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.

Close encounters of the zoning kind

The Nebraska Legislature began talking about “exterrestrials” the other day, and well, who could pass up writing about that?I have a buddy who insists that an alien craft hovered over his acreage outside of Ashland.

Simple ways to close the state budget gap dismissed

If you’re like me, you were sickened to read about the wildfires running amok across sections of Nebraska in mid March.

Simple ways to close the state budget gap dismissed

Way back in the day, when I was in high school, I had a summer job of mopping floors at a local hospital.Being a janitor was a really satisfying job because when you were done, you could easily see what you had accomplished, unlike a lot of other occupations.

‘SAVE America Act’ is a solution in search of a problem

One of my favorite political slogans of all time is “a solution in search of a problem.”It’s used frequently in debates at the Nebraska Legislature to describe a proposal or idea that imposes new rules and restrictions to address a problem that doesn’t exist.

Mentoring programs are great, but what about reading skills

Mentoring programs are a great thing.They help kids — mostly kids in single-parent families — gain confidence, and learn leadership and life skills from adults.