By Sara Strong
Before two outgoing Luverne City Council members said their last round of ayes or nays, they failed to get a salary increase for City Administrator Matt Hylen.

Councilman Jim Kirchhofer made a motion to override Mayor Glen Gust’s decision and increase Hylen’s salary by 4 percent.

Hylen hasn’t received much of a raise for two years, earning $75,545 a year on contract in 2002. His contract for the previous year was $74,651.

The mayor was given the authority by the council to negotiate the city administrator’s salary and set it without further council approval.

Councilman Keith Erickson seconded the motion, saying Hylen’s performance goals were met and that his job evaluations were positive, so a raise similar to other city employees was warranted.

"My suggestion, quite bluntly," Erickson said, "is that there’s something more than performance at issue here."

Mayor Glen Gust suggested that the salary issue should be one the new council takes on, since the outgoing council members were at the end of their terms after a short special meeting.

Assistant City Attorney Jeff Haubrich said that since the old council was meeting as part of a special meeting, it probably shouldn’t add items to the agenda.

Gust declared the motion and second out of order and the meeting ended.

The City Council sets regular union employees salaries and 11 managers at a 4 percent increase for 2003. Those salaries got the approval of the council.

New council
After an invocation from the Rev. Dell Sanderson, new council members Pat Baustian and Bob Kaczrowski participated in their first meeting.

The council elected Tom Martius as acting mayor, who leads the council meetings in the absence of Gust. Martius and David Hauge were eligible for the position, as the two senior-most councilmen.

In other business Tuesday, the council:
Designated the Rock County Star Herald as its official newspaper to carry city legal notices and publications.

Heard from Betty Mann, president of the Rock County Historical Society, about the barn recently moved to the fairgrounds to serve as an agriculture history museum.

The city disconnected electrical lines for the barn to be safely moved on site and didn’t charge the Historical Society for the work. Mann thanked the city.

Heard a request from the Southwest Minnesota Chapter of Habitat for Humanity. The group is soliciting members to represent Rock County on the board and asked the City Council to help suggest good candidates. Interested people should contact City Hall.

Voted to subsidize the electric use of $2,100 for the Senior Center.

Approved citizen appointments to various city boards and committees. They are: David Paquette (reappointment) to the Airport Board; Mike Jarchow (replacing Robert Dorn) and Bill Ketterling (reappointment) to the Board of Appeals and Adjustments; Mike Jarchow (replacing Dorn) to the Planning Commission; Nancy Frakes (replacing Joyce Bennett) to the Library Board, and Larry Wills (reappointment) to the Luverne Economic Development Authority.

The city still has one vacancy to fill on the Airport Board.

Glen Gust said customers will be able to buy groceries during the transition from the current location to the new building. He's photographed here in July 1999 when he was named Minnesota Grocer of the Year by the state Grocers Association.

By Lori Ehde
A town that only five years ago supported three grocery stores will be down to one following the sale of Jubilee Foods to Glen’s Food Center this week. Story inside

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek Patriots continue to surprise boys’ basketball opponents in the Red Rock Conference by remaining unbeaten in league play.

Patriot coach Steve Wiertzema expected his young team to experience some growing pains early in the year, but now he’s the leader of a surprising team that has a perfect 5-0 record in RRC play.

Southwest Star Concept became H-BC’s latest victim Monday in Hills.

The teams played a tight game through the first three quarters, but the Patriots, who made 65 percent of their field goals in the second half, went on a 25-15 scoring run in the fourth quarter to secure a 61-47 victory.

H-BC took a 36-32 lead into the final eight minutes of play and expanded it to 17 points (57-40) with a 21-8 surge in the first six minutes of the period.

SSC outscored H-BC 7-4 the rest of the way, but the game was out of reach at that point.

Kale Wiertzema, who had six rebounds and six assists in the contest, led the Patriots during the fourth quarter. Wiertzema canned a pair of three-point shots while netting eight of his team-high 17 points in the period.

Both teams had their moments in the first three quarters.

The game was tied at four when H-BC received a three from Wiertzema and a field goal by Jesse Leuthold during a 5-0 run that gave them a 9-4 lead.

Field goals by Tyson Metzger and Clint Roozenboom gave the Patriots a 13-5 cushion as the period progressed, but the Quasars closed the gap to five points (13-8) at period’s end.

SSC pulled to within two points of the Patriots twice in the early stages of the second quarter before knotting the score at 15 with 2:58 left to play.

A pair of field goals by Metzger regained the lead for H-BC, but the Quasars moved in front 20-19 with a three-point play with six seconds remaining in the first half.

Wiertzema tied the game at 20 with a free throw with two seconds remaining.

Wiertzema gave the Patriots a 28-24 cushion with a three-point shot at the 5:40 mark of the third period, but SSC responded with a 6-0 run that gave it a 30-28 edge with 1:21 remaining in the stanza.

H-BC countered with an 8-0 run consisting of four points each from Tyler Bush and Roozenboom to move in front 36-30 before settling for a 36-32 lead at period’s end.

The fourth quarter belonged to the Patriots as they opened a 10-point cushion (43-33) 3:30 into the quarter. The lead swelled to 17 points (57-40) at one stage of the period before SSC put together a late 7-4 run to fall by 14 points in the end.

Metzger had a double-double for the winners by scoring 12 points and collecting 10 rebounds.

Bush contributed 11 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals to the winning cause. Leuthold added four steals.

Box score
Bush 3 0 5-5 11, Wysong 0 0 0-0 0, Jackson 0 0 0-0 0, Roozenboom 4 0 0-1 8, Broesder 0 0 0-0 0, Wiertzema 1 4 3-4 17, Metzger 6 0 0-2 12, Leuthold 4 0 0-0 8, Van Wyhe 2 0 1-2 5.

Team statistics
H-BC: 25 of 60 field goals (42 percent), nine of 15 free throws (60 percent), 33 rebounds, 13 turnovers.
SSC: 14 of 46 field goals (30 percent), 12 of 15 free throws (80 percent), 25 rebounds, 18 turnovers.

By John Rittenhouse
A bid by the Hills-Beaver Creek girls’ basketball team to record back-to-back victories in 2003 ended with a 65-32 loss in Worthington Saturday.

Two nights after beating Southwest Star Concept in Hills, the Patriots were gunning for an even bigger trophy when they took on the undefeated Trojans on their home floor.

Worthington, however, played an outstanding defensive game while forcing the Patriots to 26 turnovers and limiting the visitors to 30-percent shooting from the floor.

Unable to get anything going offensively against Worthington’s man-to-man defense, H-BC was outscored by 38 points in the first three quarters before falling by 33 points at game’s end.

"We struggled against their pressure," said Patriot coach Tom Goehle. "We have not faced that type of pressure this year, and we had a hard time adjusting to it."

The Trojans stormed to a 19-9 lead in the first quarter before putting the game away by outscoring the Patriots 37-9 in the second and third periods.

Worthington led 38-15 after outscoring the Patriots 19-6 in the second period. An 18-3 advantage in the third quarter made it a 56-18 game.

H-BC did sport a 14-9 scoring advantage in the fourth quarter, but the game had been decided at that point.

Cassi Tilstra led H-BC with seven points and three steals in the contest.

Erin Boeve and Amanda Olson grabbed 10 and seven rebounds respectively. Brittney Rozeboom chipped in four steals.

Box score
B.Rozeboom 0 0 2-6 2, Bush 0 1 1-2 4, Feucht 1 0 1-4 3, Sandstede 1 0 0-0 2, Tilstra 2 1 0-0 7, S.Rozeboom 0 0 1-3 1, Boeve 1 0 4-4 6, Olson 0 0 3-4 3, Mulder 2 0 0-0 4.

Team statistics
H-BC: nine of 30 field goals (30 percent), 12 of 23 free throws (52 percent), 33 rebounds, 26 turnovers.
Worthington: 25 of 61 field goals (41 percent), 11 of 20 free throws (55 percent), 36 rebounds, 18 turnovers.

By John Rittenhouse
A fourth-quarter eruption for the Ellsworth boys’ basketball team carried the Panthers to an 83-63 win over the Hills-Beaver Creek Patriots in Hills Friday.

The game was tight through three quarters before Ellsworth took control by outscoring the Patriots 30-16 in the final eight minutes of play to prevail by 20.

"We really didn’t do anything different in the fourth quarter," said Panther coach Ken Kvaale. "We just kept executing our offense, and kept on believing in ourselves. It seemed like they were a little worn down at the end of the game."

The Patriots, who took a three-game winning streak into the tilt, were in a position to upset the state’s ninth-ranked team when they trailed the Panthers by six points (53-47) heading into the fourth quarter.

Ellsworth, however, used strong play in the fourth quarter by Dylan Kvaale and Curt Schilling to win by a comfortable 20-point margin.

Kvaale drained a trio of three-point shots and scored 11 of his 21 points in the decisive fourth quarter. Kvaale also had eight rebounds and seven assists in the game.

Schilling, who scored a game-high 36 points and pulled down 16 rebounds, contributed 10 points to the fourth-quarter surge.

To their credit, the 4-3 Patriots played with the Panthers in the first three periods.

Ellsworth sported 18-17, 38-34 and 53-47 leads at the first three quarter breaks.

Brant Deutsch had eight rebounds and six assists to the winning cause. Blake Brommer added six assists for Ellsworth, which improved to 11-1 with the win.

Tyson Metzger burned the nets for 29 points for H-BC.

Tyler Bush scored 13 points and recorded six assists and three steals for the Patriots. Kale Wiertzema had six assists and four rebounds, while Trey Van Wyhe added four rebounds.

Box score
Ellsworth
Schilling 14 0 8-9 36, Jenniges 2 0 0-2 4, Janssen 0 1 1-3 4, Kvaale 3 4 3-6 21, Sieff 1 1 0-0 5, Deutsch 3 0 1-2 7, Brommer 1 0 2-3 4, Myhrer 1 0 0-0 2.
H-BC
Bush 4 1 2-4 13, Wysong 0 0 0-0 0, Roozeboom 0 0 2-4 2, Broesder 0 0 0-0 0, Wiertzema 2 0 4-4 8, Metzger 5 3 10-11 29, Leuthold 1 0 1-2 3, Van Wyhe 4 0 0-0 8.

Team statistics
Ellsworth: 31 of 56 field goals (55 percent), 15 of 25 free throws (60 percent), 42 rebounds, nine turnovers.
H-BC: 20 of 52 field goals (39 percent), 19 of 25 free throws (76 percent), 19 rebounds, four turnovers.

By Jolene Farley
Long-time Beaver Creek resident and community leader Howard Crawford died Monday, Dec. 30.

Known as a talented businessman and nice person, Crawford was respected throughout the region.

Crawford was known as "a good operator," according to Richard Bakken, whose father, Obed, served on the Beaver Creek Co-op Elevator board with Crawford for many years.

A prominent cattleman during a boom time in the cattle industry around Hills and Beaver Creek, Crawford kept himself well-informed on modern ways to operate in the agriculture and cattle industries.

"He was a person who was well thought of in the community," said Bakken, rural Garretson, S.D. "People respected his opinion on things."

During his years of service to the community, Crawford was active in many areas.

He oversaw much of the rebuilding of the Beaver Creek Co-op Elevator, at triple the capacity, after it was destroyed by fire on Dec. 26, 1970.

He replaced R.C. Juhl, who was finishing his term as President of the Beaver Creek Co-op Elevator when the fire occurred.

Crawford found his 23 years on the Beaver Creek School Board and Hills-Beaver Creek School Board very rewarding, according to his son, Roland Crawford.

"He really enjoyed the school board, the communities and such," said Roland.

Crawford was on the Beaver Creek School Board when work began on the consolidation of the Hills and Beaver Creek districts.

"He was really instrumental," said Roland. "I remember him working out in the yard and they (Hills board members) came and asked him. He worked hard to convince the Beaver Creek community."

Gordon Helgeson, Beaver Creek, served on the school board with Crawford from 1942 through 1945.

"He was a super nice person," he said. "He worked hard and he was just a good all-around man."

A lifelong member of First Presbyterian Church of Beaver Creek, Crawford served as an elder, a Sunday school teacher and a member of the building committee.

He served on numerous boards, including the Beaver Creek Co-op Lumberyard board.

Active in the Rock County Cattlemen’s Association, he was also a 4-H leader for future farmers in the area.

He was a member of the Masonic Ben Franklin Lodge in Luverne and the El Raid Shrine of Sioux Falls.

Funeral services were Friday, Jan. 3.

By Jolene Farley
Shareholders in Hills-Beaver Creek Co-op Farm Service will vote on Monday, Feb. 3, on whether or not to merge with New Vision Co-op, Worthington.

In late September, the board was forced to begin reviewing options for the cooperative with locations in Hills and Beaver Creek.

The struggling farm economy and a general economic slowdown was instrumental in the boards’ decision, according to Hills-Beaver Creek Co-op Farm Service Board President Allen Fick, Beaver Creek.

"We decided it looked like it would be in our best interest to merge," Fick said.

"If the banking industry doesn’t want to work with you, it’s hard to continue.
"
The board unanimously agreed New Vision Co-op, managed by Frank McDowell, was the wisest choice for a merger.

"They looked like they would be the best option for us to merge with long-term," he said. "They seem to be a strong company and it was the best way to keep the members equity intact."

If stockholders vote to move ahead, the merger will occur March 1.

The board hopes that by merging, the co-op will be able to offer patrons better margins, better prices and better volume.

"We hope the services and everything that the customers are used to will still be there," he said.

New Vision will honor contracts made with the current co-op for fertilizer and chemical purchases if the merger occurs, according to Fick.

"That was a concern we had this winter," he said.

Hills-Beaver Creek Co-op Farm Service patrons were sent letters, dated Dec. 12, 2002, telling of the impending vote.

Another letter will be mailed to shareholders on Thursday, Jan. 16, containing more information on the possible merger and detailing the times and location of two informational meetings planned for Monday, Jan. 27, according to Fick.

In May 1993, the Beaver Creek Cooperative elevator merged with the Hills Cooperative Farm Service. The new company became the Hills-Beaver Creek Co-op Farm Service.

Shareholders of the Hills-Beaver Creek Co-op Farm Service will bote on a merger with
New Vision Co-op, Worthington. Store inside.

Photo by Chantel Connell

State government wants a piece of your mind

The Minnesota Department of Finance is asking citizens to contribute to the almost $5 billion shortfall. The contribution won’t be in money, but in ideas.

The department’s Web site at www.finance.state.mn.us has links to leave ideas and to read others’ ideas on how to cure the budget. Here are just a few:

Copy the procedures of private industry. If private industry has a cash short-fall, it moves to cut costs by reductions in equipment purchases AND looks to its workforce to further lower its operating costs BY LAYING OFF ITS EMPLOYEES!" Unlike the State of Minnesota, private industry CAN NOT RAISE ITS COSTS UNDER DOWNTURNS IN BUSINESS AS IT WOULD LOOSE EVEN MORE OF ITS CUSTOMER BASE. Therefore, my suggestion is for the State to downsize its workforce and bite the bullet.

Why not create another government holiday? During holidays, government does not have to pay workers and thus, saves money... That's what they do at my workplace. If budget is stressed, we get extra days off without pay.

Work on the important issues during the legislative session this year. Get them done first — don't wait until the end. Don't do any of the "symbolic" legislation (like making some specific day of the year "Charles Schultz Day." Save that for better times.)

Maybe if you get done early, you could close shop and save some money that way.

Eliminate the need for a front and rear license plate on all Minnesota vehicles. The only one benefiting is 3M which sells the reflectorized tape. Wouldn't this reduce our cost of materials while keeping the revenues the same. Other states such as Georgia and Florida have been doing this for years.

The use of road salt needs to be cut down dramatically. In the Willmar, Hutchinson and Saint Cloud areas where we do most of our driving, the Minnesota Highway department spreads salt on dry roads when there is absolutely no reason. This makes the drifting snow stick to the roads in these areas and makes a much more hazardous condition than not using the salt.

When you do make your cuts, cut at the state level (crap like benefits for partners of state employees) and do not totally dump your problems on local governments.

My suggestion to help reduce the deficit is to collect the money that the state already has receivable. My employer is so far behind in state payroll tax withholding and the payment of unemployment taxes is almost non-existent. As employees, we believe our tax dollars withheld are being paid in. The dollar amounts are well over $100,000 and he is a small business. The federal government has been aggressive in their collection efforts, but the state is lacking. One suggestion is to turn these type of debts over to collection companies.

I would like to see someone, anyone take a good look at education. I am only 26 years old and do not see my age group or the younger generation getting any smarter. Maybe if we went back to the basics of education, reading, writing and arithmetic and stopped trying do what is politically correct we would be smarter. Teach what is necessary to contribute to society (speak English, add and subtract) instead of all the other stuff education would not cost as much.

Raise fees for non-resident hunting/game licenses, state park admissions, historical sites, by $1 per person. This isn't huge, but it also allows us to gain some additional revenue from visitors outside the state.