Columns

dmurman@leg.ne.gov

(402) 471-2732

Hello Neighbor,

We only have two days of session left. Those will be used to confirm the few remaining appointments, pass a few more bills, and override any vetoes from the Governor.

The legislature passed the budget with some property tax relief added by adding $51 million per year to the property tax credit program. This brings the amount in that program to $275 million.

Even though we increased the amount in the property tax credit program, I could not support a budget that increased spending. We have increased spending constantly every budget cycle. It may not sound like much, but 3 percent every time we pass a budget adds up to a whole lot more spending.

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Nearly every student at Sandy Creek Middle and High School brings a cell phone to school. This doesn’t become a problem until it comes time for class. Then the controversy begins.

“I don’t feel a cell phone is necessary in a classroom,” said Deweese’s Cheryl Brockman, a member of the South Central Unified #5 School District’s Board of Education during its regular meeting on May 20, at Lawrence-Nelson High School in Nelson.

The board reviewed Sandy Creek’s cell phone policy for students during the meeting.

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RAMBLES

This past weekend I was talking with my grandma and the conversation came up about how you see less and less kids outside playing these days.

I blame technology and smartphones, like I usually do. Granted, I’m not outside anywhere near enough, but I’m also not a kid, some evenings, if I have nothing going on, all I want to do is sit on the couch and do absolutely nothing.

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BULL

So as the month of May, a long month of May, comes to an end here with our May 29 issue next week, it will complete 10 full years with the Clay County News for me. I’ll admit today that when I came to Clay County I was a little green, even a tad bit spooked.

I had been away from the newspaper industry since 1994 when I came back to the industry in 2009. I had moments of “can I do this...should I do this?”

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As of late I’ve been watching this television series called “Regular Show,” which is about this group of “people” running a park and typically have to fight off supernatural beings and all that fun stuff. (Side note: I put people in quotes because they’re not really peoplethe main characters are a blue jay and raccoon, that can talk and have people skills, etc.).

Yes, this is a cartoon, and yes, the viewing ages were focused on young adults...and I’m a few years from 30, but let’s not dwell on that.

Anyway, the show was on air from 2009 to 2017 and in the last episode of season seven (there are only eight seasons), Rigby (the raccoon) is giving a graduation speech, which is surprisingly inspirational given the fact that this is a cartoon.

Broken down his speech is about embracing the smarts we have and that no matter if we’re street smart, book smart or just specialize in one certain area of life, we can all still suceed in what we do.

Another school year is about to be history and it seems to me, after 10 full school years with the Clay County News, that like every year, when I look back on the year it just blew past me like Buzz Lightyear on an adrenaline rush.

All three high schools have sent off another graduating class, Harvard on May 4, while Sutton and Sandy Creek sent their seniors off into the next stages of their lives this past Saturday.

What really hits me each year is the fact that many of these young men and women were second graders when I came to Clay County....SECOND GRADERS!

Then, add in the fact that some of the students I have covered these past 10 years are married and starting their young families. The sheer signs to me that right before my own eyes time is flying and if I’m not careful, I’ll miss something.

Idon’t know about anyone else, but I like routines. I enjoy the certainty they provide and the fact that routines, for the most part, do not change.

However, with the school year ending and summer events taking place ,that routine of the school year and school activities is ending.

Loetta will no longer be out of the house from 7:30 a.m.-4 p.m. There won’t be any school activities, such as plays, concerts, afterschool programs or sports games.

Other than the occasional school board meeting, there really won’t be any reason for me to go to any of our schools until August.

In saying that, there are routines that come with the arrival of summer.

May is like clockworkwe have three special sections coming up; there’s state track (although I won’t be going, I’m used to Tory being gone those days); school will let out between May 15 and 22; and Memorial Day will end the month.

Mothers Day is just around the corner, this Sunday in fact, and it always makes me think of my mother and some of the things I learned from her, even if at the time I might have seemed like “I already knew the things she taught me.”

This past Monday, May 6, mom would have been 76 years old. She left our family 30 years ago this past April, but her legacy continues on in our hearts and minds.

One of the biggest things I can safely recall mom teaching me specifically is that you always treat others as you want to be treated.

She and I often saw things differently, but I can understand why that was, because she was “always right,” and honestly, most of the time she was right, and if she wasn’t right I rarely said anything, because I treated her as I would want to be treated, should the role be reversed.

Mom always had her quirks, just like I do and most people I know do. She had a way of calming us down when we needed it, including my father.