Columns

By Ashley D. Swanson

U nexpected conversations are the best. And I’m not talking about those bad unexpected conversations— like coming home from school and your mom is standing with one hand on her hip and has that look on her face that says, “We need to have a talk.”

I’m talking about the unexpected conversations that come about and lead to many different topics or where you learn something or leave you with a happy feeling afterward.

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By Tory Duncan

Sunday’s adventure at Old Trusty always gets me into what is usually a really good conversation with somebody. This year was no different.

The topic this year? Volunteering to support your communities!

We’ve seen a few Letters to the Editor as of late related to the Sutton American Legion, and over the years I’ve often felt that being a volunteer, while it definitely adds to your “to do list,” it’s also a rewarding experience, at least most of the time.

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By Tory Duncan

Nebraska was in a total frenzy for nearly 300 days, since the hiring of one Scott Frost. Saturday night was to be the night to see the life in which Frost and his staff had breathed into the Cornhusker football program, but a higher power, even that of Frost, decided that maybe Akron wasn’t the right season opener!

Of course, I was just as hyped up as most Husker fans were to get the ball rolling, but you know, after getting through the disappointment of the game being “postponed” (most likely canceled), I’m OK with that.

I’d much rather open the year with Colorado, who up until both Nebraska and Colorado left the Big 12 conference, was a feverish rivalry (according to Colorado anyway...we all knew who Nebraska’s big rival was), sometimes even mean and fierce, if you will.

By Ashley D. Swanson 

W hat do you get when you combine Scooby- Doo shows, cupcakes, living room camp outs, and coffee?

Answer: A dang good weekend.

Saturday my sister Zoey came up for a weekend visit.

This day proved to be more chill than Sunday, as we arrived back in town by 3:30 p.m., and we were all decently tired.

Before Loetta had to go to work, we enjoyed ice cream cones...which Zoey proceeded to get all over her face and clothes. Back at home, she decided to spread as many toys as she could across the living room floor, and then use me as a jungle gym.

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By Ashley D. Swanson

Apparently all of the minds of those who write columns in our CCN are on the same mindset.

Tory wrote about the kidnapping issues that have occurred lately, and about how families should make plans to stay safe, if they already haven’t. Jordyn wrote about all the bad things that have happened just in the last month. And honestly, I was going to write about the same things.

Our country...our world, is falling apart, and to be frank, it all sucks.

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By Tory Duncan

Nebraska has well beyond 300 known missing persons registered on the Nebraska State Patrol’s website.

In the light of the sad death of Mollie Tibbetts in Iowa, and after some recent activity in the state over the past several weeks, it’s time to renew a strong effort to keep an eye out as a community, as neighborhoods and as citizens of each and every community in Clay County and statewide, heck for that matter, nationally.

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By Ashley D. Swanson

here’s a decorative plaque on the deskat the Sutton Community Home that states “angels are often disguised as nurses,” and while I probably have some bias behind me due to my past and current involvement in the medical field, I fully believe that statement is true.

Being a nurse (certified nursing assistant, medaid, registered nurse, etc.) comes with a lot of things.

It comes with several hours of non-stop work. It comes with long nights, early mornings, and forever afternoons. It comes with sore muscles and aching joints. It comes with every emotion in the book. 

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By Tory Duncan

Once in a while you hear news that you just dislike hearing. Sunday, at least for me, was one of those days, as Lee Barfknecht, one of my alltime favorite in-state sports writers, after a 39-year career with the Omaha World-Herald is retiring!

No direct high end journalism from this man, ever again! The journalism world will NOT be the same, especially in the world of sports writing!

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For seven years, lawmakers have failed to expand health care coverage for an estimated 90,000 Nebraskans who can’t afford to purchase insurance on their own.

Governor Pete Ricketts and Governor Dave Heineman before him successfully thwarted the attempts in what has become one of the largest, most divisive partisan struggles in the officially nonpartisan Legislature. In case you forgot, there are way more Republicans than Democrats in the Legislature, well, in Nebraska for that matter. And the oft-suggested vehicle for providing the insurance — Medicaid expansion–apparently sounded too much like Obamacare.

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Each year the Nebraska Department of Revenue submits a report of the financial details of Nebraska’s tax incentive programs. Although the Nebraska Advantage Act is the largest, the report provides the benefits paid to companies participating in seven distinct programs. This year’s report identifies the fiscal impact to Nebraska taxpayers of 132 qualifying projects that have received benefits under one or more of the seven programs.

The Annual Report contains specific, detailed information about the benefits participant companies have received and will continue to receive from the program. To date, a total of $905 million in tax credits and $187 million in sales tax refunds have been given, with another $37 million in sales tax refunds pending approval. While sales tax refunds are paid to the company when earned, the tax credits represent a cumulative liability to Nebraska taxpayers.