By Sara Strong
Mark Overgaard, rural Luverne, is new on the list of plaintiffs suing the county over the controversial hog operation, Overgaard Pork.

Overgaard Pork is owned and operated by Chad Overgaard and Scott Overgaard, Kanaranzi Township.

Overgaard Pork, Chad and Scott, County Commissioner Robert Jarchow, former Land Management Office Director John Burgers and the Rock County Board of Commissioners are also being sued.

Original plaintiffs filing in March were Glenn, Mabel and Loren Overgaard, with Mark amending the lawsuit in a letter dated Aug. 30.

Another party is also added to the list of defendants, Schwartz Farms, Sleepy Eye, which owns the animals Overgaard Pork raises.

The plaintiffs are suing for monetary damages exceeding $50,000, which is standard in state cases.

The lawsuit alleges 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 GlennÕs property in the fall of 2001.

Glenn protested the permit throughout its process in the county.

The suit claims the defendants didn't act according to law when permits for a feedlot were granted. And beyond that, they falsified records, acted with conflicts of interest, engaged in inappropriate conduct and aided in polluting the plaintiffsÕ land, air and water.

The county's response has been that it acted properly in the permitting process and that the lawsuit has been "brought for an improper purpose."

The parties involved are in the process of discovery and answering allegations.

By Lori Ehde
Luverne's Warren Herreid has his name etched in stone in Camp Ripley's Court of Honor Military Museum.

He traveled to northern Minnesota Sunday for the honor.

According to the ceremony brochure, the Court of Honor was established at Camp Ripley "for the purpose of permanent memorialization of those individuals who have, through dedicated service to State and Nation, attained uncommon prestige or who have performed otherwise highly distinguished service over an extended period of years."

Herreid's name appears on a monument next to several others he's come to know and admire.

"That made me feel really good to see my name along side of these people I've respected through the years - almost all generals are on this list," he said. "It's kind of an awesome honor.

Herreid was nominated for recognition by the Camp Ripley Memorialization Board, which is comprised of decorated colonels and generals, mostly retired.

"I really am very proud to be able to represent Luverne and my National Guard family from Luverne," Herreid said.

"Luverne is a very strong Guards town, and I'm proud to represent my generation of that family with this honor."

Sgt. Maj. Warren Herreid began his career with the Minnesota National Guard in September 1939 with Headquarters Company, Second Battalion, 205th Infantry in Luverne.

During his military career which spanned two wars, Herreid earned the Combat Infantry Badge, Bronze Star, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Army Reserve Components Achievement Medal with Oak Leaf Cluster, European Africa Middle Eastern Theater Service Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Theater Service Medal, American Defense Service Medal with Bronze Star, World War II Victory Medal, Minnesota Commendation with Pendant, four Overseas Service Bars and Minnesota Service Ribbon with clasp, First C1 Gunner.

Herreid's nomination to the Court of Honor stems largely from his role in developing a military leadership weekend course after he became operations sergeant of the G-3 in the mid-1970s.

His book, "The Professional Military Leader," was the preface of a teaching manual used in the course, which became the precursor to training later conducted by the Minnesota Military Academy.

Since his retirement in 1980, Herreid continues to contribute to the National Guard in numerous volunteer roles.

"Luverne is a great town. I have a lot of military comrades and friends here," he said.

"There's something special about the Guards family that help you through life. Also, the women of the Guards are very important. It takes you away from your family a lot, and my wife (Joyce) has been very supportive."

By Sara Strong
After 12 years, Luverne Utilities Coordinator Red Arndt is still working to get Lewis and Clark Rural Water System to southwest Minnesota.

"ItÕs a political ballgame right now. We've just got to play along until we can get the money and build it," he said to the Luverne City Council Tuesday.

Arndt is hopeful that $7 million in federal funds will come to the project by October. Lewis and Clark had hoped for $12 million.

The entire finished product of the system Ñ which will provide the region, including 22 communities and rural water systems, better quality water and a larger quantity of water - will cost about $362 million.

Federal funds will take on 80 percent of the cost with participating communities and the state splitting the remainder.

If the state doesn't come through with its portion, however, users have to absorb the difference.

Right now Luverne's portion will be a total of $1.3 million, or $36,000 this year for a federal funds match. Councilman David Hauge said he's worried that the state's budget deficits could effect the project in its funding from the state.

Arndt said, "We need to get the money or we'll have to come up with it."

The state's share this year is $108,000.

So far, two test wells are running and a third is being bid for the labor and installation.

RCRW is allotted 300,000 gallons a day from Lewis and Clark, and Luverne is allotted 750,000 gallons a day, or half of what it expects to use at high capacity. Water could reach Rock County by 2011.

Friends of the Library
With the library looking forward to its book sale today, Friday and Saturday, Friends of the Library President Dolly Remme updated the Luverne City Council on its organization Tuesday.

Last year's book sale generated $1,094 for Friends of the Library. The group purchased chairs, tables and a podium for the new community room and video and audio books for adults and juniors.

Friends of the Library continues to be proud of Luverne resident Carole Olson's book "Rock-a-Bye Baby Reader," of which it sold 500 at regular price and 1,500 at cost to the Rock County Collaborative to give to all new parents in the county.

Olson's book continues to get statewide attention from preschool and children's groups.

Among its other interests, Friends of the Library is also concerned with supporting regional authors. "We try to keep books by people in this area in the library," Remme said.

By Sara Strong
The Rock County Board of Commissioners Tuesday approved the formation of a Feedlot Task Force, which will meet quarterly until the county-wide Level III feedlot inventory process is complete.

The inventory is underway and the Board of Water and Soil Resources, which is doing the inspections, the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency and county staff will update the County Board by Oct. 1.

The update will be a general progress report, reflecting some of what the inspections have found so far. The task force will then meet to discuss the inspection process and be a communication group between inspectors and producers.

Volunteers have signed on to be a part of the task force and represent most parts of the county.

Task Force members
Grant Binford
Pete Bakken
Tom Skattum
Randy Scott
Mike Hoiland
Mike Sandager
Jeff Ahrendt
Jim Remme
Denny Holtrup
Nate Golla
Lynn Peterson
Doug Bolt

Ron Boyenga and Ken Hoime will represent the Rock County Board of Commissioners on the task force, and one or two more individuals may be asked to join as well.

Daycare issues
Karen DeBoer of the Southwest Minnesota Opportunity Council and Carol Wulf of Rock County Family Services presented the board with a child day care review.

Rock County's 51 daycare providers work with 406 children. The desired capacity is to have 300 children in daycare to allow room for the best possible care. The maximum number of children allowed in daycares in the county is 566 according to licensure requirements.

Finding care for infants is always an issue for parents. Twenty-nine of Rock County's providers have infants now and 39 accept infants.

The formula for licensing means that providers have to limit ages and numbers of children. For example, an infant is considered 12 months and younger. With one infant, a daycare is allowed to have two toddlers and with three toddlers, no infants are allowed.

Room for infants can be a particular problem if a family has a baby in addition to older children and wants to keep them all in the same daycare. Wulf said she may grant a variance to keep a family together if there isnÕt an infant vacancy in that case.

She said aging daycare providers leaving the field may pose problems for Rock County in coming years. As providers retire, not as many are getting licensed to take their place.

More families are turning to before school programs - like the free school breakfast that serves about 300 a day - instead of taking their children to daycare, where they have to be bussed to school. After school programs like Family U give older children a place to go and daycare providers don't have to reserve a spot for them during the day.

Rural addressing
Although the county roads are signed with their new street addresses, individuals wonÕt get their new addresses for at least another six months, County Engineer Mark Sehr said to the board Tuesday.
The board, Sehr and dispatchers have gotten calls from residents waiting to learn their specific addresses.

When the county and Post Office finalize the mapping system, residents will be notified by mail of their new addresses. The Post Office will honor old and new addresses for a year to allow people time to switch their subscriptions, check blanks or any other items that require correct addresses.

By Lori Ehde
LuverneÕs Cor-Tech Manufacturing employees are still regrouping after the July 31 fatal accident of their friend and co-worker Nick Mann.

Cor-Tech management has decided to no longer accept individual repair work and will focus instead on major manufacturing projects.

Two of eight employees were laid off last week to make that adjustment.

"It's just the nature of what's come about," said James Stratton, co-worker and brother of Cor-Tech owner Cory Stratton.

The decision follows an investigation and subsequent fine by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The fatal accident also injured ag repair customer John Teune, Steen.

"Some of it's OSHA driven and some of it's insurance driven," James Stratton said of the decision to eliminate private repair work.

"Insurance costs were going to go up, so it wouldnÕt have been feasible for us to do it."

Meanwhile, he said Cor-Tech has plenty of manufacturing contracts to work on.

Cor-Tech has major contracts with the poultry industry to build transport cages and trailers, for example.

It also continues to manufacture cable trailers for national utilities, and building recycling trailers provides steady work for the local employees.

Stratton said the employees seem to have recovered well from the events of July 31,
"They're doing good," he said. "We thank everyone in the community for their continued support."

By Lori Ehde
Luverne School Board members reviewed district enrollment figures at their Thursday, Sept. 5, meeting.

Now that school has been in session for a couple weeks, administration has been able to account for what appears to be firm student numbers for the 2002-03 year.

As of that meeting, there were 1,323 students enrolled. That compares with 1,327 last year at this time, and 1,348 in the fall of 2000.

Superintendent Vince Schaefer presented the figures at the meeting. He pointed out that 47 Luverne students are open enrolled out of the district to other schools and that 132 are open enrolled to Luverne from neighboring districts.

"That's a positive flow of 83, so that's a very good thing," Schaefer said, adding that Luverne's overall enrollment news is positive.

"That's not too bad a picture for enrollment compared to trends for enrollment outstate."

In other business Thursday, the board:
Heard that the district buses are using some biodiesel blended fuels from Rock County Co-op Oil.
Heard the Luverne Alternative School has 10 to 12 full-time students enrolled this fall, and 16 to 20 part-time students.
Approved district implementation manuals to meet requirements for basic and high standards.
Approved the non-renewal of Harvey CrableÕs contract as middle school dean of students. It was a 40-percent position that included middle principal and counselor duties. Those two positions have now been filled.
Ratified contracts with the custodial union and the paraprofessionals, secretaries and food service union. It includes a $1 per hour raise the first year and 50 cents the second year.
Approved hiring Scott Jacobson as second-grade teacher and Jennifer Engesser as third-grade teacher. Both have base salaries of $28,643.
Approved hiring Tracy Cornish, Deb Baumann and Heidi Melhaff as Title I paraprofessionals.
Approved hiring Angela Fick and Julie Schroeder as special education management assistants.
Approved hiring Roxanne Holtrop as elementary special education secretary.
Approved hiring Teresa Reu as ECFE assistant.
Approved the termination of special education management assistant Amanda Fongemie.
Approved the resignation of Melanie Rust as special education management assistant and Elaine Klingenberg as Title I paraprofessional.

Luverne School District custodial staff members are the first installment of the Star Herald's weekly school feature, "Cardinal Hall Monitor." Pictured are (front row, from left) Dave Eberlein, Kay Umbreit, Todd Mann (groundskeeper), Fred Cook, Michael Wessels, Carrole Horn (back row) Mark O'Toole, Greg Hurst, Don Mitchell, Darrell Brown, Larry Van Grootheest and Marv Doering (maintenance). Not pictured is Larry Roos, supervisor. While students clear out for summer vacation, custodial staff members roll up their sleeves for a busy three months of getting the district buildings ready for another school year. This includes scrubbing and buffing 400,000 square feet of floors and hallways - and that's just the inside work. The district owns 120 acres that also require daily upkeep.

The Cardinal Hall Monitor will provide weekly features of those who work in the district. It will also include some of the Star Herald's regular school features on interesting activities among the district students.

Vernie Edmundson, 99, died Monday, Sept. 23 at Palisade Manor Nursing Home in Garretson. Visitation begins at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25 with the family present from 7 to 8 p.m. at Minnehaha Funeral Home, Garretson. Committal services will be Thursday, Sept. 26 at 1 p.m. at Palisade Lutheran Cemetery. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. at Palisade Lutheran Church with Rev. Ray Heidenson officiating.

By John Rittenhouse
Cross country programs from Luverne and Adrian High Schools received some action at the Marshall Invitational Monday.

The Luverne boys placed a strong second in a 10-team varsity field with 91 points. Adrian placed 10th with 242.

LuverneÕs girls placed fifth out of all teams in varsity competition. Adrian was incomplete.

Nick Otten led the Cardinal boys to their second-place finish by placing 10th individually with a time of 17:49.

Jake Studer (13th in 18:11), Jesse Kuhlman (17th in 18:25), Ruston Aaker (24th in 18:58) and Dusty Antoine (27th in 19:12) capped the team scoring for LHS.

Jesson Vogt and Devin Goembel placed 34th and 58th in 19:13 and 20:35 without influencing the scoring.

Paul Honermann and Brandon Bullerman led the Dragon boys by finishing 34th and 35th in 19:11 and 19:12.

Chad Janssen (55th in 19:59), Ethan Wieneke (61st in 20:37) and Kelly Seeman (68th in 23:01) contributed to Adrian's team total.

Sadie Dietrich set the pace for the Cardinal girls by placing 11th in the varsity race in 16:54.

Victoria Arends (18th in 17:21), Amanda Saum (26th in 17:57), Kelsey Dooyema (43rd in 18:46) and Brianna Studer (75th in 21:51) padded Luverne's team tally.

Jessica Willers placed 78th in 22:29 without affecting the scoring.

Adrian had three girls compete in the varsity race.

Krissi Thier placed 46th in 18:58, McCall Heitkamp 51st in 19:12 and Kelly Banck 53rd in 19:17.

Adrian and Luverne will run at the Worthington Turkey Trot Saturday. Here is a look at the team standings and other individual results from the Marshall Invitational.

Boys' standings: Marshall 21, Luverne 91, Jackson County Central 96, Canby-Minneota-Lincoln HI 102, Redwood Valley 145, Southwest Christian 161, Springfield 163, Windom 183, Worthington 207, Adrian 242.

Girls' standings: C-M-LH 64, Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 68, Marshall 90, JCC 97, Luverne 160, RWV 185, Southwest Star Concept-Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster 192, Murray County Central 195, Windom 197, Springfield 204, Worthington 252.

Junior varsity boys
Luverne: Trevor Maine, sixth, 15:56; Travis Halfmann, 13th, 16:11; John May, 20th, 17:20; Grant Oldre, 25th, 17:09; Brent DeGroot, 33rd, 17:33; Michael Nelson, 55th, 19:58; David Nelson, 59th, 21:16.

Adrian: Eldon Vaselaar, 62nd, 23:27.

Junior high boys
Luverne: Eric Kraetsch, sixth, 7:31.
Adrian: Aaron Mormann, 16th, 8:12; Dustin Lonneman, 24th, 8:39; Collin Lynn, 27th, 8:50; Tim Zaske, 30th, 8:52.

Junior high girls
Luverne: Lexi Heitkamp, first, 2:54; Justine Heintzman, seventh, 8:40, Amanda Kannas, 20th, 9:13.
Adrian: Megan Henning, ninth, 8:41; Kaitlin Leinen, 19th, 9:02.