The old joke around the state capitol is that legislators get paid “$12,000 a year and all you can eat and drink.” That is a reference to all the free meals— and, okay, maybe a drink or two—dispensed at the almost daily events hosted by lobbying groups during legislative sessions.

In a dozen years publishing newspapers, I have learned that there is an item or two that it is wise to shy away from, even on the opinion page. However, this week, I am throwing caution into the wind and tiptoeing into the water of controversy.

Admittedly, when you live alone like I do, there really isn’t much use in setting house rules, let alone following them. After all, if you track in mud, you are the one that is going to have to clean it up.

As a young reporter, I got the opportunity to cover, and learn a few things, from maybe the greatest state senator ever, Jerome Warner. He was the kind of state senator who just commanded respect, and unlike some politicians, had a wellformed group of beliefs that guided his decision making.

It’s hard to overstate the impact agriculture has on the State of Nebraska.

On Saturday morning, even though I was going to spend the day covering high school wrestling, before I headed out the door, I threw on some Husker gear.

Nebraska, I’ll bet, is the only state in the union where the retirement of the volleyball coach is frontpage news. And where the installation of a new coach is covered live on television with the governor in attendance.

If you are traveling around the upper Midwest, particularly at night, and are getting a bit homesick, there is always an easy respite. All you must do it turn your radio over to the AM dial, and find 880, KRVN.

The last two years have been a struggle for the Mark and Rachel Sazama family of St. Paul, but they have prevailed and their son, Elliot, is now a lively, healthy two-year-old.

I have no doubt that, for many of Nebraska’s young people, it is a tale as old as time. It was late, I was hungry, and I needed a place that was still open and serving something that didn’t come out of a tap.