By Sara Strong

Rock County is about to enter the wind energy market, with its first four towers going up this summer.

Beaver Creek farmer Mark Willers said the towers are as much about economics as they are about energy.

"It's rural development. We can't be just relying on the Farm Bill. This is a new generation," he said.

Willers serves as president of Min Win I, and the Rock County Board of Commissioners Tuesday granted the company a conditional use permit for two towers.

Another group of local farmers formed Min Win II and was also granted two towers.

The towers will go up about three miles southeast of Beaver Creek or seven miles southwest of Luverne. Some of the concrete base structures are being worked on this week, and the total project might be finished by August.

Each Min Win is spending $1.6 million on the project, which will be completely paid off in 10 years.

Each turbine will carry 1.8 megawatts, which is enough to power 400 homes.

President of Min Win II, Tom Arends, said this is by far the most interesting project he's worked on.

As a livestock producer, he said it's nice to be involved in something that doesn't raise environmental questions.

The Min Win groups are classified as Limited Liability Corporations to work with various federal tax codes. The details kept members busy, but they say it’s been worth the effort.

The groups are the first in the state to own turbines. Most are owned by power companies which then lease land from individuals.

Arends said, "We've put up with the wind for so long, that I don't see why we can't farm it."

Because the Min Win LLCs are so unique, they've gotten national attention and landowner-owned turbines might become a trend.

Even though power needs are steadily increasing, the United States is far behind the renewable energy wave.

Germany and Denmark, for example, get one-third of their power from wind, compared to about .05 percent in the U.S.

Roping the wind
Alliant Energy is contracting to use power generated from the new towers in Rock County.

Suitable transmission lines were an obstacle to the first wind towers in the state.

Since then, utility companies have made it clear that wind energy is important to them, or at least their customers. Xcel Energy recently proposed transmission lines to improve wind energy access in southwest Minnesota.

Missouri River Energy, which supplements the city of Luverne’s power, is introducing a plan that allows customers a choice to get some of their energy from wind.

Willers said these four turbines might be just the beginning in Rock County.

The group of 65 farmers who are members of the Min Win groups worked for almost 20 months to get to this point and probably won’t stop there.

Willers said that even though the profits hit Min Win members, more people will be affected by the turbines than meets the eye.

The materials - such as concrete - needed to construct the bases of the turbines will be bought locally; the units will be constructed in Minnesota; service to the towers will be provided by a Lake Benton company, which is considering expanding to Pipestone.

The only part imported from outside the state is the turbine itself from Denmark, which is necessary because of the quality of the product.

Considering local and regional impacts, Willers said it's no wonder the conditional use permit met no objections in a public hearing.

He said, "They save Missouri River water by not using hydro power, they reduce the use of coal and nuclear energy. They don't leak, they don't smell, they keep revenue here and you don't need a manure plan to run them."

Noise pollution apparently won't be an issue with the local turbines because Arends said the blades will move too slowly to create significant noise.

By Sara Strong

The Minnesota Pollution Control Agency heard more reaction Tuesday from local producers as comprehensive feedlot inspections approach.

July will bring county employees and the Board of Water and Soil Resources to every feedlot in the county for a Level III, or the most extensive inspection.

The Rock County Board of Commissioners brought the MPCA to the table during their regular meeting Tuesday for a review of the random file inspection already conducted. And livestock producers turned out to offer questions and comments to the MPCA.

Admittedly, most producers don't agree with some state regulations and others don't like the agency that enforces those regulations.

Richard Bakken, rural Garretson, S.D., said he has "no respect" for the MPCA after the way he was treated 10 years ago when he was volunteering to bring his operation into compliance.

"You would have thought I was the worst guy in the state of Minnesota," he said.

Hills cattleman Gene Sandager said the scrutiny Rock County is going through isn't fair. "They don't have to do it in Nebraska, Argentina or Brazil, but we have to do it in southwest Minnesota," he said.

The county’s part in the upcoming inspections include having a Land Management Office employee present during BWSR inspections and sharing some costs. The MPCA will visit the county weekly and specific sites when directed by the county to do so. The Attorney General will be updated as the process continues.

County costs will be partially covered by the settlement from a plea agreement with David Logan of Global Ventures, a hog operation that was involved in bribery crimes.
BWSR received $130,000 to spend on inspections and Rock County received $30,000.

In new county dollars spent, Rock County Administrator Kyle Oldre estimates that $80,000 is needed to get through the inspections. That includes hiring an additional clerical person to help the LMO in data entry during the heavily administrative process.

Preliminary tests
The Level III inventories are being done by to ensure no environmental harm was done during the tenure of former LMO director John Burgers. He was implicated in the Global Ventures scandal.

The county's options were limited if it didn't follow through with the Level III. It could have lost permitting rights and grant money.

MPCA completed a random audit of 71 permits of the 618 in LMO files.

The MPCA isn't releasing specific findings or numbers of infractions from that audit, but said most of the files showed some type of error. They were more often administrative and minor rule violations, and were less often major ones.

Some of the areas of concern included: unpermitted and the closure of unpermitted earthen basins, open lot runoff with new construction, engineering plans for construction of manure storage areas, animal unit miscalculation and incorrectly identifying animal species.

The County Board accepted the audit review and passed a work plan outlining what the county will do to correct problems. It also passed a Memorandum of Understanding, which is an agreement with the MPCA in relation to the inspections.
By approving these documents, the county keeps its status as a delegated feedlot county, which means it can approve permits without state inspection, and keeps state environmental grants.

Doug Bos, of the LMO, said, "I think this is the best scenario we can go by."

Bakken said, "I don't know of a better way to do it than having local people work with producers on their sites."

No black and white
MPCA representatives agreed that many of its statutes and regulations are open to interpretation.

That's what concerns Rock County producers because they were granted permits based on another feedlot officer's interpretations.

Earthen basins, for example, are simply part of the ground that may collect manure.

MPCA representative Jerry Holein said, hypothetically, that a 6-inch depression could be defined as an earthen basin. "It can be anything when it gets to the point where it’s stagnant and holding manure," he said.

MPCA Regional Manager Myrna Halbach said, "One of the things through this process we'll see, is that there's no black and white."

Holein said, "The concern is the integrity of the groundwater."

Commissioner Ron Boyenga said that as a member of the Rock County Rural Water Board, he understands the importance of water quality. "But we don’t want to put people out of business so there's no one to drink it either," he said.
Preserving the state's waterways is the chief concern of the MPCA when considering feedlots. If producers are found to have been wrongly permitted, they must come into compliance at their own cost, which will probably include an engineer signing off on a project.

Sandager said that's where his worries start. "My concern is this: You said it wasn't your intention to put us out of business. But we're running on zero to negative margins so putting dollars into our feedlots will cause us to go out of business."

Inevitable inspections
Rock County is the first in the state to see the total feedlot inspection, but the state has a goal of visiting every feedlot.

Rock County actually set that same goal in 1997, so this Level III inventory is just accelerating what would have been eventual. The goal end date for the Level III inspections is December 2004, but the county must continue after that date if the inspections aren't complete.

A Feedlot Task Force is being formed to work through the inspection process in the county. Those interested in joining can contact Oldre. The Task Force will discuss rule interpretations within the statutes' gray areas and help disseminate public information.

For specific information on feedlot rules, visit the MPCA Web site: www.pca.state.mn.us. Click on Hot Topics, then Feedlots. A feedlot help-line is available at 1-877-333-3508.

By John Rittenhouse

The Hills Thunder ended an 11-day layoff by playing a pair of games in a four-day span.

Hills traveled to Luverne Thursday to take on the home-standing Redbirds. The Thunder kept the game close before dropping a 5-0 decision.

Hills returned to Luverne Sunday to take on Truman. Truman rallied to score three late runs and pull out a 4-3 win.
The Thunder couldn’t put together a string of hits during Thursday's game against Luverne.

Hills received one hit each from Cade and Jarud Lang, Eric and Scott Harnack, Matt Funke and Chris Putnam, but the safeties did not lead to any runs.

Luverne, on the other hand, plated five unearned runs to post a win.

Thunder pitcher Matt Wingate pitched seven innings of four-hit ball in the starting role. He walked four batters and struck out nine. Wingate took the loss after allowing three unearned runs.

Putman yielded two unearned runs when pitching one inning of relief. He surrendered two hits, one walk and fanned one batter.

Hills let a 3-1 lead slip away when it played Truman in Luverne Sunday.

Playing as the visiting team, Hills scored twice in the top of the first and added another run in the fourth to counter Truman's one-run effort in the bottom of the first.

Truman bounced back to tie the game at three with a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth before producing the game-winning counter in the seventh.

The Thunder gained an early advantage when Chris Harnack singled before scoring when Scott Harnack drilled a two-run homer.

The score was 2-1 entering the top of the third, when Hills' Cade Lang singled and scored when Justin Van Maanen slapped an RBI single.

Chad Rauk took the loss on the mound for the Thunder. He pitched six innings of three-hit, three-walk ball. Rauk fanned nine batters and was touched for four runs.

Putnam relieved Rauk in the seventh, allowing one hit and one walk while recording one strikeout.

The 0-7 Thunder host Heron Lake at noon Sunday.

By Jolene Farley
Hills United Reformed Church intern Doug Barnes and his family say they have felt very welcome since their arrival in Hills Friday.

Barnes replaced the Rev. Keith Davis for the summer months after Davis accepted the pastor's position in a congregation in Lynwood, Ill.

Barnes attends the Mid-American Seminary, Dyer, Ind. and will return to classes once he leaves Hills.

"The folks have been absolutely fabulous," Barnes said. "These folks in Hills are just wonderful."

When Barnes and his wife, Grace, and their four children Michal, 6, Samuel, 4, Luke, 2, and Jacob, 6 months, arrived at the parsonage the refrigerator was fully stocked with food and the beds were freshly made.

"They just went above and beyond," he said.

Rev. Barnes said everything was so perfect he walked outside to ask a neighbor if he had walked into the wrong house.

Within 24 hours, the Barnes' home was full of visitors welcoming them to Hills. The children were excited they were invited to a farm to see cows, according to Barnes.

"They've been very warm," he said.

Doug's parents from Pittsburgh, Pa., arrived to help the family settle in to the parsonage.

Grace's parents, Rev. and Mrs. Ralph Ontier, live in Orange City, Iowa, where Ralph is a pastorate.

A committee of church elders is searching for a permanent replacement for Pastor Davis.

"This gives them a little bit of extra breathing space for that," he said.

'Girls in Pearls'
Kristin Harmsa, LaDonna Sandstede and Angie Sjaarda helped form the Steen Reformed Girls League Relay for Life team, "The Girls In Pearls," in Luverne. The girls and their team members took turns walking around the high school track for 12 continuous hours along with 32 other teams and more tahn 400 other walkers during the second annual event. This year's Rock County Relay for Life raised more than $43,000 for the American Cancer Society.

Roughly 100 cancer survivors kicked off the relay with a survivor lap, which they concluded by releasing individual purple Relay for Life balloons.

There might not be anyone out there who finds a newlywed's marital philosophies worth much, but I've developed a few to share anyway.

With the national divorce rate climbing toward 60 percent, I figure writing my little theories couldn't do any more harm.
I'm certainly not alone in this quest for greater marital knowledge. It seems everyone has their own ideas about the mating game and there's even a new book about people in my age group called, "The Starter Marriage," by Pamela Paul.
It talks about the late 20-and 30-something set that, at increasing rates, divorces after a year or two of "practice" and then moves on to another marriage, which may or may not last longer.

The conclusion in the book is that many people marry for the wrong reasons in the first place. It's funny that one of the reasons for marriage sometimes isn't even love.

It seems that men and women want to complete the perfect picture as much as they want the partnership marriage means. And sometimes they're just tired of dating so they settle.

Today's "starter marriage" couples soon find that it's too difficult to put in the time and effort needed to complete their notion of what happiness is. Combine that with choosing a mate based on circumstances rather than love, and you've got yourself a starter marriage made in divorce-court heaven.

I should point out that life in my home isn't always a Hallmark card. I can get snippy, he's easy to please. I'd like to eat more organic food, he'd be happy with Fruity Pebbles. I work on a computer, he works with people. He's the Rippingtons, I'm more Elton John.

I think the institution of marriage somehow turned into a version of the training bra. We give it a try when we think we're ready and wait a while. It starts to not quite feel right so we move to the next level, hoping for better support.

I also think too many people are drawn to each other because of similar interests. For example, horseback riders shouldn't marry thinking of all the time they'll spend enjoying the hobby together. Because if you're not careful in your selection, the horse might make a better companion on those long trails than your spouse.

Of course there's nothing wrong with enjoying hobbies together; it's actually important. But make sure the person beside you is right.

Another obvious issue I see is that people confuse good personalities with being good. Someone with a good personality might tell a great story or make you laugh, but common morals and a fine character should be higher on the list.

My husband and I spend many hours laughing together, but if all I wanted was a chuckle, I could practice robotic dancing in front of a full-length mirror. So I'll keep him for his kindness.

Theories like this new "starter marriage" one don't mean there's something so wrong with the 20- to 30-somethings. They've just learned, as children of the first divorce generation, to shop for spouses like cars - the right price, good miles and we're sold.

Love isn't like buying a car or trying to craft the perfect Christmas letter I guess. We at the Strong household will just keep counting on each other for happiness in our own marriage, even if it's technically still a starter.

More road projects

If you like to take "Old Highway 16," now known as County Road 4, to Sioux Falls or Brandon, you'll have to take a different path next week.

The road, which becomes Main Street when passing through Luverne, will be closed from Monday, June 24, to Thursday, June 27, for railroad crossing repairs west of Manley.

A detour will be signed and includes Rock County Highway 17, Rock County Highway 13, Minnehaha County Highway 146 and Minnehaha County Highway 103.

Or, maybe you should just take Interstate 90.

Are you ready for new postal rates?
On June 30, the U.S. Postal Service will raise postal rates on average almost 8 percent.

The single-piece, one-ounce mail rate will increase from 34 cents to 37 cents.

The Office of Environmental Assistance would like you to save money and help the environment by following these easy tips:

Decrease the weight of most commonly used papers

Make double-sided printing the default setting on all printers

Clean up old mailing lists

Use standard size envelopes and mailers

Use postcards or self-mailers, which require less postage and no envelope waste

Send two-way envelopes for billing to avoid having to send an extra envelope

Use smaller fonts and margins to maximize use of paper.

You can still visit the Hinkly House
It may seem like it's impossible to get there, but you can still visit the Hinkly House Museum on North Freeman Avenue.

If you approach it from Lincoln street (south) you can park in front of the building along the 200 block of Freeman Avenue.

Summer hours for tours are 2 to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday afternoon.

Watch out for those turtles
The DNR is asking you to look out for those turtles.

According to Carrol Henderson, of the Minnesota DNR, turtles crossing the road this time of year are egg-laden females. "Turtles need help to safely reach their nest sites to produce future generations.

Henderson recommends that motorists watch for turtles crossing roads near wetlands, lakes and ponds during the next two weeks.

Some turtles may travel up to a mile from water to reach their nesting sites, so they may cross more than one road during their travels, according to Henderson.

They want you to buckle-up
The Minnesota Department of Public Affairs had a crackdown on unbuckled vehicle occupants in May.

State troopers in 13 counties of Southwest Minnesota stopped 475 drivers for various traffic violations resulting in 275 traffic tickets, of which 93 were seatbelt violations.

In addition, 512 warnings were also issued.

Statewide, more than 350 agencies, including local police departments and county sheriff's offices participated.

State troopers worked 156 extra hours to help Minnesota increase the state's seatbelt use rates by targeting vehicle occupant restraint violations.

Blood bank collects 48 pints
The Community Blood Bank, formerly known as the Sioux Falls Regional Blood Bank, recently collected 48 pints of blood at Luverne Community Hospital.

The blood drive was Tuesday, June 11.

According to information from the Blood Bank, that is enough blood to help at least 144 seriously ill patients.

The Community Blood Bank is the primary supplier of blood to Luverne Community Hospital.

Publisher Roger Tollefson can be contacted by e-mail at
tolly@star-herald.com

Rose Theresa Heitmann Radermacher, 90, of Hardwick, died Wednesday, June 5, at the Parkview Manor Nursing Home in Ellsworth.

Funeral services were at St. Catherine Catholic Church in Luverne, Saturday, June 8.

Rose married Frank Radermacher Aug. 27, 1945, in Lake Wilson. They lived in Lake Wilson until May of 1956 when they moved to Hardwick, and lived there for 36 years. From Hardwick, they moved to the Blue Mound Towers, Luverne. In October 1992, they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary. They moved to Parkview Manor, Ellsworth, in April, 1996.

Mrs. Radermacher held a variety of jobs that included housekeeper, waitress and working for Campbell Soup Co., Worthington. However, her main job was taking care of her family. She was a member of St. Catherine Catholic Church, Luverne. She loved to sew and can fruits and vegetables from their large garden. In her later years, she enjoyed crocheting towels and making floral arrangements. While in Lake Wilson, she provided fresh flowers and linens for the church alter.

Rose is survived by her four children, Helen "Sandy" Kunkel, Cottage Grove; Peg (Loren) Bavin, Amery, Wis.; Francis "Fritz" (Adeline) Radermacher, Anoka: and Karen Radermacher, Mankato; five grandchildren, two step grandchildren, one great grandchild, two sisters, Louise DeBates, Sioux Falls, S.D.; and Hilda Mitchell, Blunt, S.D.; and numerous nieces and nephews.

She was preceded in death by her parents; husband, Frank, infant son, Edmund; son-in-law, Robert Kunkel; six brothers, Joe, Fred, Vince, Louie, Lee & Carl Heitmann; two infant brothers and three sisters, Cecelia Stratmann, Minnie Murphy and Leona DeBates.

Dingmann Funeral Home, Luverne, was in charge of arrangements.

Herbert "Hobie" Wieneke, 83, Adrian, died Thrusday, June 13, at his home.

Services were held on Saturday, June 15, at St. Adrian Catholic Church in Adrian. Father Gerald Kosse & Father Frank Klein officiated. Burial was at St. Anthony Cemetery, in Lismore.

Herbert was born January 2, 1919, in Lismore, to Herman and Josephine (Geistkemper) Wieneke. Herb attended country school in Lismore Township; and St. Anthony Catholic School. He then attended technical school in Chicago, where he learned small engine repair, a trade he still enjoyed up until his death.
Herb married Frances Klein on April 23, 1946, in Adrian. After their marriage, the couple farmed in Lismore Township. In 1979, they retired and moved to Adrian.

He was a former member of St. Anthony Catholic Church, in Lismore; a current member of St. Adrian Catholic Church, in Adrian; and the Catholic Order of Foresters.

Herb is survived by his wife, Frances Wieneke, Adrian; six children and their spouses, Emily & Ron Goebel, Luverne; Kathy & Mike Sangwin, Laurens, IA; Eileen & Gary Henning, Adrian; Stan Wieneke, Adrian; Verna & Paul Taylor, Wilbur, WA; and Rita & Duane Boltjes, Adrian; sixteen grandchildren, four great grandchildren; brother, Vincent (Marge) Wieneke, Lismore; and two sisters, Rosalia Haffield, Worthington; and Mary Ann (Cletus) Spieker, rural Lismore.

He was preceded in death by his parents; son, LeRoy, in 1976; six brothers, Ed, Clarence, Bernard, Alfred, Donald, & Cletus; and two sisters, Bernice Cook & Alma Madison.

Lynch Dingmann Funeral Home was in charge of arrangements.