Luverne City Council members took a field trip Tuesday night to tour the power plant where electric utility supervisor Brian Remme updated them on the $11 million generation upgrades.
They include modernized east substation and associated switchgear, a new control building, two new 3-megawatt diesel generators in the power plant and necessary improvements to the power plant to house the generation equipment.
The improvements will allow the city to provide backup power for Missouri River Energy Services, which contracts with Luverne for energy for additional electricity when needed.

Those interested in filing for public office have until 5 p.m. Tuesday, May 31, to throw their hats in the ring for offices up for election in November.
This filing period is for federal, state, county, city of Luverne and judicial offices.
According to Rock County Auditor Ashly Kurtz, all city and county incumbent candidates have filed for re-election.
Because of redistricting, all county commission seats are up for election. They are Gary Overgaard in District 1, Stan Williamson in District 2, Greg Burger in District 3, Sherri Thompson in District 4 and Jody Reisch in District 5.
The offices of Rock County Sheriff Evan Verbrugge and Rock County Attorney Jeff Haubrich are up for election this fall, and both have filed for re-election.
Jim Veldkamp filed for Soil and Water Supervisor District 5, and no one has yet filed for the SWCD 2 seat.
Ward 1 and 2 seats for Luverne City Council are up for election this year, and incumbents Caroline Thorson and Kevin Aaker have so far filed for election for another term.
There is a second candidate filing period, Aug. 2-16, for all other cities, townships and school districts that hold elections in November.
The Minnesota District 21 State Senate seat is open for election, and incumbent Bill Weber is seeking re-election to another four-year term.
Minnesota District 21A State House seat is up for election this fall, and incumbent Joe Schomacker has indicated he intends to file for re-election to another two-year term.
The offices for Minnesota governor and lieutenant governor are up for election this fall, as are the secretary of state, state auditor, attorney general and judicial offices.
The Minnesota Secretary of State website, sos.state.mn.us, has details on filing information, election timelines and more.
All candidates must be eligible to vote in Minnesota, not have filed for another office at the upcoming primary or general election, be at least 21 years of age upon assuming office and have maintained residence in their district for at least 30 days prior to the general election.
Other qualifications may also apply based upon the office the candidate is filing for.

Luverne Thirty dedication May 28
The Rock County History Center will host an open house dedication for the Luverne “Thirty” automobile from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturday, May 28, to recognize the history of the car and show appreciation to those who helped to bring it back to Luverne. Many of the Leicher descendants will be there and one will speak briefly during the program.
 
Memorial Day in Hardwick
Hardwick American Legion Post #478 will host a Memorial Day program at 10 a.m. Monday, May 30, at the Hardwick Veterans Memorial (inside the Legion Hall if weather is poor) with guest speaker Eric Oye, U.S. Army Retired First Sergeant.
Grace Ingebretsen, 2022 Girl Stater, and Gunnar Oldre, Cadet, Notre Dame ROTC, will provide patriotic readings, and Madi Oye will perform special music. Bring lawn chairs. Coffee, juice and cupcakes will be served following the program. 
 
‘Service Over Self’ June 8, July 20
Rock The Edge Service Over Self Days will be June 8 and July 20. Youth who have completed grades 8 through 12 are welcome to register, as well as adults. (Sign up by June 2 for the June 8 service day and by July 14 for the second day.) To request a registration form email rocktheedgemn@gmail.com or call 507-283-2316.
 
Community Ed
Call 507-283-4724, to register for classes. Community Ed’s website is www.isd2184.net, select Luverne Community Education under schools.
June 21 Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Trip ($49/person)
Learn how to defend yourself at Self Defense class on June 2.  Fee is $5.  Open to grades kindergarten through adult.
Students grades 3 and older (as attended during 21-22 school year) will receive training that can prepare them to be Home Alone on June 6.  Fee is $15.
Many of the Com Ed sports activities have early registration deadline of May 25 and a lower fee.  Brochure is online at the school website.
 
UMC pie and ice cream June 3
Luverne United Methodist Church annual Pie and Ice Cream Social will be from 5 to 8 p.m. Friday, June 3, during the Buffalo Days Friday Night Cruise In. The event will move inside the church if it is raining.
 
‘Ninja Anywhere’
coming to Buffalo Days June 4
Luverne Community Education-Summer Rec will host “Ninja Anywhere” on June 4 at the Courthouse Square during Buffalo Days. The ninja rig will test upper body strength, balance and agility and then finish with a giant slide and inflatable obstacle course. Fee is $20 for participants ages 3 and older.
 
Rock County Library Happenings
For more information about library happenings, call 507-449-5040 or email rockcountystaff@gmail.com.
Sign up for the summer reading program, “Camp iRead: Read Beyond the Beaten Path,” is May 31-June 4. The program begins June 1 and will continue to Aug. 1.
Seed library is open and available to anyone in the public who wants to plant a garden. Flowers, fruit and vegetable seeds are available for free.
Trivia Night is at 7 p.m. the first Thursday of every month at Take 16 in Luverne. Team registration begins at 6 p.m.
Reminiscence Kits are available featuring various topics such as gardening, pets, baking, sewing, farming and hunting. The kits are designed to use with a loved one experiencing memory loss, encouraging the loved one to open up about activities they once loved in the past.
 
A.C.E. respite care available, volunteers needed
A.C.E. of SW Minnesota (A.C.E.) offers respite care services in Rock County for those needing a break from caring for a loved one.
The respite program offers short-term (1-3 hours), temporary care for families and caregivers by providing a brief period of reprieve from the daily cares they provide to their loved one.
Volunteers provide non-professional supportive services to caregivers to give them time for themselves, relieve their stress and help them remain healthy.
Respite care volunteers are also needed. Trained A.C.E. volunteers provide respite care to family caregivers of adults age 60 and older who are suffering from long-term health conditions.
Contact Linda Wenzel at 507-283-5064 or ace.rock@co.rock.mn.us.

Staff and volunteers with Lutheran Social Services (LSS) prepared and served their first noon meal in their new location at the Generations Events Center Monday.
Shortly after Friday’s meal service finished, Generations staff and volunteers packed up the kitchen items from the former Senior Dining building on Lincoln Street.
On Monday, cook Jeanne Vande Hoef and the LSS crew prepared the more than 150 meals as if the move didn’t happen.
The kitchen’s normal choreographed movements, however, were not quite as smooth, as they learned the new facility layout.
“It’s going to be a learning curve,” Vande Hoef said. “Everything is an adjustment.”
On-site meals were served to 30 people Monday. The average is about 15-20 diners, according to site coordinator Lynette Hoiland.
“For a half-price day, this was a good showing,” she said.
Generations President George Bonnema also spoke to diners Monday.
“We’ve been blessed,” he said.
Bonnema and a dedicated group of volunteers have spent years researching and fundraising before purchasing the former Grand Prairie Events building. The group had planned to build a new facility.
After the purchase, they spent months upgrading the kitchen for the LSS meal site move.
“Everything is gas here,” said Vande Hoef. “It was electric before.”
Snafus — such as phone calls ringing to the old location — were minimal from the day’s move.
As the phones made the transition to the new building, Bonnema and the Generations board are now pivoting toward what other activities can be done in the new larger facility.
The group is open to suggestions, he said.
The LSS meal site joins A.C.E. of Southwest Minnesota, which moved into the building April 1.
LSS meals are open to anyone, with price discounts given to those ages 60 and older. Reservations are encouraged two days in advance for meal planning purposes.
Call 507-283-9846 for on-site, pickup or delivered meals. Menus are published weekly in the Star Herald and on the Generations social media page.

Buckling up is a two-second step that helps parents come home to their kids, teenagers graduate and pursue their dreams, and families avoid the heartache of losing a loved one in a crash.
Too many Minnesotans skipped that step the last two years, and the consequences are permanent and tragic. The number of people killed by not wearing a seat belt rose in 2021 for the second year in a row.
The Click It or Ticket statewide seat belt campaign May 23 through June 5 aims to stop the preventable loss to families across Minnesota.
The Minnesota Department of Public Safety Office of Traffic Safety coordinates the extra patrols with Troopers, deputies and officers with funding by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
“When a life is lost because of no seat belt, it’s very discouraging because it so easily could have been prevented,” said Mike Hanson, Office of Traffic Safety director.
“When you’re heading out, please make the wise, caring choice to wear your seat belt and refuse to put the vehicle in drive until passengers buckle up as well. Drive smart and live.”
 
Growing tragedy
Preliminary counts from the Office of Traffic Safety show 108 unbelted motorists died on Minnesota roads in 2021, up three from 2020 when 105 died.
This is 48 percent higher than the 73 unbelted deaths in 2019 and the highest number since 2014.
Last year saw the highest number of unbelted fatalities (38) of 25-39-year-olds since 2012 (36). 2020 was not far behind, with 31 unbelted deaths in that age category.
Seventy-seven percent of unbelted fatalities in 2021 occurred in greater Minnesota, outside the seven-county metro area.
 
Car seats save lives
Children rely on adults for proper car seat use.
In Minnesota crashes from 2017 – 2021, of the 14,692 children ages 0-7 who were properly restrained, 88 percent were not injured, while another 9 percent sustained only minor injuries.
Twenty-one children ages 0-7 were killed in motor vehicles from 2017-2021, and of those, only 38 percent were known to be properly secured.
Of the 88 children (ages 0-7) seriously injured in motor vehicles, only 49 percent were known to be properly secured.
In Minnesota, all children must be in a child safety seat until they are 4' 9" tall, or at least age 8, whichever comes first.
 
The law is for safety
Minnesota law states that drivers and passengers in all seating positions must wear seat belts or be in the correct child restraint.
Belts should be tight across the hips or thighs and should never be tucked under the arm or behind the back.

Memorial Day will be celebrated Monday, May 30, 2022. It is a federal holiday observed on the last Monday in May and commemorates the men and women who died while in military service.
Memorial Day began after the Civil War with both formal and informal ceremonies at graves and ceremonies for the soldiers who had fallen in battle.
On May 5, 1868, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), a Union veterans’ organization, established Decoration Day, May 30, as a time for the nation to decorate the dead with flowers. Arlington National Cemetery held the first large observance later that year.
By the end of the 19th century, Memorial Day ceremonies were held throughout the country on May 30.
The Army and Navy adopted policies for proper observances, and state legislatures passed proclamations designating the day.
After World War I, the day was expanded to honor those who died in all American wars, and in 1971, Memorial Day was declared a national holiday to be celebrated on the last Monday in May.
People commonly confuse the meanings of Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Memorial Day is meant for remembering and honoring military personnel who died in the service of their country, particularly those who died in battle or as a result of a wound sustained in battle.
Veterans Day is intended to thank all those who have honorably served in the military – in wartime or peacetime.
The National Monument of Remembrance Act passed in 2000 requires all Americans to stop what they are doing at 3 p.m. on Memorial Day for a minute of silence to remember and honor those who died while in service.
There are many ways to observe the National Moment of Remembrance, both formally and informally.
The moment of silence can be observed more formally at places such as a veterans cemetery, a park or a picnic ground and can include playing “Taps,” the military bugle call that reflects on the glory of those who have shed blood for us.
A bell can also be rung at the beginning and end of the one minute of remembrance.
Other Memorial Day facts:
•Memorial Day was originally known as Decoration Day.
•Memorial Day was originally celebrated May 30 until the Uniform Monday Holiday Act took effect in 1971 and it was moved to the final Monday in May.
•1971 is also when Memorial Day became an official holiday.
•Originally only soldiers who had died in the Civil War were honored.
•The Poem “Bivouac of the Dead” is often recited on Memorial Day and inscribed on iron tablets throughout many of the country’s national cemeteries, including the original entrance to Arlington National Cemetery.
The poem was written by Theodore O’Hara to honor his fellow soldiers who died in the Mexican-American War. (Bivouac is a temporary camp without tents or cover.)

Keeping a car clean is an exhausting chore.
I like to have the vehicle shine and its tire rims sparkling as I drive around. I also like the inside to be clean.
Unfortunately, not everyone in my household thinks that vehicles you use and get dirty should be cleaned right after use.
Over the weekend I received an email from StressFreeCarRental.com titled “Ten Ways to Keep Your Car Clean.”
Here are the ones I found interesting – plus I’ve added one of my own.
•Wet wipes. Keeping a packet of wet wipes in your glove compartment is essential for staying on top of spillages. By having these handy, you can wipe up any mess as soon as it happens. This way you won’t have a hard time trying to scrub it off later.
•Waterproof backseat cover. There’s nothing worse than muddy paws (or your grandkids’ spilling of food and drink) ruining your car seats, and the thought of cleaning this afterward is even worse. A waterproof backseat cover is a great option to keep your car clean and will avoid a messy clean up.
•Shake out the car mats. One of the simplest things you can do to stop dirt from accumulating is shaking out your car mats once a week. This means when you do get around to doing your big clean, it won’t be such a mammoth task to having to scrub mud and dirt off the mats and may save you a lot of time.
•Clean the interior windows. It is easy to forget about the insides of the windows when you’re so used to washing the outside. But washing the inside, too, makes your car appear so much cleaner and improves your visibility. The most cost-effective way to get the dirt and grime off these is to make your own solution. Simply mix two tablespoons vinegar, one cup of rubbing alcohol and put it in a spray bottle.
•Clean the headlights. A great way to make your headlights appear brighter is by using toothpaste and a cloth. This is another cost-effective way to make your car look cleaner and improve your road safety.
•Clean the air vents. Something as simple as a paintbrush to brush the dust in the vents will solve dust circulating around in the car.
And my “plus” observation … Have your spouse purchase a newer vehicle. Bryan recently replaced our aging pickup. I’ve noticed this newer vehicle is kept spotless and the interior gets a regular tidying up.
Slowly I’m beginning to see my preference of “clean after use” being applied. Here’s hoping that our third vehicle, our “farm truck,” will finally get some cleaning after each use – and not just by me.
 
 

It is that time of year again when I need to purchase my new licenses for everything from the early light goose season to a spearing license, deer license, small game license and then the gamut of special stamps needed to hunt some of those seasons. Deer licenses come later into the summer.
About 10 years ago I decided to make this seasonal expenditure a little easier. I decided to purchase a lifetime license in my home state of Minnesota.
As with most of my luck, I timed that purchase pretty badly. When I went to acquire this license which can only be done online, I had to decide between two different scenarios.
If I waited about six months, the cost of a lifetime license would be cheaper. I was about to turn 51, and the older you get, the cheaper they are as you hypothetically have fewer years to hunt and fish.
However, the state had been projecting an increase in the costs of all licenses including the lifetime licenses, and if I waited to be a year older, the reduced cost would be offset by a projected larger amount as a result of license fee increase.
I opted to buy the license that year to avoid a higher overall cost when the fees went up. As time would tell, the increase did not happen for two more years.
You can buy a lifetime license for anything you need a license for in Minnesota. A lifetime small game, fishing, spearing and deer hunting license is available, among others.
I opted for a lifetime sportsman’s license, a license for both small game hunting and fishing combined in one.
I still need to purchase the Minnesota pheasant stamp, the state waterfowl stamp, each year if I want to hunt ducks and geese, and then there is always the federal waterfowl stamp added unto that.
I can think of no better gift than a lifetime license for anyone on your gift-giving list. This is certainly a no-brainer if you buy one for a kid.
A lifetime license for kids 3 and younger go like this: Fishing $344, small game $223, sportsman $522, firearms and archery deer $458, and there are three others.
If you are age 51 or older, these same lifetime licensees run from $379-$528. One of the cool parts of a Minnesota lifetime licenses is that if you own one and move out of the state, they continue to be valid.
My son who moved to Colorado was able to come home and hunt and fish for fees that are much lower than out-of-state fees.
Minnesota is the kindest state in the nation when it comes to out-of-state recreators, but this is still a much better deal.
They send you a license that looks like a credit card. It is hard plastic and easy to carry in your wallet. Even if you are a lifetime license holder in Minnesota, you are still required to go to a license sales machine and enter your information each year.
There is no cost for this action, but because of it, the state can count you and receive a share of a sales tax that is charged on hunting and fishing equipment.
These dollars are called Pittman-Robertson dollars that are collected on a national level and then split up and sent back to each state based on the number of licenses sold each year.
Doing this gets you the light blue paper license that looks like the one you would normally receive if you bought an annual license.
When you get checked by the conservation officer, you are supposed to show the paper one, but I never do. I was told I needed it but figured if they ever write me a ticket for no license, I will chase that one to a judge and tell them the credit card lifetime license is proof I bought a license that year. I can’t imagine this would ever get that far.
Kids get all kinds of toys and other worthless gifts that in a year or two will either be junk or sold at a rummage sale. Give the gift of a lifetime license and when the child is 50, this is a gift they will always have, and they will remember where it came from. A gift of long-lasting value.
 
Scott Rall, Worthington, is a habitat conservationist, avid hunting and fishing enthusiast and is president of Nobles County Pheasants Forever. He can be reached at scottarall@gmail.com. or on Twitter @habitat champion.

Mundt: 'Happy Pride Month!'
To the Editor:
First and foremost, Happy Pride Month! June is a month that marks an important opportunity to honor the resilience of LGBTQ families. Sadly,progression is going backward in this country regarding equality, inclusion and women’s rights.
Instead of being celebrated and proud of who they are, people in the LGBTQ community are being censored and restricted. Parents of transgender youth are even being investigated for child abuse for supporting their own children in some states. It is terrifying and unfair.
I don’t ever want anyone in this community to feel alone based on who they choose to love or who they choose to be.  I am an ally for all LGBTQ people.I see you and support you. Please remember, you are a gift to this world,you were made perfectly, and you should be strong and proud of who you are. Others need to realize that providing equality to all in no way means thatthey will receive less.
So, for those who wonder why there is a Pride Month and why there isn’t a Straight Pride month or movement, straight people should be thankful they’ve never had a reason to need one.
And for those who ever need one, I along with many more of my supportive friends, give great Free Mom Hugs!
Ashley  Mundt,
Luverne