By Jolene Farley
Superintendent Tom Knoll has verbally accepted a new position at Hayfield Community School, according to Hayfield School Board President Steve Boysen.

Hayfield, located about 25 miles southwest of Rochester, has 1,005 kindergarten through 12 students.

Comparatively, the Hills-Beaver Creek school district has approximately 308 students and Luverne district has approximately 1,326 students. The Hayfield district includes five towns that consolidated into one district in the 1960s.

The Hayfield School Board met Tuesday evening to ratify Knoll's $80,000 three-year contract scheduled to begin July 1 of this year.

The superintendent position had 29 applicants, which the School Board interviewed extensively, according to Boysen.

"Tom was No. 1 all the way through," said Boysen. "We are very excited." He praised Knoll's understanding of Minnesota finance and public relations.

"We did an extensive background check," Boysen stated.

Superintendent Knoll was unavailable for comment.

By Jolene Farley
Beaver Creek Mayor Al Blank is confident a new fire hall will be built in Beaver Creek in the next year.

The town has been exploring the possibility of construction for a few years now, according to Blank.

The city had "a ballot when the whole thing started" to raise the mill rate to fund the project.

The increase provides about $15,000 per year in revenue for the project, and Blank said funds collected the last few years will amount to a sizable down payment.

A special committee, including three Beaver Creek firefighters, two City Council members and one Beaver Creek Township Board representative, has been formed to pursue the project.

Beaver Creek Township has expressed an interest in sharing a facility. If that happens, the new facility would use both the land under the Beaver Creek Township Hall and the current fire hall.

"We are trying to come up with a plan that would be agreeable and still affordable," said Blank. "Nobody denies we need a fire hall; it is just how to go about doing it."

The fire department and city of Beaver Creek want to consolidate as much storage as possible into a strictly utilitarian building, according to Blank.

At one time an architect was retained by the Beaver Creek Fire Department, but plans were so elaborate and the price so "out of hand" they were discarded.

The current fire hall was a used building when the fire department moved into it more than 20 years ago.

By John Rittenhouse
Last weekend was a good one for area race drivers competing at four different tracks.

Drivers from the Star Herald coverage area won a combined four feature races and four heat events while competing in Worthington, Rock Rapids, Iowa, Hartford and Brandon, S.D.

Local talent posted a pair of feature wins during Sunday’s races at Worthington Speedway.

Kanaranzi's Colter Deutsch took top honors in the A feature in the sportsman's class, and Luverne's Jason Wohlford won the B feature in the same class.

Luverne's Josh Reisch also made an appearance in Worthington, placing second in the modified feature.

The other feature wins produced by an area driver came at Sturdevant's I-90 Speedway in Hartford Saturday.

Ellsworth's Mark DeBoer posted a heat win and a feature win in the late model street stock class at the South Dakota track.

Luverne's Jesse Akkerman and Magnolia's Larry Kracht also raced in Hartford.

Kracht placed second in his heat race before winning the feature event in the hobby stock class.

Akkerman placed second in his heat race in the late model street stock class before transmission problems led to a seventh-place finish in the 21-car feature race.

Ellsworth's DeBoer also earned places at Rapid Speedway, Rock Rapids, Iowa, and Huset's Speedway, Brandon, S.D., Friday and Sunday respectively.

DeBoer was the lone area driver to pick up a place at Huset’s, finishing fourth in the late model street stock feature.

DeBoer placed third in the feature race in the late model street stock class at Rapid Speedway.

Darren Korthals, a Hills-Beaver Creek High School graduate who now lives in Rock Rapids, won a heat race and placed second in the feature event in the late model street stock class in Rock Rapids.

Adrian’s Brad Klaassen and Magnolia's Larry Kracht produced heat victories at Rapid Speedway.

Klaassen won his heat and placed second in the feature in the sportman's class. Rural Luverne's Scott Overgaard placed fourth in the feature race in the same class.

Kracht won his heat and placed fifth in the feature in the hobby stock class. Luverne's Anthony Mann placed fourth in the feature race in the same class.

By Lori Ehde
Sen. Mark Dayton's state director, Jim Gelbmann, met with Luverne area residents Friday at the Pizza Ranch to discuss the effects of high energy prices on consumers, farmers businesses and the community as a whole.

The Pizza Ranch meeting room was nearly filled with people willing to offer their observations.

Farmers shared how fuel prices gouge their bottom line both for production costs and shipping costs after harvest.

Luverne Superintendent Vince Schaefer said rising fuel costs cut into funds that should be spent in the classroom.

Others at the meeting represented efforts to establish alternative sources of energy, such as wind and ethanol.

They asked Dayton to work toward restructuring tax incentives so that owner producers could get involved in alternative energy - not just the big energy producers such as Enron or Florida Power.

They also encouraged him to support legislation that would spend less money on military protection of oil in the Middle East and more on incentives for domestic production of alternative energy.

Luverne's meeting was a kick-off for several others around the state designed to gather residents' input on energy prices.

"As the nation begins to put a new energy policy into place, I want to be sure that we take into account the needs and challenges presented by the alarming rise in energy costs in Minnesota," Dayton said in a release issued prior to Friday's meeting in Luverne.

He is planning to arrange a Senate field hearing in Minnesota with Sen. Paul Wellstone.

The information gathered in Luverne and in other places will be used at that hearing during the upcoming energy debate in Washington.

By Lori Ehde
Elaine Fick, rural Luverne, came home Wednesday afternoon to find that her bedroom had been ransacked.

Drawers were pulled out of dressers, and their contents were strewn on the floor.

"At first I was just confused, but then it dawned on me what happened," she said.

She and her husband, Ron, were the latest victims of a new string of local burglaries. In their case, thieves made off with gift money from their recent wedding.

"I can't even believe it," she said Friday. "It's such an invasion. I'm so mad they were in here. They were just dumping everything out."

She said she's especially grateful no one was hurt, because 18-year-old Melissa Fick was likely home when the burglary was underway.

"I left for work at 1:20, and Missy came home at 2," Elaine said. "She's pretty shaken, because with Carrie's (Nelson) murder, it's pretty scary for these kids."

The Ficks have been locking their doors at night, primarily because of Missy's fears, but they weren't prepared for a daytime burglary.

"They came in and stole money out of our bedroom in broad daylight," she said. "People need to be careful and know that no one is immune to this."

Rock County Sheriff Ron McClure said that's exactly the message he's trying to get to the public.

"I've never in all my 27 years at the Sheriff's Department seen such a rash of vandalism and burglary," he said Friday. "Even though this is a very good community, it's still vulnerable."

He said the homes that have been burglarized so far are those that are not locked.

So, his advice for area residents is to lock doors - including garages - when they're not home and to lock doors when they go to bed at night.

Also, he's asking neighbors to help each other out. "If they see anything strange, give us a call, because we'll need help to get this solved," McClure said.

With the added demands of the state park murder investigation, McClure said his staff has been scrambling.

"We're trying to fill in the holes and plug the leaks in the dam," he said. "We're going to be changing some shifts to have another car out there at night."

Since May 25, the Sheriff's Department has received reports of 10 thefts and burglaries and more than 30 reports of vandalism - mostly paint balls and spray paint.

Carrie Overgaard, Luverne, of the Chamber Pots gives her best toss in the Green Earth Players-sponsored buffalo chip throwing contest. Participants were given plastic gloves to wear while handling the dried buffalo chips.

Renee Sawtelle, Luverne, gives her daughter, Cammie, a boost while watching the spotlight dancers.

Buffalo Days drew an estimated 12,000 people to the city park Saturday for the 17th annual celebration.

Free performances and countless booths kept the town busy with sights, sounds and, of course, food.
Jim Brandenburg paid his hometown a visit for an artist's reception and book signing Friday and Saturday. The Brandenburg Gallery saw increased sales, especially of the new posters "Dream Back the Bison, Sing Back the Swan." Proceeds from the poster go to the Brandenburg Prairie Foundation.

Sunday's weather was less than perfect, but it was nice enough to bring about 1,000 people to the free buffalo burger feed at the state park.

Luverne's Elementary Choir started off entertainment Saturday at Arts in the Park with a performance of "Buffalo Days" written by Emily Lodine Overgaard.

Three-year-old Ryleigh Beers, daughter of Brad and Jane Beers, Luverne, almost makes it to the end of the line in the tractor pedal pull contest Saturday but stopped just short of qualifying.

By Lori Ehde
Carrie Nelson's favorite color was orange, and her friends and family continue to honor her memory this week by wearing orange ribbons.

Carrie's father, Stan Nelson, Hills, wore an orange ribbon to Tuesday's press conference at the Law Enforcement Center in Luverne.

He told the Star Herald after the conference that he believes his daughter has joined the angels in heaven.

"I know it," he said. "Just when I think I'm falling apart, I can feel her spirit holding me up."

He said he could feel her presence when he was choosing her gravesite in Flowerfield Cemetery near Hills. "A Baltimore oriole, with its orange color, was out there singing in a tree, and I could feel her presence."

The orange ribbons were made available at Luverne High School and at her funeral, which drew nearly 600 people to Grace Lutheran Church Friday.

Her mother, Nan (Karr) Kaufenberg, said she appreciated Lowell Berg's funeral message, which reminded everyone of the power of love over evil.

He drew the connection between Carrie's life, which was filled with love and happiness, and the life of Jesus, who was also murdered.

Nelson had attended Berg's church, Bethlehem Lutheran in Hills, for much of her life.

Kaufenberg said she doesn't worry that rumors and speculation surrounding the murder investigation will mar her daughter's name.

"She was such an honest, good person," she said Tuesday. "The kids have even told us how they looked up to her and wanted to be like her."

Nelson's fiancŽ, Mike Kellen, Sioux Falls, said he is also unaffected by local speculation on the case.

"I just blow it off and let the investigators take care of it," he said Tuesday.

He said they hadn't been officially engaged but were planning to be married in a year or two. "I just still can't believe she's gone," he said.

Gov. Jesse Ventura ordered all flags at state government buildings to be flown at half-staff Friday in Nelson's honor.

By Katrina Vander Kooi, summer intern
Standing on a deck 40 feet in the air, Chuck McGinley of McGinley Associates collected samples from the Luverne Ethanol Plant Tuesday. The plant is being tested in order to determine the change in air quality from the last test on April 22, 1999.

"This is part of our action plan," said Rick Serie, plant manager. "Once we get the results, we will analyze them to see if we have made any improvements."

The test was in response to concerns from residents about the odor. In March 1999, CCQL wrote a letter to the editor calling for action to be taken.

Agri-Energy responded by trying to find ways to lessen the odor. "We cannot eliminate the odor, but we are working on ways to reduce it," Serie said.

In December of last year, in an effort to reduce odor, the plant put up a taller, 175-foot smokestack. With the increased height, the emission has a longer distance to disperse before odors fall on the city.

"I'm cautiously optimistic," said Dave Knips, a member of the CCQL, about the current odor test. "I've been working on this for the third summer, and the neighbors still have not seen a difference."

Sampling process
The vials taken Tuesday were from the dryer exhaust stack, the source of most of the odors. This was done by inserting a tube in the stack and letting the air flow out into a vial for about 15 to 20 minutes.

The samples will be directed to two separate places. One goes to a human panel in Stillwater. There, a group of local people has been recruited and trained to smell samples. The members are screened to test their smell ability. Once the panel receives the sample, each member gets a little sniff. They have no idea where the samples come from. The smellers are paid a stipend for their service. McGinley compared it to a taste test for the food industry.

The results of the smelling test are expected by the end of next week.

The other sample will be sent to California for a chemical test. This is not expected to be completed until the end of June.

McGinley was hired in April 1999 by Agri-Energy. He is from Stillwater and has also worked with the ethanol plant in St. Paul. That plant, Gopher State Ethanol, faces similar complaints as the Luverne ethanol plant. In August, the plant will be taken to court by the city of St. Paul in order to declare it a public nuisance. The problems are noise and odor.