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Saints!

Thursday
March 28th, 2024

techtimeComputers, tablets, smartphones, and gaming systems have revolutionized popular culture and the way people engage with one another. Devices also have transformed the way people live in their homes.

Cisco’s annual visual networking index forecast indicates there will be four networked devices and connections per person globally by 2020. In North America, there will be 13 networked devices and connections per person by that time. As more people are connected to tech than ever before, many wonder if there’s a healthy amount of time to spend on their devices?

“Screen time” is defined as the amount of time spent each day using devices with screens, such as TVs, gaming consoles, smartphones, and tablets. Although how much screen time people engage in is entirely up to them, there are health risks associated with excessive screen time. 

People may not realize just how much screen time they engage in each day. Nielsen reports that American adults spend more than 11 hours per day watching, reading, listening to, or simply interacting with media, which is up from nine hours, 32 minutes just four years ago. Common Sense Media’s 2017 report shows American children age eight and under use screens for an average of 2 hours and 19 minutes per day. That time increases as kids age.

In terms of healthy screen time limits, the experts have weighed in.

The latest guidelines from the American Academy of Pediatrics suggest that children under 18 months should avoid screen time, other than video chatting. Ages 18 months to two years can use high-quality programs or apps if adults participate with them. Children between the ages of two and five should limit daily screen time to an hour; age six and up should follow consistently imposed limits.

Doctors may be hesitant to prescribe screen limits for adults. But people can use certain health clues to determine if it’s time to cut back. If screens (and their blue light) are adversely affecting sleep, reducing screen time might be necessary to avoid negative side effects. Screen time should not come at the expense of physical activity, as that can contribute to obesity. People are urged to take frequent breaks from screens to mitigate potential eye strain and headaches.

The Department of Health Government of Western Australia recommends adults age 18 and older minimize time spent sitting or lying looking at screens, and to break up long periods of sitting as often as possible.

People who routinely use screens for hours each day should weigh the benefits and detriments to the amount of time spent with devices and tailor their usage accordingly.

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Liberal Local News

Planning, zoning requests dominate commission agenda

city commission manriquezElsa Manriquez with Al Shank Insurance looks over some notes while talking to the Liberal City Commission Tuesday evening about the city’s comprehensive insurance renewal. After several minutes of discussion, the commission ultimately unanimously voted in favor of the renewal. L&T photo/Elly GrimmELLY GRIMM • Leader & Times

 

Planning and zoning issues dominated the discussion for the Liberal City Commission during its most recent meeting Tuesday evening. 

Up first for the commission was a request for the approval of a new member to the Planning & Zoning Commission. 

“Per the agenda packet, there came an open slot on the Planning and Zoning Board due to Ernesto Goitia Jr. being removed due to his lack of attendance, and there ended up being four applications for that spot,” Code Enforcement Supervisor Keith Bridenstine said. “The board voted unanimously to recommend Jeremy Benton to fill that vacant seat, and staff is recommending the Liberal City Commission follow the recommendation of the Planning & Zoning Commission.”

The commission ultimately unanimously approved the recommendation, and then moved on to discussion of the final plat of the Alco Addition replat, which Bridenstine also talked about. 

“As the commission might remember, the preliminary plat came before you all last April, and this is a replat of the block located between 14th Street and 15th Street, which is by Dillons,” Bridenstine said. “The addition was platted as one lot, so in order to split the property into three lots as requested, a replat must be done due to how those rules go. It’s basically a housekeeping plat. All ownership issues have been resolved, it’s been checked out by Seward County officials, and the Planning and Zoning Commission voted unanimously at its regular scheduled meeting on March 14 to approve the final plat of the Alco Addition. A difference between then and now is the preliminary plat had different ownership since there was a spot that was originally deeded to three different people, and when the new owner bought the block, he got deeded one-third of that chunk, and it was kind of a mess, but all of that has been cleaned up. With all of that we’re recommending the commission approve the final plat of the Alco Addition replat.”

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NATIONAL HEADLINES

Opinion

Key bills still have a chance to pass

RYCKMAN RECAP, Ron Ryckman, 38th District Senator

 

This last, Week 11, for most committees to meet in the Legislature was kind of different from past years, in that there didn’t seem to be any big “crunch” to get everything done. 

We did work a fair number of bills — particularly in Ag and Fed and State, but used our full hour of meeting time only once — and that without even approving the bill which consumed most of it (SB 446, seeking to limit foreign property ownership) because it had simply become too cumbersome. 

The big news, I suppose, was that both houses held hearings on Medicaid expansion for the first time in four years, yet without moving it out of committee. The House provided some hope that tax relief might have another shot; however, with a two-tier instead of single rate like that adopted by the Senate, there is still a lot of “negotiating” to do to get a finished product that is “veto proof.” We’ll know more after their formal Floor consideration next week, but right now I’m optimistic we can come up with something taxpayers have been waiting on far too long.

Three totally unrelated measures that have generated a lot of constituent interest and do have a good chance of making it through are S Sub HB 2124, dealing with operational enhancement for “little guy” microbreweries; HB 2783, prohibiting government agencies from restricting the sale of motor vehicles based on energy source; and SB 527/HB 2813, making it a crime to coerce a woman into having an abortion. 

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