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TODAY IS THE DEADLINE TO ENROLL Today is the deadline to enroll for health insurance under the Affordable are Act. This year, the enrollment period is shorter and it seems Nebras-kans are aware and have been signing up. “I think the last numbers I heard it was a little more than 54,000 Nebraskans have signed up,” Nebraska Department of Insurance Director Bruce Ramge tells Nebraska Radio Network. There are two ways to enroll: through an insurance agent or online at Healthcare.gov. Medica is the only insurance company offer-ing plans through the ACA in Nebraska. But, Ramge notes though only one insurer participates, it does offer several plans. Ramge says it is im-portant participants make sure they are getting the plan they want; one which their preferred doctor or hospital accepts. It you think you can’t afford health insurance, you might want to check it out. “Many people, depending on their income level, might qualify for a premium subsidy,” according to Ramge. “So, that’s important to know.” Data won’t be avail-able for a while, but it appears more Nebraskans are signing up through the ACA than a year ago. Free assistance from certified program coun-selors is available by calling 211.

AAA PREDICTING RECORD TRAVEL Nebraskans who don’t have travel plans over the next few weeks are in the minority. AAA is predicting record travel, both in Nebraska and na-tionwide, for the upcoming Christmas and New Year’s holidays. Gail Weinholzer, at AAA-Nebraska, says more than 107-million Americans will be traveling at least 50 miles from home between December 23rd and January 1st. “There’s going to be a lot of people traveling and there’s been a lot people traveling all year,” Weinholzer says. “We’ve seen year-over-year increases for every major holiday this year, Memo-rial Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving and now Christmas/New Year’s. Clearly, Americans are traveling in robust numbers and we ex-pect that to continue into 2018.” This will be the highest year-end travel volume on record and 2017 marks the ninth consecutive year of rising year-end travel. Nebraska’s interstates and highways will be busy, so Weinholzer says to plan accordingly. “Actually, we are seeing increases across the board, personal automobiles, planes, trains, buses, every-thing,” Weinholzer says. “We’re seeing a significant increase and over-all, the increase is 3.1% over last year.”

UPDATE ON STATE HIRING FREEZE Governor Pete Ricketts this week delivered an update on a state hiring freeze which has reduced the size and scope of the state’s workforce. Starting in October 2016, the hiring freeze has targeted the reduction of non-essential state jobs as a tool to help the state manage budget reduc-tions and make more efficient use of taxpayer dollars. “During times of budget restraint, my administration is successfully controlling state spend-ing by eliminating non-essential positions through attrition and retire-ment,” said Governor Ricketts. “We’re working to exercise the same fis-cal responsibility shown by Nebraskans in their households by doing more with less in state government. It’s the right thing to do.” The headcount in the Governor’s agencies was 13,786 in October 2016, and had been reduced to 13,302 as of December 1, 2017. Overall to date, there are 484 fewer personnel working in the Governor’s agencies, which is more than 3.5 percent fewer than October 2016. This count exempts National Guard who were on temporary deployment for hurricane relief efforts. All guard members previously deployed for relief efforts have returned to the state.

STOCKS

DOW 76.77 TO 24,508.66

NASDAQ

19.273 TO 6,856.53

ACROSS 1 Viper 4 High ranking man- used for-merly 9 Computer makers 12 Certified public accountant 13 Enroll 14 Constellation 15 Rich, disliked by rich 17 Tub spread 18 Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries 19 Federal Bureau of Investigation 20 Very large truck 23 Hunted beast 27 Waterless 28 Idiot 29 Eastern Time 30 Capital of the Bahamas 32 French Painter, “Sunday After-noon…” 34 Clairvoyance 35 Paco's friend 37 Rice wine 38 Waiver 40 Winged 41 Spr.. month 42 Acting (abbr.) 45 S.A. Indian 47 Gun make 51 Seafood 52 Stone 54 Part of a min. 55 Abort 56 __ in love (head over heels) 57 Dab

DOWN 1 American College of Physicians (abbr.) 2 Resort hotel 3 Average work performance 4 Chirping sound 5 Green Gables dweller 6 Like some S.W. walls 7 Him 8 Arkansas 9 Intolerant 10 Stinger 11 Cow sound 16 Empty spaces 17 Kimono sash 19 Untied 20 Not as insane 21 Take off 22 Mislaid 24 Recess 25 Japanese city 26 Whoop 28 Pairs 31 Open 33 Use 36 Ocean floor 39 Environmental protection agency (abbr) 43 Tiny body part 44 What waiters carry 45 Anger 46 Not (refix) 48 Cooking measurement 49 Drink 50 Skit 52 Clothing size 53 Teacher's assistant, for short

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McCook Humane Society

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Hours: M-F: 2-5, Sat: 12-4

ON THIS DAY

1939 - "Gone With the Wind," produced by David O. Sel-

znick based on the novel by Margaret Mitchell, premiered at Loew's Grand Theater in Atlanta. The movie starred

Vivien Leigh and Clark Gable.

LAND OF THE FREE

BECAUSE OF THE BRAVE

A B S E N T D E S P O T

H E L E N A I G U A N A

R A G E D A G E N T

P A L A C S D I D

A T O M F U R E M U

D E M A G O G I C R E D

C A R T A G

A P R B E G I N N E R S

L O O B I C P E E K

I L L S O N R A Y

A L G I D A T R I P

S N E E Z E S E A L E D

A D D L E D P A P Y R I

SPORTS Nebraska will take on Florida Saturday for the NCAA volleyball

championship in Kansas City. The Huskers survived a match point

and rallied for a five set victory over top ranked Penn State and

will be in search of their second national title in three years. The

Huskers are 31-4 and handed Penn State both of its losses. “The

Big Ten prepares us for matches like these”, said Nebraska coach

John Cook. “There is never any panic on our side and they just

continue to grind through it. It is a great win and I’m just really

happy for these guys. They showed what they are all about and

that is why they are Big Ten champions.” With the win, Nebraska

advanced to the NCAA Final for the second time in three seasons

and for the eighth time in program history (third-most in NCAA

history). The Huskers will go for their fifth national title on Satur-

day. John Cook has taken a Husker team to the NCAA Final for the

fifth time in his 18 seasons at Nebraska, and he will go for his

fourth national title on Saturday. Florida defeated Stanford in five

sets in the other national semifinal.

The McCook Bison basketball teams are back at home tonight and

tomorrow. North Platte is in town for a girls-boys doubleheader

tonight at the MHS gym. Girls pregame coverage on KICX starts at

5:40 with tip-off at 6. The boys game will follow. The Bison will

host the Holdrege Dusters tomorrow night. Girls pregame cover-

age on KICX begins at 4:40 with tip-off at 5 and the boys game

will follow. Southwest will travel to Arapahoe on 103.9 The Hawk.

Girls pregame coverage begins at around 5:15 with tip-off at

around 5:40. The Bison wrestlers head to Valentine for a two-day

invite and the Bison swimmers/divers compete in the Scottsbluff

Invite today.

TODAY’S PUZZLE HOME OF BISON SPORTS FOR 39 YEARS!

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