Update, 5:45pm, August 16: Jon Bruning personally dropped off some sleeping bags today at the Bold office. Actions matter. We also added a new drop-off location in Omaha where you can drop-off a sleeping bag. And, we created an Amazon wish-list so you can just buy one from your computer and ship it to our office. We will be collecting sleeping bags until the end of September.

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Things got a little heated when I called into Governor Heineman’s monthly radio show yesterday. The Governor insisted to me and other callers that he has been publicly opposed to the TransCanada’s risky Keystone XL pipeline running through the Sandhills for months.

Well, the facts disagree.

It’s August, which means the end of summer is approaching, school is starting, and our state leaders are holding town hall meetings across Nebraska. This is a great opportunity for you to meet your elected officials face-to-face, ask questions, and learn more about where your representatives stand on issues that are important to you.

One issue of obvious importance is the proposed Keystone XL pipeline that TransCanada wants to route through Nebraska’s Sandhills and Ogallala aquifer. Just this past weekend, almost 500 Nebraskans protested the pipeline route at the governor’s mansion in Lincoln, demanding that Gov. Heineman take action to protect our beautiful land and precious water.

TransCanada ran into a brick wall in the form of the York County board of comissioners last Tuesday, July 26th. In another play to convince York County to give them carte-blanche freedom to use county roads for hauling pipeline materials and equipment, TransCanada reps unsuccessfully attempted to sway members of the board from taking a common-sense stance when they questioned TransCanada’s haul-route agreement.

First up was TransCanada rep Tracy Calhoun, accompanied by attorney Ron Comes.  After assuring the board that there was “no rush to get this done,” Calhoun then added that TransCanada is “trying to get it done in an orderly fashion.” Apparently, how TransCanada defines “orderly” isn’t quite the same as the York County definition.

Bold Nebraska and partner groups will hold a briefing for county, city and state elected officials who have questions on pipeline regulations and laws. We are bringing in both state and national pipeline experts for the briefing.  The briefing will also be available for viewing on this website LIVE during the event. Landowners and concerned citizens also allowed to watch online and attend.

Location: NET Studios, 1800 North 33rd Street, Lincoln, NE 68583

Last night, President Obama and Speaker Boehner addressed the nation as Washington, continues to fight over how to raise the debt ceiling. The President asked each of us to call our members of Congress and demanded a balanced approach that contains shared sacrifice and compromise. Today, we're asking every Nebraskan to do the same.

It is time to stop the games of Speaker Boehner and the extremist conservatives in Congress. Every time they come to the table to compromise, the goal posts move. First, they demand deficit reductions be yoked to the debt ceiling debate. Then, they demand only spending cuts and no revenue increases which means an unfair burden on poor and middle class Americans. Then they ask that a balanced budget amendment (which Nobel-winning economists have called, "unsound policy") be part of the deal.

Update: a group of pipeline advocates brought 91 ears of corn to represent the 91 oil spills that could happen if the pipeline gets built, see pictures here. While Rep. Terry's bill to rush the pipeline through did pass the House, it is dead on arrival in the Senate. This bill was reckless and a waste of tax payer dollars.

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Sure, Montana might be the Big Sky state, but the sky’s pretty big in Nebraska, too. And while they’ve got the Grizz in Missoula, we’ve got the Huskers in Lincoln. Although we don’t have mountains, we do have the Sandhills, and under those Sandhills is the Ogallala aquifer. One thing Nebraska and Montana definitely have in common is the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which would cut through beautiful and sensitive environmental areas of both states.

Both states also have existing oil pipelines already in the ground, and these oil pipelines have leaked, sometimes quite significantly. The Keystone I pipeline in Nebraska has leaked a dozen times in the past year (though not all in Nebraska), and recently, an Exxon-Mobil pipeline broke and spilled at least 1,000 barrels (42,000 gallons) into the Yellowstone River.

It was supposed to be a love story meant for the political ages: Mitt Romney (aka Mittens) and Dave Heineman.  One was a presidential hopeful, eager to scrub his moderate record for a more Tea Party-esque persona.  The other, a Midwest governor with his eyes on the Vice Presidency. The two went public with their relationship when Heineman endorsed Mittens on June 10, 2011.

Sadly, less than a week after the couple became official, this love story came to a crashing halt. During the CNN Republican presidential debate last Monday night, Mittens turned on Heineman.

Lee Terry, I have decided you must not really exist.  Now I know I supposedly saw you at the AFP “Running on Empty” (a title that writes it’s own jokes) stop, but as far as I know that could have just been somebody claiming to be you.  And I know that at Wednesday’s hearing you supposedly introduced yourself, but the video is so grainy and your appearance so brief, that you could just as easily have been Sasquatch.

The scary thing is that the abominable snowman might actually be a less a figment of my imagination than you are, and with dread I am beginning to suspect that he (real or not) might make a better congressional representative.  Let’s take a look at the evidence, shall we?