Larson probateDISTRICT COURTPROBATE DIVISIONFIFTH JUDICIAL DISTRICTNOTICE AND ORDER OF HEARING ON PETITION FOR PROBATE OF WILL AND APPOINTMENT OF PERSONAL REPRESENTATIVE AND NOTICE TO CREDITORSSTATE OF MINNESOTACOUNTY OF ROCKESTATE OFTilda LarsonIt is Ordered and Notice is given that on August 25, 2003 at 9:00 (a.m.) a hearing will be held in this Court at the Rock County Courthouse, 204 East Brown, Luverne, Minnesota, for the formal probate of an instrument purporting to be the will of Decedent, dated April 29, 1999 and codicil (N/A) to the will dated N/A, and separate writing (N/A) under Minn. Stat. 524.2-513 ("Will"), and for the appointment of Audrey Jean Westberg whose address is: 4931 Garfield Avenue South, Minneapolis, Minnesota 55409 as personal representative of the Estate of the Decedent in a SUPERVISED administration. Any objections to the petition must be filed with the Court prior to or raised at the hearing. If proper and if no objections are filed or raised, the personal representative will be appointed with full power to administer the Estate, including the power to collect all assets, pay all legal debts, claims, taxes and expenses, to sell real and personal property, and do all necessary acts for the Estate. Notice is also given that (subject to Minn. Stat. 524.3-801) all creditors having claims against the Estate are required to present the claims to the personal representative or to the Court Administrator within four months after the date of this Notice or the claims will be barred. /s/ Timothy K. Connell 8/4/03Timothy K. Connell Judge Date/s/ Sandra L. Vrtacnik 8/4/03Sandra L. Vrtacnik Court Administrator DateAttorney For Personal RepresentativeDonald R. KlosterbuerSkewes, Klosterbuer & Vajgrt, L.L.P.120 N. McKenzieBox 538Luverne, MN 56156-0538Telephone 507 283-9111Attorney License #56674(8-7, 8-14)

By Sara StrongGreg LaFond, Altoona, Wis., was the unanimous choice to be Luverne’s new city administrator after extensive interviews Saturday.LaFond was most recently administrator, treasurer and clerk in Altoona from 1998 through 2003. Altoona is larger than Luverne with a population of 7,800.He graduated from the University of Wisconsin, LaCrosse, in 1974 with a bachelor’s degree in political science.He’s indicated a tentative start date of Sept. 2.The Luverne City Council has called a special meeting Friday at noon to pass a final employment package for LaFond.

By Lori EhdeThe 93rd Annual Rock County Fair officially starts today at the fairgrounds in Luverne.It will have all the usual makings of a festive, hometown county fair, including livestock shows, open class competition, midway rides and corndogs.But local planners always introduce something new to the Rock County Fair each year.According to Fair Board Secretary Lyle Nelson, this year’s newcomers include a tractor pull, something the Rock County Fair hasn’t seen in about 10 years.Instead of the Johnny Holm Band, which has been the featured entertainment for years, the South Dakota Pullers Association will bring a pool of tractors, including local entries, to the grandstand Thursday night.Returning to the grandstand this year is the Rock County Talent Contest, in its second year, on Friday night with more than 20 entries.Saturday night’s grandstand entertainment will be the Enduro Races, which typically attract crowds of 700 to 800 people. "It’s a very big night for us," Nelson said.Other newcomers to the fairgrounds include the Mason’s child I.D. program.The Masons of Rock County will provide a child I.D. program from a booth in the building just north of the 4-H building during the Rock County Fair. The purpose is to provide parents with positive identification of their children by recording their ages, height, weight and fingerprints, along with a digitally recorded photo. Parents will have complete control of the information and it will be their responsibility to keep it in a safe place.The most prominent newcomer to this year’s fair will be the big red Fitzer Barn.The barn, built in 1902, was donated to the Rock County Historical Society by the Maurice Fitzer family and was moved to its location just south of the 4-H building last year. It will be used to display local farm antiques, which rural residents are donating from all corners of the county.While Nelson said he’s not in charge of the weather this year, he said the area needs rain now, "so if it comes, that’ll be a happy deal."

By Lori EhdeThe Luverne Hockey Association has had a contract with Luverne School District since 1998 to manage the high school program. It costs more than $20,000 budget to run the high school program for both girls and boys teams, who play as members of the Minnesota State High School League.According to Association President Mary Gehrke, that budget is self-sustaining through registrations and other revenues.She provided an update to Luverne School Board members at their July 24 meeting last week.It costs $225 per year per player for girls high school hockey and $325 for boys. The Association furnishes jerseys, but the players must pay for equipment.The ice arena has a 500-person seating capacity, and Hockey Association keeps gate receipts from all events. However, it honors district activity passes for high school games.There are more than 20 varsity games per season, and the teams travel to cities as close as Worthington and far away as the Twin Cities area. The Blue Mound Ice Arena was built in 1991 through efforts of the Luverne Hockey Association and with help from a LEDA loan.That loan is being steadily repaid, thanks to reliable revenue and generous donations."Hockey players and their families work very hard on their fund-raisers through the season," Gehrke said.The well-maintained facility has attracted groups in addition to hockey players. Among those is the Blue Mound Figure Skating Club.Outside interest in the facility has provided additional sources of revenue.For example, for the past few years, Dordt College, Sioux Center, bought ice time from the Ice Arena for practice and games. "We were their home arena," Gehrke said.Sioux Center just built a new arena, so Dordt will play there, but Gehrke said other parties have expressed interest in the Luverne facility.For example, Avera McKennan Hospital may use the Blue Mound Ice Arena for acceleration camps."That would be very good visibility for our ice arena," Gehrke said. "Plus it would give us a whole month more ice time.Ice in Luverne is typically ready between mid-October and mid-March. The facility is available for community functions, such as the Home Show, when the ice is melted.Most local hockey players participate in a summer league in Marshall during that time.If the Avera contract materializes, the ice would be ready as early as September.Gehrke said if that happens, the Sioux Falls Stampede Hockey Team may stage a scrimmage in Luverne on Sept. 19. The Luverne Hockey Association would get to keep 100 percent of the gate receipts."They prefer our facility over the Stampede practice facility in Sioux Falls," Gehrke said."It’s well-kept, well-lit and it’s managed well. … There’s plenty of space around the bleachers."

By Lori EhdeRepresentatives of the Luverne Hockey Association came to Thursday’s School Board meeting July 24 to share information about the program and to question a decision made at a June 11 meeting.Particularly, they sought information on the decision to deny a Sioux Center, Iowa, student’s request to play Luverne hockey."As a hockey board, we do need good communication between the school and board, so we know what to tell the kids already in the program," said Lisa Dinger, tournament organizer for the association.Because Luverne has a well-run hockey program, the Association told School Board members that it draws members from the tri-state area.Of the 138 skaters in the club, 15 are from outside of Rock County — mostly Brandon, S.D.The club portion of Luverne hockey is for skaters from 2 years old through eighth grade. After that, they play Luverne High School hockey, which has been a Minnesota State High School League sport since 1998.According to Coach David Siebenahler, the Sioux Center student wasn’t recruited to play high school hockey. He’d been a member of the club, but is now a high school student and wants to continue playing."It’s important for players interested in college hockey to play with a high school team," Siebenahler said. "In metro areas, the ones who have only played club hockey get put in a revolving file, because it’s assumed they weren’t good enough to make the high school team. College coaches don’t always consider that club hockey is the only option for some players."The Hockey Association Board asked Luverne School Board members to reconsider the Sioux Center request at a future meeting.The Hockey Association Board said it respects the School Board’s decision, but there are other out-of-town players currently in the program who will be faced with similar decisions if they want to play at the high school level."We have a positive reputation; that’s the good news," said Association Board President Mary Gehrke. "Living in this corner of the state, we’re going to attract kids from across the border to play."If Luverne had agreed to accommodate the Sioux Center student, Luverne School District would have had to set up a pairing arrangement, much like Luverne has with other area schools in athletics.The student would have to make the 40 mile trip one way every day for practice, plus games. His parents support the idea, because there are no nearer boys high school hockey teams there, and they are aware of the commitment."The issue before us isn’t the hardship that the family will endure," board member Becky Walgrave said at the June 11 meeting. "The issue before us is whether or not we want to spread our boundaries that far in our agreements with other districts."It’s not uncommon for only one or two students from neighboring districts to play on a Luverne team, but High School Principal Gary Fisher said pairing with such a distant school didn’t make as much sense."Sometimes it’s an issue of good will between neighboring districts, but this isn’t a neighboring district," Fisher said on June 11. "I guess I would rather see us in a situation where we’re working with our neighbors."The board was split 3-3 on the decision (board member Cary Radisewitz was absent), so the request was denied for lack of a decision.Board members supporting the agreement with Sioux Center were Walgrave, Don Bryan and Bill Stegemann. Those opposed to the plan were Dan Kopp, Steve Tofteland and Colleen Deutsch.The board members voting in support of the agreement did so primarily on the notion that if the family wanted to make the trip, it didn’t affect Luverne adversely to let the student participate in boys hockey.At Thursday’s meeting, Superintendent Vince Schaefer directed the Hockey Association to meet with the Activities Committee and come to a future School Board meeting with a recommendation.

Luverne will put Mark to work Senator Mark Dayton that is.On Tuesday, Aug. 5, after a stint at Farmfest, Dayton will continue his "Put Mark to Work for You" program by working at Luverne’s ethanol plant.Dayton’s duties at Agri Energy will include weighing incoming corn trucks, surveying and fixing the plant’s equipment, testing ethanol samples and loading feed trucks.In recent months, Dayton’s other jobs have included working on a farm, serving lunch at a veterans home, reading to school children, helping build a Habitat for Humanity home and constructing a new park.The next day, Aug. 6, Dayton will start his day with a tour of Min-Wind 1 and Min-Wind 2.Both Min-Wind projects, which include a total of four wind turbines, are owned by 62 local investors, mostly farmers, and are located six miles south of Luverne on Highway 75, and 4.5 miles west on 51st Street.Fairgoers can get a taste of history during the fairThe Rock County Historical Society, along with help from the County K-9’s 4-H club, will be offering fairgoers a taste of Rock County history when they dress up to play the roles of the 1890s Hinkly family.They will offer tours of the Hinkly House from 2 to 4 p.m. on Thursday, Aug. 7. Everyone is encouraged to stop in and learn a little about Rock County history.Has your child been ‘IDentified’?The Masons of Rock County would like to give parents in Rock County the opportunity to put their children through a positive ID program.The purpose of the program is to record their height, weight, fingerprints, and provide a digital photo.All information gathered will be given to the parent to put in a safe place, such as a safety deposit box.Masons from the local Ben Franklin Lodge in Luverne will provide the service at the fair from their booth in the building north of the 4-H building.Peer helpers will be on hand to help parents take their children through the process, which will take about 5 minutes.The equipment and material for the program is provided by the Grand Lodge of Minnesota Masons, which is celebrating its 150th anniversary this year.If you have any questions about the project, contact Bob Dorn at 283-4274.How’s your water?If you live where city or rural water is not an option, you may want to get your well water tested for nitrate contamination.You will have the opportunity to do so, free of charge, at the Rock County fair.The free testing will be held from 1 to 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 1, in the commercial building.Rock County Land Management, along with the Minnesota Department of Agriculture, sponsor the testing.‘Holes’ will be the August movie at the PalaceThe movie "Holes" will be playing at the Palace Theatre in Luverne this weekend.The Internet Movie Data Base (www.imdb.com) rated the 2003 movie 8 out of 10 stars.Here is the IMDB plot summary:Stanley Yelnats IV (Shia LaBeouf) is falsely accused of stealing Clyde 'Sweet Feet' Livingston (Rick Fox)'s shoe donation to a local orphanage and will either go to jail or Camp Green Lake.Stanley chooses Green Lake, where he is forced to dig large holes in the desert each day, by order of the mysterious Warden (Sigourney Weaver) and her assistants Mr. Sir (Jon Voight) and Mr. Pendanski (Tim Blake Nelson).But what the Warden is really trying to do is find a buried treasure that was cracked murderer Kissin' Kate Barlow (Patricia Arquette)'s fortune long ago. But when Stanley and his friend Zero (Khleo Thomas) escape, things get really bad.Show times for the movie are 7 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Sunday, Publisher Roger Tollefson can be reached by e-mail at tolly@star-herald.com

By Sara StrongCounty Road 4 (Old Highway 16) between Luverne and Beaver Creek has hit some bumps in the road during its current reconstruction.It hadn’t been built up since the 1930s and had some surface work done in the early ‘80s. During this current project, Rock County Engineeer Mark Sehr found that the material the road was built on couldn’t take a rebuild.The county had to approve the $58,000 purchase of flyash, a waste product from power plants that acts as cement. The project will be $1.3 million total for the three miles of road."Between the rain and bad material, we’re behind about three weeks," Sehr said.He now estimates the road will be complete by Labor Day.Regular drivers of the road right near the Assembly of God Church will remember the problem spot that has to be reinforced with the flyash. It was especially uneven and bumpy for a 1 1/2 mile stretch.Sehr said the crew is also adding drains along the road to help keep water away more than in the past."We hope these extra measures will address the problems," Sehr said.

By Lori EhdeLuverne School Board members put the kibosh on student ambitions to resign classrooms in the middle school-high school building.Teacher Lundgren brought the students’ plans to the board for approval, at their June 26 meeting, pointing out the confusing nature of the current system of room signs.Student Council members were willing to pay for the estimated $8,000 project with their own funds, but School Board members tabled action on the project in order to get more information.Specifically, Superintendent Vince Schaefer alerted board members to some possible problems with the idea."Their idea is great," he said at that meeting. "On the surface, it’s extremely beneficial. The building is set in a confusing way, and directories alone lends itself to consideration."The potential problem, he said, could come when electricians and plumbers refer to blueprints when working on specific problem areas in the building.If blueprints refer them to a former room number, and they find instead, the new room numbers, it will create confusion, and possibly costly mistakes, Schaefer said."Our architects and engineers are quite concerned (about the renumbering plan)," he said. "All the blueprints and computer programs are set up for the rooms as they are called today. … We can’t assume they’ll make that conversion."He said every repair or construction project in the future could cost more because workers would have to figure the conversion.Further, hundreds of rooms have keys with corresponding room numbers, so the keys and key library would also have to be converted.The School Board at the July 24 meeting voted to stop the school signage project, based on recommendations from their architects and engineers."It’s really hard to turn down a project that’s had so much work put into it," said board member Becky Walgrave. "But with the issues raised as they stand now, I would have a hard time approving it."Board members voted 5-1 to not approve the project, with Steve Tofteland casting the vote in favor of the project and Don Bryan, Cary Radisewitz, Dan Kopp, Bill Stegemann and Walgrave voting to deny it.Activities feesIn light of troubled school budgets, many districts turn to increasing fees as a way of bringing in revenue.In Luverne, School Board members voted Thursday to do the same, although its activities fees are still modest compared to most districts its size.Last year fees for 9-12 activities were $30, and fees for 7-8 activities were $20, with a $150 cap per family.This includes fees for forensics, math league, mock trial, plays (cast only), cheerleading, band, choir, speech and all sports.School board members considered a recommendation to increase 9-12 activities fees to $50 and 7-8 activities to $30, with a $200 cap per family. Stegemann made a motion to approve the fee increase for sports, but not for fine arts. The board voted 5-1 in support of that motion, with Bryan casting the dissenting vote.Fees for sports are now $50 for grades 9-12 and 30 for grades 7-8. Fees for all fine arts remain the same.Supervisor salariesIn personnel matters Thursday, the board approved salaries for supervisory staff.oKitchen Supervisor Gretchen Davis increased from $24,000 to $25,920oTechnology Coordinator Wade Hiller increased from $42,000 to $43,472oFinance Officer Marlene Mann increased from $46,000 to $47,632oTransportation Director Lon Remme increased from $41,056 to $42,492.oBuilding and Grounds Supervisor Larry Roos increased from $43,930 to $45,448oDistrict Secretary and payroll supervisor Brenda Teal increased from $29,640 to $30,680.In other personnel matters, Thursday, the board:oAccepted the resignation of custodian Larry Van GrootheestoApproved middle school teacher Stacey Lihs as student council adviseroAccepted the resignation of paraprofessional Cami McAndrew

By Sara StrongU.S. District Court Judge Donovan Frank dismissed federal charges against the county July 25 in the Glenn, Mabel, Loren and Mark Overgaard lawsuit.The suit also involved local defendants Chad and Scott Overgaard, Overgaard Pork, former Rock County Feedlot Officer John Burgers, Rock County Board of Commissioners and Schwartz Farms, which owns the animals Overgaard Pork raises.The lawsuit involved federal and state charges. Judge Frank dismissed the federal charges, but also dismissed, without prejudice, the state portion of the charges. That means that the defendants could still see claims through state court, but that this particular judge thought they were without merit.Other than going through state court, the plaintiffs also have the option to appeal the ruling.Rock County Attorney Don Klosterbuer said, "From the county standpoint it’s significant because there are fewer claims that can be brought against the county."The lawsuit, filed March 19, 2002, alleged that the defendants conspired to help Chad and Scott wrongfully obtain a hog feedlot permit to build a 3,200-head hog setup about a half mile from Glenn’s property in the fall of 2001.Glenn protested the permit throughout its process in the county.The suit claimed the defendants didn’t act according to law when permits for a feedlot were granted. The suit also alleged defendants falsified records, acted with conflicts of interest, engaged in inappropriate conduct and aided in polluting the plaintiffs’ land, air and water.