activities season. Conference volleyball tournaments are coming up, and fall community activities are taking over the spare time, if you can fit them in.

This Thursday officially begins the run to the end of the fall sports season as our two cross country teams will head to district action, with Harvard’s girls headed to Hastings and the South Central Red Raider teams competing in Aurora for a shot at a state meet berth.

Saturday will see the Harvard volleyball team begin action in the Twin Valley Conference tournament in Kenesaw, while this coming Monday will see Sutton and Sandy Creek square off in the opening round of the Southern Nebraska Conference tournament in Hebron.

Mental illness is a disease similar to any other. It’s not something you can will your way into healing or simply wait for it to pass.

For many, their disease ebbs and flows, and often strikes when they might least expect. For others, it remains an ever-present, unhealed wound.

This year, from Oct. 6 through Oct. 12, Nebraskans and people across our country will unite to demonstrate their support for Mental Illness Awareness Week. Together, we can change perceptions and end the stigma associated with mental illness.

Psychological illnesses are among the most widespread health conditions in the United States–and the numbers are daunting. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 50 percent of Americans will be diagnosed with a mental illness or disorder at some point in their lifetime. One in 25 adults in the United States lives with a serious mental illness, and one in five people will experience a mental illness in a given year.

October is Manufacturing Month, a time to celebrate the makers, builders, and inventors of Nebraska. Nearly one in 10 jobs in Nebraska is in manufacturing. Thanks to recent job growth, this summer Nebraska’s manufacturing employment reached its highest point in more than 10 years.

The U.S. economy suffered through the Great Recession from December 2007 to June 2009. As a result of the economic downturn, many companies laid off workers or went out of business altogether. Our state’s manufacturing industry was not immune to the Great Recession. From December 2007 to December 2009, Nebraska’s manufacturing employment plummeted from 102,200 to 91,100. That’s a drop of 10.9 percent in just two years.

Identifying and treating mental illness is a pressing issue in our country. The National Alliance on Mental Illness estimates one in five U.S. adults experience mental illness each year, while one in 25 adults experience serious mental illness each year. As with most conditions, mental illness can afflict anyone.

We have come a long way as a nation in fighting the stigma of mental illness. Mental illness is no longer the taboo subject it once was, which helps people suffering to know they are not alone. However, we still need to do a better job fighting and treating mental illness itself.

Compounding this serious issue is a lack of access to treatment. Recently, the National Council for Behavioral Health released a study finding mental health services in our country insufficient and “the root of the problem is lack of access–or the ability to find care.” This is especially true in rural America, where access to health care in general can be very challenging.

Driving along the Missouri River on either the Nebraska side or through Iowa, Missouri and Kansas leaves one feeling like a frog on a lily pad. There’s water everywhere, mostly in places where it shouldn’t be.

Some roads that were closed since the March ‘Weathermageddon’ have been re-opened, more than once. Many of those are being closed again as the area prepares for another flood, at any minute.

Meanwhile, Nebraska Governor Ricketts and the governors of adjacent states are calling on the Corps of Engineers to make a new game plan concerning management of water in that river.

It might not seem like much in the greater scheme of things, but managing the release of water from Gavins Point Dam might be the only thing man can control. Part of that management includes the strengthening of vital levees along the river and making them taller when possible.