The Nebraska Department of Transportation (NDOT) is required to develop a plan that documents the state’s procedures for administering program funding received through the Federal Transit Administration. In collaboration with the University of Nebraska Omaha, NDOT is gathering comments and input from the public to assess the draft NDOT Transit State Management Plan. To review the plan and submit comments anonymously, the public is invited to visit our website at HYPERLINK “http://nebraskatransit.com” \t “_blank” nebraskatransit.com prior to June 30, 2022.

Tri Valley Health System has purchased the Arapahoe and Oxford Physical Therapy Clinics from Southwest Nebraska Physical Therapy (SWNPT). After many years of being privileged to provide physical therapy services in the Arapahoe and Oxford communities, SWNPT had decided it was time to make a change and to discontinue providing services in these communities.

ARAPAHOE - Arapahoe Rehab & Fitness, a new physical therapy location, opened in Arapahoe last week with plans to soon expand into a 24-hour fitness center as well. Since opening Cribelli Physical Therapy in Cambridge four-and-a-half years ago, Brett Cribelli said most thoughts of business expansion included moving east into the Arapahoe area.

Abby Andrews spent May 23-June 8 as a volunteer with the organization Volunteers Around the World, serving the low-income population of Cusco, Peru, a city in the Peruvian Andes. Andrews’ team worked at a clinic assisting two doctors and a pharmacist.

Roger Houser of Elwood is the fourth winner of a 2022 Ford F-150 XLT 4x4 Crew Cab Flex Fuel truck in the 27th edition of the Nebraska Lottery’s $2 Truck$ & Buck$ Scratch game. Houser purchased his winning Truck$ & Buck$ ticket at The Red Barn at 107 N Smith Ave.

I always enjoy visiting with Nebraskans and seeing the exciting developments happening across our state. As part of a recent state work period, I had the chance to spend the day in Hastings and participate in a series of business tours. In this week’s column, I’d like to tell you a little bit about what I saw that day.

Well, getting older has its rewards but also has its problems. At a recent visit to the orthopedist to check out a continuing hip problem, they discovered I had a high blood pressure reading - too high. So, after visiting with the specialist and deciding to get an MRI and try to find the cause of hip pain, the nurse took another blood pressure.

Two hundred forty-six years ago, our Founding Fathers bravely defied the most powerful nation on earth and put pen to paper to assert an eternal, self-evident truth: All men are created equal. We are endowed by our Creator with inalienable rights that no government can justly take away. This recognition is what makes our country so unique. What unites us as Americans is neither religion, ancestry, nor language. Rather, it’s our shared commitment to the truth of equal human dignity. Every Independence Day, we honor the men and women who started the great American experiment all those years ago. And we celebrate the triumph of the principles we hold dear. America is at its best when we honor our founding principles; our greatest suffering and division have come from neglecting them.

For the past few months, I’ve been fielding questions about the baby formula crisis. Make no mistake, the shortage of baby formula is indeed a crisis.

James W. Cox, age 81, of Seward, Nebraska, passed away Sunday May 29, 2022 at his home in Seward. He was born on May 2, 1941 in Yuma, Colorado to Ronald and Pearl (Chandler) Cox. There is no viewing or visitation as cremation was chosen. Services are to be scheduled for a later date. Wenburg Funeral Home of Beaver City, Nebraska is in charge of arrangements.