This is a hard column for me to write. I’ve had the thought behind it for quite a while, but I still didn’t want to write it. I kept putting it off and even considered just being silent and not writing anything at all.

But If I keep quiet, I’d be doing the very thing I’m railing against. So, I’ve got to speak up.

LINCOLN — About 150 Nebraska National Guard soldiers and airmen will be on their way to Florida at the end of this week to assist in emergency response operations related to Hurricane Milton.

OMAHA — A new “Trees for Tomorrow” initiative is to launch Saturday with the planting of 75 new trees in the Elkhorn area’s Ta-Ha-Zouka Park.

About 80 community volunteers who will be planting a dozen different native species in that area were motivated by devastation that tornadoes caused to their neighborhoods earlier this year, organizers said.

As the Hurricane Helene-driven waters rose around the Nolichucky River in Tennessee, Boone McCrary, his girlfriend and his chocolate lab headed out on his fishing boat to search for a man who was stranded by floodwaters that had leveled his home. But the thick debris in the water jammed the boat's motor, and without power, it slammed into a bridge support and capsized.