Omaha World Herald. February 8, 2018
Civics education deserves a boost in Nebraska schools
Nebraska benefits when its citizens have a sound understanding of our country’s history and the fundamental principles of liberty and equality. It’s a plus for the state when an appreciation for America’s central values and ideals spurs citizens to participate actively in civic life.
A proposal to strengthen civics education in Nebraska is now before the Legislature, in the form of Legislative Bill 1069, introduced by State Sen. Lydia Brasch of Bancroft.
Under the bill, school districts would administer the 100-question civics portion of the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services test to eighth-graders and 11th-graders. Passing the test wouldn’t be required for graduation, but parents would receive the individual results, and the districts would forward the aggregate results to the Nebraska Department of Education.
The bill rightly observes: “A central role of schools is to impart civic knowledge and skills that help our youth to see the relevance of a civic dimension for their lives. Students should be made fully aware of the liberties, opportunities and advantages of which we are possessed and the sacrifices and struggles of those through whose efforts these benefits were gained.”
The State Board of Education supports Brasch’s call to boost civics education, Education Commissioner Matt Blomstedt testified during a hearing Monday by the Legislature’s Education Committee.
Brasch said she’s open to amending the bill after some lawmakers and testifiers said the state should encourage students to understand more than what’s contained on the naturalization test.
Students can benefit greatly not only by knowing historical dates and names of key figures but also by being able to draw on their civic knowledge to analyze issues and understand long-term patterns. A good example: the decades-long struggles, starting in the late 1790s, to expand voting rights.
LB 1069 also would require each school district to have a committee on Americanism that holds at least three public meetings annually and ensures that the social studies curriculum “teaches and assesses foundational knowledge in civics, history, economics, financial literacy and geography.”
That committee requirement stems from a Nebraska law enacted in 1949, at a time when our country had just helped defeat the threat from fascism in World War II and was confronting the global ambitions of the communist Soviet Union under Joseph Stalin.
Taking pride in America’s heritage needn’t mean turning away from the parts of our national story in which our country fell short of its principles, spurring struggles for justice. Just a few years after Nebraska adopted its 1949 Americanism legislation, for example, black citizens in Omaha launched a successful boycott of the bus and streetcar systems, leading to an end to racial discrimination in the streetcar company’s hiring practices.
America’s founding was an inspiring, landmark event in world history. It established a republic governed by the people and anchored, in writing, by guarantees of fundamental liberties in the Constitution. The more that students understand that foundation and the efforts to help America achieve the full promise of its ideals, the stronger our state and our country will be.
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The Grand Island Independent. February 8, 2018.
State Fair in good hands with Cox
For eight years the Nebraska State Fair has thrived in Grand Island under the steady leadership of Joseph McDermott. He led the fair’s move from Lincoln to Grand Island, the construction of $42 million in facilities, and the regeneration of the fair in a new location.
Last year, McDermott announced his retirement and the Nebraska State Fair board has hired Lori Cox of Montana to replace him.
Cox brings to the post an impressive track record, experience and enthusiasm that should serve the fair well in the coming years.
She has 26 years of experience in marketing and strategic leadership and 12 years of work in the fair industry. In Montana, she was general manager of the Big Sky Country State Fair in Bozeman and also worked with the Western Idaho Fair and the Montana State Fair.
In addition, she grew up on a farm in Montana and is very familiar with agriculture. In an interview with The Independent, Cox stressed the importance of agriculture to a fair.
“It is the last best place to teach the public about agriculture,” she said.
She also stressed the importance of community partnerships, such as with Fonner Park, the Grand Island Chamber of Commerce and the Hall County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
Cox added that her mission is to continue to grow the fair and she will be working to attract more visitors from throughout the state.
“There are a lot of different ways to grow a fair, but sustainability is the key,” she said.
Cox is coming into a good situation. In 2017, the State Fair had its second highest attendance ever, with about 380,000 visitors. Every year the fair gets rave reviews from visitors and many love to come back year after year. That doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges. For example, the fair is working on improving its outdoor concerts experience.
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But Cox won’t have to start something from the ground up or have major problems to repair. Instead, she has the opportunity to build on what has already been successful. The table has been set for her. The State Fair buildings are a gold mine and the community is seeing the benefit and need of utilizing the buildings throughout the year.
Cox has the right skills to help her do that building. She has a great attitude, enthusiasm and good listening skills. She’ll be able to build relationships and market the fair to diverse groups.
McDermott deserves a lot of thanks for all of his work in successfully getting the fair off to such a great first eight years in Grand Island.
Now is the time to build on that success. The fair board believes that Cox is just the right person to lead and grow the fair. She is in a good position and has the skills to help bring that growth.
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Lincoln Journal Star. February 6, 2018
Nebraskans need pipeline answers, not partisan games
When Omaha Sen. Bob Krist withdrew a bill he’d introduced regarding pipelines and eminent domain, Nebraskans lost.
With the controversy surrounding the process by which TransCanada acquired some land for the Keystone XL pipeline, the 2018 legislative session provided an ideal time to have a conversation on this topic. After all, much of Nebraska landowners’ opposition to the controversial project coalesced around concern about a private corporation using the process to claim private land.
Instead, Nebraskans have been subjected to allegations of partisanship affecting the governance of their officially nonpartisan Legislature. While this is a problem that has continued to creep into day-to-day activities at the Capitol, it shades the ability to have needed policy discussions.
Krist’s LB1017, which would have required due process for taking private property for private oil pipeline construction and the posting of a $100 million bond to help cover damage from a possible spill, sought to clarify important constitutional questions. As he noted last month, the taking of private property must go through the legal process and “be for a public use with just compensation.”
Rather than sparking a needed conversation, things went south.
He wanted his bill to go before the Judiciary Committee, because of its focus on eminent domain. It was instead assigned to the Natural Resources Committee, where other senators believed it belonged because a previous pipeline siting bill had been considered there.
Was a political game played in the committee assignment? Perhaps.
Is Judiciary also the Legislature’s busiest? Undoubtedly.
Of the 462 bills introduced this year that weren’t withdrawn by their introducers, as of Monday morning, 93 - including many proposed changes to the state’s prison system - are before Judiciary. Only one other committee, Revenue, even has that much legislation currently in its purview.
That’s a lot to handle in a short, 60-day session that’s already more than a third complete.
Further complicating matters in the officially nonpartisan body is that Krist is in the midst of pursuing a third-party run for governor this fall. He’s soundly criticized state Republican leaders, including Gov. Pete Ricketts and a few sitting senators, and left the party last year.
Krist has no doubt ruffled some feathers, but the nature of his accusations are concerning. When he originally introduced the bill, he told the Journal Star that it was “a discussion we need to have.” That, regrettably, has not happened, for whatever reason.
Keystone XL isn’t yet officially settled. Its construction remains a matter of significant importance and interest - and the intersection of property rights and pipeline is too critical of an issue to allow political maneuvering, partisanship or any other reason to derail it.
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McCook Daily Gazette. February 8, 2018
Drowsy drivers don’t need to be able to drive 80
Wednesday, we wrote about the need for a system to warn drivers in whiteout conditions when they are approaching accidents blocking major highways.
Today comes word from AAA that another hazard is much more prevalent than we are being told.
The auto club studied dashboard video from 700 accidents and found that 9.5 percent of all crashes involved drowsy drivers, based on the amount of time the drivers’ eyes were closed in the minutes before a crash.
That portion climbs to 10.8 percent in the most severe crashes.
“Drowsy driving is a bigger safety issue than federal estimates show,” said David Yang, AAA Foundation’s executive director. “Drivers who don’t get enough sleep are putting everyone on the road at risk.”
The study is at odds with federal estimates, which suggest drowsiness is a factor in only 1 or 2 percent of crashes.
Travelers on I-80 and I-70 know the problem, hours of watching prairie and farmland rolling by, punctuated only by the occasional deer or fellow traveler.
We try drinking coffee, downing energy drinks, rolling down the window and singing, but those are poor substitutes for the real thing needed: rest.
“Don’t be fooled,” said William Van Tassel, AAA’s manager of driving training. “Your body’s need for sleep will eventually override your brain’s attempts to stay awake.”
About 35 percent of U.S. drivers sleep less than the recommended seven hours per night, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
And, 96 percent of drivers surveyed told the AAA Foundation that drowsy driving is a serious threat, but 29 percent admitted doing it in the previous month.
While downing 5-Hour Energy and singing off-key along with Bruno Mars may be poor substitutes for sleep, so is another proposal by Sen. John Murante of Gretna, supported by Gov. Pete Ricketts, to increase speed limits by 5 mph on state highways, including 80 on Interstate 80.
Engineers say data shows drivers are already traveling that fast, and they’re joined by the Nebraska Restaurant Association in supporting Murante’s bill.
There is plenty of heavy opposition, however, including the trucking industry and highway safety advocates like AAA.
A Crete Carrier Corp. spokesman noted that the company’s trucks have governors preventing them from driving faster than 65 mph, for the safety of drivers and the public.
Higher speed increases the stopping distance required by trucks and creates additional dangerous conditions as slower-accelerating trucks attempt to enter highways and expressways.
AAA noted that increasing the speed from 75 to 80 mph would save a motorist driving between Omaha and Lincoln just 2 1/2 minutes while burning more fuel and increasing the chances of a severe crash.
One good part of the bill would create a new “super-two” highway classification, like one planned on Highway 83 through McCook, with passing lanes spaced intermittently to provide “predictable opportunities to pass slower-moving vehicles.”
But “Instead of saving minutes, we should focus on saving lives,” said Eric Koeppe, president and CEO of the National Safety Council of Nebraska.
One question to be answered is whether enforcement would become more strict, as it has in other states where the speed limit is raised.
If drivers are already going 80 mph under today’s 75 mph speed limit, there’s no need to change the limit.?
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