•May 3, 2017•

By Jim Nowlan
NP Guest Columnist

As we enter a third year without a state budget, I turn to readers to close a gap of about $9 billion between state expenditures of $72 billion (hard numbers difficult to nail down, as no budget) and annual revenues of about $63 billion.

There are of course two ways to do this: cut expenditures and/or increase revenues. Nearby I lay out a necessarily compressed and incomplete set of prominent, quite real budget options. Can you select among the options to come up with $9 billion in actions that would close the budget gap?

I am hoping many readers will at least try. The layout will undoubtedly prompt questions, which I would try to answer, if you emailed me. There is, unfortunately, neither time nor technical expertise on my part to make this exercise interactive.

I want to encourage summary responses from readers, whatever they are—to my email address below. What would you do if you were in charge? Read More

Solar Companies Soliciting Area Land Owners

Dear Editor,

Many landowners have received solicitations from solar companies, including Cypress Creek Renewables.

The lease agreements that accompany these solicitations represent long-term obligations for landowners and tenants; usually at least 20 years. Consequently, these leases must be taken seriously. Read More

•April 19, 2017•

By Jerry L. Ginther
NP Columnist

This was the iconic name for the old steam locomotive. When they first came on the scene of American history, horses still powered nearly all machinery and were the primary mode of transportation. “The Great Iron Horse,” and the steel rail could move more passengers and freight over long distances at higher speeds than a twenty-mule team. The steam engine became as much of an icon in the early days of America and the unsettled west as the horse and cowboy.

In previous articles, I’ve written about the romance of railroading as it pertained to the various jobs performed by both men and women in the daily operation of a railroad. However, the trains themselves contributed much to this nostalgia. In the not too distant past, trains had identities and personality, if you will. When streamliners were eloquent, schedules were frequent, and fares were less expensive than for airliners, America traveled coast-to-coast and border-to-border on passenger trains. The names of those trains became as familiar as the names of family members. Some will remember, The Panama Limited and The City of New Orleans, two famous trains operated by the Illinois Central Railroad. Read More

•April 5, 2017•

By Jim Nowlan
NP Guest Columnist

This proposal for “American Service Credits” is driven by two premises. First, the well-to-do who pay most of our income taxes hate to see their money go to people who don’t do anything for it.

Second, most people want to do something constructive with their lives, but may not know how in a world where stunning advances in artificial intelligence are eliminating much traditional human work.

American Service Credits would be a locally administered, federally funded program of credits redeemable in money, in return for approved services rendered to others, to one’s community and even to one’s self.

Services would be reimbursed at the local minimum wage up to a maximum of, say, $25,000 for the individual and maybe $40,000 for a couple.

Persons eligible for the credits would be the unemployed and underemployed. Those having some paid work would be able to earn credits, but only up to a total of $25,000 in total per person income.

Credits that might supplant compensated work would not be approved for activity. Read More

•March 29, 2017•

By Jerry L. Ginther
NP Columnist

EDITOR’S NOTE: The May 22 edition of the News Progress contained the wrong Jerry Ginther column. Below is the correct version.

In the next few weeks farmers and gardeners will begin preparing the soil for planting, and with the vernal equinox behind us beekeepers will begin preparing their bee colonies for the anticipated nectar flow.

Noticeably, the hours of daylight have begun to lengthen even if warmer weather and other signs of spring are not evident. Those may be delayed for a few weeks. Vernal equinox actually means that on March 20 we experienced equal hours of daylight and darkness, 12 hours each. The day is designated as the first day of the spring, but as you’ve probably noticed, spring-like weather doesn’t always arrive on that day.

Preparing the bees and the hives for the spring and summer nectar flows is a labor-intensive project for the beekeeper. In regions of our country known for severe winters, many beekeepers wrap their hives with insulating material to protect them from harsh winds and help prevent heat loss from within.  Read More