A Second Opinion

by Kandra Hahn

Calculations for the cost of extending Medicaid in Nebraska as a critical piece of the Affordable Care Act have been incomplete and probably overstated, said experts at committee hearings of the Nebraska Legislature last week.

No voice in Nebraska has spoken louder against the Medicaid extension than Governor Dave Heineman’s, saying it would cost “hundreds of millions of dollars” and “lead to...

The Club Is Open: Cursive Takes Over O’Leaver’s

by Tim McMahan

Sunday as I was leaving Lowe’s on Dodge Street with Matt Maginn I ran into my brother-in-law Steve headed on his way in. In years past I would have introduced Matt to Steve as “the bass player of Cursive, one of the most important rock bands that Omaha and/or Nebraska has ever produced.” But instead I said, “Steve, this is Matt, the new co-owner of O’Leaver’s.”

Yes, you read that right....

Nebraska’s Clean Energy Future

by Kietryn Zychal

“There is a large and united coalition growing in Nebraska. It started with the pipeline and it is moving into clean energy,” said Graham Christensen, Director of the Nebraska Farmer’s Union, and member of a new coalition called Clean Energy Nebraska. 

“There are a lot of people working hand in hand. There is no going backward,” he said. The Farmer’s Union, the Nebraska Wildlife Federation,...

Bill McKibben Punks Big Oil’s Big Money

by Kietryn Zychal

Bill McKibben, one of the world’s leading activists on climate change, is in Atlanta two days before Thanksgiving. He’s been on the road with his Do the Math tour since the day after Election Day, riding around the country in a bio-diesel bus that used to be Mary J. Blige’s tour bus. 

“Our driver was Johnny Cash’s driver, so we’ve heard a lot of good stories on this trip,” he quips. McKibben...

A Million Reasons Why

by Tim McMahan

Marty Amsler, like some of us, lives two lives.

Most know him as the mild-mannered “creative” at Nebraska advertising agency Bailey Lauerman. He’s a Mad Man ad guy who heads a team of Mad Men ad people that do some of the best creative work in the country. I know because I’ve seen it first hand in my “other life” at Union Pacific.

(To this day, I still meet people who think I make a living...

Heineman Gives Health Care to Feds

by Kandra Hahn

When Governor Dave Heineman told the federal government on Nov. 15 that Nebraska would pass on running its own health insurance exchange, he pointed to cost and lack of control. It was a very different Governor from the one who had presided over a public meeting featuring invited panels of health insurance executives and agent/brokers just 10 weeks earlier.

Industry was ready, but the...

From Industrial Revolution to Digital Evolution

by Carol Wang

As this story hits the streets, tensions are very high with teachers and educators across the state. Nebraska’s annual “State of the Schools” report is about to be released.

Headlines will scream ‘What’s Wrong With Education’ and ‘Failing Schools,’ causing politicians to debate the fix for the American public education system and school administrators to carefully word their...

Random Notes: Armstrong, Kerrey and the Ralston Arena

by Tim McMahan

For reasons I don’t completely understand, this column is being written a full week in advance of its street date. As such, there cannot be anything timely or topical about its content. At a time when I can literally write a column and have it in front of your eyes on the 'net in a matter of seconds, writing a column a week before you can read it is about as modern as outdoor plumbing or Mitt...