Omaha World-Herald. March 20, 2015
Welcome idea for Congress
Chuck Hagel, a Republican, did it. So did Ben Nelson, a Democrat. As did Democrats Bob Kerrey and Jim Exon.
During their service in the U.S. Senate, those Nebraska lawmakers often gave their party chieftains the same message: Don’t count on me to always vote the party line. Issues are too complicated for that. I’m voting my own mind.
In the U.S. House, Rep. Brad Ashford has begun his congressional career on the same path. The 2nd District’s new congressman took an independent stance in the first weeks of the new Congress by voting with the Republican majority to pass six of seven bills opposed by most of Ashford’s fellow House Democrats.
Ashford’s office says his is one of the most independent records in the House so far - voting with the Democrats 73 percent of the time (when the party-line average is 93 percent) - and that 30 of his 39 bills include Republican co-sponsors.
He has been criticized by some Democrats for some of his votes, particularly in support of the Keystone XL pipeline. And, as the World-Herald’s Joseph Morton reports, he’s catching partisan heat for not being as aggressive as many other congressmen in trying to raise campaign cash.
His approach shouldn’t come as a surprise, though.
Ashford was known for his independent-mindedness during his years in the Nebraska Legislature. At times he’s been a registered Republican or independent. He has long been outspoken in his support for the Legislature’s nonpartisan culture and the way it promotes practical policy-making.
Our dysfunctional Congress would benefit greatly by having fewer partisan stalwarts and a greater number of energetic independent thinkers.
Such lawmakers prod their respective parties to stop and look beyond simple talking points. These independent thinkers encourage their colleagues to pull back from extreme positions and work toward practical consensus-building.
They also remind the Republican and Democratic establishments that if a party intends to be a competitive national party, it needs to provide room for moderates. What’s the fastest-growing political affiliation in Nebraska? Independents, who now account for 20 percent of registered voters statewide, with Republicans at 48 percent and Democrats at 31 percent.
Our nation is well served when members of Congress, Republican or Democrat, search for common ground and common-sense solutions rather than promoting the idea that politics should be a zero-sum, win-at-all-costs game.
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Lincoln Journal Star. March 20, 2015
Commission should listen
Opponents of a proposed disposal site for fracking wastewater ought to have the opportunity to air their views on the proposal to the Nebraska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission.
The commission plans to have a hearing March 24 on an application by Terex Energy Corp. to dispose of wastewater from fracking operations by injecting it into an unused oil well in Sioux County.
The operation might mean as many as 80 trucks hauling 10,000 barrels a day to the site.
There is considerable local opposition to the plan. Overflow crowds showed up at hearings before the Sioux County and Scotts Bluff county boards.
Unfortunately, the commission plans to severely restrict testimony, limiting it only to people with property and interests within a half-mile radius of the unused well. Nebraska Oil and Gas Director Bill Sydow thinks he is justified in imposing the limitation on the basis of existing rules.
“This hearing is about the technical and engineering merits of this well bore,” Sydow said. “It is not about policy, because policy is set on this at the federal level.”
Even if Sydow is right that state rules allow such a strict restriction on testimony, he and the commission should recognize that they would best serve the public by providing a forum for discussion of such a controversial project.
As the Journal Star editorial board noted last month, state regulations that have been on the books for decades may need updating to handle the new boom in fracking.
Wastewater from fracking operations contains salt and heavy metals. It is considered an environmental hazard. The wastewater would be injected about a mile underground, with a thick layer of impermeable shale between the wastewater and the groundwater closer to the surface that is used by area residents for drinking and irrigation.
Neighbors say they are worried about the possibilities of malfunctions or problems with the well casing that could contaminate groundwater, as well as the possibility of above-ground spills and leaks.
The legitimate concerns of area residents extend far beyond the half-mile radius that the commission wants to impose.
This is no time for the commission to rely on a technicality, or on outdated regulations, to deny those living near the well to voice their objections. The least the commission could do is listen to what they have to say.
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The Grand Island Independent. March 20, 2015
Distracted driving an increasingly deadly threat
Winter has given way to unseasonably warm weather and with the change comes an increase in city traffic and outdoor activity. With more pedestrians on the streets, kids playing in the yard and people riding bicycles, skateboards, and motorcycles; law enforcement and emergency responders have been busy responding to accidents.
Although traffic fatalities have been on the decline in recent years due to vastly improved safety features on today’s vehicles and safer roadways, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that 90 people on average lose their lives each day - and more than 250 are injured every hour - due to drunk driving, not wearing a seatbelt, distracted driving and other factors.
The phenomenon of drivers using technological devices - cellphones, onboard navigation systems, computers and head-up displays - has placed drivers, pedestrians and bicyclists in great jeopardy while posing special challenges for law enforcement.
By far the greatest cause for the rise in distracted driving accidents is texting. Text messaging while driving is banned in 44 states including Nebraska.
Nebraska law prohibits drivers from “using a hand-held wireless communication device to read a written communication, manually type a written communication, or send a written communication.”
Though drivers of all ages thwart the texting law, teens comprise the highest risk category of accident proneness.
Learner’s permit and intermediate license holders younger than 18 are prohibited from using a cellphone while driving in Nebraska.
According to AT&T’s Teen Driver Survey, teens who text while driving spend 10 percent of the time outside their lane; 97 percent of teens agree that texting while driving is dangerous and yet 43 percent do it anyway. The survey also notes that nine in 10 teens expect a reply to a text or email within five minutes or less, which puts pressure on them to respond while driving.
Responding to a text message alert has become a hard-wired part of human behavior in today’s world. That’s a hard habit to break.
Spring has arrived. We urge our readers to be alert. Watch for the unexpected child running into the street, pedestrians at crossings, or bicyclists sharing the road. Be aware that distracted driving can compound the chances for tragedy.
April is Distracted Driving Awareness Month. Take the pledge to drive cell-free.
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Scottsbluff Star-Herald. March 17, 2015.
Booze
Last weekend in Omaha, police broke up a party and ticketed 70 minors for possession of alcohol. When officers were called to the home, they found about 100 juveniles inside.
After the bust, a mother wrote a letter to the police chief, the mayor and local media thanking the cops for breaking up the party before her son drank himself to death or died in a horrific crash.
Actually, that last part never happened. In fact, she wrote to complain about how police behaved while breaking up the illegal activity. That other stuff must not have occurred to her.
Nebraska parents defending boozy kids is nothing new. So it’s no surprise that among the annual barrage of news stories linking St. Patrick’s Day and drunkenness came reminders that Nebraska consistently ranks as one of the top states for binge drinking and underage drinking. A report last year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ranked Lincoln as the 10th drunkest city in the nation.
Research shows that binge drinking is more common among people with a household income of at least $75,000 - it’s a phenomenon that’s solidly middle class. Kids don’t acquire booze without complicity from adults, who either sell it to them without checking ID, buy it for them or allow them to drink it at home. In Nebraska, contributing to the delinquency of a minor is a Class I misdemeanor. Providing alcohol to persons under the age of 21 is considered a violation of the statute. A conviction could result in a $1,000 fine or up to one year in jail, or both.
Ever hear of a merchant, store clerk or foolish parent spending a year in jail over providing alcohol to a minor?
In a recent discussion of marijuana laws, Sheriff Mark Overman asked, “Are there any other laws you would like for us to ignore?” It’s a reasonable question. Without changes in Nebraska law, police are compelled to enforce statutes that prohibit smuggling legally obtained marijuana from Colorado. But the fact is, all law enforcement involves setting priorities. It’s illegal to pollute a stream, for example. But people rarely get cited for that, although it wouldn’t take much investigation to find violations in Scotts Bluff County. People cheat on taxes, beat their spouses, ignore government transparency laws, throw burning cigarettes out car windows, fail to buckle up and don’t use turn signals. All that’s illegal, too.
And the sad fact is, plenty of people get away with providing booze to kids, although it often results in tragedy. It wouldn’t take much research to list the local young people who’ve been killed in alcohol-related car crashes in recent years. For those who have to report on the carnage, most of them get seared into memory, especially when they involve kids we knew.
Alcohol abuse is more than a rite of passage. It’s a factor in 40 percent of all violent crimes in the United States, including 37 percent of rapes and 27 percent of aggravated assaults. Binge drinking accounted for about half of the more than 80,000 alcohol-related deaths in the United States in 2010, according to a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. More than 17 percent of all people in the United States are binge drinkers, and more than 28 percent of people age 18 to 24. Every year more than 1,800 college students die from alcohol-related accidents. About 600,000 are injured while drunk, almost 700,000 are assaulted and almost 100,000 are sexually assaulted.
So Nebraska ought to try harder to keep booze out of the hands of kids. That’s a different issue, by the way, than prohibiting drug or alcohol use by adults. Most law enforcement involves protecting people from other people. The problem with prohibition - and why it fails - is that it’s an attempt to protect us from ourselves. Along with education and parental responsibility, more aggressive enforcement of laws against underage drinking would help dissuade young people from the mistaken belief that getting drunk or high is cool.
Fact is, tobacco use and drunken driving have declined substantially over the past 40 years. Research by the National Institute on Drug Abuse continues to show decreasing use of alcohol, cigarettes, and prescription pain relievers; no increase in use of marijuana; decreasing use of inhalants and synthetic drugs; and a general decline in the use of illicit drugs.
Overman and others argue that Colorado’s pot law will make young people believe it’s OK to ignore Nebraska’s. If the effect of treating alcohol law enforcement with contempt is any indication, he’s certainly correct. Believing that it’s OK to break one law makes it easier to break others. If we want Nebraska kids to avoid drugs, a good start would be sending a consistent message that it’s also wrong for them to use alcohol before they’re old enough to buy it.
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