Our home of Nebraska is home to an array of people, places, and pursuits. It’s home to Husker football and the College World Series, our beautiful State Capitol building in Lincoln and our world-famous zoo in Omaha. Our state is made up of rolling plains and prairies, but also bustling cities and peaceful small towns. It boasts the breathtaking natural beauty of the Sandhills, where my husband and I raised our sons.

September 13, 2024 It’s been 23 years since radical Islamic terrorists murdered nearly 3,000 Americans on September 11, 2001. The innocent victims we lost on 9/11 weren’t just numbers. They were mothers and fathers, wives and husbands, daughters and sons. Many were heroes who risked their lives to save others. Each year on Patriot’s Day, we recommit as a nation to honoring their memories with our words and our actions.

In a day and age, when families are literally going in many different directions, how do we keep it all together? What makes your Family strong? Researchers at the University of Nebraska asked that very question to over 24,000 family members from all 50 states and 34 other countries around the world. Remarkably the answers were similar from culture to culture.

School is back in session so it is time for a little pop quiz. What is an item that almost every student carries? If you said backpack you are off to a great start.

We three State Senators, Steve Erdman (LD47), Steve Halloran (LD33), and Justin Wayne (LD13) have important information to report about the tax relief bill that was passed during the special session. LB 34 contains important language that will affect the 2023 property tax credit that taxpayers are entitled to receive on their 2024 income tax return. Because the language of the bill put an end to the rebate beginning January 1, 2024, taxpayers will not be able to claim the 30 percent property tax rebate that is owed them on their 2024 income tax return.

September is National Breakfast Month. Breakfast is the most commonly skipped meal of the day. Many times we think we are saving time or calories by skipping breakfast. A quick healthy breakfast can help you make healthier choices the rest of the day, increase your physical activity, and help you not to be tempted to eat a calorie and fat laden snack midmorning or overeat at lunch. It also help to replenish your body and have a positive impact on your general health, reports Nebraska Extension Specialist Lisa Franzen-Castle.

For years, Vice President Kamala Harris has supported some of the most extreme electric vehicle (EV) mandates proposed by her Party. She consistently supported EV mandates as U.S. Senator for California and as a presidential candidate in 2020. For three and a half years, the Biden-Harris Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has pushed an EV mandate that would require up to two-thirds of cars and trucks to be electric by 2032. Despite Harris’ record, just months before an election, the Harris campaign is lying about her beliefs. The campaign now claims the Vice President doesn’t support EV mandates. It’s a pathetic, transparent attempt to distance her from the unpopular mandates she has long supported. That lie should not go unchallenged.

To serve is an honor. That is especially true in serving one’s country.

It is miraculous to consider how much access and exposure we have to information through our computers, phones, televisions, radios and newspapers. Unfortunately, we need to be on guard because too much of this buzz can be false information.

Experts are calling it a “child care crisis.” We have too few child care workers, too few child care providers, and too many parents seeking care that can’t be found. Nine counties in Nebraska don’t have a single licensed child care facility. Tuition at child care centers is more expensive than tuition at the University of Nebraska. And the problem, sadly, is only getting worse.