Amber Lais
 

Amber has lived in the district her entire life. She works as administrative assistant at the Luverne Chamber office. Her husband is Matt Lais, and their children are Landyn, 15, Dawsyn, 12, and Addisyn, 9.

Brett Hood
 

Brett has lived in the district for 22 years. He works as an electrician at Sieve Electric. His wife is Tori, and their children are Ashton, 16, Jerzey, 12, Tyleigh, 9, and Tenzin, 5.

Students from Luverne and Hills-Beaver Creek high schools gathered on the west end of the Luverne school campus Sept. 21 for an eye-opening experience.
About 450 students witnessed a mock accident to demonstrate the dangers of distracted and impaired driving just days before each school’s homecoming celebration.
The staged event included heavily damaged cars and five LHS students as actors in the scene. The students were wearing make-up to appear as though they had suffered injuries.
Luverne senior Tyson Cowell played the role of a teenage drunk driver who was arrested by School Resource Officer Jeff Stratton.
Kari Lais and Ryan DeBates, the real-life parents of two other student actors, arrived on the scene, playing the roles of scared, upset parents.
The presentation included the arrival of first responders including the Rock County Sheriff's Department, Rock County Ambulance, Luverne Fire Department and Minnesota Highway Patrol.
Fire department members used tools to cut open one of the damaged cars, and those playing the roles of injured victims were taken away in ambulances.
Jeff Hartquist and Grant Robinson from Hartquist Funeral Home also arrived on the scene and took one of the student actors away in a hearse.
Following the accident scene, students moved to the Performing Arts Center and heard a presentation from Matt Logan, who lost his teenage daughter in a distracted driving accident in September of 2012.
The students also heard from a panel of local leaders who discussed how accidents impact families, first responders, schools and the community.
According to organizer Amy Cook, the mock accidents happen every four years.
“We want to be able to keep the events impactful and not too frequent,” Cook said. “By doing it every four years, all LHS and H-BC students will get to experience it one time during high school.”
Cook said she appreciates all of the support that helps make this event possible, including bleachers from the Rock County Fair Board and the sound system from the Luverne Area Chamber of Commerce.
“I am so grateful to live in a community that supports a great event to bring awareness to students and adults about the importance of responsible driving,” Cook said.

The Walleye Wind Farm in western Rock County is at peak construction with three turbines now erected among a total of 40 in the project.
NextEra Energy Resources is building the wind farm capable of generating approximately 110 megawatts of energy.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, Sept. 20 and 21, NextEra hosted tours of the construction in progress for local leaders and media.
“Construction is providing a significant economic boost to Rock County and the state, creating up to 185 construction jobs, and stimulating the purchase of regional goods and services from local vendors,” said NextEra spokesperson Sarah Borchardt.
“Over the next 30 years, the project is expected to generate up to $18 million in additional revenue for Rock County.”
 
Laydown yard
Wednesday’s tour started at the NextEra temporary laydown yard north of Beaver Creek.
It’s where roughly 250 workers currently report for duty each day for their role in the project that’s now at its peak of construction activity.
The turbine blades, tower sections and motors are delivered directly to their respective sites, but the laydown yard houses construction trailers, hundreds of workers’ vehicles, and stored equipment, such as wire and transformers.
The 10- to 15-acre site is leased during construction and will be reclaimed back to farm ground when the wind farm is finished.
 
Blades, tower sections and motors:
The tower sections come mostly from Marmon Energy in Brandon, South Dakota, the nacelles are manufactured by GE in Pensacola Beach, Florida, and the blades ship from North Dakota but are manufactured in Brazil.
The 40 Walleye Wind turbines are comprised of three different sizes:
Thirty-six turbines will have a 2.82-megawatt capacity and four will have a 2.5-megawatt capacity.
The four smaller ones will be nearly 263 feet tall from the ground to the top of the hub.
Of the larger 2.82-megawatt capacity turbines, 28 of them are 374 feet tall to the top of the motor hub and eight are 295 feet.
The blades are 203 feet long, so the total height of the largest turbines from the ground to the tip of the blade is 577 feet.
Each blade has a serrated edge to reduce the “whooshing” sound associated with spinning turbine blades.
This Leading Noise Trailing Edge technology is required by the Minnesota PUC to reduce sound and shadow flicker.
A smooth blue edge on the opposite side of the blade prevents ice build-up.
The hub, is what the blades attach to. It is installed onto the machine head or nacelle, which houses the generator, gearbox and various control systems.
All this weighs roughly 250,000 pounds – or 125 tons, which makes it top heavy when turbines are under construction.
The towers are erected in sections. After the bottom two are in place, the top sections are placed with support from “vortex” wrap to direct wind around the turbine, rather than sway it back and forth. 
“The tower constantly sways, even in the lightest wind,” said construction manager Allen Collier.
“The tubes that are wrapped around it prior to installation of the nacelle help to break up the wind that flows across the tower causing excess sway and possibly the tower failing.”
If wind speeds exceed 22 mph, work is halted.
Within 24 hours of erecting the top tower sections, the heavy nacelles must be placed to prevent the tower from swaying in the wind. 
“If the nacelle is not placed, then the crane has to stay attached to provide support to the tower as well,” Collier said.
The vortex wrap is removed once the turbine is complete.
 
Blinking red lights
The turbines are equipped with blinking red lights to alert aircraft traffic of their presence.
However, they’ll blink only when aircraft is in the vicinity because they’re equipped with ADLS technology.
The Automatic Detection Lighting System operates via a radar tower precisely located relative to where the turbines are erected. It detects when aircraft is in the vicinity and triggers the blinking lights.
 
Collector substation
The 40 Walleye Wind turbines feed the electrical grid through buried cables that send the power they’re generating to a NextEra collector substation.
The collector substation steps it up to a higher voltage and sends it to a “point of interconnection” substation owned by Northern States Power which sends it to the grid.
The collector substation and NSP substation are located on a permanent 5-acre piece of land northwest of Beaver Creek near the operations building where the Walleye Wind technicians will work.
 
What happens to old turbines?
As part of the Walleye Wind construction project, the seven towers of the previous MinWind I and II project were taken down this spring.
The Fiberglas blades were crushed to a powder that was recycled into concrete potash, and the metal components were used as scrap metal.
Walleye Wind project developer Danell Herzig repowered a wind farm in Pipestone County two years ago that replaced 126 turbines with 44 newer, more efficient turbines.
“They were creative in what they did,” she said. “They were able to break down the concrete. There was demand for the crushed concrete in the local community.”
She said the scrap metal was in high demand.
“We had scrappers and salvagers begging us for the metal tower sections,” Herzig said. “We literally had bidding wars over which scrappers could come and take the tower sections away.”
She said the blades couldn’t be recycled back then because the recycling technology didn’t yet exist to crush them for concrete potash.
The nacelles were sold to developers like Elite Clean Energy who had similar turbine technology.
“We further identified a dozen wind tech schools, including Minnesota West Technical and Community College, that have wind technician programs, and we donated the nacelles to them so that kids could work on them,” she said.
 
Community support
Herzig said the Walleye Wind Farm construction has faced challenges with weather and permitting like many of the projects she has overseen,
However, she said Rock County’s Walleye Wind Farm has been special in significant ways.
“I have worked all over the country on these projects. People want the wind projects here, where in other areas you end up with a lot of opposition,” she said.
“I believe, having worked in this area for awhile, you guys were among the early adopters of wind energy in this country, so it’s not new and scary.”
Once operational, the wind farm will generate $400,000 to $600,000 in annual tax revenues to Rock County and provide electricity to the Minnesota Municipal Power Agency through a 30-year purchase agreement.

Luverne High School seniors Elizabeth Wagner and Parker Carbonneau are this year’s homecoming queen and king at Luverne High School.
At Monday night’s coronation in the performing arts center, the two were crowned from a royal court of 10 seniors.
The other queen candidates were Averill Sehr, Emma Beyer, Jocelyn Hart and Anja Jarchow.
King candidates were Tyson Cowell, Camden Hoven, Ross Bergman and Gannon Ahrendt.
Theme of this year’s coronation was “Lights, Camera, Action.”
Last year’s homecoming queen, Brooklynn Ver Steeg presented Wagner and Carbonneau their respective crowns. Last year’s homecoming king, Casey Sehr, was not at the event.
Class representatives included juniors Kira John and Patrick Kroski, sophomores Audrie DeBates and Jesse Aning, and freshmen Allie Kracht and Tyler Hodge.
Pages were Aubren Hoven and Joseph Bullerman.
Seniors Bella Oye, Kamryn Van Batavia, Brady Bork and Gavin Reisch served as the coronation attendants.
Seniors Camden Janiszeski and Christine Wagner were the master and mistress of ceremonies.

The Hills-Beaver Creek Patriots’ football team has increased its record to 4-0 with a win over the Westbrook-Walnut Grove Chargers in the H-BC Homecoming game last Friday night at Patriot Field.
Next week will be the toughest test of the season for the Patriots as they travel to Renville County West to take on the 4-0 Jaguars.
The game will be a rematch of last year’s state quarter-final game at Southwest Minnesota State University Mustang Field when the Patriots defeated RCW to move on to the state quarter-finals.
The 2022 clash of the undefeated teams will begin at 7 p.m. Friday, Sept. 30, in Danube
 
H-BC 60, WWG 14
After a scoreless first quarter, the Patriots found their offensive groove and thwarted the Chargers by a score of 60-14.
The Patriots’ defense was stingy again this week, only giving up 77 total yards and zero points. The defense also scored on a pick six by senior Brayden Metzger while giving up zero points. Both Charger touchdowns were on returns, one punt and one kickoff.
Meanwhile the Patriots’ offense racked up 54 points and 485 total yards, 448 of them through the rush. The Patriots also dominated the time of possession, 29.5 minutes, compared to the Chargers only having the ball for 18.5 minutes. The H-BC offense ran 56 plays compared to 38 for the visitors.
“The guys up front were able to control the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball,” said coach Rex Metzger, “and that was the difference in the game.”
The Patriots exploded for 22 points in the second quarter, led by senior running back Justin Roelfs, who rushed for touchdowns of 44 and 32 yards. Quarterback Sawyer Bosch accounted for a touchdown, a run of two yards, and a pair of two-point conversions. Bosch rushed for one touchdown and passed for another to Jackson Gacke. WWG scored just before the half on a 79-yard punt return to make the score 22-8 at the half.
The Patriots added 24 points to the score in the third quarter. Bosch connected with junior Cooper Gehrke for 27 yards and a touchdown, followed by a successful Bosch to Riley Tatge two-point conversion pass. On the ensuing kickoff, WWG returned Jamin Metzger’s kickoff 80 yards for their second return for a touchdown in the game. Justin Roelfs added to this touchdown total with a 5-yard burst, then added on the conversion with a successful run, extending the score to 38-14, in favor of the Patriots.
With the score at 38-14, Patriot linebacker Brayden Metzger took an interception back to the house for a Patriots touchdown. Sophomore Beau Bakken tacked on the two-point conversion run, and the score stood at 46-14.
In the fourth quarter the Patriots scored two more touchdowns, one on a 10-yard run by Brock Harnack with a successful two-point conversion by freshman speedster Mason Shaffner, who then scored the last Patriots touchdown on a 4-yard run to end the scoring with 3:06 left in the game. Reserves on both sides saw a lot of action during the fourth quarter.
When asked about the keys to the homecoming victory, coach Metzger said, “We created some turnovers and gave ourselves good field position.”
 
Team statistics
HBC: 458 rushing yards, 27 passing yards, 485 total yards, 23 first downs, 7 penalties for 70 yards, one turnover.
WWG: 20 rushing yards, 57 passing yards, 77 total yards, 4 penalties for 25 yards, four turnovers.
 
Individual statistics
Rushing: Justin Roelfs 25–232 yards, Beau Bakken 5–78 yards, Jamin Metzger 1–43 yards, Sawyer Bosch 8–32 yards, Cooper Gehrke 4-26 yards, Mason Shaffner 3-23 yards, James VandenBosch 4-14 yards.
Passing: Sawyer Bosch 1-5 for 27 yards.
Receiving: Cooper Gehrke 1-27 Yards.
Defense: Justin Roelfs four tackles, Blake Leenderts four tackles, two TFL, Brayden Mezger three tackles, one TFL, one Interception, Luke Fuerstenberg 2.5 tackles, one TFL, Cole Rozeboom 1.5 TFL, Riley Tatge .5 TFL.

The Luverne Cardinals played two matches in the past week and went 0-2 to move their record to 10-4 on the season. 
LHS started the week on Tuesday, Sept. 20, with a 0-7 loss to St. James and a 3-4 loss to Redwood Valley on Thursday, Sept. 22.
The Cardinals are scheduled to travel to Pipestone on Tuesday for a rescheduled match with the Arrows in the annual Battle Racquet Match.
LHS will start team section play on Tuesday, Oct. 4.
 
LHS O, St. James 7
In the St. James match, LHS was not able to win one match for the day.
Roselynn Hartshorn was beaten 6-4, 6-4 by Eva Ronsdahl at No. 1 singles. Morgan Hadler lost to Keyana Haler 6-0, 6-0 at No. 2 singles. At No. 3 singles, Cassi Chesley lost to Maya Kulsteth 6-0, 6-4, and Emma Nath was beaten 6-3, 6-1 by Lily Ciske at No. 4 singles.
In doubles play, Sarah Stegenga and Katharine Kelm lost to Alexis Brekken and Allison Bledorn 6-1, 6-0 at No. 1 doubles.
Tori Hemme and Priscilla Muehr were defeated 6-3, 6-0 by Mykera Hanson and Dani Traper at No. 2 doubles, and Augusta Papik and Caitlin Kindt lost 6-3, 6-2 to Mariah Mireles and Mika Wessels at No. 3 doubles. 
“St. James is the best team we have played this season. Roselynn played a very solid match but came up just short in both sets,” said LHS coach Jon Beers. 
“It is never fun to lose every match, but I was happy that the girls didn’t give up and kept playing until the end of each match.”
 
LHS 3, Redwood Valley 4
In the Redwood Valley match, LHS won two singles matches and one doubles match in the 4-3 loss. 
At No. 2 singles, Hadler defeated Lily Deblieck 6-0, 6-2. Chesley won a close match 6-1, 5-7, 6-3 against Lauren Dolezal at No. 3 singles. Hartshorn lost 2-6, 6-2, 6-1 in a good  three-set match to Brooke Zollner at No. 1 singles, and Nath was beaten 6-2, 6-1 by McKenna Flinn at No. 4 singles.
The lone doubles victory came at No. 3 doubles as Papik and Kindt won 6-1, 6-7(2), 6-3 over Julian Brown and Michelle Smith.
Stegenga and Kelm lost 6-1, 3-6, 7-6 (5) to Mila Jenniges and Ella Stoneberg at No. 1 doubles, and Hemme and Muehr lost 7-5, 6-1 to Julia Lang and Anneliese Hammer at No. 2 doubles.
“The Redwood Valley match was a hard loss.  We lost two three-set matches that if we could have found a way to win one would have given us a team victory,” Beers said. 
“Morgan played a really good match at No. 3 singles. It was really good to see her pick up a win and should give her some confidence going forward,” said Beers.
“All the girls played better against Redwood Valley. Hopefully we can play like that against Pipestone on Tuesday and bring home the Battle Racquet for the fifth straight year.”