LINCOLN – The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission set the 2015 early teal season dates at its July 16 meeting in Sidney. The teal hunting season will be Sept. 5-20 in the Low Plains and Sept. 12-20 in the High Plains.

Teal hunting season dates are set to coincide with the teal migration through Nebraska, and the opening day is typically the Saturday following Labor Day. This year, because Labor Day is Sept. 7, an earlier opening day in the Low Plains was recommended to accommodate a 16-day season while avoiding conflicts with possible youth and regular duck season openers later in September and October. Regular duck and goose season dates will be considered at the Aug. 28 Commission meeting in Burwell.

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LINCOLN – The lottery drawings for the two Super Tag multispecies permits were held at the July 16 meeting of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission in Sidney. Steven Peck of North Platte won the single-entry Super Tag permit while Cory Lynch of Fremont won the multiple-entry Super Tag permit.

On July 13, Game and Parks electronically drew the winners of the Combo multispecies permits. Eric Colvin of Lincoln won the resident permit and Billy Bridges of Royal, Ark., won the nonresident Combo permit.

The Super Tag and Combo permits are valid in 2015 and 2016. The Super Tag bag limit is one elk, one antelope, one deer and two turkeys. The Combo bag limit is one antelope, one deer and two turkeys. The permits are valid in open seasons with appropriate weapons.

There were 1,164 entries in the Super Tag single-entry lottery ($25 application fee). In the Super Tag multiple-entry lottery, 1,060 people submitted 1,992 applications at $10 each (1,252 resident and 740 nonresident applications). There were 396 entries for the resident Combo permit and 294 for the nonresident Combo permit. Each entry had a $10 fee.

Mick Tingelhoff will be inducted into the NFL Hall of Fame on August 8 and will be speaking at the Lexington Middle School Auditorium at 7:00 pm on Saturday, July 18, 2015.

Henry Michael “Mick” Tingelhoff was born May 22, 1940, in Lexington, Nebraska. He was an all-american, all-state and all-conference center as a senior at Lexington High School in 1957. Tingelhoff was a three-year letter-man as a center for the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers in 1959, 1960 and 1961 and was an anchor on the Cornhusker offensive line at the end of Coach Bill Jennings’ tenure at NU.

Mick Tingelhoff, an undrafted free agent from Nebraska, became a fixture on the Minnesota Vikings’ offensive line for 17 seasons. He was a five-time first-team All-Pro and six-time Pro Bowl selection who never missed a start (240) or a practice from the time he joined the Vikings as an undrafted rookie lineman from Nebraska until he retired after the 1978 season.

The Firefighter Combat Challenge (FCC), described as the toughest two minutes in sports will be featured at the 2015 Nebraska State Fair on September 5 and 6.

Grand Island Firefighter and FCC co-organizer, Jared Stockwell says, “The Firefighter Combat Challenge was the brainchild of Dr. Paul Davis and his colleagues at the University of Maryland, nearly 40-years ago.  The original goal was firefighter fitness.  It didn’t take long to see that firefighters are very competitive, so the combat challenge was born.”

Grand Island Firefighter and co-organizer Lonnie Mitteis says, “Both Jared and I have participated in the Combat Challenge in other cities and it is by far and away an absolute test of endurance. It’s a test for participants to race against themselves, their opponents and the clock. It’s a great sport for participants and an even greater event to watch, and that’s why we’re holding the event during the Nebraska State Fair’s busiest weekend.”

The Firefighter Combat Challenge features five grueling events:

1.    Tower Climb/Hose Pack Carry—Carry a 100-foot, 44-pound hose load on your shoulder up 63 steps to the top of the five-story tower.
2.    Hose Hoist—From the top of the tower, haul a rope hand-over-hand to bring up a 45-pound hose roll. Then hurry back down 5-stories of steps.
3.    Entry—Using a 9-pound mallet, drive a 160-pound steel beam 5-feet, simulating skills needed to force your way into a building. Then, fast-walk 140 feet to the hose advance.
4.    Advance—Pickup a fully charged fire hose and drag it 75 feet. Open the nozzle, spray a target, close the nozzle and place it in a marked box. Walk 30-feet to the final task.
5.    Victim Rescue—Drag the 165-pound “Rescue Randy” dummy 100 feet to the finish line.

Nebraska State Fair executive director Joseph McDermott says, “We’ve been working for the past few years to bring the Firefighter Combat Challenge to the State Fair, and thanks to both Lonnie and Jared, it has become a reality.”  McDermott continued, “We anticipate a large number of firefighter athletes to participate because of Grand Island’s central location in the nation.”

The Firefighter Combat Challenge is typically held in major metropolitan areas like Daytona Beach, Indianapolis, Atlantic City, Seattle, L.A., Phoenix, among others.  Both Stockwell and Mitteis anticipate a great field of firefighters from around the nation and Canada to converge on Grand Island to participate in this test of firefighter skill and endurance.