Support small businesses
Every morning, I have the joy of seeing the beautiful Nebraska horizon as our cattle graze and am reminded how lucky I am to help feed a small portion of the world. Since co-founding Setting D Ranch LLC, we have expanded selling our Ranch Raised Beef and Pork as frozen, pre-packaged cuts, all of which are processed at a USDA facility. We also participate in local Farmers Markets and other community events.
While being a small business owner in the agricultural industry isn’t always easy, it’s rewarding because of the support we receive from our community.
This support comes in all shapes and sizes. From the partnership with other area businesses, to the conversations with folks at the Farmers Market, to the comments and messages, we receive on our social media platforms. We appreciate it all. We’ve also worked hard over the past year to give the community more behind-the-scenes access to how our business operates, through Instagram Reels and photos on our Facebook, to give them an exclusive look at what ranch life entails. We’ve been lucky with the amount of support we’ve received.
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As the holiday season kicks into full swing, I wanted to take a moment to remind people how
important it is to support local businesses, especially here in rural Nebraska. Small businesses are the lifeblood of our economy, and I ask that you consider supporting local businesses.
Clarissa Feldman, Litchfield
RR unions get shaft
I am a railroad signal engineer for the Union Pacific Railroad and a proud member of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalman (BRS). I am writing this in support of fair wages, benefits and quality of life for all people, not just unions.
If you haven’t heard already, there is a possibility worker strikes may occur on Dec. 9, if negotiations between unions and their respective carriers aren’t ratified. In an already crippled economy, this could have detrimental impacts in the United States.
These are strictly my opinions why I am not in favor of what the Presidental Election Board (PEB) has determined to be fair and the reasons why I feel the way I do. I’ve worked for UP for 15 years.
Since the UP implemented precision scheduled railroading they have cut almost one third of their work force. This was going on long before the pandemic to fatten Wall Street’s wallets. Workforces that are still employed are feeling the brunt of those losses. We are doing two or three times more work for the same money. Sometimes we are doing this work without the help or resources needed to do our jobs effectively.
Extended territories and job losses have darkened morale and displaced families all over the United States.
When UP asked its employees to help with innovative ways to save money and provide better service we did just that. We helped UP make record-breaking profits every quarter for years before the pandemic.
During the pandemic employees got talked up and praised as essential workers, but this is how they repay us, by not even coming to the table with our unions to talk about new negotiations.
It literally took the Biden administration getting involved to bring them to the table. Disgraceful.
What happened to that huge corporate tax cut given from 2016 to 2020? Oh what’s that? Share buybacks to please Wall Street? What about the employees? It would sure be nice if the American people could get some tax relief. I’m not even going to get into the whole better get your vaccine and your boosters if you want to keep your job in September, October and November of 2021. What the heck has happened to our country? How long are we going to put up with corporate greed and the over-extension of government spending and overreach of this great nation’s Constitution?
John Danger Galliano, Kearney
Divisive argument
State Sen. Tom Brewer’s column in the Hub, (Don’t force COVID vaccine onto Guard), is a timely warning that America’s military readiness is threatened by the reluctance of Army National Guard troops to undergo vaccination for the COVID 19 virus. Brewer identified a serious problem. Sincere thanks are warranted. But his rhetoric is inflammatory. His medical knowledge is riddled with errors; his solution is cynical and divisive.
Brewer contends: “Our commander-in-chief, the secretary of defense and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff are deliberately weakening the national defense of the United States...” Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, speaking for himself, said he “determined — after careful consultation with medical experts and military leaders — that mandatory COVID-19 vaccinations for service members are necessary to protect the health and readiness of the force.” Austin may be wrong. Isn’t it gratuitous at best, and libelous at worst, to question his motives?
Brewer contends vaccines “do not prevent infections.” The facts: Frequently true, but misleading. More importantly, vaccines dramatically reduce severe disease, hospitalization and death in vaccinated patients with COVID. Seat belts don’t prevent collisions or every injury. We still use them.
Senator Brewer: “... they have caused countless deaths and injuries in otherwise young, healthy people.” The facts: Deaths related to COVID vaccines are exceedingly rare. Put the risk in perspective. The National Institute of Health noted the risk of myocarditis before the pandemic was 1.3/100,000 people annually; 226/100,000 in patients hospitalized with COVID; 2/100,000 after vaccination for COVID (virtually all these patients recovered); and a 7/100,000 chance of being struck by lightning. Furthermore, COVID claimed the lives of 69,606 (and counting) Americans between 18-49 years old. It probably created more orphans than the Vietnam War.
Senator Brewer: “The rushed process for approving these vaccines was obviously a mistake.” Brewer called the vaccines “experimental medicines”. The facts: The swift development of the vaccines was the one thing we did quite right during this pandemic. It was a medical miracle that saved millions of lives. Pandemics develop swiftly. They require a swift response. Proper clinical trials comparing the vaccines to placebos in large numbers of patients revealed the vaccines typically were 90% effective in preventing hospitalization and death; with common, short lived, bothersome, but tolerable side effects. The FDA has granted full approval for some COVID vaccines. Slowing vaccine development in 2020 would have been tantamount to firing Gen. Grant and rehiring Gen. McClellan to battle the Army of Northern Virginia in 1864.
Our service members are already required to receive 19 vaccines in boot camp, such as flu shots and meningitis vaccines, as well as the COVID vaccine.
The matter is being litigated, as Brewer recommends. A federal judge in Oklahoma ruled against the plaintiffs. Judge Friot opined: “The court is required to decide the case on the basis of federal law, not common sense. Either way, the result would be the same.”
John Locke observed: “Madmen reason rightly from wrong premises.” So do some patriots. Why not simply re-review the evidence, cool the rhetoric, and reassure our troops?
George K. Bascom, Kearney
UNK faculty wants raise
During this week the faculty of UNK will be sending messages to all members of the Board of Regents asking for raises that reflect the almost unprecedented levels of inflation in the United States.
For the last five years the faculty and staff at UNK have not received raises that have kept up with the rising cost of living. UNKEA, the labor union for full-time faculty at UNK, is currently negotiating with the Board of Regents seeking a contract that will come as close as possible to the inflationary context that we currently live in.
Since 2018 the vast majority of UNK’s full-time faculty have received average raises of 1.1%, while last year and this year the regents approved faculty raises of only 0.65% for the vast majority of full-time faculty.
Now, in the context of more than 9.1% inflation (Bureau of Labor Statistics), the regents seem prepared to again ignore our increasing cost of living and continue a pattern of offering stagnant raises.
This is despite ensuring that the chancellors across the system, and NU’s president, have received raises during these past five years that have regularly surpassed the cost of living.
For example, the chancellor of UNK has received an average raise of more than 5% during the past 5 years, the chancellor of UNO an average raise of 8.4% since 2016-2017 (an overall 59% increase in the salary offered to this chancellor) and the chancellor of UNL an average raise of 2.2% during the last 5 years with a recent 9% increase from last year.
Shockingly, the salary approved by the regents for the president of the NU system has increased 73% since 2018-19
In a spirit of equity and fairness the faculty of UNK will be sending messages to all regents asking that they seriously reconsider their approach to our compensation. In addition, the president of UNKEA will speak during the public comment part of the regents' Dec. 2 meeting to call upon the board once again to establish a new trend, one where the faculty and staff at UNK receive raises that are in line with inflation, raises that demonstrate the board’s support in helping UNK continue the high level of excellence in teaching Nebraskans that we have maintained for so long.
UNKEA Executive Committee