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Editorial

IMPROVING SERVICES DURING THE PANDEMIC

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One of the best parts of my job is visiting communities across the vast Third District. While traveling the district, I enjoy touring businesses, farms, ranches, and schools, meeting with local officials, and most of all meeting with Nebraskans. Because of COVID-19, I have been practicing social distancing and have not been able to get around the state as I like. However, like all Americans, my office and I are adapting to the reality of the pandemic to keep connected with the people of the Third District.

PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM

The coronavirus pandemic has laid much of the American economy on its back—but a bright spot has made the disaster less crippling than it might have been. That is the Paycheck Protection Program, which funneled money back to workers through small businesses.

BEATING THE HEAT IN THE 1930S:

The mid 1930s saw some of the hottest summer temperatures ever recorded in Nebra-ska. When Ruth Godfrey Donovan and her family moved to Lincoln in 1934, the Depress-ion and a severe drought were well underway. Donovan, who lived in a small apartment near downtown Lincoln, recalled: "Sleeping was difficult during that heatridden time. Sometimes it would be so hot inside the building we dragged the cushions from the living room couch out on the front porch and slept on them in the cooler outside air."

OPPORTUNITIES FOR AMERICAN

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Across our nation, 2020 has been a year of upheaval. Since March, our lives have been drastically different as we have stayed home, worked remotely, and avoided gathering in large groups to help protect the health and safety of our most vulnerable populations. We have taken extraordinary steps in our personal, professional, and social lives in order to slow the spread of COVID-19.

ADVOCATING FOR TELEHEALTH

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For the past few months, the focus in Congress has been COVID-19 relief and recovery. While we have all adapted to the current reality, we must keep our focus on bringing an end to this pandemic and resuming our daily lives as the situation allows. Several times now, the House of Representatives has returned to Washington to vote, and on May 27, for the first time since the beginning of March, the Ways and Means Committee held a hearing.

COMMITMENT TO AGRICULTURE

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Every day we use the food, feed, fuel, and fiber produced by American agriculture. In times of strain such as the COVID-19 pandemic, these men and women need allies more than ever. Fortunately, President Trump has made it a point to highlight the work rural communities do to feed America and the rest of the world.

LAND SPECULATION IN NEBRASKA

Prior to the panic of 1857 there was little interest in practical agriculture in Nebraska Territory. Land ownership was sought for speculative purposes rather than for farming. Riverfront lots in some towns sold for as much as ten thousand dollars; those three or four blocks back brought two thousand dollars; even those as much as half a mile away brought twelve hundred dollars. In most cases the sellers had acquired these properties either by preemption or for just a few dollars only two or three years earlier.

WEEKEND RAINS BRING FEELINGS OF DEJA VU:

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The other night after we’d had another round of rain, I headed to the basement fruit room and pantry for some supper ingredients. As I switched on the basement stairwell light, my heart skipped a beat as I saw a glistening glow across the big room floor.

WAYS TO STAY CONNECTED

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COVID-19 has certainly affected all of our lives. To slow the spread of this virus, we have been asked to go without many things: sporting and entertainment events, family functions, celebrations, and even congregating for worship services. While this situation is far from ideal, I am thankful we have technology to bridge the gap and keep us connected.

THE LINCOLN POTTERY WORKS

By the time Webster Eaton (1839-1907) arrived in Nebraska in 1872, he was already an experienced newspaperman. A native of Brighton, New York, Eaton served in the Union Army for three years during the Civil War. He established the first newspaper in Montgomery County, Iowa, the Red Oak Express, with the first issue off the press on March 28, 1868. Little more than a year later he moved to Kearney, Nebraska, where he edited and published the Kearney Daily Press. He sold that paper in 1875 when he was appointed to run the U.S. Land Office in Bloomington, Franklin County.