Hardwick Santa Day featured a variety of experiences Saturday afternoon at the local community center including ornament making, cookie frosting, pictures with Santa and a more unusual Christmas tradition of a visit from Zoo Man aka Brent Mielke. Mielke from Sleepy Eye returned to Santa Day, this time with a rescued snapping turtle named Emily, Baby the red-footed tortoise and Razor, a royal python.

City of Luverne Ordinance No. 31, Fourth Series
ORDINANCE NO. 31, FOURTH SERIES
AN ORDINANCE REPEALING IN ITS ENTIRETY CITY OF LUVERNE ORDINANCE 29, FOURTH SERIES RELATING TO AN INTERIM ORDINANCE PURSUANT TO MINNESOTA STATUTES SECTION 462.355, SUBDIVISION 4, TO ESTABLISH A MORATORIUM ON THE SALE OF HEMP DERIVED THC (TETRAHYDROCANNABINOLS) FOOD AND BEVERAGES
 
THE CITY OF LUVERNE DOES HEREBY ORDAIN:
SECTION. 1. That City of Luverne Ordinance 29, Fourth Series, “An Interim Ordinance Pursuant to Minnesota Statutes Section 462.355, Subdivision 4, to Establish a Moratorium on the Sale of Hemp Derived THC (TETRAHYDROCANNABINOLS) Food and Beverages” be hereby repealed in its entirety.
 
SECTION 2. This ordinance takes full force and effect immediately following its publication.
(12-15)

Kremin quiet title action
STATE OF MINNESOTA                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 IN DISTRICT COURT
COUNTY OF ROCK                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            FIFTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT
Case Type: Quiet Title Action
                      Court File: 67-CV-22-288
 
Estate of Alberta Mae Kremin, a/k/a Alberta Kremin,
Plaintiff
 
vs.
 
Sandra Heck, the unknown heirs of Steven R. Heck, the unknown heirs of
Pauline J. Heck, Diane Winter, the unknown heirs of Rudolph Winter, and all
persons unknown claiming any right, title, estate, interest or lien in the
real estate described in the complaint herein, 
Defendants.
 
SUMMONS
THE STATE OF MINNESOTA TO THE ABOVE-NAMED DEFENDANTS.
 
You are hereby summoned and required to serve upon Plaintiff’s attorney an Answer to Complaint, which is filed in the office of the Court Administrator of the above-named county, within twenty (20) days after service of this Summons upon you, exclusive of the day of service.  If you fail to do so, judgment by default will be taken against you for the relief demanded in the Complaint.  This action involves, affects, or brings in question real property situated in the County of Rock, State of Minnesota, described as follows:
The South One Hundred Seventy-seven and Three-tenths (S 177.3) feet of Lot One (1) and all of Lot Two (2) in Kitterman’s Addition to the Village of Ash Creek, Rock County, Minnesota.
The object of this action is to remove, terminate and quiet any interest of the defendants to this action and to the real estate described above. 
NOTICE IS FURTHER GIVEN THAT NO PERSONAL CLAIM is made against any of the Defendants.  If any Defendant unreasonably defends the action, then Plaintiff is requesting an order of the Court directing that said Defendant shall pay full costs to the Plaintiff.
Civil cases are subject to Alternative Dispute Resolution processes as provided in Rule 114 of the General Rules of Practice for District Courts.  Alternative Dispute Resolution includes mediation, arbitration, and other processes set forth in the rules.  You may contact the Court Administrator for information about these processes and about resources available in your area.
The undersigned hereby acknowledges that sanctions may be awarded pursuant to Minnesota Statutes 549.211. 
Dated this1st day of December, 2022
/S/ Paul A. Vis
Attorney for Petitioner
Eisma and Eisma
130 E. Main
Luverne, MN 56156
(507) 283-4828
ID# 297550
(12-15, 12-22, 12-29)

About a month ago I was invited to speak at the Ecumen Meadows. This is an assisted living facility located in Worthington. The residents of this facility make up all walks of life, and many of them are retired farmers.
 My topic was about public lands and the work that my local chapter of Pheasants Forever has been involved in to protect the local drinking water supply for our community.
The water protection work being done in and around the city wells in Worthington’s wellhead protection area includes acquisitions by my chapter which ultimately get planted to grass. Native vegetation cover eliminates the applications of fertilizers, herbicides and manure on these acres. This keeps these chemicals from leaching into the ground and contaminating the water.
I dispelled many myths folks have about public lands. The first is that we only buy land from willing sellers. We do not use eminent domain, which is a proceeding to forcefully take someone’s property. In almost all cases, the landowner who is interested in selling actually contacts me. They reach out to me for a variety of reasons, but the conservation legacy they desire to achieve is satisfied by selling their property to a conservation organization.
There is a myth that public lands don’t pay any taxes. No matter how much or how often you share the facts of the matter, many folks will never believe them. Public lands that ultimately transfer to the state of Minnesota make payments in lieu of taxes, a fancy term referred to as P.I.L.T. These dollars are paid from the Minnesota state general fund, and for all public lands in the state, the sum is about $40 million per year. This money is sent to the counties to be distributed to all of the normal agencies that would receive a share of personal property taxes.  These include counties, school districts, townships and others.
The amount the county agencies receive is a special formula. The formula is ¾ of 1 percent of the appraised value of the land on the day it was purchased. This rate stays the same for the first five years, and then county assessors will adjust that amount as land values rise and fall.
In every case I have been involved in, the PILT payment has been substantially more than the revenue the county would have received from the prior landowner. The smallest increase was 9 percent more and the largest was 225 percent more than what the county got before the lands became public.
Public lands are a benefit to the county from a revenue standpoint. The other thing to remember is that public wildlife lands and the folks who use them do not destroy roads with heavy equipment like feed trucks might or other industrial equipment. The maintenance cost required from government drops to almost zero.
The last – but not the least – myth that needs constant clarification is the myth that conservation organizations are buying up the land and running up land prices for young or new start farmers.
Nothing could be further from the truth. In the year I checked, there were 43 land sales in my county. Pheasants Forever purchased only one of the 43. As far as conservation organizations running up the price of the land, the parcel purchased by my chapter was the lowest cost per acre of any sale in the county that year. Not only are we not buying up all the land, we are often purchasing the lands that in many cases should never have been farmed in the first place.
To see this in yet another light, Nobles County Pheasants Forever is one of the most successful land acquisition chapters in the nation. We have purchased 43 separate parcels over a 39-year period. Even with this high level of success, we have only impacted 7/10 of 1 percent of the land base in our county, and almost all of that work has been in an area critical to protecting the city’s water supply. In fact, all public lands in Nobles County account for less than 2 percent of the county’s land base. When you consider all of these facts, you will see that the myths surrounding public lands are just that …  myths!
The next time you hear someone perpetuating myths that surround public lands, you now have the rest of the story, the correct information, to clear up the thinking of those who try to convince others that public lands provide little value to anyone.
Scott Rall, Worthington, is a habitat conservationist, avid hunting and fishing enthusiast and is president of Nobles County Pheasants Forever. He can be reached at scottarall@gmail.com. or on Twitter @habitat champion.
 

The Luverne wrestling team participated in the Jackson County Central Pizza Ranch Invite Saturday, Dec. 10, in Jackson.
Luverne was one of 17 teams wrestling in the tournament and placed 10th overall as a team.
Individually, two Luverne wrestlers climbed their way into the championship rounds.
“This tournament is always tough — usually there are a lot of state-ranked kids,” coach Jordan Kopp said.
“The fact we had two wrestlers out of nine make the championship is pretty awesome.”
Senior DJ Rock, 160-pound class, and junior Sam Rock, 170-pound class, took second place in their brackets.
DJ Rock took a 3-0 record into the championship round.
He wrestled Walker Jones of Aitkin, beating him by a 16-11 decision in Round 1 before pinning Ty Kolbe of Fairmont-Martin County West in the quarterfinals.
In the semifinals, DJ pinned Isaiah Rodriguez of Jackson County Central, but in the championship match, DJ fell to Carver Rohman of Fairmont-Martin County West 18-7 in a major decision.
Sam Rock in the 170-pound class, also took a 3-0 record into the championships.
He pinned Carter Ellis of Waseca in the quarterfinals and beat Gage Cyphers of Fairmont-Martin County West in the semifinals in a 3-1 decision before falling to JCC’s Dylan Withers in the championship.
Luverne eighth-grader Matthew Gangestad, wrestling at 120, went 2-2 for the day, losing in the quarterfinals.
He pinned Tyler Hawkins of Wabasha-Kellogg in Round 1 before losing to Isaiah Nelson, New London-Spicer, by technical fall 18-1.
In the first consolation round Gangestad received a bye to advance to consolation Round 2 where he fell to Teague Meyer Murray County Central by a 5-1 decision.  
Following is a breakdown of Luverne’s other outcomes in each bracket.
106 — Brody Kopp was pinned at 1:49 by JCC’s Kyler Thier in Round 1.
He won by decision 11-7 over Worthington’s Saul Galvez in the consolation before losing to Pierce Rohman (Fairmont-Martin County West) by technical fall 19-2 at 5:17 in the consolation Round 2.
126 — Rayden Boyenga lost by technical fall (16-0 5:31) to Kameron Koerner (Windom-Mountain Lake).
In the first consolation round, Boyenga lost in by fall (3:36) to Holton Hanson (New London-Spicer).
126 — Leif Ingebretsen lost by fall (3:14) in Round 1 to John Pelarski (Aitkin).
In the first consolation round, Ingebretsen lost by major decision (12-4) to Oscar Galvez (Worthington)
132 — Josh Stroh fell to Caleb Nelson (New London-Spicer) in 2:22 in Round 1.
In the round 1 consolation, Stroh lost by fall (0:59) to Jared Hunter (Windom-Mountain Lake).
138 — Hudson Hough lost by major decision (14-2) to Carlos Ulloa-Castillo (Adrian Area).
In the Round 1 consolation, Hough was pinned by Talan Osborne (Lake Crystal Welcome Memorial Area) in 0:50.
182 — Jacob Madison pinned Lucas Selthun (Waseca) in Round 1 at 5:49.
In the quarterfinals, Madison lost to Brady Andersen (Hutchinson) by fall (4:26).
In the Round 2 consolation, Carson McCain (New London-Spicer) pinned Madison (1:46)
Despite the stiff competition, Kopp said he was pleased by the outcomes of the JCC tournament.
“The best part is these wrestlers want more. They aren’t satisfied,” he said. “This team is special. They are going to do some great things this year.”
The Cardinal wrestlers competed in the Redwood Valley Triangular on Dec. 6. (See the related story.)
They are to host a tournament in Luverne on Saturday, Dec. 17.

The Luverne gymnasts participated in the St. James Area Snowflake Invitational in St. James Saturday, Dec. 10.
Of the five teams invited, the Luverne Cardinal girls took the team champion title.
Luverne scored 127.275 points, followed by Redwood Valley at 127.025, Pipestone Area at 125.550, Windom-Mountain Lake at 118.750, and St. James at 95.575.
Individually, Luverne placed several gymnasts in the top ten with first-place in three of the four events.
Sophomore Ella Reisdorfer took first place with a 34.55 on the all-around with teammate sophomore Amira Cowell earning fourth with a 32.1.
In addition to finishing first in the all-around, Reisdorfer placed first on the vault with a score of 9.1, tied for first on bars (8.225) second on beam (8.725) and fourth on the floor (8.5).
Cowell, toward her fourth-place finish in the all-around, placed fourth on the vault (8.4), tied for first on bars (8.225), 12th on beam (6.8), and first on the floor (8.675).
The Cardinals placed other gymnasts in individual events as follows:
•Vault: Hailey Como placed fourth (8.7) and Kendra Thorson placed seventh (8.5) out of 16 gymnasts.
•Uneven parallel bars: Reagan Gangestad placed eighth (7.125), Como placed tenth (6.95) and Addyson Mann placed 12th (6.7) out of 23 gymnasts.
•Balance beam: Thorson placed ninth (7.15), Gangestad placed 10th (6.95) and Winter placed 16th (6.450) out of 22 gymnasts.
Ada Lund from Windom-Mountain Lake won the balance beam event with an 8.75.
•Floor exercise: Thorson placed 12th (7.450), Mann placed 13th (7.4), and Como placed 20th (6.7) out of 23 gymnasts.

The Luverne High School girls’ hockey seven-game winning streak came to an end over the weekend when the Cardinals dropped an overtime loss to Mankato East on the road.
After a decisive 17-1 win over Austin at home on Dec. 6, the Cardinals lost a hard-fought game 4-3 to the Tigers in the All Seasons Arena.
The Cardinals, now 7-1, are scheduled to host Minnesota River Friday, Dec. 16, and River Lakes Stars (central Minnesota) Saturday, Dec. 17, in the Blue Mound Ice Arena.
 
Mankato East 4,
Luverne 3
The Cardinal girls’ hockey team traveled to Mankato Saturday, Dec. 10, to take on the Cougars, who play in the Big Nine, comprised of larger central Minnesota schools.
The Cardinals ended the day with their first loss of the season in overtime play.
“The girls played hard and controlled most of the game,” coach Tony Sandbulte said. “We made some costly mistakes and East made us pay.”
At the end of the second period Luverne was up 2-1 after scoring by eighth-grader Izzy Steensma and senior Kamryn Van Batavia.
Steensma scored in Period 1 at 3:34 assisted by Rylee Kurtz, and Van Batavia scored in the second at 12:25 assisted by Payton Behr.
In the third period at 5:36 Van Batavia scored again on a power play, assisted by sisters Payton and eighth-grader Tenley Behr.
This put Luverne up by 2, with Mankato trailing 3-1.
The Cougars, however, came back with two goals of their own in the third period to send the game into overtime with the score locked at 3-3.
In the end, Mankato’s Ava Tibodeau slid one past Cardinal goalie Mallory Von Tersch at 4:41 to clinch the win.
In the game Von Tersch stopped 25 of 29 shots from Mankato East. Luverne made three of its 49 shots on goal in the game.
 
Luverne 17, Austin 1
The Cardinal girls’ hockey team pelted the Austin Packers 17-1 Monday, Dec. 6, at the Blue Mound Arena.
The win extended their season record to 7-0 and kept Luverne at the top of the Big South Conference three games ahead of conference rival New Ulm.
The win was largely due to puck control and offensive pressure as two Cardinal skaters registered hat tricks in the game.
Steensma and freshman Paula Martinez each recorded three goals.
Martinez started Luverne’s scoring at 3:14 in the first period with an assist from Ella Apel.
Apel followed up scoring herself at 6:39 with an assist by Anika Boll.
Steensma, assisted by Mallory Nelson, and Greta McClure and Kamryn Van Batavia, each assisted by Macie Edstrom, finished the first period scoring one goal each.
In the second period, with Luverne leading 4-0, the Cardinals went on a scoring run to rack up nine goals by seven different players.
McClure started the run with a goal at 4:40 assisted by Steensma. Tenley Behr contributed another unassisted goal at 4:57.
Moments later, at 6:31, Martinez scored her second goal assisted by Apel.
The Austin Packers scored their lone point of the game at 8:32 when Sarah Wangen, assisted by Camille Dunlap, found the net on LHS goalie Von Tersch.
But the Luverne scoring continued soon after that with a Tenley Behr goal at 8:46 assisted by Steensma.
Payton Behr scored at 9:45 assisted by Kamryn Van Batavia and Nelson.
At 11:44 Martinez scored her third goal assisted by Nelson and Edstrom.
At 13:12 Steensma scored her second goal, followed by another from Edstrom unassisted at 14:07.
At 14:44 seventh-grader Ellie Van Batavia scored, assisted by McClure, to end the second period, Luverne 13, Austin 1.
Early in the third period at 1:19, Steensma shot her third goal unassisted.
Nelson got her lone goal at 3:20 assisted by Kamryn Van Batavia, who at 8:30 reversed the roles and scored with an assist by Nelson.
Eighth-grader Kassidy Saarloos ended the scoring at 13:30 with a powerplay goal assisted by Apel.
Luverne outplayed Austin on the ice, allowing only seven shots on Luverne’s goalie Von Tersch the entire game.
The Cardinals hammered the Packers goalie with 53 shots on goal.

Mortgage foreclosure sale set for Feb. 2, 2023 
NOTICE OF MORTGAGE FORECLOSURE SALE
THE RIGHT TO VERIFICATION OF THE DEBT AND IDENTITY OF THE ORIGINAL CREDITOR WITHIN THE TIME PROVIDED BY LAW IS NOT AFFECTED BY THIS ACTION.
NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN:  That Default has occurred in the conditions of the following described mortgage:
DATE OF MORTGAGE: 08/29/2016
ORIGINAL PRINCIPAL AMOUNT OF MORTGAGE: $79,948.00
MORTGAGOR(S): Erin C. Cogdill and Travis L. Cogdill
MORTGAGEE: Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems, Inc., as nominee for Reliabank Dakota
DATE AND PLACE OF FILING: 08/30/2016 as Doc No. 189031 in the Office of the County Recorder in Rock County, Minnesota. 
The mortgage was assigned for value as follows:
Assignee: Citizens Bank, N.A.
Assignment dated: 1/23/2020
Assignment recorded: 1/27/2020
Assignment recording information: Doc No. 196403
All in the records of the County Recorder in Rock County, Minnesota. 
TAX PARCEL I.D. NO.: 20-0664-000
LEGAL DESCRIPTION OF PROPERTY: LOT 10 IN THE FIRST SUBDIVISION 
OF BLOCK 6 IN GREENVALE ADDITION TO THE CITY OF LUVERNE, ROCK 
COUNTY, MINNESOTA
Abstract Property 
STREET ADDRESS OF PROPERTY: 330 SW Park St , Luverne, MN 56156
COUNTY IN WHICH PROPERTY IS LOCATED: Rock
LENDER OR BROKER AND MORTGAGE ORIGINATOR: Reliabank Dakota
RESIDENTIAL MORTGAGE SERVICER: Citizens Bank, N.A.
THE AMOUNT CLAIMED TO BE DUE ON THE MORTGAGE: $102,572.68 AS OF 12/30/2022.
THAT no action or proceeding has been instituted at law to recover the debt secured by said mortgage, or any part thereof; that there has been compliance with all pre-foreclosure notice and acceleration requirements of said mortgage, and/or applicable statutes. Pursuant to the power of sale contained in said Mortgage, the Mortgage will be foreclosed, and the mortgaged premises will be sold by the Sheriff of Rock County, Minnesota at public auction as follows: DATE AND TIME OF SALE: 02/02/2023 at 10:00 A.M.
PLACE OF SALE:  Rock County Sheriff’s Office, 1000 N. Blue Mound Ave, Luverne, MN 56156 to pay the debt then secured by said mortgage and taxes, if any actually paid by the mortgagee, on the premises and the costs and disbursements allowed by law. The time allowed by law for redemption by said Mortgagor(s) or Mortgagor’s personal representatives or assigns is six (6) months.
TIME AND DATE TO VACATE PROPERTY: If the mortgage is not reinstated under Minn. Stat. §580.30 or redeemed under Minn. Stat. §580.23, the mortgagor must vacate the mortgaged property by 11:59 p.m. on 08/02/2023, or the next business day if 08/02/2023 falls on a Saturday, Sunday or legal holiday.
MORTGAGOR(S) RELEASED FROM FINANCIAL OBLIGATION ON MORTGAGE: NONE
THE TIME ALLOWED BY LAW FOR REDEMPTION BY THE MORTGAGOR, THE MORTGAGOR’S PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVES OR ASSIGNS, MAY BE REDUCED TO FIVE WEEKS IF A JUDICIAL ORDER IS ENTERED UNDER MINNESOTA STATUTES, SECTION 582.032, DETERMINING, AMONG OTHER THINGS THAT MORTGAGED PREMISES ARE IMPROVED WITH A RESIDENTIAL DWELLING OF LESS THAN FIVE UNITS, ARE NOT PROPERTY USED IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION, AND ARE ABANDONED.
Publication to begin the week of: 12/11/2022 - 12/17/2022 
Citizens Bank, N.A., 
Mortgagee/Mortgagee Assignee
The Sayer Law Group, 
P.C., By Brian G. Sayer,
Attorney for Mortgagee/Mortgagee Assignee
925 E 4th St., 
Waterloo, IA 50703
THIS IS A COMMUNICATION FROM A DEBT COLLECTOR ATTEMPTING TO COLLECT A DEBT. ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED WILL BE USED FOR THAT PURPOSE.
(12-15, 12-22, 12-29, 01-05, 01-12, 01-19)

The Cardinal boys’ hockey team traveled to New Ulm Friday, Dec. 9, where they dropped a 2-1 game to the Eagles.
The loss puts Luverne’s season record at 2-1-1, and New Ulm now stands at 5-0 for the season.
The host Eagles scored the lone goal in the first period at 6:12, followed by another at 2:36 in the second period.
The Cardinals regrouped after that to deny New Ulm the shutout when LHS junior Henry Hartquist scored unassisted at 13:34 in the third period. It would be Luverne’s only goal in the game.
“We struggled to match their intensity and physicality throughout the game and spent 25 minutes playing short-handed,” coach Phil Paquette said.
Given the Cardinals’ penalty killers effective defense during penalty play, the score could have been worse for Luverne.
During a total of 25 minutes of penalty play, Luverne didn’t give up a goal.
LHS junior goalie Tyler Arends blocked 49 of the 51 shots on goal. Luverne shot 24 times on New Ulm’s goaltender, making just one.
“Our goaltending was outstanding but we did not do enough to support that effort,” Paquette said.
Luverne’s game with Windom Tuesday, Dec. 13, was postponed due to weather.  LHS will travel to Rochester on Saturday, Dec. 17.