Growing up, on our birthdays, my siblings and I always kept a keen ear tuned to the radio in the morning. In maybe a humorous sign of the times, on our birthdays, our parents would call in to a morning show—usually Matt and Julia in the Morning on 107.7, KSYZ— and we would listen for our names to be called with the rest of the people in central Nebraska celebrating our special day.

Brace yourself Nebraskans for another year without meaningful property tax relief. That’s because the “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OBBB) means that Nebraska will have to do without about $216 million in state income tax revenue over the next two years, and $406 million less over the next four years.

When you are a little kid, no one is smarter than your parents. You idolize them.

Over the years, I covered more than one effort by the Nebraska Legislature to redraw the boundaries of districts for state legislators and United States congressional representatives, among others, due to shifts in the state’s population.

On vacation in Colorado last week, I ran into a few Husker expats. All commented on how great the summer weather was in the mountains.

Monday morning, as I scrambled out the door and off to my first event of the week—the Arcadia Fall Festival Parade—out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of the front end of my vehicle, and my heart skipped a beat.

Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen and state lawmakers are taking another run at reducing the much-despised high property taxes in our state, this time via a commission on reforming the way we fund K-12 schools.

I don’t think there are many people who haven’t played the proverbial game of cat-and-mouse in at least one situation or another during their life. While I get the origin of the phrase, for me, anymore, I feel like I live a constant game of Michael-and-UPS truck.

From what I have seen and heard, even with school having started this past week, everyone is making that last effort to get in one or two more fun outings this summer. I know, for me, the summer season flew by at a clip that I don’t know if I have experienced in the past.

Driving down the road the other day, I was startled to hear one of our congressional representatives tell NPR that both Nebraska and Iowa were experiencing “basically a recession economy.” Both states have agriculture- based economies, for the most part, and rely on foreign trade. Plus, low crop prices have dogged farmers in recent years.