Columns

Election season is once again upon us, and it is important that registered voters think before we vote! There are so many contested races on the state and local ticket that it’s important not to just dive in and hurry to cast your vote.

There is far more than just the race, to gain the top spot in the state as Nebraska governor, several local races are contested races, such as the seat for Legislative District #38 between Clay County incumbent Dave Murman and Tyler Cappel of Arapahoe.

All three local school board races are contested this year, with Harvard having four people running for three seats. Both Sutton and Sandy Creek school boards have five people running for three spots on their respective boards.

In 2021, the Nebraska Legislature adopted LB 644, titled the Property Tax Request Act and more commonly dubbed the Truth in Taxation Act. The bill requires counties to inform their citizens of an increase in property tax from the year prior of 2 percent or more. The legislation also requires the counties to hold a public hearing where citizens can ask questions, express discontent, or air grievances about any increases.

Over the last few weeks, my office has been contacted by constituents asking questions about this process. Truth in Taxation was a major step toward transparency for Nebraska property owners and accountability for local taxing entities.

Interviews over the course of my community newspaper career have come from so many different angles and have covered so many different topics. I can’t pick out any odd interviews that stand out for me, but there have been some awesome people that I’ve had the luxury of talking to and being able to tell their story.

Last Wednesday night, Sept. 28, was a first for me, and man let me tell you, it was so unique because it covered a sporting event that I’ve never had the luxury of doing, at least I don’t think I have anyway.

Rodeo...to be more exact. Bull riding is a sport that I’ve covered several times, but they’ve always been events that the newspapers that I’ve worked for covered them as just photographic feature events.

Last Wednesday, I had the luxury of sitting down in the Clay County News office with four students that attend Sutton Public Schools, including the Poppe boys, Korey and Dillion (Dilly), as well as the Scheidemann boys, Tyson and Landon.

Every year, National 4-H Week sees millions of youth, parents, volunteers, and alumni come together to celebrate the many positive youth development opportunities offered by 4-H. The theme for the 2022 National 4‑H Week is “Opportunity for All”. National 4-H week runs from Oct. 2-8.

With so many children struggling to reach their full potential, 4-H believes that young people, in partnership with adults, can play a key role in creating a more promising and equitable future for youth, families, and communities across the country.

In 4-H, we believe every child should have an equal opportunity to succeed. We believe every child should have the skills they need to make a difference in the world.

Fillmore and Clay County 4-H will observe National 4-H Week this year by highlighting some of the inspirational 4-H youth in our community who are working tirelessly to support each other and their communities.

Over the last few years, communities across Legislative District 38 (LD-38) have been recognized by the Nebraska Department of Economic Development and the Nebraska Diplomats for achievements in growth, modernization, business expansion, retention, leadership, agri-business, and preparation to succeed in competitive environments.

Today, I’m recognizing some of those achievements and putting the great success across our district into context.

Last month, Governor Ricketts presented Holdrege with the Nebraska Diplomats’ “Community of the Year” award. Holdrege was recognized by the Nebraska Diplomats for being on a path forward for economic development, including a $100 million investment in Becton Dickinson’s Holdrege plant, an $8 million expansion by Allmand Inc./Briggs & Stratton, a new Cobblestone Hotel, and a $2 million dollar expansion of the VA Clinic in Holdrege.

Never in my life have I been a morning person. Well, that’s sort of a lie, because when the good morning cartoons on Saturdays were a thing, I was definitely a morning person because I had to get to the TV before my brother.

But other than that, I’ve never been a morning person.

As I got older, I became a night owl—especially when I reached college. There were several all-nighters in college and I somehow was able to function the next day and stay awake during my classes.

Then I got out of college and slowly but surely that night owl turned into a mid-day pigeon.

Late nights for me now are past 10 p.m. I saw a social media post that states something along the lines of “when I was a kid I couldn’t wait for the day I could choose my own bedtime, and now as an adult apparently that bedtime is 9 p.m.”

It makes me laugh because it’s true. Although I have always greatly valued sleep, I especially appreciate any kind of sleep I can get these days.

Sometimes a little discussion can go a long, long way in life, and for me, as I often look back on “triggers” that helped me in my growing years. It was coaches and teachers that made a big difference, first of all, for my own self, but it also made a difference for teams I played on and classes I was in...as long as I paid attention.

I was pretty lucky in high school, to be honest. I went through some low years in class and sports, but I also had some pretty amazing years in the same right.

Small schools are notorious for going through peaks and valleys in sports, and in the classroom for that matter. Some years are awesome years, and yet some years you walk down the path, kicking rocks and stones, wondering what it is that was off.

There are some crazy good things going on with our three Clay County school districts this year as we head into week five of the fall sports season.

Our nostalgic commercial had a little kid with a sandwich singing: “My bologna has a first name “It’s O-S-C-A-R “My bologna has a second name “It’s M-A-Y-E-R “Oh, I love to eat it every day “And if you ask me why I’ll say “Cause Oscar Mayer has a way “With B-O-L-O-G-N-A.”

1997 - 25YEARS AGO

Dave Sterkel, plant manager at Central Nebraska Wood Preservers of Sutton, announced his company had developed a new type of building material called “Nebraska cedartone.” The material was mostly Southern yellow pine that was stained and looked like redwood. The company was hand staining 40,000 board feet each week. The overall production at the Sutton plant filled as many as 20 trucks daily during their peak season. Six truckers were bringing in loads of white wood from Arkansas, Mississippi, Louisiana, Alabama, and Texas to feed the operations.

The Governor said his new Department of Corrections director was going to turn around Nebraska’s troubled prison system.

Now, seven years later, Director Scott Frakes is stepping down, a few months before Governor Pete Ricketts leaves office. Did he turn the system around or did he just throw some money and bricks and iron at the problem?

I met Frakes shortly after he arrived in 2015. I liked the guy because we shared some values. I thought he might stand a chance at being the guy to champion true prison reform such as alternative sentencing and other ideas that have been tossed around by more progressive members of the Legislature’s Judiciary Committee.

Finally, somebody was going to address the overcrowding problem, which has now left Nebraska in first place as the most overcrowded prison system in the country with 5,322 incarcerated people and facilities running at 158 percent of design capacity.

As governor, I’ve prioritized strengthening Nebraska’s presence abroad. Ninety-five percent of the world’s population lives outside of America’s borders. We must reach these international customers to grow Nebraska and create opportunities for our kids and grandkids.

Last month, I led a successful trade mission to the United Kingdom (UK) and Ireland. It’s an opportune time to engage both countries. As the UK navigates their exit from the European Union (commonly known as Brexit), they are looking to strengthen relationships in the US.

At the same time, Ireland’s economy is booming. In 2021, its Gross Domestic Product grew 13.5 percent. Ireland is home to a number of inventive ag tech companies looking to grow their presence internationally.