Bonnie Kirchhofer's second-grade class is the Luverne Elementary featured class of the week. Pictured are (front row, from left) Aaron Wollman, Reid Dreckman, Nicholas Barber, Brady Dinger, Grant Den Herder, Hailey Stulen, Kirsten Olson, (second row) Brittney Malwitz, Taylor Heck, Morgan Jacobsma, Kendra Bosch, Nathan Stensland-Bos, Jessica Vande Hoef, Colton Peterson, (third row) Brandon Den Hartog, Cheyenne Hemme, Bahieh Hartshorn, Courtny Blomgren, Tannen Heideman, Paige Nath, Trey Tate, (back) Mrs. Kirchhofer and Judy Thies. Students absent on picture day include Tanner Kremin, Marcus Emery, and Dylan Skattum.

Mrs. Kirchhofer's students are learning about where their family ancestors came from, and they will be writing their life stories. They also made a quilt that they will donate to Project Linus for a child in the hospital. Also, they LOVE to read!

Photo by Lori Ehde

Jim and Bonnie Johannsen personally delivered a fire truck assembled with volunteer labor at Luverne Fire Apparatus to New York City firefighters. Story inside.

Photo submitted by Jim & Bonnie Johannsen

Hills-Beaver Creek post Erin Boeve puts up a shot in traffic during Tuesday's Section 3A semifinal game against Fulda in Worthingon.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek girls were eliminated from the South Section 3A Basketball Tournament Tuesday night in Worthington.

The third-seeded Patriots challenged No. 2 Fulda in a semifinal-round clash.

Like the prior two meetings between the teams this year, Fulda proved to have a little more firepower than the Patriots as it upended H-BC 47-39.

The win sends Fulda to Friday's championship game in Worthington, where it will take on No. 4 Red Rock Central at 7:30 p.m. H-BCÕs 13-12 season is complete.

Tuesday's game featured three strong quarters of play by the Patriots and one rough one.

Unfortunately, being outscored 14-2 in the third period proved to be too much for H-BC to overcome in this contest.

"Take away the third quarter, and this was a really good game for us," said Patriot coach Tom Goehle. "As it was, we still played a pretty good game."

The third quarter did prove to be H-BC's undoing.

Fulda led 23-19 at halftime before putting up 14 unanswered points in the first seven minutes of the third quarter. The run ended when H-BC's Erin Boeve banked home an offensive rebound with one second remaining in the period, but the damage already had been done as Fulda opened a 37-21 lead.

The Patriots did go on an 18-8 run during the fourth quarter that was capped by a three-point shot from Cassi Tilstra with 24 seconds remaining in the game to make it a 45-39 difference. Fulda, however, drained two free throws in the final 20 seconds to ice their third straight win over the Patriots this season.

The game's first half was a tight one.

Fulda snapped a deadlock at four with a 5-0 run to open a 9-4 lead. One free throw by Boeve and two more from Sarah Rozeboom brought the Patriots within two points (9-7) of the Raiders, and the first period ended with Fulda clinging to an 11-9 edge.

After Fulda scored the first three points of the second quarter, H-BC went on an 8-0 run that ended with Becky Broesder connecting for a field goal at 2:57 to give the Patriots a 17-14 lead.

Another field goal by Broesder after a Fulda surge tied the game at 19, but the Raiders scored the final four points of the first half to gain a 23-19 advantage.

Goehle credited FuldaÕs defensive effort as being one of the key factors in the game.

"They defended us well. They pushed us outside a lot further than we liked, and they did a good job of bottling up Erin," he said.

Boeve led the Patriots with five rebounds and four blocked shots.

Tilstra paced H-BC with 14 points, four assists and three steals.

Box score
B.Rozeboom 1 0 0-0 2, B.Olson 1 0 0-0 2, Rentschler 0 0 0-0 0, Tilstra 4 2 0-0 14, Broesder 4 0 0-0 8, S.Rozeboom 0 0 2-2 2, DeNoble 1 0 0-1 2, Boeve 4 0 1-2 9.

Team statistics
H-BC: 17 of 56 field goals (30 percent), three of five free throws (60 percent), 17 rebounds, six turnovers.
Fulda: 17 of 47 field goals (36 percent), 13 of 16 free throws (81 percent), 31 rebounds, eight turnovers.

By Jolene Farley
In a time of budget cuts and uncertain state funding, the Hills-Beaver Creek school district carries a healthy general fund balance of more than $700,000 in reserved and unreserved funds, according to Superintendent Dave Deragisch.

Reserved balances are earmarked for those expenditures the district knows it will have to pay for in the future, for example, severance packages. Unreserved balances are not earmarked for anything specific.

The H-BC district has a budget of almost $2.9 million. The school is operating at 58-percent expenditures for the year with the school year two-thirds of the way over, according to business manager Glenda Kuehl.

"We do have a surplus," said Deragisch. "That is a plus for us."

Hills-Beaver Creek is a very effective single-section school, according to Deragisch. Single section means one section per grade.

"We are not bare-boned, but we don't have a lot of fat," he said at MondayÕs School Board meeting. "I think we have a lot of good things happening."

"When I left the district in 1991, I think the school really was on the verge of big financial trouble," he said by phone Tuesday. "I think they had to make some tough cuts and evaluate every position in the district to see if it was needed or not."

Enrollment in the district is expected to remain steady, according to projections. Resident student count for the 2001Ð02 school year is 419 students, with 302 students currently attending Hills-Beaver Creek schools, 77 students open enrolled to other districts, 16 students home schooled, and the rest of the students attending Hills Christian School. Projected enrollment for the 2002Ð03 school year is 298 students.

The number of students open enrolled out of the district is a concern for the School Board, but if all open-enrolled students attended H-BC more staff would be needed to handle the extra students.

"If you looked at the actual number of students who enrolled out," said Deragisch, "it would probably be less effective than the number we have now. We run a pretty effective school."

No one really knows what will happen to school funding in the future, according to Deragisch. "Anytime you try to predict the future it makes one nervous," he said. "When the governor starts toying with our per-pupil aid it makes me very nervous."

Deragisch said he would like to see the Minnesota State Legislature work on the 2003Ð04 school budget; instead they are currently finishing up the 2002Ð03 budget.

"When you don't know what you are going to get in dollars it's hard to make plans," he said. "If the funding comes through like we are hoping we will be in OK shape."

CP Internet purchases Prairie Lakes
CP Internet, an Internet service provider based in Duluth, has purchased the assets of Prairie Lakes Internet.

Prairie Lakes serves about 13,000 residential and business customers in southwestern Minnesota communities including Albert Lea, Austin, Detroit Lakes, Fairmont, Faribault, Little Falls, Mankato, Northfield, Owatonna and Windom, as well as Luverne.

According to CP Internet president Chad Braafladt, the new company will oversee the operations of Prairie Lakes Internet as Prairie Lakes Internet with current staff in Mankato for the foreseeable future.

An upgrade and expansion of services in the region are also in the plans, according to Braafladt.

One of the first changes made was the addition of a toll-free number for technical support.

24X7 technical support and an upgraded Web-based e-mail service are also expected in the coming weeks.

CP Internet is the largest privately owned dialup Internet Service Provider in Minnesota and was named the 100th fastest growing privately held company in the October 2000 issue of Inc. Magazine.

The company serves more than 38,000 customers in Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin.

The acquisition of Prairie Lakes is the fifth for CP Internet since it was founded in 1994.

You could be the next dairy princess
The American Dairy Association of Rock County is seeking candidates to vie for this yearÕs Dairy Princess crown.

Dairy princesses are goodwill ambassadors for the dairy industry and make appearances in their behalf at various promotional events, participate in parades, as well as speaking to consumers and media.

To qualify, candidates must be between the ages of 16 and 24 as of July 1, 2002.

She, her parents, or legal guardian must be actively engaged in the production of milk for sale to a licensed plant during the current year.

A candidate also qualifies if she or her parents are employed on a dairy farm in a dairy-related capacity.

If you would like to participate or would like more information, contact Elwin or Norma Brands at 507-442-3352 or Philip or Theresa Raak at 507-348-4850.

Minnesota rules for the Segway
Have you heard of the Segway Human Transporter? The two-wheel invention of Dean Kamen received a lot of hype a few month ago when it was announced at press conferences.

Sales of the new transportation invention are supposed to be dramatic, and Minnesota doesnÕt want to get caught behind the wave with no rule for the device on the road.

So in an effort to have things in place if the Segway's popularity plays out, the Minnesota Legislature is considering whether to allow the 15-mile-per-hour motorized vehicle on sidewalks.

A House committee last week gave its approval to the bill, which allows the scooter to be used on sidewalks and bike paths at reasonable speeds and on roads with speed limits below 35 miles per hour where there are no sidewalks.

A Fighter Pilot has a Web page
Quentin C. Aanenson, a member of the Rock County Hall of Fame for his contributions during World War II, now has a Web page.

"A Fighter Pilot's Story" chronicles Aanenson's wartime history.

The intro to the site reads:

This Web site is dedicated to preserving some of the personal history of World War II. Some of my own experiences that do not appear in my film, "A Fighter Pilot's Story," will be told here, as well as stories of other fighter pilots of World War II. We hope you will find this site to be of interest, and that you will share it with your friends. We encourage you to visit our sub sites, as well as these new first-page stories. Just click on the links to these sites at the bottom of this page.

If you would like to check it out, you can find it at http://pages.prodigy.com/fighterpilot/

Publisher Roger Tollefson can be contacted by e-mail at
tolly@star-herald.com

By Jolene Farley
Hills City Council members Dana Dahlquist and Wendell Bengtson faced a tough decision Thursday evening when they voted on a replacement for former mayor George Langford.

The city published an ad soliciting interested mayoral candidates, but the only response came from council members Jim Jellema and Arlen Leenderts.

Jellema and Leenderts abstained from the vote leaving council members Dana Dahlquist and Wendell Bengtson to decide.

City Clerk Connie Wiertzema assured the council that according to the rules of the League of Minnesota Cities, the council could establish a quorum with only two voting members as long as Jellema and Leenderts abstained.

Bengtson was the first to cast his vote. He thanked Jellema and Leenderts for their interest in the mayor seat.

"I would rather have the problem of having to decide which one of you two I was interested in," he said. "I had difficulty deciding where I was going to come to roost."

Bengtson went on to say he was impressed with the way Jellema had handled his duties as mayor pro-tem after Langford's resignation.

"I would like to see Jim appointed understanding the fact that Arlen is equally qualified," he said.

Then it was Dahlquist's turn to vote. "I appreciate both of you, and I think both of you would do a good job," he said to Jellema and Leenderts. "But as long as Jim is pro-term I think he should have the job."

A resolution was adopted appointing Jim Jellema mayor.

The council then had to vote on the candidates for Jellema's vacated seat on the council. Linus Svoboda and Keith Elbers responded to the city's ad asking for interested council candidates.

"Considering the fact Linus has been at every meeting and he was up for election," said Dahlquist, "I would nominate Linus for council member."

After thanking Svoboda for his continuing interest in the city, a resolution was passed naming Svoboda as council member.

With two years remaining on a three-year term, Langford announced his intentions to move to Luverne after the sale of his home in Hills.

He submitted a letter dated Dec. 28, 2001, to the council tendering his resignation effective Jan. 1, 2002. Langford's resignation was accepted at JanuaryÕs meeting.

In other business:
The council negotiated with Martin Township representatives on fire protection contracts. The Hills fire department provides protection for 19 sections of Martin Township and the city of Steen.

Township fees increased from $300 per section to $350 per section and protection for the city of Steen was increased from $2,000 to $2,300.

To justify the increase, the council explained that operating costs keep increasing, and the fire hall, built in 1981, needs new garage doors and will soon need a new roof.

The United States Post Office has again contacted Wiertzema about renting space in the City Hall building.

The council published an ad offering the space for rent after correspondence from the post office indicated fiscal difficulties caused a nation-wide freeze on construction. No other parties are currently interested in renting the space.

An architect retained by the post office took pictures and measurements of the space on Feb. 12, according to Wiertzema.

The council decided to continue with a plan to randomly sample water meter readings in Hills. Customers currently read their own meters and send the figures to the city.

By Sara Strong
Secretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer equates caucuses with a town hall meeting. And anyone who wants their opinions heard by local party leaders has a chance at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

A caucus is a public meeting conducted by major political parties to elect delegates to party conventions and to discuss issues. It's a preliminary step toward supporting candidates for the coming elections.

Delegates from precinct caucuses go on to county and district conventions and may be elected to go on to the state conventions of their party.

The Rock County Republican Party will have its caucus at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Luverne Elementary School Commons.

The Rock County DFL Party will have its caucus at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Luverne Senior Center.

Kiffmeyer said in a press release, "The precinct caucuses are a wonderful opportunity for you to get together with your neighbors to discuss issues and to get in on the ground level of political activity."

The state requires major political parties to host precinct caucuses during general election years, or even numbered years.

Caucuses often turn into major discussions of issues that may be on a party's platform. It is a time when there is most influence over candidates and positions. Voting for precinct officers is by secret ballot.

Because of the importance of caucuses, state agencies, school boards, county boards, township boards and city councils cannot conduct meetings after 6 p.m. that night.

Working people are also supposed to be allowed time off to attend the caucus.

Anyone who is eligible to vote can vote at the caucus. No previous party affiliation is required, but attending usually shows support for that party in the next general election. Children or those not able to vote can attend as observers.

Birthday No. 7 will be observed with a smaller, more intimate gathering
Jonathan's birthday party last week was designed after my childhood dream party. Brightly-colored helium balloons bobbed cheerfully around a dining room table loaded with cupcakes, peanuts and M&Ms and a big pitcher of pink lemonade. Activities were planned, and the pi–ata was poised in the air with a stick and blindfold nearby ready to go.

It would have been the dream party, too, if the birthday boy and his guests had cooperated.

I knew we were in for a change of plans when I looked out the window at 3:30 and saw seven rowdy boys hurtling off the bus toward the house at break-neck speed. Once inside, they didn't slow down. After terrorizing the cats, the group divided with impressive organization into two warring factions, chasing and attacking each other with any six-shooter and dry water pistol they could find. Some hid under and behind furniture for sneaky ambushes, while others charged fearlessly at the enemy, getting tangled in balloon strings en route.

The host and hostess were a bit overwhelmed. A structured game of pin the tail on the donkey paled in comparison to this drama.

About the time we considered intervening, one little boy emerged from the chaos with a slightly bleeding nose. It had collided, while southbound, with a barrel of a speeding northbound cork gun.

It was definitely time to intervene. That was when we heard a massive thud from the direction of the kitchen. It was the sort of thud that sounded like a head smacking the hard linoleum. "Is everyone OK?" we rushed to the scene. At first, all we heard was, "...fell." Who fell? Is he conscious? I had visions of Jonathan unwrapping presents in the emergency room with his fallen comrade.

We were relieved to learn the only casualty was a crafty wooden angel who had toppled off her perch and suffered a dented wing and bent halo. She'd heal.

So went the rest of the party. The boys weren't naughty; they were just, well ... excited.

They piled M&Ms on their cupcake frosting and dipped peanuts in their pink lemonade. They fought over whose gift should be opened first, and, when it was time to play games, no one was interested, because they were so deeply engrossed in assembling unwrapped birthday Legos.

It was appropriate, then, that our pi–ata turned out to be the indestructible kind. I was so concerned one strong boy would break the shell on the first whack, but we eventually did away with the blindfold and finally encouraged the big kids to hit harder and more often. In the end, the pathetic thing fell to the ground before it broke, and the boys had a heyday pounding away at the dented, beaten shell on the ground.

Alas, at the first sign of a tear, we confiscated the stick and shook the candy out from the small opening. As it turns out, the beating was much harder on the contents of the pi–ata than on the pi–ata itself. Lollipops crumbled when wrappers were removed, and Valentine hearts were smooshed into unrecognizable blobs of foil and chocolate. The boys didn't seem bothered with the spoiled loot. Getting to the candy was obviously more fun than eating it.

I don't recall ever asking for my dream birthday party, and it was certainly never offered, but I have vague recollections of my older sisterÕs sixth birthday. It involved a herd of pigtails running amuck through a city park in the heat of July, with spilled Kool-Aid, picnic bugs and skinned knees.

My mom's no dummy. After that experience, I'm sure she saw the wisdom in suggesting more intimate gatherings with a best friend or two. We're thinking that would be a nice way for Jonathan to observe his seventh birthday.

Send Lori an e-mail

By Lori Ehde
A former Pipestone City Administrator and former CEO of the hog operation Global Ventures Inc. was indicted Thursday, Feb. 21, by a federal grand jury.

David S. Logan, 65, Pipestone, was charged with one count of conspiring to defraud the United States, one count of misapplication of bank funds and one count of mail fraud.

The jury alleged that Logan and a "senior bank officer" at First National Bank, Pipestone, conspired to violate banking regulations regarding lending limits and insider loans.

The bank officer allegedly caused a series of illegal loans to be made to companies controlled by Logan, including two in which the bank officer held an interest.

The indictment follows testimony before a grand jury earlier in the week by Pipestone residents.

Alleged illegal activity
According to the indictment, the senior bank officer caused illegal loans to be made to FAMAR Inc., a company owned by Logan.

Proceeds from one of the loans was used by Logan and the senior bank officer to invest in Global Ventures, a company in which the bank officer actively concealed that he held a 30-percent ownership interest. A second loan made to FAMAR was used by Logan to purchase stock in First National Bank, Pipestone and Garretson.

Logan and the bank officer allegedly utilized another company, Gandami Inc., doing business as Global Feeds, a corporation in which the bank officer had ownership interest, to obtain improper loans for the payment of personal debt and other unlawful purposes.

According to the indictment, Logan and the senior bank officer also created a fictitious company, Willey Contract Nursery Services, to act as a nominee to obtain loans for use by Global Ventures and its principals.

Through this fictitious company, Logan and the bank officer were able to obtain several illegal loans, including a $1 million Small Business Administration loan in March 1996 that was used for payment of $500,000 in construction costs for a Global Ventures hog facility.

The grand jury also alleged that Logan had knowledge that Global Ventures was being used as a nominee in a $400,000 loan that was actually being used to purchase a $1.1 million problem loan of a radio broadcasting station in Sioux Falls, S.D., in order to deceive federal bank regulators.

It is alleged in the indictment that beginning prior to June 1996, Logan devised and executed a scheme to deprive others of the intangible right of honest services in connection with matters involving Pipestone County and Rock County.

As part of that scheme, Logan allegedly made arrangements through the bank officer to provide preferential loans and cash to former Rock County Feedlot Officer John Burgers, Hills. The intent was to influence Burgers and obtain preferential treatment for Global Ventures.

Global responds
In a statement released Feb. 21, Global Ventures made it clear Logan is no longer affiliated with the company.

"In September of last year he resigned as an officer, director and employee," the statement read. "He has no voting rights in any shares of company stock. No one currently with the company had any knowledge or involvement with the alleged criminal wrongdoing of Mr. Logan."

The statement goes on to say Global Ventures has nothing to do with the indictment.

"The allegations do not pertain to the company and have no direct effect on its operation," the statement reads. "The provisions relating to forfeiture would involve personal assets of Mr. Logan only, and do not involve any assets of the company. This is an individual matter between Logan and the government."

Global Ventures raises about 175,000 hogs per year in Pipestone and Rock counties and markets an additional 550,000 hogs for area family farmers.

Possible sentence
If convicted, Logan faces a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine on each count of conspiracy to defraud the United States and mail fraud. He could be sentenced for up to 30 years in prison and/or up to $1 million in fines for misapplication of bank funds.

Any sentence would be determined by a judge based on sentence guidelines.

The case is the result of an ongoing investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Hank Shea is prosecuting the case.