By Sara Quam
Yimy finally has a family... a big one. He joined his eight brothers and sisters Saturday as the newest member of the Rev. Bart and Claudia Fletcher family in Luverne.

"We had decided everything was set at eight. Eight was enough," Claudia said. "We could all eat at the table; we fit in the van."

"There are eight Twinkies in a box," Bart said.

"But then," Claudia said, "we heard his story."

Claudia heard about Yimy (pronounced Jimmy) through a meeting with her work as a liaison with the Adoption Support and Preservation group in southwest Minnesota. She heard of his abandonment as an infant and was touched.

She told the story of Yimy to Bart when she got home from the meeting, and they decided they were more than just touched; they wanted to save this 8-year-old boy.

Even though it wasn't a part of the long-term plan for the Fletchers, they are sure they made the right decision. And so is Yimy. He said with a smile and an arm around Bart, "It's a beautiful thing for a boy to be with his family."

Life over livelihood
Now 9, Yimy was well cared for in the orphanage. But long before that placement, he was abandoned by a single mother and given to another family. There, he was found abused and neglected in a cardboard box in the corner of a house. That's when he entered the orphanage at 19 months, weighing just 15 pounds.

The Guatemalan orphanage was only supposed to keep Yimy until age 7 but held on with the hopes that a family would take him in. Letting him go would have meant life on the streets for Yimy.

In a country where the government doesn't have a foster care system or even food assistance, Yimy would have been on his own. He would have likely turned to prostitution and panhandling, ending his childhood and probably his life.

"We're really saving this kid's life," Bart said.

The other eight Fletcher children were adopted from within the United States, and the Fletchers maintain that they are proponents of taking care of American children.

But knowing how other countries treat their children made the Fletchers aware that foreign adoption, though expensive, has merit.

Bart said, "We saw children younger than our own on the street collecting money for the day ... a 12-year-old girl carrying an infant on her hip."

Many of the children waiting to be adopted are healthy, beautiful and well-cared for. The images most Americans are used to seeing are of orphanages in war-torn countries where children get precious little care or attention.

That wasnÕt the case in the particular orphanage the Fletchers went through. They describe it as a group living quarters run similar to a day care. The time is structured and includes crafts and family-style meals with a high ratio of caregivers to children. The woman who runs the orphanage has managed it for 25 years and takes great care with the operation.

In fact, one of the two times Yimy cried since coming here was when he realized he'd miss the anniversary celebration at the orphanage.

"We could tell by looking in their eyes that they were bright, well-cared for and loved," Claudia said.

Many Americans don't see orphanages as a family-type setting, but for Yimy, it was close. He always talked about wanting an actual mom and dad, but leaving his only known home was difficult.

Bart and Claudia said he is adjusting to the family and learning English from his brothers and sisters. "They all look at him with a bit of curiosity," Bart said.

Yimy has already attended Sunday School at United Methodist Church where his dad is the pastor.

Tuesday was Yimy's first day of fourth grade in Luverne. He is considered a special needs student because of some possible head injuries as an infant, but Yimy is ready to learn. The school has an English-as-a-second-language teacher who will help him along.

The Fletchers are hoping that some of his perceived learning disabilities can be attributed to being around so many younger children in the orphanage where the workers may not have been as equipped to teach an older child.

He gets additional help from Claudia who is fluent in Spanish. She said most English-speaking moms couldnÕt tell an adoptive son from Guatemala "no" in as many descriptive ways as she can.

The airport and a formal church service are new to Yimy. Even the concept of property is different to someone whose world was so small for most of his life.

Claudia said, "In Central America, houses and yards are gated in, so he doesn't understand the invisible line between yards."

For now, Yimy is full of smiles and shows off that he knows how to say "thank you" and "you're welcome." And he uses the word "beautiful" a lot. That should be enough to get by on for a while.

By Lori Ehde
Rock County has launched its own internal investigation of bribery allegations against Rock County feedlot officer John Burgers.

Burgers, 48, of Hills, was indicted by a federal grand jury Thursday, Sept. 20, on charges that he accepted money from the Pipestone hog operation Global Ventures Inc. to overlook mismanagement of potentially hazardous waste.

Burgers was placed on paid administrative leave Friday pending an investigation of allegations contained in the indictment.

According to County Administrator Kyle Oldre, the internal investigation is necessary to determine if there were any violations of local personnel policy.

Oldre said Worthington Attorney Gordon Moore will serve as independent counsel to ensure an impartial investigation, since Burgers worked so closely with Oldre and County Attorney Don Klosterbuer.

Moore officially received the appointment this week and said his role in the investigation won't be active until he has a chance to see what work is appropriate.

"The federal investigation is ongoing and we're going to be very respectful of that and not get in the way or step on any toes," he said Wednesday.

"We have independent jurisdiction and independent authority, but one of the reasons we're taking a wait-and-see approach is we don't want to re-invent the wheel if it's not necessary."

Violations at the county level would be filed as a civil suit. If state criminal charges are filed, Moore would be in charge of that as well.

Indictment also charges Global Ventures Inc.
Global Ventures is also charged with two counts of offering a bribe to an agent of an organization receiving federal funds.

Allegations in the indictment date back to 1996 when Burgers learned of a potentially hazardous chemical spill being dumped at the Global Ventures hog facility.

Instead of notifying the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, Burgers advised a Global Ventures senior officer to take care of the problem.

Three months later, according to the indictment, Burgers approached the same senior officer at Global Ventures and said he was in deep financial trouble.

The Global Ventures officer then allegedly arranged for Burgers to meet with a senior officer at First National Bank and Trust in Pipestone.

Over the next year and a half, the bank officer arranged for more than $100,000 in new or consolidated loans for Burgers, even though he had been turned down for a loan at the bank's Luverne branch office.

The indictment also alleges that when Burgers needed to repay one of the loans, the Global Ventures officer arranged for a series of meetings between Burgers and the former senior bank officer, who had since begun working for Global Ventures.

At these meetings, the former bank officer allegedly provided Burgers with a total of $6,000 cash to pay down his loan.

The grand jury further alleged that between March 1996 and April 1999, Burgers repeatedly provided preferential treatment to Global Ventures.

The Sept. 20 indictment includes mail fraud charges against both Burgers and Global Ventures involving a deprivation of honest services.

Burgers declined to comment, and Global Ventures officials issued a statement Sept. 20 saying they were "shocked" to learn of the charges and they "vehemently deny" any wrongdoing.

"Global Ventures is confident that it will be totally vindicated of any charges," they wrote in their statement.

If convicted, Burgers faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine for soliciting a bribe and up to five years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine for mail fraud.

Global Ventures faces a maximum penalty of up to $500,000 per count.

The case is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. FBI agents and other authorities have reportedly been investigating financial arrangements and the hog industry in the Pipestone area for several years.

Anyone with information concerning the possible solicitation or receipt of bribes or kickbacks in Rock or Pipestone counties can call FBI Special Agent Michael Dudley, (507) 387-2460.

U.S. Attorney Hank Shea is prosecuting the case.

Burgers and Global Ventures will make their first appearance in federal court in St. Paul Oct. 5.

Long considered shining star
John Burgers has long been a shining star among Rock County employees, known for his enthusiasm and dedication to his job.

He started working for Rock County's Soil and Water Conservation District in 1992, and in 1994 earned state recognition for bringing local feedlot operations into compliance.

The Minnesota County Achievement Award recognized Rock County's inter-agency feedlot program as an innovation that "improved the quality of life for people in Minnesota."

At the time, livestock producers were fearful of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, which was enforcing new feedlot management guidelines.

They feared MPCA fines, but many were unable to afford the necessary construction to bring their feedlots into compliance.

Serving as a liaison between producers and the state, Burgers sought funding support and provided technical know-how to get the work done.

In addition, he established a feedlot ordinance for new construction or expansion of existing operations that became a template for counties statewide that were also balancing agribusiness and environmental concerns.

In 1995, Burgers' feedlot work earned him further state recognition as the "Outstanding Soil and Water Conservation District Employee."

In addition to his successful feedlot management program, the award recognized him for implementing a county water plan, managing water quality improvements and stabilizing funding for soil and water conservation.

Many of his co-workers nominated him for that award. "John has worked many hours outside the normal duty hour to assist producers," FSA director Roger Carson wrote.

Extension Educator Fraser Norton wrote, "John is one of those truly gifted individuals with tremendous 'people skills.' His achievements in Rock County will forever bear testimony to his unwavering will to serve."

By 1996 Burgers was named director of Rock County's newly established Land Management Office. By that time his can-do reputation was known both locally and statewide.

"Our impression of John's work has always been favorable. He was always very good to work with," said Mark Jacobs of the MPCA office in Marshall.

"He was supportive of the program and its rules and statutes. I enjoyed working with him."

Burgers bridged the gap between livestock producers and MPCA officials.

"John is regarded as one of the top people in his field," said Luverne farmer Tom Arends, who describes himself as a "John Burgers fan."

"You can call anyone in the county and they'll tell you the same thing. He has more common sense than anyone I've ever met in that industry. That's what John shined in," Arends said Monday, following the news of the indictments.

"There's a lot of times people get disgusted to put in a lot of money on pollution control. He had a way of handling that that was second to none."

Arends compared the news of Burgers' indictments to the news of the East Coast terrorist attacks.

"These are the things that hurt you deeply," he said. "This was John's life. He did a good job."

By Sara Quam
Netbriefings is working on completing financials for its move to Luverne.

Although the equity raising is taking longer than company CEO Gary Anderson expected, he still thinks it will be done. "We'll get it done; that's just the kind of guy I am."

Netbriefings is an Internet Webcasting services company that announced in June it intended to expand in Luverne. The expansion will be in the form of a new customer and product service center.

"We haven't hired anybody, but we've interviewed people - some very quality people from Luverne," Anderson said. "I'm excited about the people."

Of the $250,000 equity that's a part of the agreement with Luverne, Anderson said between $170,000 and $200,000 is secured.

"I want to get this thing closed, but the tech markets aren't helping us any. The markets are slow, but we're picking up a number of checks every week," Anderson said.

Other things are happening for Netbriefings. The number of hits at the company's Web site has increased almost 10 times since the disasters at the World Trade Center buildings and the Pentagon earlier this month.

Businesses may not feel as comfortable flying huge numbers of employees to conferences and are looking into Netbriefings' services instead.

Anderson has received requests for demonstrations and company literature and has taken requests for bids off the Web site.

Netbriefings has some clients that Rock County may recognize. Embers America uses the company to archive versions of events for franchise employees to use for communications or training. In the city of St. Paul, Mayor Norm Coleman used Netbriefings' products and services to deliver the annual State of the City Address.

Office needs
Office space has been in short supply in Luverne. Netbriefings hasn't signed a lease yet but intends to use space behind the Brandenburg Gallery.

Randy Creeger is the owner of that building and was approved for a low-interest loan from the city of Luverne to redevelop the space into a usable office.

Any property owner within commercial districts can apply for the same loan that is a new Economic Development Authority program.

The loan is approved by the EDA and a local bank at 5 percent interest. The maximum allowable loan amount is $20,000.

By Lori Ehde
The 51st Annual Tri-State Band Festival will be staged in Luverne this weekend, and a group of local volunteers is set on painting the event red, white and blue.

In light of the Sept. 20 terrorist attack on America, Luverne VFW Commander Randy Jensen thought it would be a good idea to give the American flag a lead role this weekend.

The Luverne American Legion and the VFW in Luverne and Hardwick have arranged for more than 2,000 miniature flags to be distributed to parade watchers Saturday.

He envisions both sides of Main Street to be a blur of waving stars and stripes. "It's a super great way to show our patriotism," he said.

Most companies that make the traditional miniature cloth American flags were out of stock because of the national move to fly Old Glory in the face of terrorism.

So Jensen had Tollefson Publishing print the flags, and he ordered the sticks separately.

Then he called on residents of the Mary Jane Brown and Minnesota Veterans nursing homes to assemble the flags. They along with workers at the Rock County Developmental Achievement Center and boys at Pinnacle Programs Inc., Magnolia, had the job done by Tuesday.

Boy Scouts, Cub Scouts and Pinnacle boys will distribute the flags to crowds on Main Street starting at 9:30 a.m.

Representatives from the three veterans groups and their auxiliaries and local National Guardsmen will march in mass colors to lead off the 10 a.m. parade.

More than 2,500 students make up the 22 bands that will participate in Saturday's Tri-State Band Festival.

The bands come from Minnesota, South Dakota, and Iowa and will join thousands of people visiting Luverne to take part in the longest running festival of its kind in the Midwest.

The 10 a.m. parade will be followed by the field competition at 1 p.m. at the Luverne High School athletic field.

Entrance to all field events will require the purchase of a Tri-State Band Festival button, which will be available at the gate as well as on Main Street prior to the parade.

American Red Cross volunteers will accept donations for the Relief Fund for America at the gate to field competition.

The guest band for this year's event is the University of South Dakota Marching Band from Vermillion, S.D. They will perform at both the parade and field events.

Firefighters quickly contained flames Tuesday from a fire east of Magnolia, just across the Nobles County line. The building was a loss for Mary Carter and Dave Darger, who live on the property. The storage garage was near the home and another building but didn't affect them, although plastic containers nearby melted. Magnolia, Adrian and Luverne fire departments responded.

Another fire last weekend claimed the property of rural Magnolia residents. The Alan Kramer home was reported on fire at 1:28 a.m. Sunday, and the fire departments called it a loss by 2:35 a.m. Fire departments from Magnolia, Luverne, Hardwick and Kenneth worked on the house that was fully engulfed in flames when they arrived on the scene.

Photo by Sara Quam

The prairie restoration project northwest of Luverne was officially christened "Touch the Sky Prairie" at a dedication celebration Saturday night. "It was one of the most memorable and meaningful events of my life," said nature photographer Jim Brandenburg, a Luverne native. The first of the prairie seed was planted and the well-attended ceremony included a grass dance, a bonfire and guitar music and singing by Luverne native Bill Keitel. A group of Dakota medicine men passed pipes to everyone in the crowd, a gesture that is strictly unheard of in the Indian nation, according to Chamber Director Dave Smith. "It was really neat they felt that strongly about the prairie project that they would allow non-Indians to participate," said Smith.

The project is the first of its kind in the nation, as the result of cooperation between the Brandenburg Prairie Foundation and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The 300- to 400-acre tract in Mound Township will return to its original tall grass prairie. The piece of land is one that Brandenburg said he had his eye on for a while because of the rocks rubbed smooth by roaming bison and because the land has never been tilled.

Photo by Cloyce Smith

Carmen Winge, 56, Marshall, formerly of Luverne, died Saturday, Sept. 1, 2001, at Weiner Memorial Medical Center in Marshall.

Services were Wednesday, Sept. 5, at Christ United Presbyterian Church in Marshall. Burial was in Marshall Cemetery.

Carmen Rochelle Johnson was born to Marlis and Bernadene (Mienders) Johnson on May 20, 1945. She was baptized and confirmed at First Presbyterian Church in Rushmore. She graduated from Adrian High School in 1963 and then went on to Mankato School of Beauty Culture, Mankato, and graduated in 1964.

She married Lyman A. Winge on Nov. 20, 1965. After seven years in Luverne and the Pipestone areas, they moved to Marshall. She worked as a hairdresser at the Twins Beauty Shop for more than 27 years. She retired in 2001 because of health reasons.

Mrs. Winge was a member of Christ United Presbyterian Church in Marshall.

Survivors include her husband, Lyman, Marshall; two sons and one daughter-in-law, Trent and Nicole Winge, Columbia, S.C., and Dane Winge, Marshall; four grandchildren, Jasmyne, Baltimore, Md., Loren and KaLee, Columbia, and Logan, Marshall; her mother, Bernadene Johnson, Rushmore; four siblings, Janice (Hans) Remmers, Dundee, Gordon (Bonnie) Johnson, West Bend, Wis., Randale (Carol) Johnson, Rushmore, and Marcia (Ronald) Mauch, Adrian; and many other relatives and friends.

Mrs. Winge was preceded in death by her grandparents, her father, and one brother.

Hamilton-Birk Funeral Home, Marshall, was in charge of arrangements.

Donald Kuhlman, 72, Hardwick, died Thursday, Sept. 20 at his home. Services will be Monday, Sept. 24 at 10:30 a.m. at Trinity Lutheran Church, Jasper, with REv. Peter Sestak officiating. Burial will be in Luverne Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be Sunday, Sept. 23 from 4 to 8 p.m.at Foster-Hartquist Funeral Chapel, Jasper.

Lucille Smith, 86, Luverne, formerly of Hills, died Tuesday, Sept. 18 at Mary Jane Brown Home. Services will be Saturday, Sept. 22 at 10 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church, Beaver Creek. Burial will be at Maplewood Cemetery. Visitation will be Friday, Sept. 21 form 2 to 8 p.m. with the family present form 6 to 8 p.m. at Engebretson Funeral Home, Luverne.