Comments from two state senators from Omaha have pretty much diminished hopes for a “normal” session of the Nebraska Legislature this year. “I think it will be a difficult session again.

I have to admit, at this time last week, I would have had a hard time coming up with a handful of facts that I knew about the state of South Carolina. Fast-forward to this week, and I may not be able to sweep a category about the Palmetto State on Jeopardy, but I now do know one additional thing about South Carolina.

When it comes to covering high school athletics in central Nebraska, over the years, I have learned that there is one tool that I am missing from my belt: A poker face. While hanging out on sidelines and baselines throughout the fall and winter months, I have to constantly remind myself that sometimes expressions can be more potent than words.

The hole keeps getting deeper. Remember when I suggested someone should give the governor a shovel so he could dig a deeper hole for himself? That was when he had refused to read a published report on high levels of nitrates on his pig farms because it was written by “someone from Communist China.” He subsequently refused to apologize to the reporter with a Chinese surname who is a graduate of an American university and has been working for news organizations in the United States for several years.

I was running errands last week when, while waiting in line to check out, I overhead a conversation that made my ears perk up. Elsewhere in the store, two shoppers, a younger man and an older woman, were having a conversation about the snowstorm that hit the area over Christmas.

They’re back. The 108th Legislature, Second Session, convenes today.

A couple summers ago, my family went to Worlds of Fun in Kansas City for a quick vacation. While riding the rides at the amusement park, my brother and I found ourselves on the precipice of what many would consider a nightmare scenario.

A change is gonna come. Leaders of the Nebraska Legislature want to streamline the process and perhaps change a few rules during the upcoming short session to avoid the mess of last year’s ninety-day struggle.

One of the first competitions of the winter sports season that I had the opportunity to cover this year was a wrestling triangular at Minden High School. In early December, I made the trek to the school in the daylight and left long after the sun had set.