Unsolved crime
As if the unsolved Carrie Nelson murder weren't enough for one small town, Luverne and Rock County communities fell victim this year to repeated burglaries and vandalisms.
Many burglaries of both town and rural residents occurred when residents were in their homes, often sleeping.
One of the most recent and disappointing burglaries ended in arson earlier this month when burglars attempted to cover the theft of True Value's safe by setting fire to the business.
Owners Beth and Mark Novotny are still reeling from the loss, and future plans remain uncertain as they continue to measure the financial impact.
Rock County rallies behind Relay for Life
On a happier note, and in a story that truly reflects the generosity of local residents, Rock County's first Relay for Life was a resounding success.
During the kick-off meeting Thursday, March 15, more than 30 teams of Relay For Life walkers indicated interest in participating in the June 15 event.
The American Cancer Society had instructed local organizers to shoot for 15 teams as a goal for a first-year event.
"This area is such a committed community for supporting things," said one organizer, Helen Saum. "Certainly cancer has touched a lot of families in this area, so I think people want to do something about it."
When it was all said and done, 41 teams and nearly 550 walkers raised more than $49,000 for the American Cancer Society.
School district
faces budget cuts
It wasn't an easy year to serve on the Luverne School Board - or any school board for that matter - as state Legislatures approved school funding that fell short of rising school costs.
In a painful process, Luverne School Board members cut nearly $400,000 from its budget. Those cuts represented programs and staff near and dear to students and families, many of whom protested loudly at emotional meetings.
To help ease budget woes, many school districts went to their voters to pass operating referendums to stay above water.
In September, voters in the Luverne district approved a 10-year $234,000 operating referendum.
Fledgling Field
debate continues
For the second year running, the debate over the future of Fledgling Field continues to dominate local headlines.
The piece of ground along Highway 75 once served as the site of a Luverne school building, constructed in 1895 from Blue Mounds quartzite.
In 1956, students moved into the present Luverne High School building and the old stone structure was soon razed.
The ground was used as an outdoor play area for Luverne elementary students who walked there from the former Luverne Street building. When the new elementary school was built on the high school campus, the district no longer needed the property.
Cornerstone Construction purchased the land for $41,000 in an April 2000 auction. Cornerstone specializes in architectural services and construction management for designing and building funeral homes. Holm-Dingmann Funeral Home has said it will buy the constructed building, if developed.
A conditional use permit for a funeral home in the residential neighborhood was denied earlier this year. This month, a request to have the property rezoned from R1 to R2 was withdrawn from a City Council meeting agenda.
Cornerstone has said that if that happened, it will develop as many single or two-family dwellings as space allows.
Ethanol smell
doesn't go away
Another tired topic that keeps resurfacing is the debate over what to do about the ethanol smell.
The Luverne business community was thrilled by the economic benefit of Luverne's Agri-Energy ethanol plant which started operations in 1998.
Residents in the southwest part of town, however, have been less than thrilled by what they consider an offensive odor emitted by the plant's grain drying process.
A year ago at this time, a new 175-foot-stack was erected that is 30 percent taller than the original and disperses emissions a greater distance before odors fall on the city.
Residents so far haven't been impressed by improvements, if any, and now plant management is considering installing a $1.5-million thermal oxidizer, which is nearly guaranteed to fix the problem.
Ethanol plant representatives requested help from the Luverne City Council in paying for the equipment. So far, the council hasn't acted on that request.
Perseverance pays off
Luverne's labor-intensive border city bill became law this summer.
Two years of testimony and lobbying seem to have paid off, and now the city has to figure out how to use its new economic development tool.
The border city initiative was designed to help compensate Luverne businesses for lower tax rates in bordering states. The city of Luverne hopes that fewer businesses will move to South Dakota and that more will relocate in Luverne.
The city is working with Moorhead and lawyers who wrote the bill to help it use the incentives in the best possible way. The first business to use border city legislation could be Netbriefings, a Webcasting company that has preliminarily decided to expand a customer service office in Luverne.
Learning to
play well together
At the 2000 year end, local elections topped the annual story list.
LuverneÕs mayoral race drew the most attention, with challenger Glen Gust ousting incumbent Bill Weber by a count of 1,460 to 1,006.
Two other newcomers joined the City Council. Challengers Dave Hauge and Tom Martius took their places in council chambers next month.
Throughout 2001, it's been a year of initiation for the newcomers as they've put their own new spin on old controversial topics, such as Fledgling Field, the fitness center, tax increment financing and others.