After dropping two straight matches and not posting a win since the Cardinal Tournament Sept. 9, LHS needed a successful outing and got it by sweeping the Rebels in a three-game match.

"I felt we beat them like we should have," said Cardinal coach Mary Jo Graphenteen. "We needed a win like this. When it looked like they might go on a run, we came up with the big hit or big save and took over from there."

Serving woes kept the Cards from putting together long runs themselves, but they did have their way with LH in Game 1 by strolling to a 15-1 win.

Games 2 and 3 were tighter with Luverne prevailing by 15-11 and 15-12 counts.

The match had its good and bad points for LHS.

"Our hitting overall was much better in this match. We were able to put the ball on the floor. We missed 13 serves in three games, so we're still missing way too many serves," Graphenteen said.

Tracey Scheidt, who was 10 of 12 serving, tied Missy Boomgaarden for the team lead in kills with nine. Susan Remme, who was 12 of 15 serving, added eight kills.

Nicole Aaker was nine of nine at the line, and Brooke Lundgren, who was 11 of 12 serving, paced the Cards with 10 set assists.

Graphenteen said Emmy Bush and Monica Christensen did a good job of filling in for the injured Emily Kuhlman in the middle hitter position. Amy Nunez and Abbey Franken were praised for solid play, as were setters Erin Lammert and Melissa Kopp.

The 7-6-1 Cards play in Worthington tonight before taking on Red Rock Central in Jeffers Tuesday.

The Luverne volleyball team played its way to a much-needed home victory over Lincoln HI Tuesday.

The Cardinals completed a 2-2 Southwest Conference campaign by nipping Pipestone-Jasper by one point Thursday. LHS extended its season-long winning streak to five straight victories with a seven-point non-conference win over Marshall Monday.

Luverne, 9-4 overall, plays at the SWC Tournament in Redwood Falls today.

Luverne 7, Marshall 0

The Cards avenged a Sept. 9 loss to the Tigers by sweeping Marshall in Luverne Monday.

Luverne won six of the seven matches in straight sets against a Tiger team that gave LHS its last loss before the current winning streak.

All of Luverne's singles victories came in straight sets.

Amanda Aning rolled to 6-2 and 6-4 wins at No. 1, Becky Antoine notched 7-6 and 6-1 wins against Kari Markell at No. 2, Rachel Tofteland handed Melanie Clark a pair of 6-2 setbacks at No. 3, and Chelsea Cronin posted 6-3 and 6-4 victories over Heather Buesing at No. 4.

Luverne's Allana and Ashley Gacke gained 6-1 and 6-4 wins against Jennifer Andres and Jessica Henkelman at No. 1 doubles, and Cardinals Sarah Lange and Jenny Braa were 6-4, 6-2 victors over Candice Grams and Lacy Scholten at No. 3.

After falling 6-0 in the first set to Missy Stassen and Ellie Ahmann in the No. 2 doubles test, Luverne's Patricia Willers and Gabe Van Dyk rallied to post 6-0 and 6-3 wins in the final two sets to win the match.

Luverne 4, P-J 3

The Cardinals capped a .500 SWC campaign by nipping the Arrows by one point in a match played in Luverne Thursday.

LHS and P-J split the four singles matches during the tilt, but the Cards went 2-1 in doubles to win the match and even their league mark at 2-2.

Luverne's No. 2 doubles team of Gabe Van Dyk and Patricia Willers prevailed 6-3, 3-6, 6-4 over Steph and Stacy Plahn, and Sarah Lange and Jenny Braa posted 6-4 and 6-2 victories over Tory Hess and Vicki Van Vliet at No. 3.

P-J's Shelly Ludolph and Shana Haraldson took the No. 1 doubles match from Allana and Ashley Gacke by 6-4 and 7-6 counts.

Amanda Aning and Chelsea Cronin picked up wins at No. 1 and No. 4 singles for LHS.

Aning handed Cassandra Van Vliet a pair of 7-5 setbacks. Cronin dropped a 6-4 set to Mindy Cunningham before recording 6-2 and 6-1 wins to steal the victory.

P-J's Kelly Cunningham was a 3-6, 7-6, 6-2 winner against Becky Antoine at No. 2 singles. Arrow Shawna Baustian downed Rachel Tofteland by 7-6 and 6-1 tallies at No. 3.

Cards extend streak to five straight

By John Rittenhouse

A hot Luverne High School tennis team continued its outstanding play by recording a pair of home wins.

By Sara Quam

Robert Meester will no longer occupy the office of county assessor as the Rock County Board voted Monday not to reappoint him.

In a special board meeting, commissioners met in closed executive session for about an hour before taking the unanimous vote. They also met last Tuesday before the regular County Board meeting.

Meester declined to comment except for saying that he was "shocked" to learn of the board's decision after his 17 years of service. His term expires Dec. 31, but Meester has taken an administrative leave until then.

"I don't think any of the board members slept this weekend," County Administrator Kyle Oldre said. "In seven years of working with the board, I can't think of any decision they've had to make that measures up to the difficulty of this one."

Because the assessor is appointed in four-year terms, the County Board can terminate employment by simply not renewing the contract.

The county has received complaints about Meester from other counties, Rock County staff and the public. No single incident but rather a build-up of problems reportedly prompted the board's decision.

Specific reasons for non-renewal are not necessarily public when the county opts to not renew a contract.

In most cases, department heads work under the county administrator or are elected by the public. Only two department heads require a board vote to terminate employment - the assessor and county engineer - so the board's vote on this personnel issue is unique.

Through his job, Luverne Realtor Gene Cragoe talked to Meester at least two or three times a week. Cragoe said he found Meester to be consistently informative and helpful so he was surprised the county is no longer employing him.

Cragoe also acknowledged that he's heard of others having difficulty with Meester, but he just hasn't had those experiences himself.

The county will immediately begin the process of appointing another assessor, but the position has been historically difficult to fill - locally and statewide.

Nobles County has indicated a willingness to assist Rock County in the meantime. Pipestone County, ironically, is also without a county assessor after a recent retirement in that office.

A recount was needed in the Second Congressional District because the Independence Party votes for Gerald W. Brekke and Stan Bentz were totaled at 288 and 265. In a state primary where the difference between votes for the candidates is less than 100, a recount is mandatory.

Counties in Minnesota's District 2 (currently represented by David Minge) are Meeker, Big Stone, Cottonwood, Renville, Scott, Pipestone, Nobles, Wright, Kandiyohi, Watonwan, Yellow Medicine, McLeod, Lincoln, Martin, Stearns, Brown, Lac qui Parle, Redwood, Lyon, Le Sueur, Jackson, Sibley, Swift, Chippewa, Murray, Carver, Nicollet and Rock.

Rock County's totals didn't change after the recount.

Bert Black and a team of other election officials came to Rock County Sept. 22 to conduct one of the only state ballot recounts the county has seen.

By Lori Ehde

Area law enforcement agencies are getting a handle on a two-month spree of local thefts and burglaries involving Sioux Falls and Rock County suspects.

Last week a stereo stolen in Garretson, S.D., turned up in Rock County and led officers to a ring of Sioux Falls juveniles with extensive criminal records.

Those four boys, ages 14 to 17, admitted to committing a long list of Rock County crimes, and they're likely responsible for up to 80 additional reported crimes in South Dakota and Nebraska.

"I don't think these boys have any idea how many things they stole or even where they burglarized," said Rock County Investigator Clyde Menning.

"They'd be driving down the road pitching stuff out the window. They'd have no idea where they even were and had no destination in mind. They were just on a crime spree."

As these boys were questioned, deputies learned the Sioux Falls group had help from local juveniles, who are also taking credit for several of their own illegal acts.

As of Wednesday, Menning said eight Rock County males, mostly from Luverne, are facing charges. Six are juveniles as young as 15, and two are legal adults, ages 18 and older.

In all, law enforcement has wrapped up investigations of 10 Rock County crimes committed in the past 30 days, but Menning said that tally could change.

"We seem to take care of a couple of burglaries, but then as we ask questions, the list keeps growing," he said. "It's a nightmare."

The Sioux Falls boys will be charged in connection with the following Rock County incidents:

An Aug. 1 burglary at the Rock Veterinary Clinic.

An Aug. 19 theft of Gordon Swenson's cell phone from his car parked at Casey's on South Highway 75.

An Aug. 19 theft of Evie VandenBerg's cell phone and its 12-volt adapter from her vehicle, which was parked in the garage.

An Aug. 19 burglary at Palace Video involving stolen cash and five CDs.

An Aug. 26 burglary at the laundromat involving theft of calling cards from a machine.

An Aug. 28 theft of a purse and its contents from Daniel Spreiter's van in Luverne.

An Aug. 30 theft of cash and a damaged pop machine.

The eight Rock County suspects have had varying degrees of involvement with these cases as well.

"For example, two of our young individuals may have been involved with the vet clinic break-in and the Palace Video case," Menning said.

The Sioux Falls juveniles face charges in South Dakota, and the Rock County young people will be charged in Rock County District Court.

The Rock County suspects are also implicated with several crimes reported in the past week, apparently with no involvement by the Sioux Falls youths.

Since Friday, burglaries were reported by the pawn shop and Blue Mound Inn, in addition to three residential burglaries in Luverne and rural Beaver Creek.

Menning said he's seeing increasing Sioux Falls influence in recent years. "Our communities are growing closer and closer," he said. "We'd like to say Sioux Falls is a long ways away, but we are tied closer to Sioux Falls than to any other nearby community. How they evolve we evolve."

While local deputies are still working to solve many other unsolved thefts, burglaries and vandalism, Menning said it helps to have these cleared.

"We can eliminate all of these other cases that obviously aren't connected," Menning said.

Joint law is beneficial

Rock County deputies worked jointly on the investigation with the Sioux Falls Police Department detective division and the South Dakota Division of Criminal Investigation.

"Our officers put in a lot of extra patrol time and talked to a lot of individuals compiling information on these cases," Rock County Sheriff Ron McClure said. "I want to commend these guys for their hard work."

He added that joint law enforcement, which combined the Rock County Sheriff's Department and the Luverne Police Department in January 1998, was particularly helpful for cases such as these.

"Eight to nine officers were all working together for the whole county and city on the same case," he said. "And having one investigator to compile all their information was very beneficial."

Menning, one of the early opponents of combining police and deputies, agreed the joint law system is working well. "It eliminates that duplication of the right hand and the left hand trying to do the same thing," he said.

The Sheriff's Department still encourages anyone with information on unsolved local cases to call 283-5000 or any of the individual sheriff's deputies directly.

By Lori Ehde

Funeral services were Tuesday afternoon in Luverne for Kim Kremin, mother of four, who died at age 33 in a car crash Friday night.

She was dead at the accident scene four miles south of Luverne on Highway 75 where her 1990 Pontiac Grand Am collided head-on with a 1987 Bonneville carrying four Iowa teen-agers.

The Minnesota State Patrol, along with local law enforcement and rescue crews, responded to the call at about 11:40 p.m.

Preliminary accident reconstructions show Kremin's northbound vehicle crossed the center line prior to impact. Blood samples were taken from both drivers, as is customary in fatal accidents, to determine if alcohol was a factor in the collision. Results were not available as of this printing.

Kremin, who was not wearing a seatbelt, was traveling alone.

Three of the four teens in the Iowa car were killed. The driver, 16-year-old Katie Hoogendoorn, Rock Valley, died at the scene, as did passenger 16-year-old Nathan Van Voorst, Inwood. Cindy Jo Post, also 16, Rock Valley, died at Luverne Community Hospital.

Aaron Van Voorst, 16, Larchwood, was taken to Sioux Valley Hospital and released Sunday.

The young people were on their way home after seeing a movie at the Verne Drive-In theater, Luverne.

Hoogendoorn was wearing her seatbelt, but Post and Nathan Van Voorst were not. It is unclear whether Aaron Van Voorst had been buckled in.

Kremin grew up in Ash Creek and attended school in Luverne. She was employed by Bullseye Cabinets in Sioux Falls.

She had four children, Mandi, Tanner, Travis and Tara. For the time being, they are under the care of their grandmother, Alberta Kremin, Steen.

Services were in First Assemblies of God Church, rural Luverne, and burial was in Maplewood Cemetery, Luverne.