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Editorial

MOVING THE STATE CAPITOL, 1867

Omaha was Nebraska’s original capital city. The history of territorial Nebraska is a full of squabbling in the legislature about whether or not to select a new capital city. Omaha made plenty of enemies. When Nebraska became a state in 1867, the legislature decided to designate the tiny village of Lancaster (renamed Lincoln) as the new capital city. A capitol building was erected in a hurry so that the 1868 state legislature could meet there. But the old capitol in Omaha (located at the present site of Omaha Central High School) still had all the state records, books, and furniture. An 1889 book, History of the City of Lincoln, Nebraska, included a story based on the based on the reminiscences of a man named J. T. Beach, who had been hired to help in the removal of furniture and other items from the old capitol to the new. It was a delicate operation. Omaha was not happy about the losing its status as capital city, and Beach apparently feared there might be trouble.

The State of Our Union

This week President Biden delivered his first State of the Union address to a joint session of Congress. While I went into the evening open to hearing President Biden propose real solutions to urgent challenges like soaring energy and food prices, waves of illegal crossings at our southern border, and workforce shortages, I was disappointed by how readily he rehashed many of the failed policies of his first year in office which have put us in this position. Inflation is at a 40-year high, we have a serious supply chain crisis, and Russia has invaded Ukraine. Now is the time for steady, effective leadership, not more of the same policies which have led to crisis after crisis during the Biden presidency.

Flashbacks

March 1958

The Correct Spelling Is “Kearney”

Perhaps no other name has been applied so frequently, and in so many variations, to Nebraska places as that of Kearney—even though it’s spelled wrong and non-Nebraskans often don’t know how to say it.

Calling All Third District Students

Encouraging Nebraska students to engage with their government is important tothefutureofourstateandcountry. For young people in the Third District, my office has great opportunities for students of all ages and interests to get involved.

Flashbacks

March 1958

Sleighing Parties Fast & Fun In Nebraska

When pioneer Nebraskans wanted to get somewhere in a hurry, they waited for snow. When it snowed, sleighs appeared, adding ease and pleasure to winter travel. “The most pleasant of anticipations fill our hearts when we hear the merry jingle of sleighbells,” said the Lincoln Evening News on December 11, 1897, “or when someone tells us that the ice is thick enough to hold a horse.”

Gov. Ricketts’ Presidents’ Day Statement

LINCOLN – Today, Governor Pete Ricketts issued the following statement in observance of Presidents’ Day, which is celebrated on Monday, February 21, 2022.

THE WAY WE WERE – 45 PLUS 1

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Last weekend my high school classmates were finally able to get together to celebrate our 45th (plus one) reunion, marking our graduation from high school. We had tried twice last year to meet but uncertainty and spikes in COVID numbers had us put the plans on pause.

Churning Butter Technology In Nebraska

Well into the nineteenth century butter was made chiefly by hand using butter churns, which came in many sizes and styles. Butter, the fat found in cream, is made by churning the cream, which causes the fat globules in it to combine into lumps of butter. The remaining liquid is buttermilk. Once the butter has formed, it is removed from the buttermilk, washed in cold water, and gently kneaded to incorporate salt for flavor and to make the butter smooth. Catherine Arndt of York recalled in 1981 the churns and methods used to make butter during her Nebraska childhood in the early 1900s: