Commentary

In our household naturally the morning newspaper is an important part of starting our day. But, during our retirement years many times it is difficult to start the day off on the right foot. As a full-blooded newspaperman I want to be the first to open my morning paper.
I learned that routine from my father who would come home from work only to find sections of “his newspaper” scattered across the floor in front of his easy chair. I was the most frequent violator of the scattering because I was looking to read my favorite comic strip. It didn’t take too long before my habit was broken and I adhered to his rules.
Who says, “History repeats itself?”  Now, years later, I am having this dirty deed happen in our household by none other than my Betterhalf. And it is even more serious. The Betterhalf’s first grab is the sports section of the newspaper section.

Gut-wrenching!
Heart-breaking!
Life-changing devastation right here in the Heartland that is simply hard to fathom!
Nebraskans have been struggling for a week to find the words to describe the scenes and raw emotions that have been on full display for all the world to see. Even with the added perspective of clearer skies and a little time, there is just no way to fully grasp the widespread damage caused by catastrophic flooding which covered much of our wonderful state with water.
It was historic, to be sure, not so much because of the amount of rain that fell or any other single factor. The frozen tundra down below combined with melting snow and new precipitation created the “perfect storm” that nobody saw coming.

As volunteers we quite frequently are questioned if we have any small dogs, puppies, cats or kittens available for adoption from the Aurora Adopt-A-Pet shelter.
In answering we point out there’s a difference of what a potential adopter can mean by “small.” The same holds true for an individual who asked for a “well-trained” pet which may mean a dog or cat that is house-broken, or one that can sit, lay down, etc. or just have general good manners.
While we have not been exposed to the intelligence that has been exhibited in the following tale about “Mr. Smith’s dog,” we must admit we have experienced some pretty smart dogs. The tale of Mr. Smith’s dog tells of a visitor who found Smith playing chess with his dog. The observant visitor said, “Mighty smart dog you’ve got there.”
“He ain’t so smart,” said Smith. “I beat him three out of four!”
***

Local residents have an opportunity next week to better understand the pending transition of countywide ambulance services as city leaders make plans to take over what has previously been a county-owned and managed operation.
After more than a year of debate and negotiations, county leaders voted in late January to sign an interlocal agreement which in effect makes the county a contributing partner rather than the sole provider. If all goes as planned, our community will have a city-run, fire-based EMS system very soon.
City leaders have come up with a rough-draft proposal for offering countywide EMS services, though the council decided not to sign the interlocal agreement until first hearing what the public had to say.

Letter to the editor
Dear Editor:
We appreciate the support of the Aurora community for the Alumni Tournament. We would like to thank all those who helped with sweeping floors, running the clock, keeping the scorebook, selling tickets, cleaning up each day and other activities. We plan to continue the tournament in 2020. The dates will be March 21-22.
We would appreciate any suggestions that you may have to make it a better tournament. Please contact any committee member with your suggestions.
Also a special thank you to our eight corporate sponsors for the 30th annual tournament. Thank you.
Aurora Alumni Tournament
Committee members John and Pat Miller, Joel Miller Brandon Handrup, Zach High, Cody Hoegh, Tyler Jensen, Wade Miller, Ron Thompson

Letters to the editor
Dear Editor:
I keep hearing that the main problem the county had with the EMS service was the union’s involvement. There would be not be a labor union involved if the EMS personal had been treated fairly by the past county boards. They were micro managed by commissioners who had no knowledge how to run the service. This led to the county losing many highly qualified people. The EMS personnel had no choice but to go union to protect themselves.
The entire blame lays with certain commissioners who thought being elected made them the smartest people in the county. No one knows everything, but the wise ones seek out experts on the subjects other than their coffee shop buddies, their non qualified friends or their banker. Studies from professional groups are also useless. If you hire a group to conduct a study the outcome of that study will reflect exactly what the group who hired them want it to reflect.

Finally a break in the cold weather has come. We must admit it isn’t a grand break, but a week with a couple days above freezing is much appreciated. Even with the tease of the temps hitting above 30, some still carry worries on their minds.
We’ve heard comments from some local worrywarts that potential fast thaws could cause flooding and muddy fields. Field planting could be delayed and even gardeners might have trouble prepping ground for those onions, radishes and taters. We came across some comments from a Minnesota friend who has advice to those cold-weather, or blizzard complainers.
“Complain all you want, but don’t look my way,” she said. “I’m a confirmed blizzard lover as long as I can stay inside.”
She continued by pointing out spring winds are shrill and grating while carrying clouds of dirt.  Their continuous moaning makes her nerves stand on edge.

What a run!!!!
The Class B boys state basketball tournament didn’t end like Husky Nation would have liked Friday, but man oh man what an exciting season of hoops our boys put on display.
This team was fun to watch, led by a core group of senior starters who have left their mark and raised the bar for future Husky teams. Four straight conference titles, four straight state tournament appearances, three semifinal bids and a combined record of 97-11 offers proof positive that these guys can flat out play the game. And they play it with class, fueling a competitive spirit that burns bright here in Aurora.
That spirit was visible in a sea of Husky red that showed up Thursday at the Devaney Sports Center and again Friday at Pinnacle Bank Arena. It looked like old home week in the stands, with alumni, relatives and anyone with a tie to Aurora past or present showing up in red.

Letters to the editor
Dear Editor:
Limiting public input when it comes to politics is a danger to freedom. That is what would happen if Sen. Curt Friesen’s bill LB 415, dealing with eliminating the ability to recall elected officials, is passed.
In my opinion, the underlying reason that Sen. Friesen introduced this bill was due to the result of the commissioner situation where he had a personal interest in regards to who owned the ambulance service, which, in my opinion, crossed the line as a conflict of interest when representing the 34th District in the Legislature.
An elected official should listen to the majority of those who voted them in and act accordingly.
Recalls are an important way that changes can be made in a positive, peaceful way without a full-scale rebellion.

The past few weeks of snow and cold temperatures has caused us to be more conscious of our heating bills and more conscious of the power generation choices we have. Some have termed, “the gales of change” that already have blown through American power in the past few years give no indication the rapid pace will die down into future years.
The U.S. Energy Information Administration sees double-digit growth in electricity generation from solar and wind over the next two years, pushing wind past hydro as our country’s largest source of renewable power. Power generation change 2018-2020 predicts renewables (minus hydropower) will increase over 23.3 percent, natural gas up 3.6 percent, hydropower a minus 0.1 percent, nuclear a minus 4.5 percent, coal a minus 15.5 percent.