By W. Cecil Steward

In 1862, with the origination of the Homestead Act, who could have imagined the changes—biologically, agriculturally, developmentally, the importance to the economy and/or the social-cultural evolution—that land uses and land ownership would mean to the Nebraska landscape?

By Johnathan Hladik

Nebraskans face a difficult decision. New EPA regulations could require the Nebraska Public Power District to invest more than $1 billion in order to bring old, dirty, coal-fired power plants into compliance. Let’s take a look at what this decision means for rural development throughout our state and the potential for a state-based new energy economy. We’ll then consider the impacts of coal and the role this resource will play moving forward. Do we invest more and more into an outdated energy future or are we ready to move beyond coal?

By Bob Kerrey

I have come home to talk about the politics of the Missouri River. In so doing, I want to call your attention to a problem. The problem is the residents of the basin through which this river flows have no public authority charged with the responsibility of resolving the constant conflicts we humans have over the uses of the river’s water. We have delegated that authority to a number of federal agencies. This, in turn, guarantees that the politics over the river are at best dysfunctional; at worst, they are counterproductive.

By Joanne Steele

I have spent 40 years living, working and volunteering in small towns. As a marketing specialist, I have been professionally focused on the unique marketing needs of rural communities and towns with populations well under 10,000. As a former teacher, I relish the challenge of translating complex marketing concepts into simple, doable steps that can be tackled by the busy business owners and volunteers who are the engines of small towns.

By Dan Schlitt

The failure of the super committee to complete their assignments returns the responsibility of budgeting to the members of the House and Senate, where it belongs. What needs to be done now? There is one area of the budget that needs serious attention. If we are to bring the federal budget under control, the largest “entitlement,” Pentagon spending, must be controlled.

By Maxine B. Moul

USDA Rural Development is a relatively small agency within the Department of Agriculture and of the federal government. But its impact on rural America is mighty. Since Nebraska Rural Development became a separate agency in 1996, nearly $2 billion has been invested in the rural communities, businesses and families in this state.

By Randall Moody

Those Republicans are at it again. Tinkering with the Electoral College. Now they want to set up a system that allows a U.S. presidential candidate to win the electoral vote of a congressional district if he or she wins the popular vote in that district. That scheme would scuttle the current winner-take-all system that allows a candidate who wins the majority of the vote in the state to get all the electoral votes.

By Dr. George A. Guidera

In 2008 the 25th anniversary of “A Nation at Risk” was marked primarily by continuing criticism of schools in the United States. Self-proclaimed politically driven reform agendas from education as a memorized cultural glossary to preparing pragmatic problem solvers for the marketplace were joined by others including concern with global competition, closing learning gaps and the power of teacher unions, to name a few of the utilitarian flags being waved. Political voices were further impacted by changing expectations as well as demands for evidence based upon test scores and a growing federal footprint upon education making solutions elusive. These pressures may actually be leading the nation away from purposeful reform. Such voices include:

By Gerry Finnegan

In an academic study published earlier this year, several scholars using advanced statistical techniques tested for and found abnormally high investment returns from common stock trading by members of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The study involved over 300 members of Congress (and family members) and encompassed over 16,000 transactions between the 99th and 107th Congresses (1985–2001). All of this study’s data was gleaned from each congressperson’s Financial Disclosure Report (FDR).

By Jon Bailey

As part of its investment in prevention and public health, the Affordable Care Act contains several initiatives to provide grants to support and promote prevention and public health. Among them are

By Duane Hovorka

This fall, the U.S. Senate will be facing proposals moving through the House of Representatives that would slash funding for federal programs that help make Nebraska’s water cleaner, conserve soil and water, restore fish and wildlife habitat and help us all breathe easier.

**Web Exclusive**

By Gerald Mestl

Executive Summary

Many people throughout the basin are claiming that the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) either caused or contributed to the extent of the Missouri River flood through mismanagement or by managing the system for endangered species. They believe that the USACE could have prevented the flood by taking other management actions leading up to the flood. In order to examine the accusations we will present a timeline of water supply in the Missouri River basin during 2011.

By Robert Kelley Schneiders

In 1943 the Missouri River flooded three times. In March the river jumped its banks along its upper reach (the army considers the river above the Missouri River-Big Sioux River confluence the upper river) after the melting of the Plains snowpack. In May the river inundated portions of its valley from Sioux City southward after the commencement of heavy spring rains. The third flood arrived in June when the meltwater from the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming and Montana arrived in the already engorged lower valley; it struck the river south of Nebraska City, Neb.

By Jon Bailey

One of the primary features of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act law is the creation of health insurance exchanges. An exchange is an insurance marketplace with the goal to help individuals and small businesses access affordable and quality health insurance. Ultimately, these marketplaces will be one of the most important features of the Affordable Care Act as they will represent the method of purchasing health insurance for groups of Americans who have had the most challenges in obtaining affordable and comprehensive health insurance—the low- and moderate-income uninsured, small businesses and families who purchase health insurance on their own through the individual market. It is estimated that about 11.5 million people will use the exchanges in 2014, with 27 million using them by 2018. The marketplaces will also provide a means to distribute premium assistance subsidies and to enroll qualifying individuals and families in public health insurance programs such as Medicaid and Medicare.

By Randall Moody

As a rule, I don’t believe in conspiracies nor am I particularly paranoid, but sometimes I really do think someone is out to get me. Well, not just me but all who believe in free speech, an open political system and a judiciary that is relatively free of partisan bias.

By Jon Bailey

Nebraska, like most Midwestern and Great Plains states, has an economy dominated by small businesses and the self-employed. Nearly all Nebraska establishments with employees are considered “small businesses.” According to the 2008 U.S. Census Bureau County Business Patterns (most recent data available), 95 percent of Nebraska nonfarm establishments with employees have fewer than 50 employees. Thus, the concern over small business health care and health insurance issues and how health care reform would treat them was of paramount political importance during the debate on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA).

By Randall Moody

When the Congress approved the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) in 1975, it agreed to shoulder up to 40 percent of the cost of providing educational services to children with special needs. But over the years the federal dollars provided to states and school districts hovered around the 15–18 percent mark, becoming a very large unfunded mandate. In some small school districts the arrival of just one special education student could bust the entire year’s budget. For years there had been pressure on the Congress to make IDEA money an entitlement. In other words, dollars for this program would be guaranteed each year and not have to go through the normal appropriations process competing with other federal budget items for funding.

By Jill Kostel, Ph.D.

On May 2, 2011, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers blew up a two-mile stretch of levee in Missouri to save the town of Cairo, Ill., from catastrophic flooding. This intentional breach opened the Birds Point-New Madrid Floodway—a 130,000-acre area of farmland—to take in some of the rushing floodwaters of the Ohio and Mississippi rivers. Within two weeks, two floodways in Louisiana, the Bonnet Carre and Morganza, were opened to lower Mississippi River flood levels from Baton Rouge to New Orleans. This marks the first time in history that all three of these floodway systems have been in operation at the same time.

By John Crabtree

Last month we announced a multi-part series, beginning in July, which will look into the Affordable Care Act and what hope reforming America’s health care system holds for the Midwest and Great Plains and, in particular, those of us that reside in and around America’s rural communities.

By Courtney Quinn and Charles Francis

From the advent of the cotton gin to use of pesticides and transgenetic plants, farming practices have evolved to produce increasing yields with less labor. Despite the obvious benefits, farmers and consumers are increasingly concerned with the ethical implications of these same agricultural advancements.