By John Rittenhouse
The Luverne girls' hockey team snapped a three-game losing skid when it bested Mankato West 3-0 at the Blue Mound Ice Arena Friday.

Cardinal goalie Bethany Rosenberg blanked the Scarlets while making 14 saves, and her offensive teammates scored one goal in every period of the contest.

Three different players scored for LHS, which outshot MW 31-14 while upping its record to 2-4.

Junior wing Dana Smeins produced what proved to be the game-winning goal 1:16 into the game.

Natalie Domagala, who netted an unassisted goal with 3:39 left to play in the game, received an assist for Smeins' counter.

Senior Amy Kunkel scored seven seconds into the second period to make it a 2-0 game. Erin Lammert received an assist for the goal.

The Cards will be busy this week as they host Worthington tonight and Fairmont Friday before skating in Windom Tuesday.

By Lori Ehde
A classroom assignment has become a poignant illustration of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States.

Luverne High School senior Bob Ehrreich created an I-movie out of images of the events he downloaded off the Internet.

The movie, entitled "9.11.01," is a collage of Ehrreich's favorite photographs of the East Coast attacks and subsequent military scenes in Afghanistan.

The still scenes, set to music, fade in and out and include special digital effects.

Ehrreich received an A from graphic arts teacher Bill Thompson on the project he completed as a graphic communications assignment.

Thompson said grades are determined based on a number of factors, including transitions between photos, how the music affects the images and on special effects.

He assigned each of his students to come up with a two-minute I-movie on a topic of their choice. Some chose personal interests or hobbies, but Ehrreich chose the Sept. 11 national tragedy.

"I thought of it right away," he said. "I just thought it would be something that would mean something."

In addition to technical quality, Thompson said Ehrreich's movie has an emotional appeal. "Every time I watch it I get a tear in my eye," Thompson said. "It's really good."

Ehrreich's project was featured on the 10 p.m. KELO-TV newscast Monday, and he said the station has invited him to their graphic design department, possibly for the purpose of summer employment.

There's a link to his movie from the KELO Web site, www.keloland.com. Click on "student makes I-movie."

Rock County's other paper, the Star, also said that Clarence Dybedoek was in Pearl Harbor as a member of the Navy at the time of the bombing.

Soon after the declaration of war, the American Red Cross set a quota of $3,500 for Rock County to raise in the War Relief Fund.

World War II and its bond sales, fund-raisers and victory gardens hold many memories for local people. But before those terms became a part of their vocabulary, Pearl Harbor was bombed.

Local people remember
Marie Frakes, Luverne, remembers her late husband, Marion, talking about the bombing of Pearl Harbor. The two weren't married at the time, but he recalled the day's events to her. "He was on a ship at the time that was on the way to Pearl Harbor," Marie said.

Marion continued to serve in the Pacific through the war. Some of the details are vague for Marie to remember, but she knows that day changed almost everything for her husband.

Ray Nelson, Hills, was in Tennessee at the time as a new member of the service. "I'll never forget it," he said.

Nelson was initially told he was drafted for a year's worth of service, but he had been in the Army only three months when Pearl Harbor was bombed. He served through the end of the war where he eventually saw combat.

But with all he saw, Nelson still remembers Dec. 7, 1941, when the famous radio personality Sammy Kaye was giving his Sunday Serenade. The programming was interrupted to announce the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Warren Herreid, Luverne, said he sees similarities between the effect Pearl Harbor and Sept. 11 had on the country. But there are differences, too.

"At least we kind of knew what a standard war was, who your enemies were. Now there are no boundaries, no territories and the people fight different," Herreid said.

But he knew things were changing in his life when he learned of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Herreid would turn 21 on Dec. 28 and was in Kodiak, Alaska, helping to protect the Naval air base that was under construction.

Like Nelson, Herreid was drafted for a year of service and ended up serving out the war.

"It was a little bit scary when we found out war was declared. We knew it was bad, and we didn't have the communication they have today," Herreid said. "We just found out what they wanted us to."

But on Dec. 7, 1941, he knew things would never be the same. "It all changed after that," he said.

By Sara Quam
Dec. 7, 1941, is etched into memories as the "date which will live in infamy." Similar to Sept. 11, 2001, it marks a catastrophic event that led the United States into war.

On its 60th anniversary Friday, the bombing of Pearl Harbor resurfaces in the minds of those who lived through World War II.

Some make comparisons between the bombing of Pearl Harbor in 1941 and the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centers and the Pentagon in 2001.

But in the Dec. 12, 1941, edition of the Rock County Herald, comparisons were drawn between the first world war and how America entered the second.

A front-page story in the Dec. 12, 1941, Herald said, "It is a far cry, in more ways than dates - between April 6, 1917, when America declared war against Germany, and Dec. 8, 1941, when Congress declared a state of war to exist with Japan, following this yesterday with a similar declaration covering Germany and Italy.

"Not only is warfare conducted on a bigger, more lightning-like and more destructive scale these days, and is vastly more mechanized than it was in 1917, but there is a difference also now in the way the American public in general and Rock County citizens in particular are receiving the news of current hostilities and the actions of their elected representatives in relation to them.

"To be sure, the daily papers are still issuing extra editions and rushing them here, but no longer must the public depend upon the dailies as they did in the days of 1917. These days find them fairly 'glued' to their radios while at home, listening to them while traveling in their cars, keeping within hearing distance of the receiving sets while at the office and stepping frequently into faces and other places of business while on the streets in order to catch the latest bulletins."

Also on the front page of that edition was a list of Luverne people in combat zones:

Arthur J. Riss was in Manila as a member of the Bureau of Education;
Merle Wynn had been working in Honolulu, but at the time of the attack was 500 miles south;
Helen Haug was a nurse in the Navy dispensary in Honolulu;
Russell Ormseth was stationed with the U.S. Marines at Guam, which the Japanese claimed to have seized at the Herald's press time;
Marion Frakes was also stationed in Honolulu with the Army (brothers Dale, Allen and Gordon also served in the U.S. Navy, but were in different locations);
Lawrence Dehmlow was stationed in Hawaii with a Navy repair ship;
Marvin DeLapp was aboard a submarine and was last heard from while the vessel was between Manila and Singapore;
Franklin DeLapp was reported to be in Pearl Harbor;
Orville "Pat" Barclay, Magnolia, was also believed to be somewhere in the Pacific island region with the Army.

By Lori Ehde
When Emily Brandel began playing the clarinet six years ago, Luverne High School band director Dale Nelson knew he was in the presence of raw talent.

He was working in his office when he heard a clarinetist rehearsing in the next room.

"It was just the most gorgeous sound," he said. "I went out to see who it was, and here was a little fifth-grader playing this beautiful piece of music."

Since then, Brandel has racked up an admirable collection of local, regional and state music awards.

"When the judges hear her play, they put down their pencils and just listen," Nelson said.

That's why he wasn't surprised to learn Brandel had been selected to play with the 2002 National Wind Ensemble in New York City's Carnegie Hall.

When asked about her response to the news, Brandel said, "I was surprised and I felt really honored."

She should.

The ensemble is comprised of 75 wind musicians - mostly college students - from the United States and Canada chosen based on the quality of their audition tapes.

When asked about the likelihood of being selected among so many auditions, Brandel simply said, "If you don' audition, you don't have a chance at all."

The concert performance, sponsored by Mid-America Productions, will be May 25, but Brandel and her parents will be in New York for a week.

She will participate in five, six-hour rehearsals prior to the concert, which is followed by an evening cruise around Manhattan Island.

The honor of playing in the band is not attached to a plane ticket, so Emily and her family are working with the school to raise funds for the trip.

Nelson said he takes credit for showing Brandel how to attach her reed to the horn, but beyond that, she quickly outgrew his training.

"I quit working with her after a couple months," Nelson said.

Brandel worked with Mary Goheen, a clarinetist as well, in Luverne for a short time before starting lessons in Sioux Falls.

Since the seventh grade, Brandel has been practicing under Chris Hill, principal clarinetist for the South Dakota Symphony.

"He says she's the most talented person he's ever worked with," Nelson said.

Brandel said she plans to study music on the East Coast and hopes to one day play professionally with a symphony.

"She'll go on to be a professional musician," Nelson said. "There's no doubt about it."

Nelson said he's had students go on to receive national honors, but none have done so while still in high school.

"She is probably the most phenomenal musician I've ever known," he said.

By Lori Ehde
The number of people diagnosed with diabetes in the United States has increased by nearly 50 percent in the past 10 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control.

The CDC further reports that 6 percent of the population has diabetes and the number of diagnoses continues to rise.

According to local health officials, the population in Rock County and southwest Minnesota reflect similar numbers.

"It's an epidemic," said registered dietitian Marg Kuiper. "It used to be we'd diagnose it in people 60 or older. Now, we're finding it in people 40 or younger."

Part of the reason for increasing diagnoses is poor health habits of Americans - particularly obesity and lack of exercise.

But heightened awareness of diabetes is another major reason for increased diagnoses ... and that's a good thing, Kuiper said.

"Cases that may have gone undiagnosed until late stages are now being recognized early on," Kuiper said.

"The more prevention we can do, the more we'll keep people out of the hospital and keep illness at bay."

This all saves money in the long run, which is why Medicare now reimburses patients for diabetes education.

Kuiper and registered nurse Jamie Reisdorfer lead a diabetes education program for Luverne Community Hospital and Medical Center that's recently been certified by the American Diabetes Association.

That means Medicare insurance will pay for up to 10 hours of instruction with Kuiper and Reisdorfer.

"This is good news for our hospital and good news for our community," Kuiper said.

She said it benefits all diabetic patients, because most insurance companies follow Medicare's lead in terms of covering new services.

More important, educated diabetics are living longer, healthier lives.

"The tighter control they have over their blood sugar, the better control they'll have in reducing complications," Kuiper said.

Those can include blurred vision and blindness, heart disease, nervous system disease (numbness in extremities), high blood pressure and kidney failure.

"People with undiagnosed diabetes generally don't feel well," Kuiper said. "They feel better when they get their blood sugar under control."

Diabetes awareness often starts in the examining room, where more doctors are recognizing early signs and symptoms.

If patients are diagnosed with diabetes in the Luverne Medical Center, they're referred to Kuiper and Reisdorfer for education.

The 10 hours of information and education include classroom time, one-on-one appointments and follow-up phone calls.

The women have seen 32 patients since spring and another 10 are signed up for January.

While they are seeing a heavy load of diabetes cases, they say they're glad to make a difference.

"If people who have diabetes keep their numbers in their goal range, they can lead normal lives," Kuiper said. "That's the good news. They now have all the tools they need."

The Luverne medical community has offered diabetes education for years, but now it's presented in a more formal package.

The education is geared toward patients with Type 2 diabetes, which is diagnosed when the body doesn't produce enough insulin or isn't using it efficiently.

Type 1 diabetes is diagnosed when the body suddenly stops producing insulin, and the only treatment is insulin injections.

By Sara Quam
With a national nursing shortage leaving many hospitals and health agencies scrambling, local nursing students are trying to ease the shortfall.

Five of them are graduating from South Dakota State University, Brookings, this week and have already lined up jobs.

They are Jill Dorn, Adrian; Brent Konz, Adrian; Mary Moser, Hills; Ben Nelson, Luverne; and Sara Sestak, Jasper.

As part of their final semester, they worked with Nobles-Rock Public Health under Public Health Nurse Joan Kindt.

She said, "I'm happy local people are going into nursing. We need good, quality people in the field."

Kindt said that Minnesota, along with the rest of the country, has a shortage of nurses to fill positions existing and also lacks students pursuing four-year nursing degrees.

For example, Kindt said that in Minnesota, for every 10 nursing positions opened, just seven are filled.

Rebecca Mauer, a nursing instructor at SDSU, coordinates with Public Health. The relationship between the university and Public Health started six years ago when students began working on their clinicals with Public Health as part of their coursework.

Mauer said she's well aware of the nursing shortage and is also concerned about a shortage of nursing instructors. "We're a real aging profession. Our average age is pretty high," she said.

The next generation
Nursing students at Public Health do valuable work for the agency.

Each made either a presentation on bioterrorism or conducted health screenings for county employees.

Ben Nelson, a Luverne native, is one of the graduates who worked at Public Health. He is also one of a handful of male nursing students at SDSU.

This week he's in Rochester getting ready for his new job at the Mayo Clinic.

"There's a lot of opportunities in nursing," he said. "You can go wherever you want right now, and they'll do just about anything to get you to work there."

Nelson said that although there's a shortage of four-year nursing graduates, he didn't consider becoming a technical school graduate.

"There's more flexibility with the four-year degrees," Nelson said.

He said furthering his education to become a nurse practitioner is a possibility in the future. Nurses can also move into administrative positions and advance in that way.

For now, Nelson is content to be in the field he's pursued. "It was a lot of hard work and time-consuming, but I'm glad I did it," he said.

Ben is the son of Meg and Tom Nelson, Luverne.

By Sara Quam
As soon as February, the county could see major changes in the Extension Office as dictated by the University of Minnesota.

Earlier this year, Extension educators got increased funding from the county - from 28 percent of their wages last year to 40 percent this year.

That increased funding was implemented to make up for a lack of state funds. Now, with an additional $4.5-million state fund shortfall, the Minnesota Extension Service will see a total reconfiguration of services and funding.

Essentially, it will eliminate staff and share duties among counties. Of the 245 educators, nearly 60 are predicted to be cut.

In 2003 Extension budgeted for $375,000 in county contributions. It estimates a savings of $2,500,000 by making the cuts, though.

County Administrator Kyle Oldre said, "The way I see it going is that we will no longer buy time but buy programs."

Chairman Ken Hoime said, "There will certainly be fewer educators to go around. I don't think it'll go over as smoothly as they'e pushing for."

The Rock County Extension Office has been without one position filled for about six months, so local impact may be to not fill that position at all.

Commissioner Wendell Erickson has been a longtime advocate of Extension programs.

Erickson said he doesnÕt like the way itÕs changing to a top-down structure. "A concern I have is that there's going to be less people delivering services, and I think that's been Extension's strong point."

The "county agents" of years past will change their jobs even more. Instead of offering general assistance, an Extension educator will have a special area of expertise and travel to counties in the region to deliver services.

Each county will have a county director who facilitates the services and connects users to the right educator. The director will also access more funding opportunities besides state and county contributions.

One of the biggest roles the Extension takes on is the 4-H program. Erickson said that more questions are left unanswered when the future of that program is considered.

The U of M has said that region educators who are in charge of 4-H can have local assistants who could take on a lot of the necessary tasks of running the program. However, by job description, the assistant would have to be funded totally by the county.

Erickson said that an example of Extension's need is after regional hail storms. Farmers always need attention from the Extension Office in that case. If the expert on crops has to travel through an entire region to assess damage, farmers might miss an opportunity to make a decision, Erickson fears.

"They're setting up layers you've got to get through for the services," Erickson said.

Response time for educators is a concern for Commissioner Jane Wildung too.

She said that through the Rock County Collaborative, she's seen how valuable educators are to community programs. And if they have to travel across a region for a program, driving time and other commitments may impede their usual good services.

With such a tight timeline, the County Commissioners said they are left wondering how it will all work out. But with decisions out of their hands, there's little they can do.

The board decided to write a letter addressing its concerns about future budgets and services and hope for the best.

By Sara Quam
The Fulda man who was injured in an electrical accident in Luverne said, "Things are up in the air," from his room at the Regions Burn Center, St. Paul.

Phillip Kramer, 21, lost the lower third of his left arm to what he said could have been as much as 14,000 volts of electricity.

He wouldn't comment on the specifics of the accident because it is still under investigation by the city of Luverne and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. OSHA's reports won't be available for another month.

The city of Luverne hasn't commented so far, either. However, a portion of its Tuesday meeting was closed for an executive session to discuss legal issues surrounding the incident.

Kramer said, "I didn't think it was that risky of a job, but you get used to doing it everyday."

Losing his left hand, his dominant one, is going to be hard for Kramer.

"I'm doing fine," he said. "I'll have to adapt and change, and I think I might be able to still work, but I'm not sure."

The pain is "mostly under control" now, he said. "When I was in Luverne and Sioux Falls, that's the most pain I've ever felt in my life."

Kramer's doctors estimate that he'll be in the Burn Center for about three more weeks.

"I have surgery this week for a skin graft for my leg. The electricity left there," he said.

Kramer said heÕs not suffering emotionally and looks forward to leaving the hospital.

He had been employed by Fulda Electric for two and one-half years when he was injured in Luverne. His company was doing work on the city of Luverne's west substation as part of an electrical upgrading project.

Parts of town experienced a power surge at the time of the accident. South Luverne was out of power for an hour and a half.