As we enter fall, my thoughts are in spring. Particularly, my mind drifts back to those few weeks when our state becomes the temporary residence of nearly one million sandhill cranes.

The annual migration and the sandhill crane are a point of pride for Nebraskans. We find the bird’s image on license plates, murals, business logos and the walls of art galleries across the state. Friends of mine in Red Cloud, for instance, recently treated Nebraska Community Foundation board members and staff to a tour of their glassblowing studio. Among their work were stunning sculptures of the cranes that capture our imagination every year.

I find it powerful that what brings the cranes here is abundance. Nebraska has more acres of wetlands than any of our neighboring states, according to our friends at the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. That means an abundance of food, shelter, and space where they can stretch their wings and feel safe enough to show off their dance moves (likely due to Nebraska being the only state in their path that outlaws hunting cranes).

Cranes and I agree on at least one thing: wetlands are amazing! Wetlands simultaneously nurture, protect, cleanse and revitalize. They support plants and wildlife, use up surplus nutrients, are wildly diverse and purify our environment. Mutual benefit is the rule, as every species works interdependently with every other species to create a thriving ecosystem. For me, this habitat is supremely impressive and something we should all try to replicate with our friends and neighbors in our community building work.

For all my career (35 years and counting) I have been engaged in community economic development and public policy. Since 1998 I’ve proudly worked for Nebraska Community Foundation. Over those many years I’ve made many observations and drawn some conclusions regarding why some Nebraska hometowns thrive and others struggle.

The communities I see doing well have much in common with wetlands. They constantly nurturea community environment of optimism, collaboration, support for creative thinking, intentionality, mutual benefit, and occasionally challenging the status quo. Community members consistently show up – just like the cranes. They are trusting, grace-filled and happy. These communities over-communicate. They correctly assume it’s better if you’re told something twice instead or not at all. These communities are building an ecosystem where individuals, organizations and ideas can germinate, grow, bloom and reproduce. Among the many vibrant communities in the NCF network, three such “wetlands” come to mind.

Over the past three decades nearly every home in Stuart (pop. 574) has been rehabilitated or newly built. The local and regional economy is strong with numerous locally owned financial services, manufacturing and value-added agriculture enterprises. Ten years ago, a 67-seat 3-D movie theater was created by rehabilitating an unused downtown building. About 8,000 people attend the movies every year in this volunteer-run facility. And earlier this year Stuart opened Brain Builders, a state-of-the-art early childhood development center which will be an incredible asset for the region, not just the community. Young families are consistently moving to or staying in Stuart. School enrollment is growing. Nearly all students graduate every year and almost all pursue higher education.

There is a culture of transparency and over-communication in Stuart. Community members show up for meetings well prepared and frequently already understand the issue or opportunity at hand and what their friends and neighbors think. These practices pay dividends in the quality-of-life and sense of belonging in Stuart.

For 25 years community leaders in Ord and Valley County (pop. 4,158) have been leaning into their abundance and asking each other what more could happen. The list of accomplishments is long and growing. Local leadership capacity has grown dramatically, as more than 300 residents of Valley County and the region have participated in SynoVation Valley Leadership Academy since 2013. Valley County Economic Development has a full-time staff of three, including a full-time business coach focused on entrepreneurship. Valley County has been celebrated by the Kauffman Foundation as a rural entrepreneurial ecosystem to study and emulate. Today, Ord benefits from a thriving downtown full of retail outlets, dining venues and Scratchtown, a homegrown brewpub.

In 2015, Valley County welcomed The Golden Husk as a community theater and meeting venue, which now hosts numerous local and traveling musical artists annually. In 2024 Valley County Health System was named a Top 100 Critical Access Hospital by Chartis Center for Rural Health. And the most important building block is a change of mindset summed up in this quote: “When you have trust, vulnerability follows,” said Melani Flynn, chair of the Valley County Community Foundation Fund. “People come to the table with new, innovative ideas and solutions.”

In south central Nebraska, Shickley (pop. 343) has always had a can-do attitude. Over and over again I see this community mobilizing its assets to work on what’s next. “Please join us” is a mantra in Shickley, where a culture of invitation reigns supreme.

When I first got to know Shickley in 2002 one of the first things they shared with me is “We want to save our school!” And they have done just that. They achieved that goal by inviting every community member to give their time, talents and treasure to create mutual benefit. This has created a deep sense of belonging in Shickley – we belong through having our gifts and talents received and appreciated. This culture of invitation and belonging is paying all sorts of dividends. Shickley now has an early childhood development center as part of its school district. New homes are being built. Young families are moving in. And this can-do attitude is impacting the next generation. Shickley’s 2025 Hometown Interns Hannah Miller and Mariah Silva put it this way: “We have watched these role models pave a path for the youth, and now it’s our turn to do the same.”

Nebraska’s hometowns are similar to wetlands – no two are the same but all have unappreciated abundance. They attract life and goodness and support an evolving community. What assets doesyour community already possess? Which could be easily adapted? Start with what you have and use that goodness to nurture a wetland that you proudly call home.

Jeff Yost is president and CEO of Nebraska Community Foundation. Learn more about NCF’s work at NebraskaHometown.org.

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This bill would allow tax money to be siphoned off from Richardson County Public Schools and given to private schools.  If a school is going to accept public money, then it should be accountable to a public board.   The lack of oversight of taxpayer money should be concerning to tax paying citizens.

Legally all public schools must follow Rule 10.   Rule 10 sets the requirements for what courses need to be taught along with the certification of teachers within a school.  Private schools don’t have to meet the same accountability standards as public schools, though many private schools do choose to follow this rule by choice, not mandate.  Would you be okay with giving taxpayer money to private contractors who would replace our police with none of the oversight and regulation that law enforcement has in place?  Essentially, that is what this bill does.  This bill also does not say what kind of private school can be established.  If the Church of Tall Trees wanted to start a school, they could get access to your tax dollars to fund attendance.  So which churches or private entities get access to your tax dollars?  Who decides? The way the bill is written any of them could.  

State wide, rural area schools would get pennies on the dollar while the metro areas would reap the rewards of this bill.  Additionally, mega rich funders in Omaha and Lincoln get another way to dodge their tax liability.  Once again, rural Nebraska loses to the rich who reside in the cities.   

There is another problem for existing private schools.  Existing private schools are going to get lumped in with a whole new group of schools that may not share the same values but will be competing for the same resources.  The bigger you are, the better you will do in this scenario.  

Finally, this bill is bad for our community.  Let’s say you are doing your 2023 taxes.  You owe the state of Nebraska $100,000.  Before LB 753 you simply wrote a check to the state for that amount and it went on to fund roads, bridges, schools (that received state aid), mental health, first responders, etc.  With the passage of LB 753 you can simply send up to $100,000 of your tax liability to the private school fund.  As a result, not only could local schools not receive funding, but your local roads, bridges, mental health, and first responders could receive decreased funding as well.  However, the legal obligation of all public schools to educate all children still remains.

The beauty of Nebraska is that we have a unicameral system.  When our legislators pass laws that are not in the best interest of the people, we can file a petition and vote on the law to either keep or repeal it.  We, the educators of Richardson County, are asking that you sign a petition to put this law on the ballot.  If this bill is really the will of the people of Nebraska, then they will vote to keep this law.  By signing the petition, you are only asking that the people are given a vote.  If you want to sign the petition, simply ask a teacher and they can get you connected with a petition.  We will also be hosting a drive through petition signing on Harlan Street in the coming days.  Simply drive through and sign.   

Nebraska has one of the strongest public school systems in America.  Let’s keep it that way by funding our public schools like any other public institution.   

This article represents the views of 

Falls City Education Association and HTRS Education Association and not the views of the respective districts. 

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An announced crowd of 66,045 saw the Rhule era begin on Tom Osborne Field on Saturday. My guess is the actual crowd on hand Saturday was closer to 45,000, but Nebraska has always overstated crowd sizes. The scanned ticket number against Wisconsin last season was 46,613, and this crowd looked much smaller. That’s a battle for another day. On this day, Athletic Director Trev Alberts announced that the new locker rooms would be named for Coach Solich by the Touchdown Club. Solich gave brief comments on the field, thanking his family, Coach Osborne and the fans and wishing Coached Rhule a great year. He finished by saying, “Let’s go, Big Red, alrighty baby.” 

What did we learn from the game itself? While a good athlete, Jeff Sims hasn’t taken anything away from incumbent Casey Thompson. His numbers were good Saturday, 9/13 for 139 yards, but let’s not anoint him as the starter quite yet. Casey Thompson is a competitor and won’t go down without a fight. We did learn Chubba Purdy, Richard Torres and Heinrich Haarberg are not yet able to lead the team and at least two of those four will soon leave the team. My guess is Torres and Haarberg will enter the transfer portal before long. 

Local Johnson-Brock grad Ty Hahn had a couple of grabs at receiver on Saturday; however, the first was spoiled by a fumble and turnover. I still expect Hahn to see some real minutes come fall. 

The much-talked-about running back room did little to impress. Rahmir Johnson had the best output on Saturday afternoon with six totes for 35 yards, but Anthony Grant and Gabe Ervin Jr. did nothing to hurt their status as go-to backs. 

One piece of play that needs work is keeping the ball off the turf. The Husker’s offense put the ball on the ground four times by the 9:00 mark of the second quarter. There were numerous timing issues between QBs and running backs and multiple problems between the QB and center exchange. Nothing that can’t be figured out by the time fall rolls around. 

Another issue to continue to work on in the summer months will be the kicking game. If we were locked into a tie game against Iowa with only seconds remaining, I don’t feel comfortable with any of our kickers booting the ball through the uprights from any distance for the win. 

It took 20 years to get Coach Solich back to Memorial Stadium to give him the proper sendoff he deserved. Solich was hesitant to return to Lincoln; wouldn’t you be after how a previous regime treated him? Now maybe the “curse” can be put to rest and the Big Red can regain its place among the college football elite. 

Coach Rhule has said all the right things, but can that translate into wins? I’ve been sucked in repeatedly over the years by the new coaching staffs (not Scott Frost), but this time I will need to see a little proof before I get hooked. I will admit I was not a fan of the hire last fall, but since that time, Rhule has grown on me. He has impressed me with going after recruits and embracing the traditions that surround the Husker football program. I genuinely believe we will see a much more polished product when camp ends in the fall and the season begins. Six, maybe seven wins are not out of the question. Someone will need to take the reigns and show leadership and bring the club together as one. Once that happens, we will see things turn in the right direction. 

I can’t wait for fall to see the improvements that have been made and to see our Huskers compete against some of the best competition in the country. Go Big Red. 

The post Right or Wrong, It’s my Opinion – 2023 Spring Game appeared first on THE FALLS CITY JOURNAL.

A representative for the Senators office said Senator Slama is really excited about this bill and “it is sad to hear about how many accidents and lives are taken on that stretch of road.” 

According to the most recent accident and fatality statistics: From 2016 to 2020, US-75 from Plattsmouth to Nebraska City had 10 fatalities, 114 injuries, and 222 accidents. Between 2016 and 2020, US-75 from Nebraska City to the Kansas Border had 12 fatalities, 144 injuries, and 326 accidents.

The unpaved highways being discussed are Highway 18 in Frontier County. It runs 18.85 miles; Highway 65 in Pawnee County. It runs 7.01 miles and has .03 miles of a bridge in the middle, Highway 67 in Otoe County. It runs 10.28 miles and Highway S67C in Pawnee County. It runs 3.03 miles. 

Senator Slama had this to say in her latest column about LB212.

With over 800 bills introduced, the various committees will be hard at work going through the numerous bills. This column will highlight one of my bills this session that will have a direct, positive impact on District 1 – LB 212. LB 212 allocates funds to the Department of Transportation to construct a continuous four-lane divided highway system from Plattsmouth to the Kansas border. Additionally, LB 212, paves all remaining unpaved state highways in Nebraska.

My office has received numerous requests for this change, paired with personal stories of tragedy and injuries on Highway 75. This change is long, long overdue. There are only three sections of unpaved state highways in Nebraska; 18.85 miles in Frontier County, 10.04 miles in Pawnee County, and 10.28 miles in Otoe County. In total, there are 39.17 miles of unpaved highways in the state of Nebraska, with 20.32 miles being in District 1. Paving these unpaved highways is also long, long overdue. U.S. Highway 75 is the highway system that runs for 1,239 miles from Dallas, Texas to Kittson County, Minnesota – ending just short of the Canada-United States border. Within the state of Nebraska, it enters on the Kansas state border, 9 miles south of Dawson, traveling north across the extreme eastern portion of the state, to the Nebraska-Iowa border in South Sioux City, crossing the Missouri river along a concurrency with Interstate 129.

Currently, Highway 75 is four lanes south of Omaha until it reaches the southern edge of Plattsmouth. From the southern edge of Plattsmouth through Nebraska City, Auburn, and down to the Kansas border, Highway 75 is mainly two lanes. LB 212 seeks to expand that stretch of highway 75 to 4 lanes. Highways play a vital role in our daily lives, and the benefits they bring to our state and its residents cannot be overstated. From 2016-2020, US-75 from Plattsmouth to Nebraska City had 10 fatalities, 114 injuries, and 222 crashes and from 2016-2020, US-75 from Nebraska City to the Kansas Border had 12 fatalities, 144 injuries, and 326 crashes. The safety of Nebraskans is an everlasting high priority of mine and those driving on Highway 75 should feel safe during their travels.

It is time for the state to prioritize the roads in rural Nebraska. The quality of roads in rural Southeast Nebraska deserves as much attention as the roads running through cities such as Lincoln or Omaha. As always, I welcome your input on issues important to you. Follow along on my Facebook and Twitter pages, both entitled “Senator Julie Slama” for more updates, or contact me directly at Senator Julie Slama, District 1 State Capitol, PO Box 94604, Lincoln NE 68509-4604; telephone: 402-471-2733; email: jslama@leg.ne.gov.

Slama also introduced Legislative Bill 213. A bill relating to economic development; to amend sections 77-2902 and 77-2912, Reissue Revised Statutes of Nebraska, and section 81-1229, Revised Statutes Cumulative Supplement, 2022; to redefine a term and extend certain deadlines under the Nebraska Job Creation and Mainstreet Revitalization Act; to change a matching fund requirement under the Rural Workforce Housing Investment Act; to repeal the original sections; and to declare an emergency. 

The Senator had this to say about LB213:

On January 4, the 108th Nebraska Legislature convened for its first regular session. This legislative session is in full swing, and we are nearly through the bill introduction period!

One of my bills introduced this session is LB 213, a significant economic development bill for District 1 and all of rural Nebraska. This bill targets villages and cities of the second class, which include any community or city under 5,000 residents. This bill makes two changes: lowers the match from .5:1 to .25:1 for Rural Workforce Housing and expands the Mainstreet Revitalization Act specifically for communities under 5,000 residents. 

Rural Workforce Housing provides grants for the construction of workforce housing. Right now, RWHF grants require 50% of the RWHF award in matching funds, such as dollars contributed by individuals, businesses, political subdivisions, etc. into a single investment fund administered by the eligible nonprofit development organization. With this change, this match would be lowered to 25% for communities under 5,000 residents. With this bill, Nebraskans in smaller rural communities will be put on a more level playing field with the larger communities that are able to reach the percentage of matching funds easier. 

Additionally, the Nebraska Job Creation and Mainstreet Revitalization Act, which without the passage of LB 213, this program would cease to exist this year. LB 213 would create a credit against Nebraska income tax for investment in the rehabilitation of historic buildings or buildings that contribute to a historic district. State historic tax credits have been shown to be effective at promoting both economic growth and historic preservation in small communities. Such credits are available in more than 30 states, most notably in the states bordering Nebraska.

Both parts of LB 213 were inspired by my summer tour of every community in District 1. Every village and town had at least a handful of highly-motivated people who wanted to grow and improve their hometown. I pointed them toward our current rural development programs, but these programs are built to serve larger cities in rural areas with a full-time economic development director and strong private investment. Our smallest towns most in need of these programs are constantly left out because they don’t have the private money for a match or they can’t take time off their full-time job for an application that is going to a larger town anyway. I’m working to fix this with LB 213.

As your State Senator, I am committed to crafting and supporting bills that help promote the economic development of rural communities in Southeast Nebraska. With this said, I am also working on crafting legislation that seeks to address rural clean water accessibility and cut more unfunded mandates. Stay tuned!

The post Senator Slama proposes bills appeared first on THE FALLS CITY JOURNAL.

The Kids are Not All-right, EVERYWHERE.

I hate to say it, but the bullying isn’t just at Humbold Table-Rock Steinauer. It’s everywhere. It was at Dawson-Verdon when I was in school 20 years ago (though nearly not as bad because we didn’t have social media yet) and it’s in your child’s school now. Nobody can sit back and look at HTRS and say, “Wow, they have a big problem.” We all have a problem; everywhere this paper is delivered has a problem. HTRS were the ones who were willing to open up about it and say, ‘hey, let’s get it out there and try to get help with this. Let’s get the parents and public involved and see if we can help. If one kid gets  help, just one kid-we’ve done something good.’ 

What ran in the Falls City Journal last week wasn’t a letter and it wasn’t clickbait; it was the story of open dialogue between adults hoping to do better by the children in our community. I am surprised and disheartened by the backlash this story has created. 

The goal was to always to get people involved and create a dialogue about the issues facing our kids with social media and bullying in our schools. It was never to turn on HTRS and single them out as a problem school with problem children. That is absolutely not the case. But in the age of “quick news,” misleading headlines, one-paragraph stories and social media gossip, you get only a fraction of the story. You must read the story in the Journal to get the entire story. Nobody was quoted as saying the problem was only at HTRS. You may have heard that HTRS is THE problem, which is incredibly unfair to the school, the children and the Humboldt community. 

The story was planned and written to open dialogue in all schools with all children, teachers, administration and parents. It was done to see laws and policies change and it was done to have us all look in our own backyards. Change starts with us.

The post Editorial – The bullying problem is a community problem appeared first on THE FALLS CITY JOURNAL.

January 1984, Nebraska dropped sales tax on food. State sales tax at that time was four percent. Falls City had no city sales tax. 

From January 1984 to 1990, the Nebraska state sales tax was 4 percent. In 1990, the State rose by 1 percent for a total of 5 percent and the City remained at 0 percent. In 1997 the State remained at 5 percent; however, for the first time, the City raised by 1 percent to a total of 6 percent sale tax. In 2002, the State went up a half of a percent to 5.5 percent, while the City remained steady at 1 percent for a total of 6 ½ percent. In 2004, the State remained at 5 ½  percent and the City raised by ½ percent to 1 ½ percent total for a 7 percent sales tax.

Summary: State 5 ½ percent and City 1 ½ = 7 percent of our current city sales tax.

Hello citizens of Falls City: so now here we are; eighteen (18) years after the last sales tax rate increase, the City of F.C. is asking for your assistance. As you know, we have had numerous power outages over the past couple of years. Not all happened during a storm, many on bright sunny days. What does this mean? In part, it means our current electrical system is old and nearing the end of its life. A design plan has already been developed for the F.C. Electrical Distribution System Improvements and upgrades. You may also be aware that the state Legislature just passed a bill that will appropriate $15 million to Falls City to “Expand and strengthen” Falls City’s electrical grid. This bill will provide grants from the site and Building Development Fund. 

Having said that, I will add that the age and status of our other infrastructure (water, gas, sewer) is also in some need of upgrading and improving.

That is why this issue will be on our May election ballot. The City is asking voters to give consideration to raising our city sales tax by ½ percent. That would make the sales tax rate in Falls City a total of 7 ½ percent. (Currently, it is 7 percent; 5 ½ percent State plus 1 ½ city.)

This extra ½ percent will be used for public infrastructure projects. “which shall include upgrades for water, sewer, gas and the electric systems.” 

One advantage of raising funds in this way is that even people passing through our community will be helping us improve our city utilities. Anyone coming here to shop, eat, buy a vehicle, stay in a motel/hotel, full up with gas-ANYONE spending money on anything will be helping us! It’s a WIN-WIN!

And, I don’t know about you, but I’ve become pretty spoiled. I like having my power come on when I flip the switch. I want heat when I turn on the furnace. I don’t ever want a time when I’m not supposed to flush the toilet or take a shower. The convenience of fresh water on tap is a must. 

There was a very informative meeting at City Hall in Council Chambers on April 12. If you miss it and would like some information about our infrastructure, upgrade plan, the grant process and funding-please, call Ray Luhring, Falls City Utility Superintendent, at 402-245-2724. 

I believe this ballot proposal to raise our city sales tax by only ½ percent is a good thing for Falls City. And, I hope you will, too! 

Please join me in voting “yes” for the future of Falls City. My phone number is 402-245-5376. Please leave a message if no answer. Thank you for your time

Judy Murphy 

Editors Note: 

For more information about Utilities Revenue Refunding Bonds and rewording of the resolution to increase the sales tax, the February 16, 2022 story titled “City Council hears Library report and talks bonding options” in the Journal carried that information. 

For more information about Engine number eight issues and how they would be repaired, the January 26, 2022 story titled “Council discusses Auditorium upgrades” in the Journal carried that information. 

For more information about the half-cent tax increase going on the ballot and why, the January 12, 2022 story titled “Half cent increase to go on the primary ballot and Froeschl gives update on transmission line proposal” in the Journal carried that information. 

For more information about generator issues, the December 29, 2021 issue of the Journal, titled “Luhring explains generator issues to City Council during last week’s meeting,” carried that information. 

We have extra copies of these issues available for purchase in the office.

The Journal inquired about getting a recording of the April 12, Open House, that we were unable to attend due to illness. We were told this was not possible, which is understandable.

The post “City Sales Tax” appeared first on THE FALLS CITY JOURNAL.

Charles W. Herbster’s Executive Assistant comes forward to tell her side of the story about the Elephant Remembers dinner in 2019. The campaign is also presenting the precarious timeline of these “accusations.”

“I wanted to wait until after the rally to put out my statement and thoughts on what is happening to my beloved friend and boss, here is my recount of that night and my experiences with Charles W. Herbster:

“I have been Charles W. Herbster’s Executive Assistant for more than five years. As his assistant I am with him at most political and social events and rarely leave his side. If I am not with him, someone else is always there in my place. I have never seen Charles do anything but treat women with the utmost respect. He works with and promotes women in both the business world and in politics. It is unimaginable to me that anyone would accuse Charles of any inappropriate behavior. That is not Charles and if it were I would not work for him.”

“As Charles’s Executive Assistant, I too attended the 2019 Elephant Remembers Dinner. There was rarely an occasion that evening when I wasn’t with Charles. At that event our table was in the very front center in full view of the more than 500 attendees and anyone on the stage. Charles was never alone during the evening. It would have been impossible for Charles to have done what he has been accused of without it creating a noticeable stir and public scene. I certainly would have been aware that something had happened.”

“Furthermore, I was in attendance at the September 20, 2019 meetings with Senator Julie Slama and others that took place at Charles’s downtown Omaha condo. Also attending meetings that day as part of the Herbster team were former Governor Dave Heineman and Carlos Castillo. On that day, Senator Slama came to the condo for her pre-planned meeting with Charles unaccompanied.”

“The accusations made against Charles are so far out of character that the credibility must be questioned. While I have only been with Charles for five years, I work with people who have known Charles for several decades. Nobody has ever raised any concerns about Charles’s behavior around women. I would know.”

-Michelle Keithley

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In a not-so-surprising turn of events, the Nebraska Cornhuskers lost for the third straight game and the fifth time in six contests. The Big Red are currently 1-5 in the Big Ten and just 3-6 overall. Nebraska will have to win out against Ohio St., Wisconsin, and Iowa to become bowl eligible. 

What is the answer? Is it time to consider firing Coach Frost? Is it time to bench Adrian Martinez (14/39 passing and four INTs)?  Is it time for Nebraska to exercise its demons and get rid of the curse of Frank Solich? 

Everyone has superstitions, but none are more prevalent than in the sports world. Some baseball players wear the same socks during a hot stretch, some football players wear the same shirt under their shoulder pads each week. Teams rub horseshoes for good luck as they exit the locker rooms. 

What about curses? Are they real? In the sports world, they sure seem to have belief. Some people may recall the so-called curse of the Great Bambino, Babe Ruth. When Ruth was sold to the Yankees, Boston failed to win a World Series from 1919-2004. Meanwhile, during that time, New York won 27 World Series titles. 

This brings me to what I refer to as the curse of Frank Solich. Coach Solich was at Nebraska from 1979 to 2003. He was part of three national championships and 11 conference crowns with Coach Tom Osborne. After the Husker’s last national title in 1997, Coach Osborne retired, turning over the program’s reigns to Solich. 

Coach Solich guided the Big Red to six straight bowl games and a national title game against Miami in 2001. His Husker teams finished in the top-ten three times in six years and Solich was 58-19 at the time of his firing. Solich was named the 1999 Big 12 Coach of the Year when Nebraska won the Big 12 Championship. 

2002 came along and Nebraska finished 7-7 (we’d kill for that about now). Solich won more games in the first six years (58) than Bob Devaney (53) or Osborne (55). After finishing the season with a 9-3 mark, Athletic Director Steve Pederson fired Solich, setting forth the next 19 years of mediocrity. Coach Solich went on to the Univerity of Ohio, where he was 115-82. 

At Nebraska, Solich was 9-4, 12-1, 10-2, 11-2, 7-7 and 9-3. Hardly firable numbers by today’s standards. 

The curse of Frank Solich is real. Nebraska had made a bowl appearance just 11 times since he was fired. Before that, the Big Red had been to 39 straight bowl games. 

Bring Coach Solich back. Roll out the red carpet for him. Honor him at halftime. Let the crowd give him a standing ovation and let him wave back. Have a dinner the night before with old coaches and players. Recognize his accomplishments and thank him for all that he did for the program. Give him the going away party he deserved and still deserves. 

Then and only then will the curse of Frank Solich be lifted. Then and only then can the Big Red return to the prominence it once had. Then and only then will the football gods be happy and all will be well again at Memorial Stadium. 

What can it hurt? 

Go Big Red.

The post Right or Wrong, It’s my Opnion. appeared first on THE FALLS CITY JOURNAL.

Nearly half of people with COVID-19 who took part in one study reported Parosmia about 2.5 months after their initial infection, and it continued for at the very least six months! According to some, the “COVID smell” was “foul,” “rancid,” or similar to “rotting flesh.”

It causes weight loss, depression and loss of appetite and affects the sense of taste and smell. Yup. 

I’ve signed up to be a part of several studies, but I’m on all the waitlists. 

I’ve tried to keep track of the foods I’ve “lost” over the past six months and frankly, it’s gotten easier to keep track of the foods I can eat without gagging or physically getting ill. Let me tell you, that list is short. It feels like the longer I have this thing, the worse it gets. 

Most of my meals consist of desserts because sweet foods don’t bother me. (Thank you, Keller Bakery, for keeping us in stock for breakfast and lunch with new and interesting things to try (peanut butter, pork rind chocolate chip cookies or pecan Apple Jack candies? cookies? whatever they were, they were delicious. We love to be your Guinea pigs at the Journal office!) 

When I need something savory, I eat cheese, so much cheese. 

I know at some point I’ve said that I could eat Mac and Cheese “every single day for the rest of my life.” That was a lie. I’d eat my words, but they’d probably taste terrible and make me sick.

I changed the mac and cheese brands up and eaten Kraft, Velveeta, Homemade, tried my sister’s corn mac recipe, tried the Cheeto flavor. I tried it all and no; you can’t eat macaroni and cheese every day for six months. You also can’t eat grilled cheese every day. 

One day I was sitting on the living room floor eating crackers, cheddar cheese and pepperoncini peppers, hysterically crying because I was so tired of cheese. I never thought I’d see the day that would happen. 

Last year during Thanksgiving, I couldn’t taste or smell anything because I had COVID. I thought that would be the worst Thanksgiving I’d have. I was stuck in quarantine in my home office with a mattress on the floor-nowhere to walk or move. I was alone, sick with a virus and scared. This year, God willing, I’ll be healthy and alive, but there’s a good chance I’ll be eating something with cheese with my nose plug on and I’ll cry seeing all that good food that I won’t be able to eat for the second year in a row.

Last week my niece turned nine. I was there waiting impatiently the day she was born and vowed to try to be there for every birthday if I could. At this party, we watched her open gifts and everyone ate dinner. My sister has been great at making sure there are no onions in anything she makes if I’m around and I have something to eat at every event. This time she accidentally cooked something with onion, leaving her house unbearable for me to be inside. It made me gag and so dizzy I felt like I’d pass out. Even the slightest pinch of onion salt turns my world upside down. But now it’s more, its garlic, meat, body odor, chili, tacos. Almost everything. This day I had forgotten my nose plug, so I was stuck on the porch and watched my niece blow her candles out on her cake through the window like Stella Dallas watched her daughter get married from the street. How depressing.  

A few days after that, I cheerily told Brian, “the fair is only a few days away!” Because the fair is one of my favorite things of the year because of the hamburgers and chili. He just gave me a look, and then it hit me. I can’t eat chili or hamburgers. I can’t even smell the chili, or I’ll get sick. I started crying. This thing has me crying a lot. When this thing’s over I’m going to eat a ribeye with an entire slab of smoked BBQ pork ribs, crying the happiest of tears. 

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I can’t wrap my mind around this whole thing. It still feels so surreal—people wearing masks to do everyday things like getting groceries and gas, losing loved ones, getting ill, staying ill. Or missing out on social interaction, family, or friends.  

With this past weekend’s State Basketball in Lincoln, I was thinking about how quickly the past year went. A year ago, last week was our last “normal” week before everything really changed. It’s likely we’ll never go back to the way things were. I now watch reruns of my favorite shows, like Impractical Jokers, where they stand in crowded New York City streets and lean into strangers and whisper in their ears; share their food or a hug and think how that type of human contact between strangers may never exist again. 

A year ago this past weekend, Brian, Alex, and I watched our niece play in the State Tournament. We knew the rumblings and talked about them with other people in the crowd, but we sat with others and hugged our niece and posed for pictures after the game. Then, like a couple of fools, we made our way to Valentinos on 70th and loaded up on the all-you-can-eat buffet. I typed this, lowered my head and shook it. Oh sweet, naive little McKim family, you fools. On the other hand, I’m delighted we had one final all-you-can-eat buffet.

Since Boys State Basketball last year, March 14, 2020, I’ve been keeping a journal. My migraine medication leaves me a bit forgetful, and I didn’t want to forget a moment of how strange these times were.  

On March 14 of last year (according to my journal), Brian covered the Irish Boys at a near-empty Pinnacle Bank Arena. I decided to see one last movie. I went downtown to the Grand Cinema and bought myself a ticket to the 4:00 p.m. showing of Impractical Jokers: The Movie (I love them, it’s an addiction. They got me through 2020). I was alone for the first five minutes, then about eight other people showed up. A gentleman invited our group to the lobby, where he bought us each a drink and we proceeded to toast each other from our sanitized seat miles apart. I’ve probably mentioned this before, but for me, it was the best way to go into the quarantine-with a film and a toast with strangers in a theater. 

Two days later, that theater closed. After the game, Brian and I went to the store to grab some essentials. It was a free-for-all. The battle for toilet paper, frozen and canned foods was on. I don’t know about Brian but, I think that’s when the reality of the situation began to sink in for me. Before leaving Lincoln, we had one last sit-down dinner in a restaurant. Had we known it was our last one, for now, a year and counting, we would have chosen wisely. 

The days leading up to that weekend were our last normal days and we had no idea what was about to hit. That Saturday, as Brian and I wandered through aisles of people without masks, we were in the middle of the world, transitioning into what it is now and we had no idea. Many of us thought this would be done by summer, defiantly fall, but especially winter. 

March 15, 2020. I wrote in my Journal that today was the first day that I was going to write about the virus for the paper. I put together a long informational story about COVID-19, but it was too long, so I would run it online. I had run to the store to get hamburger, frozen asparagus, Mucinex and a whole bunch of vitamin C and Emergen-C. I had to go to five places to find Emergen-C and they only had one box left. I had to stand in line at Walgreens in St. Joe for over 20 minutes because everyone was stalking up on medications. I was so scared that night after hearing everyone talking about people stocking up on supplies and being robbed that I slept on the couch and ordered cameras to put up around the house. I forgot how paranoid I got in those first few days when everything was so uncertain. 

March 20, 2020. I wrote about how much we were eating out. I gained five pounds the first few weeks of the quarantine and it only got worse as the summer went on. I spent every cent of my disposable income on food. You would have thought that COVID was going to destroy all of our food. It’s funny to think about how you will react in certain situations. When I panic, I buy food. 

A few days later, I drove around on a rainy Sunday morning and took photos of the churches that had closed and noted how empty the streets of Falls City looked. Even to this day, I take pictures of everything that isn’t “normal.” Signs, vaccination sites and COVID testing centers in old bank drive-thru’s. I pray that these are things that we only see for a short time and they vanish as quickly as they appeared. I hope that someday, Alex’s memory is fuzzy to the past year’s events and the upcoming year. He’s old enough that he’ll remember, just like I remember every moment of September 11, 2001, and the days and months after. But when he tells his story to his kids or family, I want him to have a clear picture of what the days were like. The nights we sat at home and played games, watched TV and talked, but also the nights that were hard and we wanted to kill each other because we’ve spent every moment looking at each other day in and day out for three months. I want him to remember the facetime calls with my sister, the notes of encouragement on Falls City Businesses windows and signs. I want him to remember all of it. 

It’s been a wild year. I hope 2021 slows down and lets us enjoy everything she has to offer. Better, healthier days, hugs, family get together’s. Trips to see friends and even a good old-fashioned high five. It’s the little things.

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