By Sara Quam
If clearing a sidewalk or driveway after a snowstorm seems daunting, try clearing an entire city and 300 miles of rural roads.

That's what the city of Luverne and the County Highway Department faced after a weekend of heavy snowfall. The city and county both used at least 15 hours of worker time Saturday and Sunday in their efforts to clear roads.

County Engineer Mark Sehr said, "You have to balance between machine time and salaries and clearing the roads."

"We've spent a lot of money on sand and salt," Darrell Huiskes, Luverne public works director said.

So far, Luverne has gone through 225 tons of salt - spending about $12,000 - and is waiting for 75 more tons. "It's from the state, and we've been waiting because everyone needs it now," Huiskes said.

When the city gets the salt, it mixes it with four parts sand before putting it on roadways. Luverne now has about 25 tons of salt left to tide the city over until that shipment arrives. In all of last year, the city went through just 80 tons of salt.

County maintenance supervisor Walter Stearns said Saturday, Sunday and Monday took up almost 30 tons of the salt and sand mixture. "This is starting to compare to the winter of 1996-97," he said.

When city streets look clear, it doesn't mean the job is done. Huiskes said, "It'll take us about five days to finish after we've started."

The county isn't quite done either. Stearns expects all roads to be open to two-lane traffic by Friday. Most blacktop roads were cleared Tuesday, but others had to wait.

The city has exhausted space on the west side of the dam where it piles snow. It's now started hauling snow north of the river, near the power plant.

Luverne has to clear all city parking lots including Blue Mound Liquor, the library and the airport so crews are busy long after streets appear finished.

Clearing snow after last weekend's storm was difficult. The snow was a heavy, wet variety and slow-moving to push aside.

The city faces additional problems with vehicles parked on the street.

It used to interrupt television broadcasts to announce snow emergencies, but federal regulations have stopped that.

The local radio station can't broadcast the announcement because its nighttime programming is syndicated. To help the city, residents should avoid street parking when it snows because it's likely the city will be plowing.

The county also asks for patience. Townships and outlying cities are responsible for their own snow removal, but Stearns said clearing the 300 miles heÕs responsible for isn't easy.

By Lori Ehde
The past few mild winters are mere memories by now as area residents dig out from yet another storm system that moved through region over the weekend.

The storm, which meteorologists had predicted a week in advance, made its first appearance in Rock County Friday late afternoon.

By nightfall, snow accumulations totaled only an inch, and Saturday dawned quiet but gray.

With sure predictions of more to come, area residents planned evening events "weather permitting."

By about 4 p.m. Saturday, those predictions started coming true in the form of pouring rain, which eventually turned to snow.

When the winds came up around 7 p.m., flakes fell horizontally, causing near-zero visibility for motorists.

Saturday's accumulations came to about 3 inches.

Interstate 90 was closed that evening first from Mitchell to Chamberlain, S.D., and as the storm system moved eastward, all lanes were closed all the way to Blue Earth. In addition, all state and county highways in southwest Minnesota were also declared closed.

Sunday church services were cancelled, and area residents and highway workers spent most of the day digging out.

The sun shone brightly most of the day on Sunday, and when the winds died down, the Interstate opened after stranded vehicles were removed from ditches and shoulders.

Many area residents went to bed Sunday night thinking their hard shoveling efforts would allow them clear passage to work the next day, but, as if to add icing on the cake, Mother Nature delivered another healthy inch of fresh snow during the night.

For rural ditches that are already piled high with snow, it doesn't take much for remote township roads to plug, and area schools were forced to start two hours late Monday morning.

The weekend's storm brings the total snowfall this year in Rock County to more than 50 inches - about three times what the area receives in a normal winter.

Forecasters topped off their weekend reports with the happy news that spring is only a few weeks away. But they also warned that March is typically the snowiest month of the season.

Luverne's Dale Maranell heaves a shovelful of snow on top of an already monstrous snow bank Monday afternoon. "Where am I going to put it anymore?" he wondered out loud. The snow piles near his home at Dodge Street and Highway 75 are like many around town that are reducing visibility for motorists attempting to enter busy intersections.

Photo by Lori Ehde

By Sara Quam
Megan McClure likes pop. She likes the way it tastes and she likes the caffeine.

"It just gets you going for the day.... I need my caffeine," she said.

McClure, 14, is just one of the hundreds of Luverne students who purchase soda from vending machines on campus. If she didn't get it at school, she said, she'd buy her pop elsewhere.

The Minnesota Dental Association and some state legislators want to stop students from excessive soft drink consumption by ending sales on school grounds during school hours.

The Senate bill was introduced a week ago, meeting opposition from the soft-drink lobby and from the Minnesota School Boards Association, which said many schools need the revenue for student organizations and activities.

McClure said she averages four pops a day, and if students like her have to buy those outside of school, it would mean a loss for the school budget.

Soda sales generated about $8,000 for Luverne schools last year, impacting the student activities budget. The funds are collected in the Student Council budget and funneled to other school groups. Yearbook costs, for example, are kept down thanks to money from the pop machines.

While pop may help the schools' budgets, it doesn't help the students' teeth.

Luverne dentist Bob Kaczrowski said he's seen the effects of soft drink consumption firsthand. Over the past few years, he said, the rate of cavities due to pop drinking has increased. The phenomenon isn't just for teens - many adults who sip pop throughout the day are noticing increased cavities.

"Sugar pops are worse, but diet are bad, too," Kaczrowski said.

"Those screw-on bottle tops make it worse because people carry them around all day and prolong the exposure to their teeth."

Kaczrowski said natural sugars found in fruit juices aren't as bad for teeth as processed sugars found in most beverages in vending machines.

Once soft drink sugars and acids combine in the mouth, the damage starts. Simply rinsing or drinking water doesn't stop the nasty combination from working overtime either. Kaczrowski said brushing and flossing is the only sure way to remove the harmful substances from mouths.

A culture of caffeine and availability of sodas may be at the root of over-consumption. Luverne's school grounds have four pop and one juice machines (counting one pop in teachers' lounge) and are open throughout the day.

Kaczrowski said he sees the cavity rates increase by the middle school years and theorizes that those students have more breaks that allow them time to drink.

But that doesn’t mean younger children aren't starting to form pop-drinking habits. The Minnesota Dental Association says that one-fifth of all 1- and 2-year-old children drink pop.

Other factors in soft-drink habits come from the drink industry itself, which says it’s being unfairly singled out in the fight against cavities. Bottles of pop in the 1950s and '60s were 6.5 ounces, compared to today's commonly drunk 20-ounce bottle.

Another concern is that by drinking pop, it often means children aren't drinking milk, water or other healthy beverages.

More than just teeth
A recent study says that an extra soft drink a day gives a child a 60-percent more chance of becoming obese.

The study, published in The Lancet medical journal, says that the increased obesity rates of children in the study are independent of their food and exercise.

Basically, the extra calories in soft drinks aren't being compensated for by cutbacks in other parts of the diet. It wouldn't be out of line to estimate that soft drinks can supply an extra 15 to 20 teaspoons of sugar a day.

In the United States, obesity among children has increased by 100 percent between 1980 and 1994, although some experts disagree on what defines obesity. One estimate is that 24 percent of American children are obese.
Obesity in childhood has been connected to diabetes, heart disease, cancer and arthritis.

Sugar and acid combine for double trouble
Acid (low=bad) Sugar
Water 7.0 (neutral) 0
Barq’s 4.61 10.7tsp
Diet Barq’s 4.55 0
Diet 7UP 3.67 0
Sprite 3.67 0
Diet Coke 3.39 0
Diet Mt.Dew 3.34 0
Grape Min. Maid 3.29 11.9 tsp
Mt. Dew 3.22 11 tsp
Fresca 3.2 0
Orange Slice 3.12 11.9 tsp
Diet Pepsi 3.05 0
Nestea 3.04 5 tsp
Surge 3.02 10 tsp
Gatorade 2.95 3.3 tsp
Dr. Pepper 2.92 9.5 tsp
Squirt 2.82 9.5 tsp
Hawaiian Punch 2.82 10.2 tsp
Orange Min.Maid 2.8 11.2 tsp
Coke 2.53 9.3 tsp
Pepsi 2.49 9.8 tsp
Battery acid 1 0

How cavities are formed
oSugar in pop combines with bacteria in the mouth to form acid.
oDiet or "sugar free" pop contains its own acid.
oAcid attacks teeth. Each acid attack lasts about 20 minutes.
oThe acid attack starts over again with every sip.
oOngoing acid attacks weaken your tooth enamel.
oBacteria in the mouth cause cavities when tooth enamel is damaged.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek girls capped a hectic five-day span by besting Edgerton 40-26 in a basketball game played in Hills Friday.

Playing their fourth game in five days, H-BC used the scoring of Erin Boeve and solid play on defense to secure third place in the Tri-County Conference with their 14-point win over the Flying Dutchmen.

Boeve, who had five rebounds and three blocked shots for H-BC, came up big for the Patriots in what proved to be a decisive fourth quarter.

The Patriots turned a five-point advantage heading into the period into a 14-point win by outscoring Edgerton 11-2. Boeve scored six of her team-high 18 points in the stanza.

H-BC led 10-4 after eight minutes of play before settling for five-point leads (21-16 and 29-24) at the next two quarter breaks.

The Patriots forced Edgerton to turn the ball over 28 times in the game, and Becky Broesder and LaDonna Sandstede led the way with three steals each. Broesder and Jody DeNoble had five rebounds each. Shanna Tilstra contributed four assists to the cause.

H-BC 40, Edgerton 26
The Patriots finished Tri-County Conference play with a 5-3 record after beating the Flying Dutchmen by 14 points in Hills Friday.

The game was close through three quarters before a strong defensive effort in the fourth quarter allowed the Patriots to pull away in the end.

H-BC took a 29-24 advantage into the final eight minutes of play, when it limited Edgerton to two points while scoring 11.

The scores stood at 10-4 and 21-16 at the first two quarter breaks.

"This was a very good finish to a long week for us," said Patriot coach Goehle. "We finished the week with a 3-1 record. We continue to get better as a team, which is what you are looking for at this time of year."

Erin Boeve, who scored six points in the second and fourth quarters, led the Patriots with 18 counters. She also had five rebounds and three blocked shots. Becky Broesder had five rebounds and three steals. Jody DeNoble added five rebounds, Shanna Tilstra four assists and LaDonna Sandstede three steals.

Box score
C.Tilstra 0 0 0-0 0, Olson 0 0 0-0 0, Sandstede 0 1 0-2 3, Rentschler 0 0 0-0 0, S.Tilstra 1 0 0-0 2, Broesder 2 0 2-4 6, DeNoble 4 0 1-2 9, Boeve 7 0 4-6 18, DeHaan 1 0 0-0 2, Arp 0 0 0-0 0.

Team statistics
H-BC: 16 of 40 field goals (40 percent), seven of 14 free throws (50 percent), 26 rebounds, 16 turnovers.
Edgerton: 11 of 39 field goals (28 percent), four of six free throws (67 percent), 23 rebounds, 28 turnovers.

By John Rittenhouse
A big game by Patriot Erin Boeve wasn't enough to keep the Hills-Beaver Creek girls' basketball team from ending the regular season on a sour note Tuesday in Worthington.

H-BC took on a strong and deep Trojan team and came up on the short end of a 67-33 tally.

Boeve played a solid game by scoring 18 points, collecting 13 rebounds and blocking two shots, but this game belonged to Worthington.

The loss capped a 10-12 regular season for the Patriots, who will open the South Section 3A Tournament by hosting Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster at 7:30 p.m. tonight.

Worthington, a Class 3A team, used its strength and depth to best the Patriots by 34 points. Playing a relentless, physical style of game, the Trojans were able to outscore H-BC in every quarter.

"They were too physical for us," said Patriot coach Tom Goehle. "The style of game they let go on over there was just too physical for us. It took us out of our game."

The Patriots remained in contact with the Trojans when they faced 23-13 and 35-23 deficits at the first two quarter breaks, but Worthington outscored H-BC 32-10 in the second half to win handily.

The Trojans opened a 21-point lead (46-25) by the end of the third quarter before outscoring H-BC 21-8 in the final stanza.

Becky Broesder recorded four assists for H-BC.

Box score
C.Tilstra 0 0 0-0 0, Olson 2 0 0-0 4, Sandstede 0 1 0-0 3, Rentschler 0 0 0-0 0, S.Tilstra 1 0 0-0 2, Broesder 2 0 2-2 6, Rozeboom 0 0 0-0 0, DeNoble 0 0 0-0 0, Boeve 7 0 4-6 18, DeHaan 0 0 0-0 0, Arp 0 0 0-0 0.

Team statistics
H-BC: 13 of 48 field goals (27 percent), six of nine free throws (67 percent), 29 rebounds, 19 turnovers.
Worthington: 27 of 63 field goals (43 percent), nine of 12 free throws (75 percent), 46 rebounds, 14 turnovers.

By John Rittenhouse
A dominating performance on the boards led the Hills-Beaver Creek boys' basketball team to a 63-56 win in Adrian Friday.

Outrebounding the Dragons 40-16, H-BC was able to take the lead early and fought off a late charge by AHS to win by seven.

The H-BC win avenges a loss to the Dragons in Hills back in January, when Adrian turned in an impressive offensive performance during a 61-54 win.

"We rebounded really well and kept them off the boards," said Patriot coach Steve Wiertzema. "When we played them in Hills, they shot 61 percent from the field. If they were going to shoot like that, we wanted to limit them to one shot. We did a nice job of that and playing defense."

H-BC sported a 13-10 lead before going on a 12-0 run capped by a field goal by Chris Fransman with 28 seconds left in the first period to open a 25-10 lead. The quarter ended with the Patriots sporting a 25-13 lead.

The Patriots scored the first six points of the second quarter and led by as many as 19 points (36-17) as the period progressed, but Adrian countered with an 11-0 run to trim the difference to eight points (36-28) late in the stanza before facing a 37-28 deficit at halftime.

H-BC led by as many as 12 points (40-28) and as few as seven counters (47-40) during the fourth quarter before settling for a nine-point cushion (49-40) at periodÕs end.

After opening an 11-point cushion early in the fourth quarter, H-BC watched the Dragons pull to within three points (59-56) when Travis Rupp hit a field goal with 47 seconds remaining. H-BC, however, made a field goal and two free throws by Lance Crawford in the final 40 seconds to put the game away.

Crawford, who had nine rebounds and five assists, scored eight of his 14 points in the fourth quarter. Matt Buck, who had seven rebounds and six assists for H-BC, netted 10 of his 14 points in the first quarter. David Top led the winners with 17 points. Lyle DeBoer recorded seven rebounds and five assists, while Darin DeBoer contributed seven rebounds.

Adrian's Bryce Block led all scorers with 21 points. Brad Lonneman scored 11 points and collected 11 rebounds before leaving the game with a sprained ankle in the fourth quarter. Mark Kroon registered 11 points and nine assists for an AHS team that had no answer to H-BCÕs rebounding push.

"We were not aggressive on the boards," said Dragon coach Chris Rozell. "We were outrebounded by 24, When that happens, you are in trouble. This was our fourth game of the week, so we were down energy-wise."

Box score
H-BC
D.DeBoer 2 1 2-2 9, Fransman 1 0 0-0 2, Haak 1 0 2-3 4, L.DeBoer 1 0 0-0 2, Van Wyhe 0 0 1-2 1, Top 5 1 4-6 17, Crawford 6 0 2-2 14, Buck 6 0 2-6 14.
Adrian
Hohn 1 0 1-3 3, Kroon 4 1 0-0 11, Baartman 0 2 0-0 6, Block 2 5 2-2 21, Lonneman 3 1 2-6 11, Rupp 2 0 0-0 4.

Team statistics
H-BC: 24 of 58 field goals (41 percent), 13 of 21 free throws (62 percent), 40 rebounds, 17 turnovers.
Adrian: 21 of 56 field goals (38 percent), five of 11 free throws (45 percent), 16 rebounds, 11 turnovers.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek girls avenged an early-season loss to Ellsworth by nipping the Panthers 48-45 in a Tri-County Conference game played in Hills Thursday.

A solid third quarter gave the Patriots an 11-point lead heading into the final eight minutes of play when they fought off a late challenge by Ellsworth to secure a three-point win.

"This was a good win for us," said Patriot coach Tom Goehle. "We were able to get a big lead in the third quarter by pressing them and creating some turnovers. We had to hang on a little bit in the end, but we managed."

H-BC, which led 10-7 and 20-19 at the first two quarter stops, went on an 18-10 run fueled by Erin Boeve in the third quarter to open a 38-29 lead.

Boeve, who led the Patriots with 18 points and nine rebounds, erupted for 13 counters in the third quarter.

Ellsworth battled back well in the fourth quarter and trailed 46-44 with 12 seconds remaining. Panther Jenna Groen went to the line with an opportunity to knot the score at that point, but she made one of two charity shots to make it a 46-45 game. Patriot Becky Broesder was fouled with two seconds left and drained a pair of free throws to cap the scoring.

According to Ellsworth coach Dean Schnaible, a defensive change he made in the third quarter opened the door for H-BC's run.

"We trailed 20-19 after playing a zone in the first half. I decided to go to a man-to-man defense in the third quarter thinking that it would help us to pick up the tempo, but it backfired on us. I was responsible for the loss," he said.

Holly Timmer had 13 points and nine rebounds for Ellsworth, while Connie Lewis added 13 points and eight rebounds. Groen netted 10 points and collected seven rebounds, while Janelle Jenniges charted seven rebounds.

Box score
Ellsworth
Deutsch 1 0 0-0 2, Boltjes 1 0 0-0 2, J.Jenniges 1 0 3-4 5, D.Jenniges 0 0 0-0 0, Lewis 4 0 5-10 13, Ja.Leuthold 0 0 0-0 0, Groen 2 1 3-4 10, Timmer 2 0 9-12 13.
H-BC
C.Tilstra 1 0 0-0 2, Olson 1 0 0-1 2, Sandstede 1 1 1-2 6, Rentschler 0 0 0-0 0, S.Tilstra 1 1 0-2 5, Broesder 2 0 2-3 6, DeNoble 1 0 3-6 5, Boeve 7 0 4-6 18, DeHaan 1 0 0-0 2, Arp 1 0 0-0 2.

Team statistics
Ellsworth: 12 of 36 field goals (33 percent), 20 of 30 free throws (67 percent), 31 rebounds, 16 turnovers.
H-BC: 18 of 45 field goals (40 percent), 10 of 20 free throws (50 percent), 25 rebounds, 10 turnovers.

By Sara Quam
Nancy Sandager finds herself comfortable at her new job as 4-H Extension Educator. She's settled into her surroundings for about a month at the part-time job. Her responsibilities include organizing the county's eight community clubs and being a liaison between state and local entities.

Before this, Sandager, who has a business degree, worked in both Luverne and Hills-Beaver Creek school systems. "I've got the business background for the organizational aspects, and I've worked with kids for the past few years, so I'm covered."

Sandager said her biggest challenge and the highlight of her job will be the Rock County Fair in August. "So many families are helpful. 4-H is a great youth development organization, and there's something for everybody, not just the farm kids," she said. Sandager lives in rural Hills with her husband, Mike, and their three children.