So, just around the corner now, here comes 2019.
Full of mystery and danger and drama and the promise of new beginnings.
And, no doubt, filled with surprise.
It's the year when Robert Mueller shows us what he's got.
A year for the courts and the Congress to decide. Along with the ultimate jury; hey, that's us.
Third year of Donald Trump's bumpy presidency and it's been a wild ride so far. Buckle up; no doubt, there are more sharp turns and steep climbs and scary dives with plenty of whiplash ahead.Â
Big year for Huskers.
They could be playing men's basketball into late March, going where no Nebraska team has ever gone before. Â
And on the last day of August an awakening football giant will resume its steady climb up the ladder in a dogged quest to once again go where other Husker teams have been before. In what now seems like a galaxy far, far away.Â
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Big and welcome change: Nebraska football is focused on the future now instead of just living in the past.
Ohio State in Lincoln, Sept. 28, the sixth day of autumn, a big measuring moment.
Congress has an opportunity to really matter in 2019.
It'll be a Republican Senate, a Democratic House, and it's not an election year, so c'mon, guys, quit "governing" like you only represent your party when you're supposed to be representing us.Â
It's time now, and there is opportunity, to get something done.
Like immigration reform and infrastructure building and repair.
Those are two long-neglected challenges that ought to be ripe for bipartisan action that allows everybody to take credit.
Not as easy as voting for tax cuts, which takes zero political courage. Â
Immigration policy is dividing us; our decaying infrastructure and lack of vision in developing a modern transportation system makes us look like a deteriorating Third World country compared to Europe with its high-speed trains and modern air terminals.
When you can travel faster between New York City and Washington by train than by airplane — once you factor in the time it takes to travel to and from the airports and the time spent waiting in the security line — there's a lesson to be learned.
But infrastructure is also roads, buildings, electrical grids, high-speed internet access, all fundamental services and facilities which have fallen into neglect and disrepair.Â
So there are opportunities for bipartisan cooperation in a divided Congress in a non-election year. Â
And room for both sides to take some credit if it isn't just party-first-and-only.
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Just down the road here comes the Nebraska Legislature.
Senators will convene in Lincoln in nine days with an overflowing agenda ahead of them.
Tax reform, state school aid reform, prison reform, all unfinished business.
Assignment of revenue that will be flowing in from collection of state sales taxes already owed on online purchases will be a huge decision with lasting impact, especially if that growing pool of revenue is diverted from the state's general fund.Â
Implementation of the Medicaid expansion initiative approved by Nebraska voters may erupt into a lengthy battle if opponents try to slow-walk the process, as some of them are likely to do.
Predicting what will happen over the coming months would be foolhardy. So, let's take a crack at it.
Major tax reform is not going to happen; some redistribution of state school aid seems more possible.Â
A pitched battle over online sales tax revenue will grow as senators confront the long-term implications of proposals to divert that growing revenue pool from the state's general fund.
A moment of truth for the University of Nebraska and its future will begin to emerge as the Legislature determines the level of state appropriations support for the university during the next two fiscal years following an austere biennium.Â
* * *
Finishing up:
* Gov. Pete Ricketts lowered the average age in the Legislature with his two most recent senatorial appointments: Andrew LaGrone, 28, and Julie Slama, 22.
* LaGrone will succeed Sen. John Murante, for whom he worked as a legislative aide. Murante also had been a legislative aide before he was elected in 2012.
* After stumbling through a college football bowl pool in which I effectively drowned, I've still got Alabama a week from now. Yeah, I know, who doesn't?