By John RittenhouseThe Hills-Beaver Creek volleyball team fell a couple of points short in its attempt to qualify for state competition for the first time in school history Saturday in Marshall.Taking on two-time defending champion Minneota in a Section 3A championship match at Southwest State University, the Patriots appeared on the verge of posting an upset when they took a 2-1 lead after three games.Minneota, however, spoiled H-BC’s possible party.The state’s fifth-ranked Class 1A team rallied from an early deficit to win the fourth game by four points before snapping a tie at nine in the fifth game with a 6-1 surge that clinched the Vikings’ third consecutive section championship.Minneota, 29-2-1, will take on Bethlehem Academy in the quarterfinal round of the Minnesota State High School Class A Volleyball Tournament at 1 p.m. today in the River Centere in St. Paul.H-BC, which won its first sub-section title in school history two days prior to challenging the Vikings, ends the campaign with a 20-6 record.The Patriots played well enough to take the Vikings to five games, but it was Minneota’s experience that won out in the end."I would say their experience was the difference," said H-BC second-year coach Curt Doorneweerd. "They have played in a lot of big matches the last four or five years, so they were used to playing in pressure-packed environments. The only big match we played in before this was against Fulda Thursday."A lack of big-match experience didn’t seem to hamper the Patriots early in Saturday’s championship match. They were positioned to sweep the Vikings, but settled for winning two of the first three games.Minneota scored the first two points of Game 1 before the Patriots rallied to tie the score at five and seven with a kill and a service point from Amanda Olson.The score was tied at 11 when Brittney Rozeboom gave the Patriots their first lead (13-11) with a pair of service points, and Olson extended the lead to five points (21-16) with a service point as the game progressed.The Vikings pulled within two points (21-19) by recording three consecutive counters, but the Patriots answered the challenge with a 4-2 surge capped by an ace tip from Erin Boeve to secure a 25-21 victory.Both teams sported leads early in Game 2 before H-BC turned a 7-6 deficit into an 11-7 lead with a five-point run capped by a kill from Melinda Feucht.The Vikings battled back to move in front 13-12 with a 6-1 run, but H-BC countered with a 4-2 surge that ended with a service point by Melinda Sandstede to regain the lead at 16-15.Minneota countered with a 7-2 run after Standstede’s point to take a 22-17 lead it would never relinquish. The Patriots trimmed the difference to three points twice (22-19 and 23-20) as the game progressed before the Vikings knotted the match at one game each with a 25-20 victory.The Vikings led 3-1 early in the third game before Boeve recorded three blocks and a kill during a 5-0 run that gave the Patriots a 6-3 advantage.H-BC still led by three (8-5) when Minneota mounted a 6-1 run to take an 11-9 edge, but a block by H-BC’s Kelly Mulder tied the score at 11.The score was knotted at 13 when Boeve recorded one block and one kill and Cassi Tilstra served a pair of points to give H-BC a 17-13 advantage.H-BC extended its lead to five points (23-18) when Olson delivered an ace serve before Tilstra iced a 25-22 victory with a kill.Considering this was H-BC’s first appearance in a section championship match, Doorneweerd was happy with his team’s performance through three games."I really didn’t know what to expect from the girls going into the match, then they came right out and played really well. These girls surprise me all the time," he said.H-BC, which scored the first two points of the fourth game, fell behind by two points before knotting the score at seven with a service point by Olson.Minneota went on a 10-3 run to break the tie and take a 17-10 lead. The Vikings still led by seven points (19-12) before H-BC trimmed the difference to three points (19-16) with an ace tip by Sandstede.The Vikings sported a 22-19 advantage when they scored three consecutive points to tie the match at two games each with a 25-19 victory.The Patriots scored the first two points of the fifth game before falling behind 5-3.A point served by Sandstede tied the game at five, and the Patriots battled back from a three-point deficit (9-6) to knot the score at nine after Tilstra delivered a kill.Minneota, however, recorded the next four points and scored six of the last seven points to post a 15-10 win and capture the section championship."I thought we had them where we wanted them when the score was tied at nine in the fifth game," Doorneweerd said. "We just chose a bad time to make a few bad passes. We shanked a few. It happens. Unfortunately, we picked a bad time. When the score is 9-9, and you’re playing to 15, you can’t afford to make any mistakes."Boeve, one of four senior members of the H-BC team along with Olson, Sandstede and Alissa Hoyme, turned in a 22-kill, 13-block performance for the Patriots.Olson, who added six kills to the cause, was 18 of 18 serving with three aces. Rozeboom completed all 17 of her serves, and Feucht was 12 of 13 serving.Mulder recorded 11 kills and 11 blocks, while Feucht chipped in four kills and two blocks. Tilstra added six kills.

By John RittenhouseA Hills-Beaver Creek junior drew All-State accolades during the Minnesota State Class A Cross Country Championships in Northfield Saturday.Tyler Bush, a member of the H-BC-Ellsworth-Edgerton program, raced his way to a 21st-place finish in the 165-runner boys’ varsity race.Bush ran a career-best time of 16:32.7 to crack the Top 25 individual competition. All of the top 25 runners at the meet earn All-State status."Tyler did everything we wanted him to do," said Patriot coach Tom Goehle. "We wanted to run a 5:20 pace (each 1,600 meters), which would have given him an exact time of 16:33. We figured a 16:33 would place him in the Top 10 based on last year’s results. It just so happened that the field of runners was a lot better as a whole this year."Bush shaved 43 seconds off his 17:15 performance at the state meet in 2002, when he placed 15th individually.Unfortunately for Bush, the best performance of his life was not good enough to place him higher than 21st Saturday.Goehle, however, was not disappointed in his performance.The H-BC-E-E coach noted that Bush placed sixth among non-seniors in the state field that featured a state meet record winning time of 15:41.5 turned in by East Grand Forks senior Matt Damico."Tyler went out and ran his best race ever. He ran at a perfect pace. You just can’t control how the other runners perform at a state meet," Goehle said.If Bush continues to improve as a senior in 2004, he will be a force to be reckoned with at the state meet next season."With a couple of years of experience up there (in Northfield), he has an idea of what he has to do to finish as one of the top two or three runners at the state meet, which is something he would like to do."

By John RittenhouseThe Hills-Beaver Creek Patriots captured their first South Section 3A Tournament championship by sweeping Fulda 3-0 in Luverne Thursday.The Patriots, who had never advanced to a championship game in postseason play prior to Thursday’s match, proved they were the best team in the field by disposing of the Raiders in straight games.H-BC prevailed by scores of 25-19, 25-16 and 25-21 over Fulda, completing an impressive tournament that featured three match victories without losing a single game.The win upped H-BC’s season record to 20-5, a mark the Patriots took into the Section 3A championship match against Minneota Saturday at Southwest State University in Marshall. Read about that match on the front page of the sports section.Playing for a berth in the state tournament was something H-BC senior leader Erin Boeve didn’t consider at the beginning of the season.Boeve, who registered 35 kills and eight blocks during the championship match, said the Patriots’ goals were modest at the beginning of the year."Our big goal was to get out of the first round (of the South Section Tournament)," she said. "We were looking at winning a conference championship, but it didn’t work out. It was when we got the No. 1 seed for this tournament when I thought maybe we have a shot at this."Fulda, the No. 6 seed, stood in the way of H-BC’s title bid Thursday.The Raiders rallied to win their first two matches of the tournament, and Boeve expected Fulda to fight to the finish in the championship tilt. "We were confident coming into the match, because we had beat them during the season, but we knew they would come ready to play, too," Boeve said. "Fulda won its first two matches in five games by winning the last two games, so we knew we had to play the games out."The Patriots didn’t let Fulda gain any momentum in the first game of the match.H-BC scored the first two points and led 9-3 after Boeve served a point.Fulda climbed to within four points (9-5) of the Patriots before H-BC went on a 10-5 run that ended with another service point from Boeve to make the difference 19-10.H-BC still led by nine (21-12) when the Raiders reeled off five consecutive points to make it a 21-17 game, but a kill and a block by Boeve ended a 4-2 surge by the Patriots that gave them a 25-19 win.Game 2 was tied at five before H-BC senior setter Melinda Sandstede served a four-point run following an H-BC point to give the Patriots a 10-5 advantage.Fulda battled back to trail by three (15-12), but an ace tip by Boeve capped an 8-1 H-BC run that gave the Patriots a commanding 23-13 lead.Boeve added a kill moments later to lock up a 25-16 victory for the Patriots.Game 3 proved to be the most competitive contest of the night.After H-BC scored the first two points, Fulda scored six straight counters to take a 6-2 lead.Sandstede tied the game at seven with a service point, and H-BC junior Kelly Mulder gave the Patriots a 13-11 edge with a kill as the game progressed.Fulda fought back to retake the lead at 17-16, but the Patriots countered with a 6-0 run capped by a block from Boeve to give H-BC a 22-17 advantage.The Raiders put together one more surge to trim the difference to two points at 23-21 before Mulder countered with a kill and a tip to give H-BC its championship with a 25-21 victory."It’s about time," Boeve said, about the fact that H-BC had just won its first postseason title. "It feels pretty good."Mulder had a big night at the net for H-BC by recording 15 kills and four blocks. Cassi Tilstra, Amanda Olson and Melinda Feucht added 10, five and four kills respectively to the winning cause.Brittney Rozeboom led H-BC in serving by completing all 18 of her attempts during the match. Tilstra was 12 of 13 serving. Feucht was seven of seven.H-BC coach Curt Doorneweerd, who was named the South Section 3A Coach of the Year after the match, said Ashley Bosch played a great match in the back row for the Patriots.

By John RittenhouseSouthwest United denied Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth a berth in the state football tournament by blanking the Patriots 25-0 during the Section 2 Nine-Man championship game played in Hills Saturday.A swarming Wildcat defense limited the Patriots to 50 yards of total offense while shutting out the hosts.SWU running back Anthony Johnson ran for 175 yards and two touchdowns and passed for another to lead the Wildcats to their first appearance in the state tournament.The winner of five straight games after starting the season at 0-6, SWU will open the Minnesota State Nine-Man Football Tournament by playing a 7 p.m. quarterfinal-round game in Spring Grove Friday.H-BC-E, which had a three-game winning streak snapped with the loss to the Wildcats, ends its 7-4 season.According to Patriot coach Dan Ellingson, the section title game was settled in the trenches.The Wildcats controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, limiting H-BC-E to 34 rushing yards and four first downs defensively, and compiling 253 rushing yards on offense."They played pretty well on the line," Ellingson admitted. "We played well on the line last week (against Comfrey-Cedar Mountain), and I thought SWU played well on the line this week. Their play on the line is where they got us."The Wildcats played especially well on defense, shutting down an H-BC-E offense that scored a combined 50 points in the first two playoff games.SWU concentrated on stopping H-BC-E running backs Zach Wysong and Tom LeBoutillier, and the Wildcats got the job done.LeBoutillier picked up 14 yards. Wysong, H-BC-E’s leading rusher this season, was limited to seven yards.A thigh bruise sidelined Wysong early in the first half. He tried to come back late in the game, but it didn’t work out."Defensivley, they sent everyone after us," Ellingson said. "They had seven guys near the line the whole game and blitzed all seven of them. We didn’t run the ball well against them, and when we tried to pass, we didn’t have time to get the ball to our receivers."It didn’t take SWU’s defense long to make a statement in the game.After forcing the Patriots to punt four plays into their first offensive possession, the Wildcats turned their first possession into a 7-0 lead.A long drive ended with Johnson scoring on a three-yard run. A successful extra point followed the touchdown.The score remained 7-0 until late in the second quarter, after the Patriots lost the ball on downs.SWU countered by putting together its second scoring-drive that was capped by a 38-yard touchdown burst by Johnson. The extra-point attempt failed, leaving the Wildcats with a 13-0 advantage near the 3:00 of the second stanza.H-BC-E made a bid to score in the third quarter when it moved the ball inside SWU’s 10-yard line, but the drive stalled on downs.SWU’s offense took over and moved the ball into H-BC-E territory before Johnson tossed a 23-yard halfback pass to Will Schmitz late in the third quarter to make it a 19-0 game. The ensuing two-point conversion attempt failed.The Wildcats added a meaningless touchdown with less than one minute to play in the fourth quarter to end the scoring.Although H-BC-E lost its second straight section title tilt Saturday, Ellingson said it wasn’t because of a lack of effort."The kids played like champions all the way through the game. They played very hard until the very end," he said.Team statisticsH-BC-E: 34 rushing yards, 16 passing yards, 50 total yards, four first downs, five penalties for 40 yards, zero turnovers.SWU: 253 total yards, 56 passing yards, 309 total yards, five first downs, 10 penalties for 110 yards, two turnovers.Individual statisticsRushing: Wysong 8-7, LeBoutillier 8-14, Travis Broesder 13-3, Kerry Fink 6-10.Passing: Broesder 2-7 for 16 yards.Receiving: Wysong 1-8, Blake Hanisch 1-8.Defense: Cody Scholten 15 tackles, Jon Klaassen 11 tackles, Brian Gacke 10 tackles, Cody Rozeboom four tackles and one interception, Wysong one fumble recovery.

By John RittenhouseThe Hills-Beaver Creek volleyball team fell a couple of points short in its attempt to qualify for state competition for the first time in school history Saturday in Marshall.Taking on two-time defending champion Minneota in a Section 3A championship match at Southwest State University, the Patriots appeared on the verge of posting an upset when they took a 2-1 lead after three games.Minneota, however, spoiled H-BC’s possible party.The state’s fifth-ranked Class 1A team rallied from an early deficit to win the fourth game by four points before snapping a tie at nine in the fifth game with a 6-1 surge that clinched the Vikings’ third consecutive section championship.Minneota, 29-2-1, will take on Bethlehem Academy in the quarterfinal round of the Minnesota State High School Class A Volleyball Tournament at 1 p.m. today in the River Centere in St. Paul.H-BC, which won its first sub-section title in school history two days prior to challenging the Vikings, ends the campaign with a 20-6 record.The Patriots played well enough to take the Vikings to five games, but it was Minneota’s experience that won out in the end."I would say their experience was the difference," said H-BC second-year coach Curt Doorneweerd. "They have played in a lot of big matches the last four or five years, so they were used to playing in pressure-packed environments. The only big match we played in before this was against Fulda Thursday."A lack of big-match experience didn’t seem to hamper the Patriots early in Saturday’s championship match. They were positioned to sweep the Vikings, but settled for winning two of the first three games.Minneota scored the first two points of Game 1 before the Patriots rallied to tie the score at five and seven with a kill and a service point from Amanda Olson.The score was tied at 11 when Brittney Rozeboom gave the Patriots their first lead (13-11) with a pair of service points, and Olson extended the lead to five points (21-16) with a service point as the game progressed.The Vikings pulled within two points (21-19) by recording three consecutive counters, but the Patriots answered the challenge with a 4-2 surge capped by an ace tip from Erin Boeve to secure a 25-21 victory.Both teams sported leads early in Game 2 before H-BC turned a 7-6 deficit into an 11-7 lead with a five-point run capped by a kill from Melinda Feucht.The Vikings battled back to move in front 13-12 with a 6-1 run, but H-BC countered with a 4-2 surge that ended with a service point by Melinda Sandstede to regain the lead at 16-15.Minneota countered with a 7-2 run after Standstede’s point to take a 22-17 lead it would never relinquish. The Patriots trimmed the difference to three points twice (22-19 and 23-20) as the game progressed before the Vikings knotted the match at one game each with a 25-20 victory.The Vikings led 3-1 early in the third game before Boeve recorded three blocks and a kill during a 5-0 run that gave the Patriots a 6-3 advantage.H-BC still led by three (8-5) when Minneota mounted a 6-1 run to take an 11-9 edge, but a block by H-BC’s Kelly Mulder tied the score at 11.The score was knotted at 13 when Boeve recorded one block and one kill and Cassi Tilstra served a pair of points to give H-BC a 17-13 advantage.H-BC extended its lead to five points (23-18) when Olson delivered an ace serve before Tilstra iced a 25-22 victory with a kill.Considering this was H-BC’s first appearance in a section championship match, Doorneweerd was happy with his team’s performance through three games."I really didn’t know what to expect from the girls going into the match, then they came right out and played really well. These girls surprise me all the time," he said.H-BC, which scored the first two points of the fourth game, fell behind by two points before knotting the score at seven with a service point by Olson.Minneota went on a 10-3 run to break the tie and take a 17-10 lead. The Vikings still led by seven points (19-12) before H-BC trimmed the difference to three points (19-16) with an ace tip by Sandstede.The Vikings sported a 22-19 advantage when they scored three consecutive points to tie the match at two games each with a 25-19 victory.The Patriots scored the first two points of the fifth game before falling behind 5-3.A point served by Sandstede tied the game at five, and the Patriots battled back from a three-point deficit (9-6) to knot the score at nine after Tilstra delivered a kill.Minneota, however, recorded the next four points and scored six of the last seven points to post a 15-10 win and capture the section championship."I thought we had them where we wanted them when the score was tied at nine in the fifth game," Doorneweerd said. "We just chose a bad time to make a few bad passes. We shanked a few. It happens. Unfortunately, we picked a bad time. When the score is 9-9, and you’re playing to 15, you can’t afford to make any mistakes."Boeve, one of four senior members of the H-BC team along with Olson, Sandstede and Alissa Hoyme, turned in a 22-kill, 13-block performance for the Patriots.Olson, who added six kills to the cause, was 18 of 18 serving with three aces. Rozeboom completed all 17 of her serves, and Feucht was 12 of 13 serving.Mulder recorded 11 kills and 11 blocks, while Feucht chipped in four kills and two blocks. Tilstra added six kills.

By John RittenhouseRunners representing the Hills-Beaver Creek and Adrian programs wrapped up the 2003 cross country season at the Minnesota State Class A Championships in Northfield Saturday.Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth-Edgerton junior Tyler Bush and Adrian seventh-grader Morgan Lynn represented their schools at the state classic.Bush raced his way to an All-State performance by finishing 21st in the boys’ 165-runner varsity race.Competing in her first state meet, Lynn placed 38th in a field of 158 runners with a personal-best time of 15:34.Bush, who was running at the state meet for the second consecutive season, ran a career-best time of 16:32. Since the top 25 individual finishers earn All-State recognition, Bush drew that honor for the second straight year."Tyler did everything we wanted him to do," said Patriot coach Tom Goehle. "We wanted to run a 5:20 pace (each 1,600 meters), which would have given him an exact time of 16:33. We figured a 16:33 would place him in the Top 10, based on last year’s results. It just so happened that the field of runners was a lot better as a whole this year."Bush shaved 43 seconds off his 17:15 performance at the state meet in 2002, when he placed 15th individually.Unfortunately for Bush, the best performance of his life was not good enough to place him higher than 21st Saturday.Goehle, however, was not disappointed in the performance.The H-BC-E-E coach noted that Bush placed sixth among non-seniors in the state field that featured a state-meet record winning time of 15:41.5 turned in by East Grand Forks senior Matt Damico."Tyler went out and ran his best race ever. He ran at a perfect pace. You just can’t control how the other runners perform at a state meet," Goehle said.If Bush continues to improve as a senior in 2004, he will be a force to be reckoned with at the state meet next season."With a couple of years of experience up there (in Northfield), he has an idea of what he has to do to finish as one of the top two or three runners at the state meet, which is something he would like to do."Adrian’s Lynn has a bright cross country future, too.Lynn emerged as one of Southwest Minnesota’s top runners as a seventh-grader this fall, having five more years of school to make an even bigger impression at the state level."Morgan accomplished more than what we thought she would accomplish this year," said Dragon coach Doug Petersen. "She had a very successful season, and she ran a personal-best time of 15:34 at state."According to Petersen, Lynn met all of her pre-set goals for the state meet."She had a couple of specific goals going into the meet. Morgan wanted to run a faster time than she did at the section meet, and she wanted to beat some of the girls who finished in front of her in the section meet," Petersen revealed.Lynn met both of her expectations.Her time of 15:34 was 23 seconds better than the 15:57 she turned in while placing 10th at the section meet. Lynn also beat five of the 10 runners who topped her during the Section 3A meet.Petersen also seemed happy with the fact that Lynn placed 38th in a 158-runner field."As far as where we wanted her to place at state goes, we left that up in the air heading into the meet. You never know where you will finish from one year to another at state. For a seventh-grader to place 38th, that’s not too bad," he said.Seven of the 37 girls who topped Lynn in the individual standings were seniors.Lac qui Parle Valley-Dawson-Boyd freshman Nikki Swenson won the individual state championship with a meet-record time of 14:27.7.

By John RittenhouseThe Luverne cross country teams wrapped up the 2003 season at the Minnesota State Class A Championships in Northfield Saturday.The Luverne girls placed 13th in a 16-team field, and the Cardinals had one runner make the All-State Team.Competing in their first state meet as a team, the Cardinal boys finished 15th in a 16-team field.The Cardinal girls, who were making their second straight appearance at the state meet, slipped from a 12th-place finish in 2002 to 13th place Saturday.Luverne coach Bruce Gluf said the girls were a little disheartened losing a place in the standings from the year before, but the Cardinal mentor said it wasn’t because of a lack of effort."The field was much more competitive this year," he said. "There were a lot of fast times Saturday. Meet records were broken in three of the four races. Almost all of our girls ran their career- or personal-best times, and you can’t ask for more than that as a coach."Luverne tallied 265 points as a team, and the Cardinals were led by an outstanding performance turned in by Lexi Heitkamp.Heitkamp, an eighth-grader who won every race she competed in this season prior to the state meet, placed 11th overall with a time of 14:55.By finishing as one of the top 25 runners in the race, Heitkamp becomes the first Luverne athlete to make an all-state team in cross country.Heitkamp was the fourth individual to finish the race among the 16 teams battling for the state championship in Northfield.It’s the adjusted team finish, not the individual placing, that counts toward scoring in team competition at the state meet.Amanda Saum, Kayla Raddle, Kelsey Dooyema and Kristy Heikes made contributions to Luverne’s effort as a team.Saum finished 53rd overall and had an adjusted place of 26th with a time of 15:46, Raddle finished 110th overall and had an adjusted place of 67th with a time of 16:33, Dooyema finished 121st overall and had an adjusted place of 67th with a time of 16:46, and Heikes finished 137th overall and had an adjusted place of 91st with a time of 17:22.Victoria Arends and Amanda Kannas also ran for Luverne without influencing the scoring.Arends finished 142nd overall and had an adjusted place of 96th with a time of 17:26. Kannas finished 146th overall and had an adjusted place of 100th with a time of 17:40."I think our girls were little bit disappointed about where they placed as a team," Gluf said. "I’m not disappointed by finishing 13th. There are 178 Class A teams in the state, and we were one of 16 teams running on Saturday."Gluf said he was equally pleased with the way the Cardinal boys competed during the season and at the state meet."All the boys ran times close to the ones they ran at the section meet. Again, I wasn’t disappointed about where they finished as a team. Getting to the state meet is the hard part. What they do there is just icing on the cake."Sophomore Tom Ward, Luverne’s leading runner throughout the 2003 season, led the Cardinals in Northfield.Ward covered the course in 17:02 to place 51st overall and record a 23rd adjusted finish."Tom has had a great season," Gluf said. "Placing 51st was the best finish we’ve ever had by a boy at the state meet."Thomas Pinkal, Ruston Aaker, Jesson Vogt and Travis Halfmann all made contributions to Luverne’s effort as a team.Pinkal finished 106th overall and had an adjusted place of 57th with a time of 17:43, Aaker finished 125th overall and had an adjusted place of 74th with a time of 18:05; Vogt finished 129th overall and had an adjusted place of 78th with a time of 18:08, and Halfmann finished 152nd overall and had an adjusted place of 101st with a time of 19:00.Dusty Antoine and Michael Nelson ran for the Cards without contributing to the team effort.Antoine placed 156th overall and had an adjusted place of 105th with a time of 19:09. Nelson placed 163rd overall and had an adjusted place of 111th with a time of 20:04.Gluf has seen both Luverne teams make great strides in the sport the last two years, and he feels the squads will improve more in 2004."Our future looks bright," Gluf said. "All of the girls will be coming back next year. We will lose Jesson Vogt, who was a great leader, along with seniors Trevor Maine and Brent DeGroot on the boys’ side. But we have a great group of kids coming back. They all have a great work ethic. Their drive for success is what got them to state meet this year, and that’s something that I can’t teach them. The drive comes from within each one of them, and it shows what kind of kids we have in our program."

Public Notification of Rural Development Finding of No Significant Environmental ImpactUnited States Department of Agriculture, Rural Development is considering the application for financial assistance for the construction of seven wind turbines sponsored by Minwind III, IV, V, VI, VII, and IX. The elements of this proposed action are on Section 8 and 17 of Beaver Creek Township, 2 miles northwest of Beaver Creek, MN.Rural Development has assessed the proposed action which would result in the impacting of important farmlands located along the proposed lines and turbine site provided by Minwind LLC. Efforts will be made to limit the impact on important farmlands or cultural resource wherever possible.Mitigation Measures Archeological survey of the sites is required prior to construction. It has been determined that this action will not significantly affect the quality of the human environment. Therefore, Rural Development will not prepare an environmental impact statement for this proposed action. Any written comments regarding this determination should be provided within fifteen (15) days of this publication to Rural Development, 1567 McMillian St. Worthington, MN 56187. Rural Development will make no further decisions regarding this proposed action during this fifteen-day period. Requests to receive a copy of or to review the Rural Development environmental assessment upon which this determination is based should be directed to Paul Pierson, 1567 McMillan St. Worthington MN 56187, 507-372-7783.A general location map of the proposed Action is shown below. (11-6, 11-13)

MINNESOTA SECRETARY OF STATEAN-CN, NHAMENDMENT TO CERTIFICATE OF ASSUMED NAMEMinnesota Statutes Chapter 333The filing of an assumed name does not provide a user with exclusive rights to that name. The filing is required for consumer protection in order to enable consumers to be able to identity the true owner of a business. 1. State the exact assumed name under which the business is or will be conducted.Conklin Construction2. State the address of the principal place of business.109 W. Luverne St. Magnolia MN 561583. List the name and complete street address of all persons conducting business under the above Assumed Name.Richard A. Conklin 109 W. Luverne St., Magnolia, MN 56158Victoria Conklin 109 W. Luverne St., Magnolia, MN 561584. This certificate is an amendment of Certificate of Assumed name number 0218262 originally filed on Feb. 25, 1999 under the name Conklin Construction Joint Venture5. I certify that I am authorized to sign this certificate and I further certify that I understand that by signing this certificate, I am subject to the penalties of perjury as set forth in Minnesota Statutes section 609.48 as if I had signed this certificate under oath. /s/ Richard A. Conklin4/30/03 Richard A. Conklin Owner507-283-9366(11-6, 11-13)