Stories from Monday, August 14, 2023

Georgia will begin its drive for an unprecedented college football championship three-peat as the No. 1 team in The Associated Press preseason Top 25. The Bulldogs received 60 of 63 first-place votes in the poll released Monday to easily outpoint No. 2 Michigan, which received two first-place votes and has its best preseason ranking since being No. 2 in 1991. The Wolverines' Big Ten rival, Ohio State, is No. 3 with one first-place vote...

Dear Editor, There is no doubt that state funding for public schools was increased on many fronts during the most recent legislative session as the Legislature aimed to ease property-tax burdens. There is also no doubt that federal COVID-19 funds helped pay for that...

McCOOK, Neb. — A request for funding from the McCook Humane Society and a proposal for an all-inclusive playground in Kelley Park are on the agenda for a McCook City Council budget meeting. It is set for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday in the council chambers in the municipal building at West Fifth and C streets...

LINCOLN, Neb. – The state has issued a health alert for Harmful Algal Blooms, also known as toxic blue-green algae, at Glenn Cunningham Lake in Douglas County and Iron Horse Trail Lake in Pawnee County. Swanson Reservoir in Hitchcock County remains on health alert after being on alert last week...

A few photos from Weiland Field Saturday morning with more appearing in Tuesday's McCook Gazette.

McCook Community College women’s basketball player Itziar Aransay Badia has signed a letter of intent to continue her career in Canada. Badia, a 5-8 guard from El Prat d Llobregat, Spain is going to Mount Royal University in Calgary, Alberta. She played in 27 games as a sophomore and averaged 3.6 points and 2.0 rebounds per game, shooting 36.6 percent from the field and 30.2 percent from the 3-point line. She scored a season-high nine points against Laramie County Community College Nov. 4...

The McCook Community College volleyball team will open the season with home tournaments in two of the first three weekends. Coach Hayley Kobza hopes that competitive grind early will help propel the team to the next level. Kobza, in her eighth year heading the program, is a four-time Nebraska Community College Athletic Conference Coach of the year and her squad is coming off a 21-10 season in 2022...

McCOOK, Neb.— Red Willow County’s 2023-24 budget is nearly pared down to the point that commissioners won’t have to justify an increase at a special budget hearing, but the process hasn’t been without its pain. Nursing salary increases at the county health department designed to be competitive drew criticism from other county departments, and a manager of another department turned in his keys over uncertainty in its future...