Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
Serving proudly since 1873 as the beautiful Nebraska Panhandle's first newspaper
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On the 58th day of this year's shorter 60-day legislative session Nebraska State Senators debated the Governor's actual tax plan. That plan was amended into the Revenue Committee's shell bill (LB 388) with an amendment (AM 3468). I have been saying throughout the legislative session that the Governor's plan would not deliver 40 percent property tax relief, as per his promise, and that amendment only proved my point when the bill advanced to Final Reading late last Wednesday night. The Governor...
Of all the objectionable things Donald Trump has ever done, selling a Bible would seem to rank pretty far down the list. Yet his marketing, along with Lee Greenwood, of a God Bless the U.S.A. Bible for $59.99 has occasioned a couple of news cycles of outrage. The Bible has an American flag cover and accompanying American historical documents, including the Declaration of Independence, as well as the words to Greenwood's iconic patriotic song. Hawking the Bible like it's a digital trading card or...
"But you have an anointing from the Holy One and you know all things [within that anointing] because the anointing received from Him abides and teaches you [to solve problems with a touch of class]. I John 2:20, 27 A teacher once said it this way, "It is that 'indescribable something' that raises the A to A+". Anointing on someone is sensed rather than seen. That is, we may observe someone is 'a natural' at something. My Granny made the best bread. None of us could duplicate it, even with the re...
We hear a lot about "white privilege" from certain power hungry politicians who are not afraid of producing division in our nation. I know that I'm treading a narrow and dangerous path in writing this article. All I ask is that you stick with me until you get to the conclusion... According to some politicians and radial left pot stirrers if you are a certain skin color and have a nice home and car you are automatically labels as "privileged." I beg to differ with them. Yes, there are people (of...
Last Wednesday was a very busy day at the Capitol in Lincoln. Every State Senator's phone and email lit up with messages concerning LB 764, a bill commonly referred to as the "Winner Take All" bill. Nebraska is one of only two states which splits its electoral college votes during a presidential election. Current Nebraska State law allows voters to choose one presidential elector for each of Nebraska's three congressional districts and for two additional presidential electors to be chosen at lar...
Writer Coleman Hughes went on "The View" and was greeted almost as though he had shown up wearing a white hood. Hughes, a soft-spoken black intellectual who is a political independent, was talking about his new book, "The End of Race Politics: Arguments for a Colorblind America." Once upon a time, colorblindness was an uncontroversial idea. It was considered a core American ideal and worth aspiring to, even if we were failing to live up to it. In recent decades, though, it has run into a...
"Silver and gold have I none, but what I do have, I give to you in the Name of Jesus Christ (Messiah) of Nazareth. Rise up and walk!" The apostle Peter was not without money, at this moment. No. He was authorized to use Jesus' Name. This man had never walked, begged all of his life and saw no future for himself. Money could not possibly solve his problem! However, when the Name above every name was received, he leaped up and went into the Temple for the first time in his life! This is why we...
Two weeks ago in these pages, I looked at the second and third sections of the 14th Amendment. Today I continue with its two final sections, the fourth and the fifth. Section 4 clarifies which debts the U.S. Federal government will honor as valid. The first sentence reads: “The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned.” In oth...
When it comes to the generation of power, Nebraska does a lot of things right. Nebraska ranks as the number one state in the nation for residential electricity reliability, and Nebraska ranks as the fifth best state in the Union for the overall cost of electricity. Electrical utilities in Nebraska are completely owned by the public; there are no privately owned power companies in Nebraska. Nebraska has been a leader in power generation ever since the State Legislature passed its first public pow...
Karl Marx would be proud. Bernie Sanders has proposed taking another step toward the philosopher's envisioned utopia by proposing to mandate a four-day workweek. Marx wrote how in communist society, workers would be liberated to "hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, raise cattle in the evening, criticize after dinner, just as I have in mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, shepherd or critic." Needless to say, that's not how communism turned out. Yet the belief that work is...
"Arise, Shine, for your Light has come! Darkness covers the earth and deep darkness the people, but the Lord will arise. His Glory is seen on you." Isaiah 60:1 How marvelous is our God! He said, "Let Us make Man in Our own image, male and female, with Our likeness (personality and character) and let them have dominion over [all the works of Our Hands]" Genesis 1:28 Chosen, Royal, Holy, Anointed and Peculiar! I Peter 2:9. Obedience is better than sacrifice. I Samuel 15:23. But, could I go if God...
The Beach Boys (I'm showing my age here) is one of my favorite bands. Most of their songs gave us a musical image of life under the sun on a pleasant coastal beach. A very small number of their songs had a sad note... as in losing your girl friend, or being lonely. The song "In My Room" comes to mind as I write this article. It has been a bit over a year since Dorothy, my wife of over 50 years died. During that time I've dealt with all kinds of legal issues... too many to list here. My children...
During the days of the pandemic religious leaders were told to do many things to inhibit the spreading of the coronavirus, including closing the doors of their churches. Most obliged the orders of their state and local governments, while a few did not. One of those ministers who refused was John MacArthur, the senior pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA. MacArthur believed that his constitutional rights had been violated, so he sued and his case went all the way up to the U.S....
The uncommitted voters of Michigan say "Jump," and Chuck Schumer asks "How high"? The Senate majority leader gave an extraordinary speech flaying the democratically elected leader of an ally engaged in fighting a defensive war against a hideous terrorist enemy. The speech calling on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to go, along with increasingly critical statements by the White House, shows that the Democrats have decided that appeasing their left-wing base in an election year is now...
"But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, which none of the rulers of the age knew, for if they had known, they would not have crucified the Lord of Glory." I Corinthians 2:7, 8 "The Gospel According to Pontius Pilate", James Robert. Mills (Fleming H. Revell Co., Publishers, October 1978) recounts Jesus' Resurrection from the Roman archives. Pilate, the Governor, was expected to cooperate with Caiaphas, the High Priest, to keep the Jews from causing disturbance in a Roman occupied land....
Last time in these pages I looked at Section 1 of the 14th Amendment. Today I continue. The last phrase in Section 1 of the 14th Amendment declares that no state can "deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the law." All races are equal under the law. Section 2 begins: "Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers." By these words the committee eliminated the 3/5's rule. Section 2 continues: "But when the right to...
One of Rush Limbaugh's undeniable truths of life was that "words mean things." Such is the case with words such as "destroyed property' and 'calamity'. According to Nebraska State Statute 77-1307, "Calamity means a disastrous event, including, but not limited to a fire, an earthquake, a flood, a tornado or other natural event which significantly affects the assessed value of real property." This definition should not require a disastrous event to have a natural cause, but not everyone sees it...
Joe Biden doesn't have a problem with illegal immigrants. He's made that clear in his shame-faced retreat from his impromptu use of the term "illegal" during his State of the Union address. He regrets using the offending word, doesn't want to disrespect illegal immigrants and believes that they are absolutely essential to the success of the United States. "Look, they built the country," Biden told Jonathan Capehart of MSNBC. He added that they are "the reason our economy is growing." Yes, where...
Recently our country has seen activities by various levels of government, from states to our national government that, at the very least, could be assessed as unconstitutional. Unfortunately our educational systems around the nation have failed in many schools to teach our young for some time about the Constitution of the United States. There are few today who have any knowledge about the original document, much less about the Amendments that have been made to it. And during the recent pandemic...
In 2021 the Fufeng Group, a Chinese food manufacturer, bought 300 acres of farmland near Grand Forks, North Dakota in order to build a milling plant. They paid 2.6 million dollars for the land. That land is only twelve miles from the Grand Forks Air Base, which is home to some of America's most sensitive military secrets. Last year both the BBC and NPR reported that the Chinese had already purchased 380,000 acres of farmland in the United States. After the purchase of land was made near the...
Donald Trump obviously left office on a sour note in January 2021, written off by many opinion-makers and political professionals. Then, President Biden happened. The most remarkable phenomenon of the 2024 election cycle so far is the rise of Trump nostalgia. It's difficult for anyone to have a new opinion about former President Trump, who is so well-known, so in-your-face, and so polarizing. Yet, people have a new, more favorable attitude toward his presidency in retrospect, certainly compared...
"Therefore, Brethren, be even more diligent to make your call and election sure, that you do not stumble but enter into the abundance of the Kingdom of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ." 2 Peter 1:9, 11 Peter would know. He had not 'caught' what Jesus taught more than once. Then, he made the mistake of denying the Lord. He had been on the mountain of transfiguration with Him and had seen a vision of His resurrection. As with so many, Peter's intelligence and experience got in the way of his...
In early 1866, the Joint Committee of Fifteen on Reconstruction in the 39th Congress wrestled with the idea that they must write a 14th Amendment to address certain issues: Who is a citizen? How does the country's laws apply to former slaves and slave owners? Will former Confederate officials hold elected office now in the Union? Will former slaveholders receive any compensation for the loss of their property? Who will pay the Confederacy's debts? Most important, who will rule supreme: state...
Dear Cheyenne County, Our Senior Staff Writer and Sports Editor Mike Motz, was taken gravely ill this past Sunday and is currently in ICU at Cheyenne Regional. At this time, we are temporarily down both one of our two reporters and our sole Sports Writer. It is not an easy thing to do to admit one needs help, but we are a strong community newspaper, and I have zero doubt that this same community can rally behind one of its own during a very difficult time for both. He has worked tirelessly to...
Last week the State of Wyoming advanced a bill by Rep. Steve Harshman to eliminate most property taxes in Wyoming along with a two percent hike in the State's sales tax. Shifting the tax burden away from property taxes and onto sales taxes or consumption taxes is an idea which is now gaining a lot of steam all across the country. Besides Nebraska, states which have seen these kinds of bills in recent years include Florida, Idaho, Kansas, Michigan, North Dakota, South Carolina, and Texas. In 2020...
