By Lori Ehde
Funeral services for murder victim Carrie Nelson will be at 1 p.m. Friday in Grace Lutheran Church.

Most all who knew her say she'll be remembered for her pleasant disposition.

"She was just a good friend. She was a cheerful girl - always happy," said Luverne's Carolyn Norton.

"We're going to miss her a lot."

Norton was Nelson's classmate and friend at Luverne High School. The two girls were dorm roommates during their first year at Dakota State University, Madison, S.D.

"Everyone has memories of her, I think," Norton said. "She was just there for all of us when we needed her."

Nelson, daughter of Nan (Karr) Kaufenberg, Luverne, and Stan Nelson, Hills, grew up in the Hills-Beaver Creek area and graduated in 1999 from Luverne High School.

She was involved in band, choir and peer helping and had planned to pursue a career in elementary education.

Nelson took a year off from classes at DSU and had been living in Sioux Falls and was commuting to her seasonal job at the Blue Mounds State Park.

By Sara Quam
The Pool Commission Tuesday rescinded the 50-percent rate increase it intended to implement July 1. It had a special meeting to clarify its role in the decision-making process for the Rock County Community Pool and Fitness Center.

The Pool Commission reported its decision in a joint meeting with the Rock County Board and Luverne City Council.

Most of the commission members agreed that their previous decision was hasty. However, they disagreed on how the decision was approached and reached.

Glen Gust, who made the motion to increase rates by 50 percent, maintains the hike was recommended by Pool and Fitness Center Director Darrell Huiskes.

He said Huiskes said it would take a 104-percent increase to make up for a deficit. The commission then decided to raise rates to the halfway point.

Huiskes said he was simply informing the commission of the figuring he had done and didn't want a steep increase. He said, "Glen said at the beginning of that meeting that the city and county were no longer going to fund the facility."

Gust said, "I only said that the deficit can't continue to grow, but I think recreation should be funded."

Carol Wessels, Pool and Fitness Center manager, said she is concerned that Gust is passing blame to management when he fields phone calls from unhappy members. She also said that Gust indicated that government funding would cease.

Laurie Ketterling, new commission member, said Gust's words must have been misinterpreted.

The commission's role
Aside from rehashing the past meeting, the commission took another look at its place as an advisory board to the joint powers who run the Pool and Fitness Center - the Rock County Board and the Luverne City Council.

After the controversy from the announced rate increase, City and County Attorney Don Klosterbuer interpreted the joint powers agreement. He said the commission doesn't have the right to raise rates without the approval of county and city government.

"I don't understand. If we don't have the authority, what's our purpose? It seems like a time waster," Gust said.

Later at the City Council meeting, Klosterbuer explained that numerous committees advise elected people to make final decisions, and that their research and time allow elected officers to make informed votes.

In the past, the Pool Commission set rate increases but usually worked it into budget talks so the city and county governments approved them. Even though it was inappropriately raising rates, it wasn't noticed until this situation caused the attorney to look at it because of the controversy.

Commission member Damon Eisma said, "I still think it has to be raised, but now we can look at it again and do it right."

As one of three new members, Eisma voted in favor of the raise at his second commission meeting and would have liked to have spent more time researching and being informed before he was "inundated with calls and letters."

In just two weeks, the Pool and Fitness Center filed 32 cancelled memberships.

Ketterling said, "The main complaint I've heard is that we can raise the price mid-contract and they can't get out of it mid-contract." She said the commission should look into a one-time escape clause that would make those members feel better about a rate increase.

Eisma agreed. "If we're going to raise it upwards of 30, 40 percent, we're going to have to take extraordinary steps," he said.

By Sara Quam
Rock County's payments to keep extension educators on staff could increase if the University of Minnesota Extension Service has its way.

Right now, the county pays 25.78 percent of the average statewide educator's salary. In the year 2000 that amounted to $28,886.

It should be paying 30 percent, which is what the county signed on to pay in 1992. But now the University of Minnesota wants Rock County, along with all Minnesota counties, to pay 40 percent.

The Rock County Board of Commissioners took no action in its meeting Tuesday but discussed the issue with extension office employees.

County Administrator Kyle Oldre said, "I think that it was a negotiated agreement in '92 and we should go by that number."

Under the U of M's new proposal, all Minnesota counties would pay 40 percent of the average extension educator's salary. The current payment schedule isn't uniform, instead based on a county's size and budget.

If the new proposal meets approval, Rock County would see a $16,000 increase over six years. A few counties in the metropolitan area will actually pay less than they are under the current system.

The increased contribution from counties wouldn't mean a pay raise for educators, but would shift some of the burden from the state.

Commissioner Bob Jarchow questioned the validity of the University's proposal. He said the state is considering setting levy limits, and Rock County would have a difficult time meeting this payment without levy increases.

In related extension news, Extension Educator Barb Radke recently turned in her resignation.
Before that position is filled, the Extension Committee and County Board wanted to get a feeling for what direction to take in the extension office with this possible budget increase.

That's why Dave Werner, University of Minnesota Extension Southwest District Director, was present for discussion at the meeting.

He said that 79 of Minnesota's 87 counties are not paying their designated percentage now. That means the program is running at a deficit of $345,000 that will increase to $450,000 if not addressed.

Werner said that now is a good time to assess the county's needs. "One of the options - one that I'm not too excited about - is eliminating positions. There's a hundred other options, and I'm willing to work on any of those. I will do whatever I can to work with you."

Extension Committee Chairman Gary Overgaard said to the board, "You're going to have to tell us whether we're going to have to make the cuts."

Commissioner Jane Wildung. "It makes sense, to me, to analyze what our needs are for the county in the long run before we look at money."

Wildung said extension services have been valuable to the Rock County Collaborative. "Extension does a lot of Collaborative work. It takes a long time to get prevention programs up and running before there's a benefit on the cure side. We know that prevention in healthcare works, and we're trying to do the same thing on other issues, because you canÕt throw enough money at some of the problems."

Wildung said the skills that extension educators have is hard to find. "The talent needed for some of the educational elements isn't necessarily found in-house in county departments."

Extension Educator Fraser Norton said, "If there's anything you see we need to be doing that we currently aren't, we can try to come up with something."

By John Rittenhouse
Two individuals from Hills and another one from Steen competed in the Area 8 Special Olympic Summer Games in Tracy Saturday.

Kristi Brandt and Mitchel Anderson, representing Hills, and Janet Sandbulte, Steen, racked up a combined nine places during heat competition at the Games.

Brandt came home with a meet title after her heat victory in the standing long jump.

Brandt also placed second in the 50-meter dash and fourth in the softball throw.

Anderson, who was third in the standing long jump in his heat, placed second in the softball throw and 50-meter dash.

Sandbulte placed second in the tennis ball throw, 25-meter wheelchair obstacle race, and the 50-meter wheelchair slalom race.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth girls' golf squad avoided a winless regular season Thursday.

Playing as a member of a triangular meet in Pipestone, the Patriots used a 234-stroke tally to edge Wabasso for second place in the field. Wabasso was two strokes behind H-BC-E with a 236.

Pipestone-Jasper, with Andrea Carstensen leading the way with a 10-over-par 46, won the team competition with 206 strokes.

H-BC-E's Jessica Martens matched CarstensenÕs 46 to earn a share of the meet's medalist honor.

Marla Groen, Jessica Wassenaar and Kari Jansma added 55-, 60- and 73-stroke totals to H-BC-E's team tally.

Angie Bush shot a 78 without influencing the scoring for H-BC-E, which finishes the regular season with a 1-5 record.

Sarah Mahal led Wabasso with a 54.

The Patriot boys also placed second in a three-team field in Pipestone.

H-BC-E tallied 183 strokes to best Wabasso, which charted a 187. P-J won the team title with 174 strokes.

Patriot Dean Moss captured the medalist honor by shooting a two-over-par 38.

Blake Brommer and Tom Janssen contributed 48-stroke rounds to H-BC-E's team tally, while Ben Herman added a 49.

Kyle Sammons and Tom Beaner shot 53- and 57-stroke rounds without influencing the scoring.

Matt Oye shot a 42 to lead P-J, while Cole Guetter paced Wabasso with a 45.

H-BC-E's boys finish the regular season with a 3-3 record.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth track teams made a good impression during their first appearances at the Camden Conference meet staged in Tracy Friday.

Since Ellsworth will be competing in the league in volleyball and basketball starting next season, meet officials decided to invite the H-BC-E track teams to their annual conference meet this spring.

H-BC-E definitely made an impact at the event, setting three meet records and placing second in six-team fields on both sides of the team competition.

The Patriot boys established a pair of meet records while compiling 139 points.

Brad Haak won the 800-meter run with a meet record time of 1:59.04.

Haak also was a member of H-BC-EÕs 800-meter relay, which placed first with a meet standard of 1:37.11. Chris Reid, Chris Willers and Chris Fransman are other members of the team.

Reid, Willers and Clint Roozenboom won conference titles in individual events.

Reid covered 19-6 in the long jump, Willers ran 400 meters in 52.46 and Roozenboom cleared 8-0 in the pole vault.

Willers, Reid, Haak and Lee Jackson also won the 1,600-meter relay title with a time of 3:45.13.

Fransman placed second in a pair of individual events, running 200 meters in 23.86 and clearing 6-0 in the high jump.

Reid was second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.43, and Roozenboom was second in the 110-meter high hurdles in 19.27.

The Patriot girls set one meet record while scoring 126 points to place second in their team standings.

The 3,200-meter relay team of Cassi and Shanna Tilstra, Janelle Jenniges and Bev Wurpts established a meet standard with their winning time of 10:23.89.

The Tilstras, Jenniges and Brittney Rozeboom also took top honors in the 1,600-meter relay with a 4:24.43 effort.

Individual conference championships went to the Tilstras and Jenniges.

Cassi Tilstra ran 400 meters in 1:03.21, and Shanna Tilstra covered 800 meters in 2:35.12. Cassi also placed second in the pole vault by clearing a height of 6-0, and Shanna was second in the high jump after clearing 4-6.

Jenniges, who was second in the 800 with a time of 2:35.51, won the pole vault by clearing 6-6
Connie Lewis placed second for the Patriots in the triple jump with an effort of 29-0. Wurpts ran 3,200 meters in 13:43 to place second.

H-BC-EÕs 800-meter relay team of Lewis, Kelsey Hansel, Kelly Mulder and LaDonna Sandstede finished second in 2:01.57.

The Patriots will compete at the Sub-Section 10 Track and Field Meet today in Pipestone. Meet time is 4 p.m.

Here is a look at the team standings and the rest of H-BC-EÕs top six finishers from the Camden Conference meet.

Boys' standings: Canby-Minneota 176, H-BC-E 139, Russell-Tyler-Ruthton-Lake Benton 88, Dawson-Boyd 61, Lincoln HI 54. Lakeview 27.

Girls' standings: C-M 214, H-BC-E 126, R-T-R-LB 100, LH 75, D-B 17, Lakeview 10.

H-BC-E boys
Third place: Cody Scholten, pole vault, 7-6; Fransman, long jump, 18-2 1/2; 3,200 relay (Greg Van Batavia, Kerry Fink, Derek Haak and Kale Wiertzema), 10:17.09; Jackson, 1,600, 5:00.97; Van Batavia, 300 hurdles, 52.05.
Fourth place: Jackson, 800, 2:17.02; 400 relay (Van Batavia, Roozenboom, Jesse Leuthold and Scholten), 50.57.
Fifth place: B.Haak, high jump, 5-6; Travis Broesder, triple jump, 27-3.
Sixth place: Van Batavia, triple jump, 24-8; Devin DeBoer, 110 hurdles, 22.3; Leuthold, 100, 12.7; DeBoer, 300 hurdles, 53.15; Nathan Fick, 3,200, 11:58.

H-BC-E girls
Third place: Heather Albers, pole vault, 5-0; Lewis, shot, 30-0 3/4; Wurpts, 400. 1:06.84.
Fourth place: Melinda Feucht, 100 hurdles, 19.46; 400 relay (Sandstede, Lewis, Sarah Rozeboom and Brittney Rozeboom), 57.72.
Sixth place: S.Rozeboom, 300 hurdles, 59.22; B.Rozeboom, 1,600, 6:10.96.

By Lori Ehde
Blue Mounds State Park is closed this week, preceding what would normally be one of the busiest holiday camping weekends of the year.

The main park office has been a crime lab since Monday as law enforcement investigates the murder of 20-year-old park attendant Carrie Nelson.

Her body was found at 2:45 p.m. Sunday by park management. An autopsy Monday revealed she had died earlier that afternoon from "multi-traumatic injuries to the head due to assault."

Authorities say there was no evidence of sexual assault, but robbery is cited as a possible motive.

During a press conference Tuesday afternoon, Sheriff Ron McClure said investigators are seeking information on two bank money bags believed to have been taken from the park office at the time of the murder.

The gray bags carry the logo of Minnwest Bank. A tip line, 283-1301, has been established for the public to offer information on the missing bags.

McClure said he couldn't comment on the amount of money stolen or whether any items of value were taken from the office.

The Rock County Sheriff's Department, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension, the Department of Natural Resources and the Minnesota State Patrol are all working on the case.

These are the only details investigators have released so far.

McClure said all possible witnesses are being interviewed, and he would not comment on whether investigators have narrowed their scope of suspects.

The biggest question still unanswered is whether the murder should be considered a random act of violence or if there was a connection between Nelson and her assailant.

When asked if residents should be concerned about their safety, McClure declined to say if the community was at risk but instead said it's always wise to lock doors and protect property.

Meanwhile, the murder has sent a ripple effect through the Minnesota State Parks system with regard to security.

Bill Morrissey, director of the DNR Division of Parks and Recreation, confirmed that in the 110-year state park history, Nelson is the first employee to be murdered on the job.

"I think it's absolutely fair to say [security] will be reviewed. We're at heightened security right now," Morrissey said Tuesday.

"In light of a changing world, you hope that whether you're a park visitor or a park employee, safety is a concern."

He said no surveillance cameras are used in any of Minnesota's state parks.

Morrissey said the Blue Mounds will be closed until Sunday when it will reopen for day use and camping Sunday night and Memorial Day.

"The contact station is not operable, and a lot of the equipment has been removed (for the investigation)," Morrissey said.

"We aren't going to put that burden on the park staff yet. They need some time to deal with this."

He said staff from other state parks will assist at the Blue Mounds this weekend, but campers may have to self-register.

Normally the Blue Mounds' 73 campsites are all reserved for Memorial Day weekend. "It's our opening weekend and one of the real big weekends for us," he said, adding that he hopes the murder investigation doesn't scare away park visitors.

"We want the public to understand we don't see any reason not to come out and enjoy our parks," he said.

"Thankfully the people of Minnesota take care of their parks and kind of look out for each other. We don't want this to deter people from enjoying their great outdoors."

By Jolene Farley
Hills-Beaver Creek High School students Jessica Martens and Jody Rentschler attended the Northern Star Leadership Conference on Saturday, May 19, at the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

Four hundred eighty sophomores from the state of Minnesota attended the event, sponsored by the University of Minnesota Office of Admissions and the Alumni Association.

Four Hills-Beaver Creek students were nominated but only two from each school could attend the event, so the U of M made the final decision of Martens and Rentschler as representatives for Hills-Beaver Creek.

Students were nominated based on academics, leadership and overall activities, according to Dan Ellingson, Hills-Beaver Creek guidance counselor.

"It is good for the girls to go out and interact with kids from other areas," said parent Lori Rentschler.

Rentschler said the conference was advantageous because it made the girls think about college sooner instead of waiting until later in high school.

The keynote speaker for the conference was John Roethlisberger, who won an Olympic gold medal for the United States in gymnastics.

Roethlisberger's message to the students was to never give up in the face of adversity. He faced battles in his career but came back to win a gold medal.

In the afternoon, students attended leadership seminars and a group discussion panel designed to enhance leadership skills.

Each school in the state was sent a letter about the event, but the majority of the schools that participated were closer to the Twin Cities area.

The conference was a positive experience, according to Martens and Rentschler. Hills-Beaver Creek High School plans to participate again next year, according to Ellingson.

By John Rittenhouse
Luverne High School athletes locked up a combined eight championships during the annual Southwest Conference Track and Field Meet staged in Pipestone Thursday.

Four LHS boys captured a combined six conference titles during their version of the competition.
One Cardinal athlete won an individual title and a relay team emerged as a champion during the girls' competition.

The six SWC titles helped the Cardinal boys place third in the team competition with 105.75 points.

Marshall and Worthington bested Luverne in the team standings with 157.5 and 147 points respectively.

Pipestone-Jasper (96), Windom (76), Redwood Valley (62.5) and Jackson County Central (44.25) capped the boys' field.

Senior Darren Cook and junior Craig Bosch led the Cardinals to their third-place finish by winning a pair of individual events each.

Cook, who placed second in the 100-meter dash with a time of 11.48, won the 110- and 300-meter hurdles titles with respective 14.8 and 40.49 times.

Bosch emerged as the shot put and discus champion with respective tosses of 49-1 and 147-9.

Freshman Tim Rust and eighth-grader Scott Goebel also picked up SWC championships for the Cardinal boys.

Rust cleared 10-6 to win the pole vault title. Goebel took top honors in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:45.52.

The Luverne girls placed fourth in a seven-team field by scoring 99 points.

JCC (135.5), P-J (126) and Worthington (107) topped the Cards in the standings. Marshall (96), RWV (69) and Windom (65.5) round out the field.

Senior Hannah Dietrich played a role in landing a pair of conference titles for the Cardinal girls.

Dietrich took top honors in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:23.98, which was just shy of a SWC meet record.

Dietrich also was a member of Luverne's 3,200-meter relay, which placed first in 10:24.9. Junior Patricia Willers, eighth-grader Sadie Dietrich and seventh-grader Victoria Arends are the other members of the team.

Cardinal girls placed second in four events during the competition.

The 1,600-meter relay team of Amanda Dooyema, Jenni Christensen and the Dietrichs finished second in 4:19.
Adria Sherwood whipped the discus 91-11, Amanda Aning cleared 9-9 in the pole vault and Sadie Dietrich ran 400 meters in 1:02.6 to place second in their respective events.

The Luverne teams will compete at the Sub-Section 10 Track and Field Championships in Pipestone today. Meet time is 4 p.m.

Here is a look at the rest of Luverne's top eight finishers from the SWC meet.

Luverne boys
Third place: Andrew Norton, high jump, 5-10; Marcus Walgrave, 110 hurdles, 15.9; Walgrave, 300 hurdles, 42.54.

Fourth place: Norton, long jump, 19-9 1/4; Norton, triple jump, 38-10.

Sixth place: 400 relay (Ben Peters, Cody Gehrke, Justin Van Wyhe, Norton), 48.9; 3,200 relay (Peter Loehnert, Jeff Luethje, Jamison Tooley and Kyle Bitterman), 9:37.24.

Seventh place: Andrew Hulstein, high jump, 5-6.

Luverne girls
Fourth place: Serena Franken, discus, 88-0; Marissa Stewart, shot, 31-0 1/2; Danielle Cook, 300 hurdles, 49.94; 800 relay (Callen Bosshart, Cook, Dooyema and Christensen), 1:54.2.

Fifth place: Stewart, discus, 86-10; Sara Sneller, shot, 30-1 1/2; Aning, high jump, 4-8; Cook, 100, 13.3; 400 relay (Bosshart, Nicole Willers, Maggie Vanden Hoek and Aning), 54.51.

Seventh place: Christensen, 400, 1:05.5; Andrea Drost, 800, 2:39.2; Arends, 1,600, 5:53.1; Tracey Scheidt, 300 hurdles, 51.9.