Columns

The legislative interim in Nebraska is an important time for research, refining existing legislation, and preparing new proposals. Free from the pace of the formal session, senators can do comprehensive research and make sure they are ready to address the state’s most pressing issues when the Legislature reconvenes in January. Work done during the interim lays the groundwork for policies that support Nebraska families, farmers, and businesses while ensuring the government operates efficiently and responsibly.

I have a confession. I am scared of the dark.

What The Future May Hold The future is approaching faster than one can handle. In 1998, Kodak had 170,000 employees and sold 85% of all photo paper worldwide.

I recently returned from a visit to Israel and wanted to share a few reflections from that trip, especially now, as the first phase of the Gaza peace deal, led by President Trump, begins to take shape, and the living hostages have been released. We also mark the second anniversary of the horrific Hamas attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, a day that remains one of the darkest in recent history, when 1,200 Jews were slaughtered and roughly 250 were taken hostage; the most since the end of the Holocaust. It wasn’t a battle between soldiers but a brutal assault on civilians, an effort to humiliate, strip away dignity, and spread fear among families simply living their lives.

Jim Rempe, Oconto mail carrier, called the Courier office Monday morning to report that since he started carrying mail in February 1975, he has killed nine rattlesnakes and saw six that he didn’t get. Seven of those were in the same four-mile stretch south of Oconto.

The year 2025 in China is the “Year of the Snake”. Here in my back yard it has been the “Fall of the Butterfly”.

I’m the life of the party — even if it lasts until 8 p.m. I’m very good at opening childproof caps — with a hammer.

I have always admired the beauty of mums in the fall, but for some reason have never had one in my own yard until this year. My mum, you might say, is somewhat of a miracle.

Last month my son sent me a video of about 20 or more hawks that were circling above his house in Kearney. A group of hawks are called a “kettle” and this “kettle” was made up of Swainson’s Hawks.

With all that is going on in the world, ranging from ongoing conflict in the Middle East, an impasse in Congress resulting in a Government Shutdown, the plethora of “pink postcards” received by taxpayers across the State, as a result of locally increased property taxes and numerous other challenges, there is no shortage of topics to discuss. It seems that the list of conflicts is endless. I am going to take a bit of personal privilege this week and talk about something entirely different.