By Lori Sorenson
March 08, 2022
City officials recently annexed 8.42 acres of Mound Township land into the city of Luverne for housing development, and plans are in motion to connect those four lots to city utilities.
Landowners Alan Schmuck and Patrick Widboom had requested the annexation of their ground for residential development and will be responsible for a large share of the cost of the improvements.
It will cost an…
By Mavis Fodness
March 08, 2022
Retired Luverne Community Education director Karen Willers is still reaping rewards from programs she set in motion more than three decades ago.
Colleagues honored Willers with the 2021 Minnesota Community Education Association lifetime achievement award during the organization’s in-person Leadership Days Feb. 17-18 in St. Cloud.
The award wasn’t given out in 2020, the year Willers retired after…
By Mavis Fodness
March 08, 2022
Rock County raised some of the best-yielding crops in the state in 2021, according to the recently released crop estimates by the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Services.
Rock County landed in the Top 5 counties for corn yield, among the 17 counties who topped more than 60 bushels per acre for soybeans and was one of 19 counties that produced more than 20 tons of corn silage per acre in…
By Mavis Fodness
March 08, 2022
The Luverne mock trial team completed a practice dual Feb. 28 in front of friends and family in the middle-high school media center.
No scores were kept during the two-hour contest between the prosecution and defense teams. The event comes after the team missed qualifying for the state contest last weekend.
“It was a close contest — it could have gone either way,” said attorney coach Jeff…
By Lori Sorenson
March 08, 2022
Reker Construction, Adrian, will complete the final phases of the Luverne Loop trail after submitting the low bid for the construction work.
Phase 4 is almost a mile long and will connect the existing Loop trail from the Highway 75 Economy Lodge area along Hatting Street to the existing trail that dead-ends at the Rock River near the Luverne wastewater treatment plant area.
The most recent…
By Mavis Fodness
March 08, 2022
Hills-Beaver Creek School Board members approved the 2022-23 school calendar at their Feb. 28 meeting.
Classes will begin Tuesday, Sept. 6, for the 2022-23 school year and end Friday, May 26, 2023.
Graduation is scheduled for 7 p.m. Friday, May 26.
The newly approved calendar outlines 10 early dismissals and holiday breaks, similar to the current school year calendar.
In other business, the H-…
By Mavis Fodness
March 08, 2022
Luverne School Board members approved the 2022-23 school year calendar during their rescheduled meeting Monday night, Feb. 28.
The calendar (like the current school year) changes the number of days during key holiday breaks.
The 2022-23 school year begins Tuesday, Sept. 6, and ends Wednesday, May 24, 2023. Graduation is approved for Sunday, May 28, 2023.
A third day was added to the Thanksgiving…
March 08, 2022
Larson Crane Services, Worthington, began the arduous task of demolishing the grain elevator in Beaver Creek Tuesday morning. The 125-foot-tall wooden elevator hasn't stored grain for over a decade; it was being used for only for its office and scale. New Vision Co-op put up three new bins — with a total grain storage capacity of 1.1 million bushels — 15 to 20 years ago. The old elevator…
By Lori Sorenson
March 08, 2022
The Minnesota Organization for Habilitation and Rehabilitation (MOHR) organized a Virtual Disability Services Day at the Capitol on March 8.
The rally calls attention to a workforce crisis as the primary cause of the extended delays in access to employment and other day supports for people with disabilities.
Adria Benson, co-director of Rock County Opportunities in Luverne, participated online.
“…
By Lori Sorenson
March 08, 2022
Communities in southwest Minnesota are joining forces to address labor shortages in several affected occupations.
Mayors in the cities of Luverne, Pipestone, Worthington, Jackson, Marshall, Canby and Granite Falls have organized as Southwest Minnesota Council of Mayors to work on issues affecting all their communities.
The labor shortage is on top of their list, and they’re proposing a pilot…
March 08, 2022
Hog producers who sold hogs through a spot market sale during the COVID-19 pandemic now have until April 15, 2022, to submit their applications for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Spot Market Hog Pandemic Program (SMHPP). SMHPP, which is part of USDA’s Pandemic Assistance for Producers initiative, originally had a deadline to submit applications by Feb. 25, 2022.
SMHPP assists hog…
March 08, 2022
Luverne’s Gordon Mulder is serving a term as Lions 5M3 district governor, which started on July 1, 2021, and continues until June 30, 2022.
The district includes the 13 southwest Minnesota counties with 35 clubs and 1,036 members. As governor, Mulder is expected to visit each club, bringing the Lions International President’s message of “Service from the heart. Kindness matters.”
Mulder said his…
March 08, 2022
For the 14th consecutive year, Buffalo Ridge Insurance achieved the prestigious status in the Midwest Family Mutual Insurance Company’s President’s Club.
The achievement recognizes outstanding continued service to customers and community and superior performance.
Buffalo Ridge Insurance employees include Marilyn Bloemendaal, Cory Bloemendaal, Steve Smedsrud, Pam Haakenson, Lori Gruis, Dawn Trendt…
March 08, 2022
Luverne Middle School students spent last week participating in the Winter Olympics 2022, which included the scooter luge, scooter curling, bean bags and figure skating. Individual and grade medals were given out to the sixth- through eighth-grade students. The seventh-grade class earned the most medals with five.
March 08, 2022
As of Tuesday, March 1, turkey hunters can now buy their licenses for the spring 2022 season.
Licenses can be purchased online at mndnr.gov/licenses/online-sales, by phone at 888-665-4236 or in person wherever hunting and fishing licenses are sold.
To help understand hunter distribution, license agents will be asking hunters which permit area they plan to hunt.
The information is useful to the…
March 01, 2022
The Luverne-Adrian FFA Chapter hosted an appreciation pancake breakfast Friday at the American Reformed Church in Luverne. The first-time event allowed FFA’ers to thank the community for their continued support for the long-standing agricultural program.