Columns

This past weekend I traveled quite a bit. From a speech meet in Grand Island, to a day with some of my favorite ladies (my aunt and two cousins), there was a good bit of driving done.

I take after most of the men in my family when it comes to drivers rage. Being in a family full of truckers... well, drivers rage comes easily. You grow up with it, I guess.

Anyway, I’m the kind of “rage driver” who will cuss insistently at others who are driving stupidly.

For example: Driving down the highway, going the speed limit, cruise control is set, when some I’m-in-a-hurry-get-out-of-my-way driver comes flying up behind me. Despite being able to see a vehicle coming toward us in the opposite lane the driver behind me decides to pass me because they just can’t be patient.

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Sometimes what you see is hard to believe with your own eyes, and at other times, it’s a dead center bullseye.

Monday night, while thinking of the topic of the Bull, a bullseye hit me square in the middle of the forehead, kind of like my thoughts in an opinion piece I wrote this week on page 5A.

“Shop Local...Cause Amazon won’t sponsor your kids ball team!”

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Just 15 minutes after opening, the food truck known as Mean Bone BBQ & Burgers had a line of people awaiting food—and the line kept getting longer.

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Each winter season seems to always sneak up on me, and with a blink of an eye it’s hitting the home stretch. It seems like basketball teams and wrestling teams just hit the court and mats throughout the state and all-of-the-sudden, we’re about to enter the home stretch of the winter season.

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Once per month I’m hoping to write a column focusing on one book I’ve read recently (or in the past, depending on how much time I got in to read a new book).

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WACO, TX—More than 4,400 Baylor University students were named to the Dean’s Academic Honor Roll for the 2019 fall semester.

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LINCOLN-Property taxes and prison reform are just two of the major proposals that state senators are expecting to discuss during the 60-day session, which began last week at the Nebraska Legislature.

Nebraska state senators returned to the Capitol in Lincoln Jan. 8, and introduced more than 100 new bills on the first day of the new session.

Senators said they are expecting to hear proposals on reducing property taxes, prison reform and healthcare.

Sen. Tom Brandt of Plymouth said he is expecting to hear lively debate on several topics early in the session. He said he will be paying close attention to the property tax discussion, particularly to how Nebraska values agricultural land.

“We are the only state that takes a market approach of ag land as opposed to productivity,” he said. “That’s what has helped aggravate this crisis out here in the rural schools.”

CAPITAL VIEW

Today’s the big day. Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts delivers the State of the State address to members of the 106th Legislature, Second Session. It’s his budget recommendation and his agenda for the rest of the session.

So, what is the State of the State? Well, thanks to unseasonably warm January weather, at least it’s NOT flooding. But wait, it’s Nebraska, and all that could change. Not to worry, the Governor is planning targeted increases in the current state budget to help finance repair of some of last year’s record flood damage. Good for you Governor!

PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA

As students and faculty return for a new semester of classes in Kearney, Lincoln, Omaha and Curtis, I’m reminded again of how lucky I am to be able to serve at a place like the University of Nebraska.

Not quite two weeks into my new role, I am more convinced than ever that this is truly one of the country’s great institutions of higher learning.

Every day I read another story about the life-changing research our faculty are doing in water and agriculture, medicine, national defense and other areas.

Every day I learn more about how our campuses are helping our 51,000 students succeed. Every day I meet thoughtful, engaged Nebraskans who are kind enough to extend well-wishes and share their thoughts on where the university system should be headed.

Dear Editor:

I recently learned that long-time Fairfield resident Angela Ridgway passed away at the age of 87. Upon learning of Angela’s passing, I felt compelled to write this letter to the Clay County News.

I met Angie Ridgway in the early 1990s when John, Jay, and Patrick Sullivan agreed to hire me as a summer intern in the long-time Clay County law firm known as Sullivan Law Offices. Angie served for decades as the Sullivans’ assistant and paralegal.

At the Sullivan law office as an intern, I essentially worked for Angie. I had never been in a law firm or a courtroom before the Sullivans hired me, and Angie showed me what attorneys in small town practice really do. I learned from the three generations of Sullivans in the firm at the time that it was Angie who kept the trains running on time in the law office.