We’re over halfway through this year’s session. There is still a lot of work to be done. The committees are done with hearings for this year unless they have confirmation hearings for appointees to Boards and Commissions. All day debate started this week and beginning next week, there are several evening hour debates scheduled. There is a short amount of time this year due to it being a 60 day session as well as the time spent debating how to most effectively spend the ARPA money. Therefore, even if a bill is advanced out of committee it may not be debated this year unless a senator, a committee, or the speaker make it a priority bill. If not designated a priority, a bill could also be amended into another bill that is moving through the legislative process.

The New York Times wants you to believe that farmers and ranchers are destroying the planet. In an opinion video called “Meet the People Getting Paid to Kill Our Planet,” the first of a three-part series, the narrator rants for 14 minutes about the supposed evils of agriculture.

One thing that COVID-19 has highlighted is a shortage of medical personnel in rural Nebraska. The number of COVID patients put a strain on an already burdened healthcare workforce. I have introduced legislation this session to try and combat this shortage.

Friday High 24 Low 0 Mostly sunny, brisk and cold Saturday High 46 Low 20 Intervals of clouds and sunshine Sunday High 55 Low 26 Milder with sunshine and patchy clouds.

The Elwood Area Foundation is hosting the 11th Annual Elwood Spring Gala on Saturday, March 19. The event features a dinner, silent and live auction, and a dance featuring The Innocence.

BEAVER CITY – The city council held its regular meeting on March 7, 2022, and approved Will and Sabrina Speth’s request for a T-Ball team for kids. The council also approved three building permits: Karen Hardenbrook’s deck expansion request at 608 10 th St., and two requests made by JR Laborie on behalf of Laborie Land Works, LLC.

Wayne Sayer, family formerly of Holbrook but now lives in Idaho, recently contacted Kathy Cobb about the possibility of a Veterans Memorial in Village Park for his brother Terry who was killed in Vietnam. Cobb liked the idea of honoring past, present and future veterans and ran with it. She received her first donations from Sayer and an another for a 20x20 concrete pad for the memorial.

The National WEather Service had issued a Winter Storm Watch for all of southwest Nebraska and much of South Central Nebraska as a winter storm was forecast to strike the region Wednesday. Forecasts called for 5-10 inches of snow throughout Frontier, Red Willow, Furnas, Gosper and Harlan counties with blustery winds and frigid temperatures on the back end of the precipitation, pushing wind chills Wednesday night and Thursday night below zero.

Corn is an incredibly versatile crop, which means it can be used for a variety of products. Corn is renewable and we can grow more every year (and, boy, do Nebraska farmers know how to grow corn!) Just about anything that can be made from a barrel of oil can be made from a bushel of corn—and that’s why renewable, environmentally-friendly corn is replacing petroleum products in everything from fuel to adhesives to cleaning solutions.

Beaver City, Nebraska, February 2, 2022 – Agricultural producers are being encouraged to begin the Agriculture Risk Coverage (ARC) and Price Loss Coverage (PLC) program election and enrollment process as soon as possible at the Furnas County Farm Service Agency (FSA) office. The signup period for 2022 is open now through March 15.