“I’ve lost everything… but I just can’t stop”. “Once I take that first drink that is all I think about”. “I use to take the pain away”. These are some of the many things you might hear someone who struggles on a daily basis with an addiction say. Addiction is a chronic disease that can physically and mentally change a person from who they once were.

Vinegar…What is it? Where does it come from? When is it used? Why would I want more than one variety in my home? These are just a few questions that have been asked about vinegar. Vinegar seems to be very popular right now according to Nebraska Extension Food Nutrition Educator- Nancy Frecks based in Hitchcock County.

This weekend, tens of thousands of Americans marched across our nation’s capital in honor of our first inalienable right: the right to life. Each year, the March for Life is an incredible showing of support for the dignity of every human life.

This month, Nebraska was hit by bitter winter storms. A combination of subzero temperatures, snow, and high winds led to roads being closed across our state. As always in times like this, Nebraskans stepped up to help. I’m grateful for the grit and service of our first responders – the snow plow drivers, law enforcement officers, firefighters, and other emergency personnel – who braved the arctic blast to keep people safe.

President Biden’s open borders policies are a threat to American national security and sovereignty. They’re also a humanitarian disaster and embarrassment to anyone that values human dignity. Human Trafficking Awareness Day on January 11 was a reminder of the human costs of Biden’s failure to secure our border.

Imagine if a Houthi drone were to hit one of our ships in the Red Sea. Imagine there were an incident in the South China Sea. Or imagine we suffered a terrorist attack here at home. All of these crises are possible — but if any of them had occurred earlier this month, no one would have known where to find our nation’s Secretary of Defense.

Happy 2024 from the Nebraska Extension County Offices! We all have families, so here’s a few suggestions to get your new year started right. Even if you don’t have kids in the house a lot of these ideas pertain to adults too.

My family has a fondness for crime dramas and thrillers. It isn’t uncommon to watch a scene in which a peacefully sleeping individual wakes when a shadowy figure approaches their bedside with a pillow. Predictably, the assailant calmly presses that pillow over the face of their victim and waits until the struggling stops.

Recently I had the privilege to join the Governor, various leaders of Nebraska religious groups, and my fellow Senators in the tradition of declaring January 16 th as Religious Freedom Day. Religious Freedom Day was first signed by proclamation by President Bush in 1993 and has continued to be proclaimed by every President each year after. President Bush chose January 16th as the date based upon Thomas Jefferson’s draft bill for Establishing Religious Freedom in Virginia.