By Lori Ehde
A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Thursday, May 23, in a lawsuit brought against Pinnacle Programs Inc., Magnolia. The action stems from the 1998 sex scandal that sent Pinnacle employee Sharon Smidstra to prison.

The parents of one of the sexually abused boys allege the organization knew of Smidstra's sexual relations with other boys at the facility prior to their son arriving there.

They also claim, among other things, that Pinnacle knew about Smidstra's psychological, chemical, emotional and behavior difficulties and should have known that history would be damaging to their son.

They say the facility was also negligent in not having sufficient precautions, training and supervisory arrangements in place to prevent staff members from abusing resients.

Pinnacle Programs Inc. , Smidstra and four employees are named as defendants in the suit, originally filed March 16, 2000.

The employees are not specifically named because the plaintiffs at the time of filing did not know their names.

The lawsuit is making its way through Rock County District Court, and a trial is set for June 10, unless the parties arrive at a settlement.

So far, Pinnacle and the employees deny prior knowledge of SmidstraÕs illegal activities with the boys.

Smidstra denies the activities took place at all, maintaining her innocence despite the jury conviction.

Thursday's pretrial hearing will establish trial procedure, such as which witnesses and evidence will be presented.

The plaintiff's attorney, Thomas Lehmann, Eagan, declined to say what damages his clients are seeking.

"Hopefully the good people of Rock County will put a figure on that if it goes to trial," he said Wednesday.

Smidstra was found guilty in a July 14, 1999, jury trial of first- and third-degree criminal sexual conduct, five counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and seven counts of furnishing tobacco to a minor.

She was sentenced Aug. 30, 1999, to seven years in the women's correctional facility in Shakopee.

Hills-Beaver Creek senior forward Brad Haak weaves his way around Ellsworth's Brant Deutsch to score two of his team-high 16 points during a 56-53 win over the Panthers.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek boys' basketball team has built up a head of steam heading into post-season play after defeating Ellsworth 56-53 Monday in Ellsworth.

After losing three of four games during a stretch late in the season, H-BC appears to have turned things around while winning its last two games to end a 14-8 regular season.

Ellsworth, on the other hand, seems to be losing momentum after winning 18 of its first 21 games. The 18-5 Panthers will take a season-long two-game losing streak into the post season.

Both H-BC and Ellsworth will be in action during the South Section 3A quarterfinals that will be played in Worthington Saturday. No. 4 H-BC plays No. 5 MCC at 4:40 p.m. No. 3 Ellsworth faces either No. 6 Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster or No. 11 Westbrook-Walnut Grove.

EHS can be thankful it wonÕt meet H-BC to start post-season play as it appears the Patriots have the Panthers' number.

H-BC beat the Panthers 77-43 in Hills Nov. 29, and they came out on top in a game that featured two different halves in Ellsworth Monday.

Ellsworth dictated play while sporting modest leads at the first two quarter breaks. The second half belonged to the Patriots as they outscored EHS 33-24.

The second half didn't start out well for H-BC as Panther Dylan Kvaale hit a three-point shot to give EHS its biggest lead of the game at 34-25 early in the third quarter.

H-BC countered with a 19-6 run that gave it a 44-40 advantage at the end of the third quarter.

The rally featured a three-point shot by Lyle DeBoer that tied the game at 40 with 2:08 remaining in the stanza. David Top gave the Patriots the lead with two free throws at the 1:15 mark, and Trey Van Wyhe turned an offensive rebound into a field goal with 46 seconds left to end the scoring in the third quarter.

Kvaale gave Ellsworth what proved to be its final lead (49-48) of the game when he drained a three-point shot with 4:32 left to play in the game.

Two free throws by Van Wyhe at 4:14 and another by Brad Haak at 3:20 put the Patriots in front 51-49, but Panther Curt Schilling tied the game at 51 with a pair of charity shots at the 1:19 mark.

DeBoer came up big for H-BC down the stretch as he converted an offensive rebound into a field goal with one minute remaining before making a free throw 30 seconds later to make it a 54-51 game.

Two free throws by Schilling with 21.7 remaining made the difference one point (54-53), but Top ended the scoring by draining a pair of free throws with 7.8 seconds left to give H-BC its three-point win.

Ellsworth raced to a 14-4 lead in the first quarter before H-BC countered with an 8-0 run that was capped by a three-point play by Haak that knotted the score at 12 with 1:33 remaining in the stanza. Schilling hit a three with 41 seconds left to play to give the Panthers a 15-12 lead they would take into the second quarter.

A field goal by Haak at the 5:30 mark of the second period capped a 6-2 H-BC surge that gave the Patriots their first lead of the game at 18-17.

H-BC led 20-19 when EHS went on an 8-0 run capped by Blake Brommer's put-back at 2:03 to give the hosts a 27-20 advantage with 2:03 left to play in the first half.

The Patriots outscored the Panthers 3-2 in the final two minutes and trailed 29-23 at the intermission.

Haak led the Patriots with 16 points and eight rebounds in the game. Top had 15 points and five rebounds, and DeBoer added 15 points and three steals. Jesse Leuthold and Matt Buck snared seven and five rebounds respectively for the winners.

Schilling scored 32 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for EHS. Kvaale finished the game with nine rebounds and four assists.

Box score
H-BC
Roozenboom 1 0 0-0 2, Van Maanen 0 0 0-0 0, Haak 6 0 4-6 16, Leuthold 0 0 0-0 0, L.DeBoer 4 2 1-2 5, Van Wyhe 2 0 2-2 6, Top 2 2 5-7 15, Buck 1 0 0-2 2.
Ellsworth
Schilling 10 2 6-6 32, Jenniges 2 0 0-0 4, Janssen 1 0 0-0 2, Kvaale 1 2 1-2 9, Sieff 0 0 0-0 0, Deutsch 1 0 0-0 2, Brommer 1 0 0-0 2, Herman 1 0 0-0 2.

Team statistics
H-BC: 20 of 52 field goals (38 percent), 12 of 19 free throws (63 percent), 33 rebounds, 13 turnovers.
Ellsworth: 21 of 54 field goals (39 percent), seven of eight free throws (88 percent), 29 rebounds, 13 turnovers.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth boys' golf team put an end to a five-match losing skid when it competed at a triangular meet in Sanborn Friday.

Playing against host Red Rock Central and Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster, the Patriots finished in the middle of the pack by going 1-1.

The home-standing Falcons won the triangular with a 188-stroke total. H-BC-E bested SV-RL-B 196-207 for second place.

Tom Janssen led the Patriots for the day by shooting an eight-over-par 44.

Kyle Sammons and Dusty Seachris contributed 48-stroke totals to H-BC-E's team tally, while Ben Herman chipped in a 56.

Clint Roozenboom and Nick Deutsch shot respective 56- and 62-stroke rounds without influencing the scoring.

RRC's Alex Pfar earned medalist honors by carding a six-over-par 42.

SV-RL-B's Tim Sather shot a 47 to lead the Raiders.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth Patriots were unable to snap a baseball slide when they traveled to Edgerton for a Red Rock Conference tilt Thursday.

H-BC-E fell behind by four runs early and never recovered from the poor start while falling 4-1 to the Flying Dutchmen.

The Patriots were hampered by five fielding errors in the game, and some of them led to Edgerton scoring four runs in the first three innings.

The Flying Dutchmen plated single runs in the first and third frames while adding two counters in the second.

H-BC-E scored its lone run in the top of the fifth.

Kevin Van Batavia singled and scored when Zach Wysong doubled.

Wysong slapped two of H-BC-E's six hits in the contest.

Justin Van Maanen pitched all six innings for the Patriots.

Van Maanen fanned four batters for an H-BC-E team that dropped its fourth straight game.

By Jolene Farley
The Hills City Council conducted its yearly Board of Review meeting in conjunction with the regular council meeting Tuesday. The Board of Review gives taxpayers the opportunity to question assessed tax values in Hills.

Rock County assessors Mark Hovland and Tom Houselog were on hand answer questions from taxpayers and the council.

Only one Hills resident attended the meeting to question an increase in his property taxes.

"We have no choice but to raise or the Department of Revenue will raise for us," said Hovland.

Residential valuations increased 5 percent this year for homes in Hills valued under $90,000. Valuations increased 3 percent on houses over $90,000.

Farmland valuation increased anywhere from 0 to 5 percent, while tillable land valuation increased from 3 to 5 percent. There was very little change in commercial and industrial properties, according to Hovland.

Even with the valuation increases, Hills boasts the lowest tax rate in Rock County, according to Hovland.

Valuation increases in Hills were spurred by the Minnesota Department of Revenue requirement that property valuations stay in the 90 to 105 percent range. Hills' property valuations median ratio was 88.1 percent.

Hovland and Houselog used data from the 12 residential sales in Hills between the dates of Oct. 1, 2000, and Sept. 30, 2001, as the determining factor for the increase.

A broad price range of homes sold between those dates, according to Houselog. Sale prices ranged between a low of $27,000 to a high of more than $90,000.

The school district has the biggest impact on tax increases and decreases, according to Hovland.
"People want services and usually they are willing to pay," said Hovland.

Mayor Jim Jellema said he hopes the low property tax rate can become a selling point for the community.

In other business
The council reviewed the yearly audit report issued by Matt Taubert, a partner in the accounting firm Meulebroeck, Taubert and Company, Pipestone.

The report showed no instances of non-compliance except one finding of a lack of segregation of duties in the accounting function.

This common finding among smaller cities cannot be corrected unless more employees are hired for accounting.

The council discussed some problem areas in town and how to encourage people to clean up their properties.

"Is there anything you can do to make people clean up their own property?" questioned Mayor Jim Jellema.

By Jolene Farley
Internet access for every Hills-Beaver Creek classroom is one step closer following School Board action Monday.

The board approved a three-year lease through Apple Financial Services for the use of 50 computers, four printers and one server. The district will pay $19,508 per year for the use of the equipment.

"One of my goals was to put a computer in every classroom," said Superintendent Dave Deragisch. The lease program allows that goal to become a reality.

Deragisch pointed out the district usually spends more than $25,000 per year on technology purchases. The elementary school currently has 13 computers that need to be replaced and the high school library has seven computers that need to be replaced.

According to terms of the agreement, the district will be charged no interest on the lease the first year with an increase to 3.5-percent interest the second year.

The lease agreement includes Apple Care maintenance, which could save the district money on repair costs.

At the end of the lease the district has the option to purchase each piece of equipment for $1.

Two of the leased computers would be laptops, and school nurse Lois Leenderts could carry one back and forth between the elementary and the high school. The other could be used wherever needed.

The high school classrooms are internet ready, but the grade school classrooms would need a T-1 phone line connection and a server installed before teachers and students could access the Internet, according to Deragisch.

The board suggested asking Technology Coordinator Roger Jackson to install the computers over the summer, possibly with the help of a technologically savvy student.

Costs associated with internet service for the schools could be reimbursed through technology grants, according to Deragisch.

Pairing with Luverne
Superintendent Deragisch and the board continued discussion on the varsity baseball program.

The board was offered two options at an April meeting for declining numbers in the varsity baseball program.

One option was to drop to the junior varsity level, another option was to go ahead with scheduled games for the 2003 season and hope to fill the team.

The board had decided to drop to the junior varsity level.

At Monday's meeting the board decided to go with a third option. Deragisch suggested the board consider pairing with Luverne for varsity baseball.

He also suggested pairing with Luverne for gir's softball. This arrangement would equalize the number of boys' and girls’ sports currently offered by the district.

The board directed Deragisch to continue talks with the Luverne district.

In other business ...
Hills-Beaver Creek schools will begin a program to honor loyal employees or "anyone affiliated with the school in some capacity or another" for their years of service. Honorees will receive an award and a token of appreciation from the district.

Teachers Rachelle McGill, Mary Mudder, Cindy Larson, Chris Louwagie and Jodi Ackerman were tenured by the board.

Deragisch showed video of a section of pipe at the high school that frequently plugs up. The district has spent $1,200 trying, unsuccessfully, to correct the problem.

Current pipes are cemented under the existing building. The board directed Deragisch to check into the cost of installing new pipe outside of the building versus trying to clean out existing pipes.

G

By Jolene Farley
A seatbelt sting on April 30 at Hills-Beaver Creek High School found only 47 of 122 people wearing their seatbelts.

That comes to 39 percent compared with the statewide average of 72-percent seatbelt usage in rural areas.

Rock County Collaborative representative Paula Anderson, with the help of High School Administrator Steve Wiertzema and students Becky Broesder and Brittney Olson, randomly stopped 71 cars Tuesday morning as they entered the Hills-Beaver Creek campus from four directions.

The 122 passengers in the vehicles were students, teachers and parents. Students wearing seatbelts were rewarded with a free beverage and entry into a drawing for prizes.

Those passengers not wearing seatbelts were reminded of the dangers of not wearing a seatbelt.

"When this idea surfaced, I was very na•ve, I thought almost everyone wore their seatbelts. It's such an easy habit," said Anderson. "Now I see that we have some serious work to do. We need to set better examples as adults and not just wear our seatbelts when we're out on the interstate."

A similar sting in Luverne found 286 people out of 573, or one-third of the people in 481 cars, wearing seatbelts.

Collaborative members and peer helpers checked all vehicles entering the Luverne High School campus at three points of entry.

Luverne Drivers Education instructor Craig Nelson reminded drivers and passengers of accident statistics.

"The impact of not wearing a seatbelt in a 30 mph crash is the same as falling head first off a three-story building," Nelson said.

Every hour someone in the United States dies simply because they did not wear a seatbelt.

Wearing a seatbelt reduces the risk of dying in a traffic accident by 60 percent, and traffic crashes are the No. 1 cause of death among teen-agers.

In 2000, only 15 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds killed in car crashes were reported as wearing seatbelts.

Nelson, the Rock County Collaborative and Nobles Rock Public Health organized the Hills and Luverne stings. Local auto insurance companies, local businesses and Coca Cola donated prizes for seatbelt wearers.

Seatbelt safety checks will be repeated later this year in Hills and Luverne to determine if the safety checks changed behavior in the communities.

Hills-Beaver Creek High School prom, with the theme "Hold on to the Night," was held Saturday. Jesse Leuthold was Mikaela Marshall's escort for the evening.

Photos by Jolene Farley

Tuff Home residents Frank DeBoer and Mary Eernisse were crowned king and queen Monday during the Mother's Tea at Tuff Memorial. The tea is was one of many activities planned to celebrate Homes for the Aging Week Sunday, May 12, through Saturday, May 18. The theme for this year's celebration is "Share the Spirit: A Celebration of Age." The theme highlights the wisdom, joy and love the elderly have to share with other generations. Other king and queen candidates were Carl Smith, Ray Binford, Signe Egebo and Ruth Smith.

Photo by Jolene Farley