Columns

Deadlines, deadlines, deadlines. I’ve led most of my life, say after I turned 14 or 15, of following a schedule, and when I decided to step into the newspaper business to follow the lead of my parents, I knew that I was at the mercy of even more deadlines.

I remember, as a kid, both in elementary, junior high and even high school, that my parents were always at the “phone always rings,” point in their lives.

Back in the day, when your name and home phone was published in what we used to call a phone book, you were never out of reach, even if it was at 11 at night.

This brings me to my point this week. I’ve seen numerous social media posts that boldly state: “don’t text me or call me after hours. I’m not a 24/7 booking agent for you to get an appointment, or in my case, send a picture or place an ad in the newspaper.”

Wrestling, as I’ve shared many times over my newspaper career, isn’t a sport for the faint of heart, meaning both the athlete himself, or herself, as well as for the fans of the sport. I myself DO consider myself a fan, because outside of most track and field events, wrestling is all about the individual, which sure, benefits a team’s score, but in the end, wrestling is all about that one athlete, as he or she steps on the mat.

Coaches, moms, dads, or family members can’t wrestle for each athlete, all they can do is coach or suggest moves.

Over the course of the past couple of weeks, Clay County’s wrestling teams entered the post season, taking part in district competition. From those district meets, there will be four wrestlers representing our local schools at the state meet.

It’s incredibly easy to fall into the regular routine of life, where you do the same things day in and day out.

This year I wanted to challenge myself in various ways, the first being by reading more.

Now I know I’ve said in the past that I was going to read more, and then suddenly it’s the end of the year and I read maybe three books the entire year.

This time, though, I asked for 12 book recommendations from friends/ family, and that’s what I plan to do.

Already this year I’ve read two books— “What Moves the Dead,” by T. Kingfisher, and “The Lost Village,” by Camilla Sten. I don’t really recommend either book; I especially did not like “The Lost Village,” which was a huge bummer because the concept of the book is great, but it was poorly executed.

Unfortunately, neither of those books were recommended to me, so I’m already behind because I am by no means a fast reader and will not finish a book by midnight tonight (Jan. 31).

Year after year the home stretch of the winter sports season always creeps up on me, this year is no different. We’re just two weeks away from the state wrestling championships, which also means we’re just a little over two weeks away from the girls sub-district tournaments, and so much more post-season action.

This week, as most of us all know, is conference tournament week for our local schools. The Southern Nebraska Conference wrestling meet was held this past Saturday, with Sutton and Sandy Creek both coming away with two conference medalists.

By the time you read the Bull this week, the action on the hardwood for the SNC and Twin Valley Conference basketball tournaments will be halfway through each respective tournament.

It’s been a rough season for the Harvard girls basketball team.

Currently, just prior to a second round with Elba on Thursday and the opening- round of TVC play on Saturday, they sit at 0-16 on the season.

However, that is not to say they haven’t fought and worked hard in the games they’ve played so far.

I’ve covered several home games they’ve played, as well as the holiday tournament in Kenesaw back in December.

Due to this, I’ve seen a variety of plays, opponents, hard-missed shots, and easily-sunk 3-pointers.

As with every sport no matter the team, there are extra rough games and there are the better ones. There are lost and won quarters; foul outs; small numbers; and everything in between.

But there are also well-done plays; 100 percent from the foul line; tough players; and there are great moments on and off the court.

My observation from the opening days of the 108th Nebraska Legislature: “The fix is in!”

Google it, information worth having as this highly partisan influenced session stumbles on. In the 20’s, when the term first surfaced, it meant the deal was done–robably in advance. There is also mention made of bribes or pay-offs. I’m not suggesting that’s in play right now, or is it?

Chairmanship races this year were cut and dried, not unlike five years ago when the majority party in the officially non-partisan Legislature met before the session convened and decided who was going to do what. This year was similar with the 32 Republicans exercising their power in numbers over the 17 Democrats. Most seats went to Republicans.

Just two weeks from the start of tax filing season, an efficient and functioning Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has never been more important.

The overwhelming majority of Americans pay their taxes; however, 90 percent of the $80 billion in new IRS funding in the Inflation Act would pave the way for more audits on working-class families.

Instead of addressing problems like the IRS’s massive return processing backlog, customer service failures, and alarming leaks of private taxpayer data, Democrats in Congress last year directed $80 billion to IRS, with 90 percent of that funding focused on vastly expanding the IRS’ audit capacity, and not just for the wealthy.

This week, we officially gaveled in the 118th Congress. With Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House, I know House Republicans will deliver on our Commitment to America to restore a government that’s accountable, a nation that’s safe, an economy that’s strong, and a future that’s free.

Our challenges are great. Inflation is soaring, our supply chains are broken, and with a workforce participation rate which remains historically low at 62.1 percent, it’s clear too many American workers are on the sidelines of the economy.

Crime is out of control, our southern border is not secure, and bureaucrats have tried to rob Americans of their power to make the best decisions for their families time and time again. The stakes are high.

The road to economic recovery clearly leads through connecting Americans to good-paying jobs and making sure wage gains are not destroyed by inflation.

There’s been a lot of talk about preserving the officially nonpartisan nature of the Nebraska Legislature. But there is another issue, occasionally discussed with similar zeal in years past, that’s creeping up again.

(Gasp!) It’s the urban-rural split. While the focus has been on party loyalty—there are 32 Republicans and 17 Democrats in the officially nonpartisan Legislature— there are also 26 “urban” lawmakers (18 from Omaha and 8 from Lincoln) to just 23 “rural” senators. That ref lects the shift of two rural districts, 49 and 36) to the Omaha metro area in the past four years.

District 49 was moved from the upper Panhandle to the Gretna area in 2018 and attorney Andrew La Grone was appointed to be the Senator. He was defeated two years later by current Senator Jen Day. Then, just last year, redistricting moved Central Nebraska’s District 36 to Bellevue when term-limited Sen. Matt Williams of Gothenburg offered the district number to easily solve the problem.

If you are like many nearly half of the American population, you probably have a New Year’s resolution set for this year, while 38 percent of Americans absolutely never make New Year’s resolution according to research by University of Scranton, 2016.

A majority of those resolutions are self-improvement or education related resolutions (47%), weight related (38%), money related (34%) or relationship related (31%).

University of Southern California’s John Monterosso who is an expert on psychology and neuroscience of self-control offers insight on how to achieve setting those resolutions.