Since just about everybody and their dog is currently feeling under the weather, last week I decided that, even though I was feeling great, I should still schedule a routine check-up with my doctor. Like any sane person, I hate going to the doctor, and that is something considering the amount of time I have spent on those odd, paper-covered exam tables.

George Norris must be rolling over in his grave. Norris, the father of the one-house Nebraska Unicameral Legislature and one of the greatest United States senators in history, sought a political body that would not be dominated by political parties.

Be wary of unintended consequences. That’s good advice for any endeavor, and appears to be the problem facing proposed retail/ sports/ entertainment developments called “Good Life Districts.” The recent effort to create such districts was well intended.

A couple of weeks ago, on a Tuesday afternoon, I received a voicemail that piqued my interest. It was from a woman in Syracuse, Nebraska and she was looking for some information that could only be found in the archives of the Palmer Journal.

After a decade in this business, I have come to one realization. If I can find a reason to get out of the office and still claim to others that I am “working,” you better believe I am going to take the opportunity.

As the Nebraska State Legislature gets to work on its ninety-day session, it’s time to consider whether the Unicameral should resolve an important, and regularly overlooked matter—designating a state dessert.

I was running late for church on Saturday afternoon, later than I would like anyway, but before I got cleaned up and headed back for town—I had worked in the office earlier that morning and the day had slipped away from me—there were a couple of chores that I had to check off my list.

Years ago, I had the pleasure of covering the dedication of a new, seventeen-million-dollar bridge spanning the Missouri River east of Niobrara. The bridge was named after Chief Standing Bear, whose people, the Poncas, once ruled over that area of northeast Nebraska.

Now that Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen appears to be on the road to recovery after a wild ride aboard a bucking bronco, his next rodeo act will be roping up enough votes to lower property taxes, cut government spending, and return Nebraska to a “winner-take-all” system of doling out the state’s electoral college votes.

Like a lot of people, for me, the goal was that the holiday season be both merry and bright. However, what I instead discovered in the run-up to the holidays was a period that was dark and smokey.