Commentary

A close friend of mine has over the years ridiculed me for my love of a heavy diet of vegetables at meal times. He kept pointing out that “green stuff ...” has no benefits despite my proclaiming what I believe were numerous health benefits such as eating all I want with minimum weight gain; no ulcers causing a sore tummy; lower cholesterol; and of course that old age concern of  “regularity.”
Recently I jumped on a study that showed a daily diet of vegetables makes your mind 11 years younger. Immediately I telephoned him after scanning the result of the study in a recent newspaper.
I asked, “What do you think about this study showing my brain is 11 years younger than my body because I’ve been eating all that green stuff?”

If you lived in the United States, natural disasters pretty-well filled news headlines for the last few months of 2017 and indicate that the early part of 2018 those headlines will continue. Hurricanes, floods, wildfires, earthquakes, mudslides, heavy snowfall and other challenges from Old Mother Nature have spread havoc on the East and West coasts, as well as Texas and some of the Eastern Great Lake areas. During all these eventual times Nebraska and our Midwest neighboring states have dodged the weather bullets.
Facing the weather prediction of strong wind, snow and blizzard conditions for past week seemed minor to us who live in Nebraska. Hopefully, we continue to sidestep the wrath that other states have suffered, which brings us to our point.

A conversation all agree is a high priority for our community entered a key transition stage this week in terms of emergency medical services.
What has been an issue dominating the attention and focus of the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners now shifts to Aurora City Hall, where a new study is about to begin on the merits of transitioning to a fire-based EMS service.
Much has been said and written about the detailed focus group study, which concluded that while the advanced life support service currently provided is outstanding, Hamilton County pays more for that service than many other Nebraska communities of similar size. It’s a prudent decision to ask if there are ways to reduce cost while maintaining a high level of emergency care, which is what county commissioners were attempting to do.

With a backdrop of $3 corn and an economy that is struggling in several sectors, this community posted a 10-year building permit total high of $14.4 million in 2017. That’s good news in and of itself, but the good news gets even better when you look closely at how and why that number is as high as it is.
“How did that happen?” some might ask.

There are two things I don’t like about the Christmas season. Number one is lugging the box with the artificial Christmas tree up from the basement. Number two is toting the artificial Christmas tree back to the basement when in our house that duty means the season is officially over.
The task of decorating our tree is left to the Betterhalf. My work entails making sure the tree stands straight and re-adjusting some artificial branches to fill a few vacant spaces in the tree.
However, my favorite part of Christmas is taking a moment to look at the hanging Christmas ornaments that are highlighted by the strings of colored lights. In that Christmas glow, lots of memories spring particularly from those ornaments that represent several generations of previous Christmas celebrations.

The stakes are high this year as Nebraska lawmakers return to Lincoln.
An issue talked about for years is dialed up front and center and will likely be a dominating factor in the 60-day session that starts Wednesday, Jan. 3. Adjusting the state’s tax structure in a way that will lighten the load on Nebraska’s largest industry has been a priority issue for several years now, though finding a palatable way to shift that load has been a challenge.
Dist. 34 Sen. Curt Friesen pulled no punches in a recent speech previewing this year’s session. The Henderson area farmer ran for office touting the need for property tax relief and after three years in office he’s “tired of the game.” Friesen has been at the table leading this discussion for the past two years and says he’s ready to do what’s necessary to move the needle in 2018.

Well, a new year is about to begin. We know only a few people think many of their questions have been answered in 2017 which means a lot of questions still remain unanswered with the hope to be answered in 2018. Following are some questions we have put on our list.
Do bleached blondes just pretend to have more fun?
Is there a denture fairy who leaves slugs instead of real money?
Was the pole vault accidentally discovered by a lousy javelin thrower?
Instead of having to lick your finger every time you turn a page, why not just dunk one corner of the book in a bowl of water?
Why don’t masked robbers hold up ski lodges?
How do you throw away a garbage can?
Whose stupid idea was it to have an ‘s’ in the word ‘lisp’?
Did the early settlers ever go on camping trips?
Could it be that boulders are just statues of really big rocks?
Do police sketch artists start out as the guy who outlines dead bodies?

People will not soon forget where they were and what they were doing when the sky went dark just after high noon on Aug. 21, 2017. A total solar eclipse that dramatically came and went over Hamilton County that day left a lasting impression, easily topping a random sample of ANR readers asked to rank the top stories of the year.
The News-Register conducted its annual news survey last week, seeking reader input on what the community as a whole perceives to be the Top 10 stories of the year. It’s a very subjective, non-scientific process from by its nature, but always a fun and interesting one.
We scanned our pages from January through December, taking note of on-going issues and timely, breaking news. Then we asked local residents from all walks of life to weigh in, ranking their top 10 choices.

A little over a week ago a terrorist suicide bomber attempted to explode a bomb strapped to his body as he went through the crowded New York subway system near Times Square. While the bomb attempt did injure a few people and did not kill him, luckily a faulty wire failed to trigger the full impact of his homemade device and no lives were lost.
An observant Betterhalf after seeing the newscast said, “The bomber must not have been very smart. I could have told him the bomb wasn’t going to work.”
Foolishly I asked her, “Why?”
She explained that the wire he used to hopefully detonate the bomb was wire from Christmas tree lights. The Betterhalf then continued, “From my experience with my Christmas lights I have found about 50 percent of the lights fail shortly after I get them on the tree and the cause is from faulty wiring.”
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It’s become a tradition; a warm, fuzzy slice of the Hamilton County holiday pie.
The edition you are reading today is more than just the latest version of all the local news that’s fit to print. It is a giant Christmas card from the community, to the community, filled with tidings of goodwill.
It’s a feeling former publisher Butch Furse helped create years ago with the News-Register’s annual holiday edition. It’s a tradition Paula and I are pleased to carry on, and it wouldn’t be possible without a month of extra effort from our entire staff.
There are pictures of staff members from local business and industry, photos from family-owned businesses, and letters to Santa from area children that make me laugh out loud every year. We like to tell upbeat human interest stories and tales of goodwill throughout the year, but in late December it takes a whole lot of extra pages to share just a sample of the genuine holiday spirit being shared in a variety of ways.