By Sara StrongCity officials have to put off the airport expansion plans for a few years, but they’re still counting on eventually making the runway longer.It could take five to seven years until the city is in a position to get the new runway."For federal funding, there’s criteria we didn’t meet," City Administrator Greg LaFond said.In order to get money for expansion, the airport needs to have an anticipated 500 uses per year of twin engine or larger planes.Luverne expects just 100 to 120. The numbers are down from previous estimates largely because of Agri-Energy’s decreased use of the airport."We just need to generate more business," LaFond said.Even though the project is on hold, the city is moving forward with land purchases so future airport expansion is possible.About 80 acres of the Vegge property will be purchased for $273,000. If the city doesn’t buy it, the family intends to sell it to another party.Stegenga property, how many acres and price.Luverne’s runway is the shortest in the state.

By Lori EhdeRock County and the school districts of Hills-Beaver Creek and Luverne are continuing to work together to help mentally ill children.During their most recent school board meetings, Luverne and Hills-Beaver Creek school districts took action to name H-BC as the fiscal agent for the position.This done, the districts are positioned to seek funding in order to hire a shared child mental health specialist.The person would ideally be a licensed mental health social worker specializing in child mental health. The person would be shared by the two districts and Rock County Family Services, and he or she would deal specifically with issues more serious than current school counselors typically deal with.Randy Ehlers, director of Rock County Family Services presented information at meetings with both districts.According to the Surgeon General, 21 percent of children ages 9-17 are emotionally impaired at least at the minimal level; 11 percent are significantly impaired; and 5 percent are extremely impaired.Among the most diagnosed impairments, depression has a 6 percent prevalence, ADHD is 3 to 5 percent, oppositional defiance disorder is 2 to 16 percent and anxiety disorders are as high as 13 percent.Often, if a child is diagnosed with one disability, there’s a good chance he or she will also have additional, overlapping impairments.The schools currently have an arrangement with the county for mental health services, but the position would take those services to a more preventative level."The earlier problems are identified, the more efficiently and effectively we can intervene," Ehlers said. "We must screen were youth are — schools."The districts are seeing high school students, for example requiring significant mental health attention. The belief is that had those same students been helped earlier on, their problems likely wouldn’t be so severe today."The implementation of early identification for the general student population makes sense," Ehlers said.Neither school district can afford to hire right now, but school officials recognize that it’s reached the point where paying an extra salary to help with prevention will pay off in the end.Funding sources are being explored, but the person’s salary would likely be paid from the two districts’ special education reimbursements and from grants.The H-BC board voted at its May 24 meeting to serve as the employer of record for the position. Wages will be paid for by State Special Education funds (68 percent of salary) and County Children’s Mental Health funds. H-BC agreed to provide phone service, computer, fax, office space, etc. for the employee. The Rock County Board will advance about $20,000 a year to the district to cover a two year delay in special education reimbursement payments from the state.In other business at their May 27 meeting, Luverne School Board
Reduced the number of Title I paraprofessionals from 11 to six, to reflect a $42,000 reduction in Title I grant money. Elementary Principal Melody Tenhoff told board members in other years, if there was less grant money, she could reduce hours here and there to make up the difference, but $42,000 required more serious cuts.
Heard a presentation by Dennis Moritz on the agriculture education curriculum.
Approved the summer curriculum schedule, summer school contracts and special education summer school services.
Accepted the resignation of Jaime Creegan as Discovery Time Preschool teacher effective at the end of the school year.
Accepted the resignation of Kari (Stoakes) Lais as ninth-grade volleyball coach, and hired Susan (Remme) Bork to replace her.
Accepted the resignation of Terry Althoff as assistant football coach.
Started the negotiating process with unions, department heads and administration.

By Sara StrongLuverne City Administrator Greg LaFond was named a finalist for a new job, but he’s not going for the interview.LaFond was named one of four finalists for the city administrator position in Hibbing, which has been without an administrator since Aug. 1, 2003. He said, "I was asked to submit a resume, and I was pleased to be selected based on that, but I have withdrawn from consideration."LaFond said he likes Luverne and wants to continue his work here."Luverne is just too nice a town to leave and there’s too much to do. I think we’ve accomplished a lot and there’s still a lot more to keep me here."Hibbing has a population of about 17,000 and is located in northeast Minnesota, about 70 miles north of Duluth.LaFond has been with the city of Luverne since September.

By Lori EhdeFour runaways from Southwestern Youth Services, Magnolia, were taken into custody late Friday night on the farm yard of Jack and Patsy Cragoe.The boys, ages 14, 16 and two at 17, ran away from the residential facility for troubled youth at about 1:45 a.m. Friday.They ended up on the Cragoe farm 1 1/2 miles away where they spent the rest of the day Friday in the grove and machine shed.Authorities were alerted of their location after one of the boys called his mother in Sioux Falls, asking her to pick them up.She, in turn, alerted local enforcement at about 10:30 p.m. Friday and the call was traced to the Cragoe residence.When Rock County deputies called the farm to warn of the boys’ presence there, the phone line was busy, because the Cragoes were on the Internet.Meanwhile, local dispatchers called Cragoe’s daughter and son-in-law Stacy and Hunter Riggs, who also have a home on the Cragoe farm.They learned from Riggs that Cragoe did keep a gun on the premises, so local deputies responded to the call with their weapons drawn."About that time we came up from the basement after checking e-mail … and we missed all the action," Jack Cragoe said. "They had our house surrounded — I suppose they figured it was a hostage situation."When Riggs opened the machine shed to see if the gun was there, he found the boys and called the deputies in that direction, Cragoe said.He said his pickup keys were right next to a case of Mountain Dew that the boys had helped themselves to, but they didn’t find that or the graham crackers, chocolate bars and marshmallows in the back seat of the pickup."As hungry as they were, I feel kind of bad they didn’t find the food," Cragoe said. "They didn’t do damage to anything, which is hard to believe."The boys were taken into custody without resistance and have since been turned over to juvenile detention centers in Worthington and Sioux Falls.According to Rock County Sheriff Mike Winkels, these boys, and all the boys residing at Southwestern Youth Services (formerly Pinnacle Programs Inc.) are considered non-violent offenders.They are sent by their hometown court systems to Magnolia typically after repeatedly finding themselves in trouble with the law. There are currently 12 juvenile boys in the local program.Winkels said he’d like to work with Magnolia residents and rural residents on a system to inform the area when boys like these run away."We’re attempting to devise a way, maybe a residential calling tree, so that they might be located a bit earlier and so people can go out and get the keys from their vehicles," Winkels said.Cragoe is local newsmakerStar Herald readers may remember Cragoe making headlines last fall when he fell more than 13 feet off the top of his combine and landed on his head.He reports that he’s made remarkable recovery from those potentially fatal injuries, with only neck stiffness to note.He’s in the Star Herald twice this week — for this story and a weather story, which includes information about storm damage on his property.He said his friends are telling him if bad things happen in threes, he’s done now. "Let’s hope that’s the case," he said Tuesday.

By Sara StrongShearing winds caused property damage in the Luverne area Saturday, with hail and 1 1/2 inches of rain accompanying the winds, which reached up to 90 miles per hour.The worst results in the county were probably at Denny and Kathy Gyberg’s farm where a barn and a camper are losses.Denny said, "I came out after it all ended, and all I said was ‘Aw, shoot.’ … Well, that’s not all I said."He said the cement walls on the outside are still holding up the barn, but there’s extensive damage to the rest of the structure, especially the roof.Damage just across the county line near Lismore brought a bigger loss to Brad and Jeff Lynn, who discovered their 1,300 hogs dead. The hogs suffocated when the electricity and ventilation system went out. Phone lines were also down so the alarm system wasn’t working.At about 10 or 10:30 p.m. Gyberg said he and Kathy looked out the windows to try to see what was happening."I tried to see through the light of the lightening flashes," he said.When he could see that trees were down, he went outside with a flashlight and took it to the barn to survey the animals.The barn housed 250 hogs, and Gyberg said he was surprised and thankful that the hogs weren’t hurt.Unfortunately, a Streamline camper didn’t make it after four trees fell on the roof.Big trees fell on smaller trees, too, making the total tree loss 16."All I can say is, the home is there and it’s OK," Gyberg said.The house and other buildings lost shingles and had minor damage.Cleanup will start at the Gyberg’s at the end of this week.Jack Cragoe also had damage at his home west of Magnolia Saturday. He lost a corn crib and a 28-by-108-foot barn, where the hogs remained safe somehow. "I don’t think they got a scratch," he said. Cragoe lives 1 1/2 miles northwest of Magnolia. He said the damage happened at about 10 p.m. on a very confined part of his property. "The odd part is, everything happened on the east," Cragoe said. He estimates the damage roughly at $30,000.The hogs were moved to a different building Sunday.Also Saturday, a camper overturned on the interstate, and the Adrian campground was evacuated.Pea-size hail fell briefly in Luverne Saturday, but there were no reports of hail damage to area crops.

Luverne native has reason to cheer for the LightningOne Luverne native has a special reason to cheer on the Tampa Bay Lightning in hockey’s Stanley Cup.According to Lona Klosterbuer, Christine Mohr Tortorella, was a member of Luverne High School class of ‘71 and is the wife of the current Tampa Bay Lightning coach John Tortorella.Christine is currently a poet and author of children’s books.Her father was Bill Mohr, the Rock County Highway engineer in the last 60’s and her mother, Murtle, was a member of the Gabrielson family.On Monday night the Tampa Bay Lightning evened up the series with the Calgary Flames at two games apiece.Game five is scheduled for tonight, Thursday, June 3, at 8 p.m.They approve this messageWhy do they keep telling us the obvious? Because it’s the law.As we watch the campaign ads over the next six months you will hear the phrase "I approve of this message" many times.The reason the candidates are repeating what appears to be obvious is because of the McCain Feingold Campaign law.The law requires whoever is responsible for the ad, in many cases the candidates themselves, to say out loud that they "approve this message."There are also ads paid for by their political parties.Ads paid for by special interest groups, not affiliated with any campaign are not required to reveal who is responsible for them.Watch out for deerThe Minnesota Department of Public Safety is putting on a big push to get people to look out for deer.According to the Department of Public Safety, more than 5,000 deer-vehicle crashes are reported every year in Minnesota, and it speculates that number could be as high as 60,000 if you add in the number of unreported crashes.Because of recent mild winters, the number of deer in the state is estimated to be more than 1 million, and those 1 million deer are continuously coming in contact with the 12,000 miles of state highways.Motorists can increase their safety by remembering:
Deer are most active from dusk until dawn.
The majority of deer-vehicle crashes occur between 6 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Deer often travel in groups. Drivers who see one deer should expect to see more.
Deer pop up everywhere, but most often in wooded areas and near waterways.
Motorists should watch for deer-crossing signs. They mark areas where deer-vehicle crashes are common.If you think gas is expensiveOK, we don’t think gas is expensive, we know it is.On a recent return business trip from Winona, I found myself filling up my tank and signing my Visa slip for $50.38.But a recent article in the Bulletin, published weekly by the Minnesota Newspaper Association helps put our gas costs into perspective.Here are costs of some other commonly used products when priced by the gallon. Diet Snapple: 16 oz. - $10.32 per gallon Lipton Ice Tea: - 16 oz. - $9.52 per gallon Gatorade: - 20 oz. - $10.17 per gallon Ocean Spray: - 16 oz. - $10.00 per gallon Brake Fluid: - 12 oz. $33.60 per gallon Vick’s NyQuil: - 6 oz. - $178.13 per gallon Pepto Bismol: - 4 oz. - $123.20 per gallon Whiteout: - 7 oz. - $25.42 per gallon Scope: - 1.5 oz $84.48 per gallon Evian Water: - 9 oz. - $21.19 per gallonBy the way, gas is currently selling in Europe for $4.35 per gallon.Moral of the story: Be glad your car runs on gas.Publisher Roger Tollefson can be reached by e-mail at tolly@star-herald.com

By Jolene FarleyShelly Knobloch, Hills, is doing her part to make the world a smaller, friendlier place.Knobloch works as an area representative for the Center for Cultural Interchange (CCI), St. Charles, Ill. She finds and matches host families with exchange students.CCI is a nonprofit student and adult exchange organization founded in 1985 with goals of promoting cultural understanding, academic development and world peace through international exchange. CCI works with international partners in more than 40 countries to organize programs for 1,500 participants each year.This is Knobloch’s first year with CCI. Previously she worked with another exchange program.Knobloch is recruiting families to host students. She and her husband, Merle, also hosted exchange students themselves for the past four years "I’m trying to promote families to give it a try," she said. Knobloch considers her job with CCI a ministry — a way to connect with other countries. Some people see America as a rich country with lots of power and no family values, according to Knobloch. "It’s more having them see America in different light," she said. Knobloch currently oversees six host families, two in Hills, one in Luverne, one in Ellsworth, one in Sioux Falls, S.D., and one in Sheldon, Iowa. She has placed students from Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Mexico and Japan.Knobloch has been successful matching up students with families.She tries to look at the atmosphere the students are accustomed to and choose a similar environment in the United States.For example, if a student is an only child and is not used to having many brothers or sisters around, Knobloch probably wouldn’t place that student with a large family. Knobloch selects a host family based on information from interviews with the student and the host family, a teacher’s report on the student, and a personal letter written by the student.She recommends that students live in the same household for 10 months. If a placement doesn’t work out, Knobloch would take the student into her own home until it is determined whether the student wants to stay in the United States or go home. Knobloch said some students need extra help with language but others don’t. Some understand English well, but are hesitant to speak. She works with her students by correcting them if they say a word wrong and reminding them how to form English words.Some countries don’t use their mouths and tongues to speak the same way as English-speaking countries."They want to know the English language," she said. "They want to go back home and not have an accent." If the students continue to struggle with the language, their parents are required by CCI to send extra money for tutoring. Host families provide room and board (three meals a day). Participants provide their own medical insurance and bring their own spending money. Students usually bring credit cards, and one opened a checking account and had money wired to the bank from home. Host families aren’t required to have an extra bedroom for the exchange students. They can sleep in a bedroom with a child of the same sex. Host families come from many different backgrounds. They include working parents, childless couples, single parents, and couples whose children are grown. The most important contribution is providing a secure and loving home. Some families host a student year after year, according to Knobloch."There’s some that absolutely love it," she said. "I would like families to understand that it can be a positive experience for them," she said. The host families and students learn about a different culture, a different way of life from each other. "It is a good cultural experience, it opens up eyes in America that other people have family units all over the world," Merle Knobloch said.

By Jolene FarleyShelly Knobloch, Hills, is doing her part to make the world a smaller, friendlier place.Knobloch works as an area representative for the Center for Cultural Interchange (CCI), St. Charles, Ill. She finds and matches host families with exchange students.CCI is a nonprofit student and adult exchange organization founded in 1985 with goals of promoting cultural understanding, academic development and world peace through international exchange. CCI works with international partners in more than 40 countries to organize programs for 1,500 participants each year.This is Knobloch’s first year with CCI. Previously she worked with another exchange program.Knobloch is recruiting families to host students. She and her husband, Merle, also hosted exchange students themselves for the past four years "I’m trying to promote families to give it a try," she said. Knobloch considers her job with CCI a ministry — a way to connect with other countries. Some people see America as a rich country with lots of power and no family values, according to Knobloch. "It’s more having them see America in different light," she said. Knobloch currently oversees six host families, two in Hills, one in Luverne, one in Ellsworth, one in Sioux Falls, S.D., and one in Sheldon, Iowa. She has placed students from Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium, Mexico and Japan.Knobloch has been successful matching up students with families.She tries to look at the atmosphere the students are accustomed to and choose a similar environment in the United States.For example, if a student is an only child and is not used to having many brothers or sisters around, Knobloch probably wouldn’t place that student with a large family. Knobloch selects a host family based on information from interviews with the student and the host family, a teacher’s report on the student, and a personal letter written by the student.She recommends that students live in the same household for 10 months. If a placement doesn’t work out, Knobloch would take the student into her own home until it is determined whether the student wants to stay in the United States or go home. Knobloch said some students need extra help with language but others don’t. Some understand English well, but are hesitant to speak. She works with her students by correcting them if they say a word wrong and reminding them how to form English words.Some countries don’t use their mouths and tongues to speak the same way as English-speaking countries."They want to know the English language," she said. "They want to go back home and not have an accent." If the students continue to struggle with the language, their parents are required by CCI to send extra money for tutoring. Host families provide room and board (three meals a day). Participants provide their own medical insurance and bring their own spending money. Students usually bring credit cards, and one opened a checking account and had money wired to the bank from home. Host families aren’t required to have an extra bedroom for the exchange students. They can sleep in a bedroom with a child of the same sex. Host families come from many different backgrounds. They include working parents, childless couples, single parents, and couples whose children are grown. The most important contribution is providing a secure and loving home. Some families host a student year after year, according to Knobloch."There’s some that absolutely love it," she said. "I would like families to understand that it can be a positive experience for them," she said. The host families and students learn about a different culture, a different way of life from each other. "It is a good cultural experience, it opens up eyes in America that other people have family units all over the world," Merle Knobloch said.

By Jolene FarleyWith school out for the summer, local churches start summer Bible School next week.Steen Reformed Church and Bethlehem Lutheran Church Bible Schools are scheduled Monday, June 7, through Friday, June 11.In Steen, the theme for the week is "Jesus Helps You Power Up," and the mascot is an ant with weights. "Some of our stories — they’re about accepting one another, loving, serving, comforting and forgiving," Amy Wilgenburg, co-director of the event, said. The other directors are Lois Leenderts and Vonda Klarenbeek. Each grade level will study one Bible story per day and do some crafts. Bible School in Steen starts at 8:30 a.m. and ends at noon for children from kindergarten-through-eighth grades. Offerings collected during the week will be used to send story Bibles to children in Russia. Everyone is welcome. For more information call 855-2336.At Bethlehem Lutheran Church, Bible School begins at 8:30 a.m. and ends at noon except on Friday when the fun continues until 1 p.m.The theme for the week is "Construction, I.N.C. (in the name of Christ)."Offerings will be taken daily for the Homes for Habitat. On Friday, the group will sing at the Tuff Village and eat lunch at Jacobson Park. The closing program will be at 9 a.m. Sunday, June 13, at the Tuff Home. Teachers for this year are Katie McGaffee and Stacy Bush, Jil Vaughn, Shirley Anderson, Pastor Lowell Berg, Sonja Berg and Jan Solberg, Deb Warner, Deb Bowman and Glenda McGaffee. Everyone is welcome. For more information call Glenda McGaffee at 962-3697.