Fact or opinion?

Rachel Wise

Rachel Wise, District 3, Nebraska State Board of Education (July, 2013)

Fact or Opinion?

This month I have decided to write about the topic of my choice. The State Board of Education is not meeting in July, so I am going to take this opportunity to revisit a few items that I have touched on over the past few months. Typically, most of the articles I write will be informative and factual – free of my personal opinions. Occasionally, however, I might throw in an opinion or two, but you will be forewarned whenever an opinion is heading your way.  In fact, here comes an opinion! A major concern that I have today is that readers cannot differentiate between fact and opinion. With the wealth of text-based information at our fingertips, it seems that too often we believe that anything we read must be fact. I believe this is one of the biggest challenges facing educators today. How do we help young readers develop the skills to understand fact versus opinion?

Summer is a great time to encourage reading. Nebraska has great public libraries, so it is time to power down the computer and head to the library. This is especially important for children of all ages. One of the greatest gifts you can give your child is access to books and opportunities to read. Encourage your child to read both fiction and non-fiction. As children are exposed to both fiction and non-fiction, it helps frame their understanding of fact versus opinion. Reading is not just an activity for the school day or the school year. In my opinion, teachers across the state will thank you, if you fit time for reading in your child’s summer activities.

Reading and accountability go hand in hand for schools. In an earlier article I mentioned the Nebraska Performance and Accountability System (NePAS) which is intended to show how schools are performing. The focus of NePAS includes high school graduation rates and the academic areas of writing, reading, math and science. In the fall, the 2012-2013 results or “report card” for each school in Nebraska will be released. The report card will display NePAS rankings and a variety of “facts” about how each school in Nebraska is performing.  My concern about this system is that these “facts” do not paint the entire picture of school performance. In my “opinion” there is so much more to school success than just this report card or a set of test scores. Categorizing schools in groups of “winners or losers” like a sports team is shortchanging everyone involved in those schools. It does not fully illustrate the unique characteristics of a school or a community — characteristics that may create challenges for one school and provide great opportunities for another school. Do I believe that information about school performance and accountability is critical and should be transparent to the public? Absolutely! Do I think we have the system to do that? Again, in my opinion, not yet! Do I think we have many of the components in place? Yes!

The bigger picture of school success should include components that go beyond test scores. It needs to include factors such as: curriculum; materials, resources and textbooks; teacher and administrator training and certification; class size; school funding; technology and facilities; community involvement; and parent engagement. School success is a continuous process. It begins with the vision developed by your local community and school board. In an ideal world, the Nebraska Legislature and the State Board of Education would put into place statutes, rules, regulations and an accountability system that would help your local school grow and improve.

One final note, the Nebraska State Board of Education has launched an online survey to guide their search for the next Commissioner of Education. The survey is open to the public through 6 p.m. on Monday, July 29^th and may be accessed at:  http://www.education.ne.gov/.  The purpose of the survey is to: gather opinions regarding the strengths and challenges of the Nebraska Department of Education; well public education in the state; and to identify the characteristics deemed most important for the next Commissioner of Education. If you would like to contact me, feel free to do so at rachel.wise@nebraska.gov.

New thoughts on watering lawns

News Column

John Wilson

Extension Educator

August 2, 2013

New Thoughts on Watering Lawns

I just read an interesting article that brought up some good points about watering lawns this late in the summer. The article was by Zac Reicher, Integrated Turfgrass Management Specialist at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

It has been UNL Extension’s recommendations for years that it is better to water our lawns deeply and infrequently for the best water use efficiency and plant health. That hasn’t changed… it is much more efficient, and better for the turf, to apply one inch of water in a single application once a week than a quarter inch of water every other day… or an eighth of an inch every day. The water will soak deeper in the soil which encourages deeper rooting AND the evaporation losses will be less so more of the water goes to the plant.

However, what constitutes deep and infrequent irrigation changes during the growing season. Deep and infrequent irrigation is summarized as irrigating only after the first signs of drought stress become visible, water thoroughly to wet the soil to the depth of rooting, and then do not water again until symptoms of drought stress reappear. What is “deep and infrequent” in May is far different than what it is in August, so your irrigation controllers for automatic watering systems need to be changed throughout the year. No more “set it and forget it”!

High soil temperatures decrease root growth while increasing root death, the end result is a shallower and likely less dense root system. August rooting depth may decrease by 50% or more compared to May rooting depth. Therefore, less water is needed to wet the soil to the depth of rooting. Additionally, water use increases with temperature as the plant uses it to cool itself.

The end effect of these two process is irrigation frequency increases during the heat of summer, but the amount of water applied during each irrigation cycle is less. Unfortunately, there is no hard and fast numbers recommended for amount and frequency of irrigation.

Turfgrass species, soil type, slope, exposure, compaction, mowing height and frequency, overall plant health, and daily wind, temperature, and precipitation will determine the amount of irrigation required on each individual lawn. It is further complicated by irrigation method and if an underground system is used, volume, pressure, nozzles, head spacing, and condition of the system will also complicate the irrigation.

A good way to tell how deep in the soil the water has soaked is to take a large screwdriver and poke it in the turf in several places. When the soil is moist, it will slide into the soil easily. But when the soil is dry, you can still poke the screwdriver in, but there will be much more resistance. If it slides in easily to a depth of four to six inches, you do not need to water until the turf starts to show signs of moisture stress.

The bottom line is that turfgrasses require water for optimum performance, but they much prefer slightly drier conditions over slightly wetter conditions and are extremely capable of withstanding slight to excess drought or even drought-induced dormancy. Therefore, always error on the dry side when it comes to irrigating your lawn. Not only will the turf perform better, you’ll also reduce your overall water use.

For more information on lawn care, go to the UNL turf website atturf.unl.edu or contact your local UNL Extension office.

A minute with the mayor

I received my mail-in ballot for the Keno vote the end of last week.  I marked “yes”, sealed it up and mailed it back in.  Let me tell you why.

The city budget continues to get tighter and tighter every year.  The cost of doing business continues to escalate.  Nothing is cheap anymore to fix and a lot more things need fixed these days.  The money that is available has to be used on the things that have to be done and not necessarily on the things we would like to see done.  I believe your city council has done a good job prioritizing and getting projects accomplished but we are also seeing need dictate more and more what the priority is.  This is the reality we live in.  We might have to increase revenues or we have to cut services to live within our means.  So when an opportunity comes along that will increase city revenues and doesn’t involve across the board tax increases or rate increases, I think we need to take advantage of it.  Keno can do just that.

Keno can add revenue to the city coffers because the city receives a small percentage of all Keno profits.  The city receives about nine percent of the gross sale receipts from Keno.  It is actually around eleven percent but the city has to pay licensing fees and some state taxes from that.  This is money that will go into the General Fund to help offset some of those costs associated with things like park improvements or the Bluegrass Festival, community betterment purposes or programs that enhance community members’ job skills.  They are funds that are to be used for community betterment.  And the nice thing is that it is voluntary.  You don’t have to play Keno if you don’t want to.  It isn’t like sales taxes or property taxes where you pay no matter what.  These revenues are raised strictly from the proceeds made from those wishing to play the game.  The lottery ticket you buy faithfully every week hoping to win the hundred million dollar jackpot is the same thing.  The state revenues raised from the proceeds of lottery sales have done amazing things for our educational systems.  Taxes collected off the gaming industry have contributed to community betterment in those towns and states where they are located.  This difference is you have a choice in whether you play or not.  And it doesn’t matter which decision you make – because you get to make it.  The tax system isn’t making it for you.  That is why I like the idea of allowing Keno in our community.  It brings additional money into the city that we would otherwise not receive but it is only paid from the people who choose to participate.  It is a win-win situation I believe.

There is one other positive side effect from allowing Keno to be played in Lyons.  If you want to go out to supper on Sunday where in Lyons do you go?  Right now, its mini mart takeout or out of town.  The Hiway Café is great but they are only open until 2pm.  The Branding Iron has told me if Keno passes it makes good sense to rethink about being closed on Sundays.  If Keno can have that much of an impact on a business’ financial stability so that it would think strongly about opening up another day,  just think about what the impact Keno could have on the longevity of that business.   I don’t know about you, but having the option of going out to a sit down meal on a Sunday for years to come sounds kind of nice to me.  I’m sure it does to some of you as well.  We all know what it felt like when the Branding Iron was closed down.  It wasn’t a good feeling.  If Keno can help the Branding Iron be successful and that success translates into being a staple of the Lyons business and entertainment community for many years, I’m all for it!  I hope you would be too!

So if you haven’t returned that ballot, get it in the mail.  Remember it has to be to the court house by the 13^th of August.  And when you are marking your ballot “yes” or “no” to allow Keno in Lyons, I hope you take a minute and think about all the good it could do for Lyons – not just for the Branding Iron or the city but indirectly for you as well.  Thanks for listening.  Talk to you soon.

Kats’ Korner

I would like to welcome everyone to Kat Country Hub. I hope everyone enjoys the paper as much as I do.

I would like everyone to know that I welcome any news. If you have something for the paper, please email me at katcountryhub@gmail.com, or call me at 402-687-9577. If I am not in the office, please leave a message and I will get right back to you. I check my emails all day, so I will respond as soon as I receive it.

Denise Gilliland
Editor/Chief
Kat Country Hub

I would also like to tell you a little bit about myself. Many of you already know who I am. But, for those that don’t, my name is Denise Gilliland. I worked at the Oakland Independent in Oakland, NE for almost nine years. I was also the editor of the Lyons Mirror-Sun.

I am married to Jeff Gilliland. We have two children, Justin and Whitney, and two grandchildren, Grayce and Grayhm.

I am a recent graduate of Northeast Community College with a degree in journalism. With the encouragement from my husband, I decided to go out on my own. It is a risk, but what fun is life if you don’t take risks?

I hope to succeed. I don’t set out to do something and fail. Someone told me to fail is to never try. I guess that means I am already succeeding.

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I have had people ask me how I came up with the name of the paper. Once Jeff and I decided to take this adventure, there were many decisions to make. More than I ever realized.

We began tossing around names. I wrote all of them down. Some were pretty comical and never would have been chosen. Others were pretty good, but not quite good enough. I wanted something unique.

Since I am covering Lyons, Decatur, Bancroft and Rosalie, we started looking at names that would reflect the schools. Lyons-Decatur Northeast Cougars and Bancroft-Rosalie Panthers. That is where cat came from, but I changed the spelling. The rest of the name came again by tossing names around.

As for calling this column Kats’ Korner, that came from a Facebook friend. I created a Facebook page for the paper, Kat Country Hub. I then asked for suggestions on naming my column. There were many good ideas. Kats’ Korner was the winner.

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I will be visiting many areas in the near future. If there is something you would like me to attend, please let me know. I want to be aware of everything possible!

I will be updating the paper online every day. Also, the paper will be free always. As soon as I know something, or have attended something, the story will be online that day. I want people to know the news when it happens!

I am also interested in any pictures you may have for me. Feel free to email them or stop in my office, I am at the old library in Lyons. I can take pictures off of your camera card.

Please join the Facebook page too! I will be updating my posts there daily too.

Welcome again! Thank you for reading!

Thought for the day: Success is trying, failure is to dream and never try.

Have a great day!