Maybe smartphones don’t make us ‘smart’

A good buddy has a favorite saying: “We’re all smart. We have smartphones.”It’s funny, and I’ve used it several times.After all, smartphones have, in a lot of ways, made our lives easier and smarter.Got an unfamiliar address to find? Use the smartphone to give you directions.Hungry for a burrito?

Name-calling, verbal missteps dog the governor

Gov. Jim Pillen has always insisted that he’s “not a politician,” but more of a regular guy.“Speech-i-fying” isn’t his cup of rhetorical tea. I’m sure he’d admit that.But every so often, we get evidence of, shall we say, a misstep of the vocal variety.

Getting straight answers harder and harder

A crusty, old state worker once told me that “the story of government is not what is said is not so, it is what is so is not said.”Wise words that seem to get wiser by the year.

Nebraska: it really has a lot of cool stuff to see/experience

Memorial Day has come and gone, so it’s time to hit the road.As a lover of Nebraska stuff (you know, corn, the Huskers, Busch Light) I’ve never understood why more people don’t vacation in our state.There’s plenty of stuff to see and experience.

Upset win in Secretary of State primary wasn’t unexpected

Elections often bring surprises, but the upset victory of retired Omaha businessman Scott Petersen in the Republican primary for Secretary of State wasn’t that surprising.Sure, he defeated an incumbent, Lincoln attorney Bob Evnen, who was seeking a third, four-year term.

Newspaper stories confirm there’s still good people out there

Every so often, you’re reminded that people are generally good.And, you get some idea how important the media is in helping generate good news.My latest refresher came via a story I wrote for the Nebraska Examiner, an online news site that used to consume most of my labors.

‘Hall of Hot Winds’ gasses up for election season

Rumors are as common around the State Capitol as brome grass in a roadside ditch.

Anger rises over changes made in citizen-adopted laws

Almost every time I head over to the local work-out joint, there’s some petition circulators waiting.They scurry up and ask for my signature on a proposed ballot initiative that would make it harder for state legislators to change laws that voters have passed at the ballot box.

Another legislative session in the books, along with another budget crisis averted

Some State Capitol watchers say they can’t relax until state legislators go home for the year.As a reporter who chased the occupants of the “Hall of Hot Winds” for too many decades, I can attest that the fire drill-like finish to legislative sessions leaves you ready for something different.

Political craziness now includes supposed ‘plants’ running

Spring is planting time in Nebraska.But the looming primary election on May 12 for U.S. Senate is also, allegedly, quite a planting session, generating competing claims that candidates are “plants” to help or hurt the two leading candidates.We’re referring to the race between U.S. Sen.