Sue Hup's first-grade class is the Luverne Elementary featured Class of the Week. Pictured are (front row, from left) Autumn Altman, Alejandro Limones, Ryan Krueger, Christian Rise-Schrader, Sabrina Marshall, (second row) Aubrianna Johnson, Alex Moran, Sydney Boelman, Reed Skattum, Nick Johnson, Tony Fletcher, (third row) Katie Staeffler, Nathan Kannas, Brittany Isburg, Gary Gertz, Scott Nelson, Emilie Baartman, (back) Mrs. Hup and Mrs. Janet Hanson.

Mrs. Hup and her students have worked long and hard this week on the Iowa Basic Skills Tests and are looking forward to completing them. The first-graders are excited about reading lots and lots of books and are busy writing Frog and Toad stories.

Photo by Lori Ehde

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth boys' golf team turned in its strongest performance of the season at Rock River Country Club near Rock Rapids, Iowa, Tuesday.

Taking on Westbrook-Walnut Grove on the Iowa course, H-BCE shot a season-low score while coasting to a 167-186 victory over the Chargers.

Patriots Blake Brommer, Tom Janssen and Clint Roozenboom set the stage for the convincing wins.
Brommer shot a four-over-par 39 to claim the medalist honor for the meet.

Janssen and Roozenboom offered stiff challenges to Brommer by carding 40- and 41-stroke tallies.

Dusty Seachris added a 47 to H-BC-E's winning team tally.

Jordan Scott and Kyle Sammons shot 48s without contributing to the team scoring.

Chris Munson and Curt Farber shot 45s to lead W-WG.

The H-BC-E B squad notched a 192-200 win over the Chargers.

Nick Deutsch led the Panthers with a six-over-par 41.

Jeremy Tiesler and Dusty Bonnema added 49- and 50-stroke tallies to the team effort, while Jeremy Elbers and Ben Herman carded 52s. Travis Broesder shot a 54 for the Patriots.

H-BC-E plays Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster in Lake Park, Iowa, today before playing W-WG in Westbrook Monday.

Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth's Greg Van Batavia heads into a turn during the 800-meter run at the Tri-State Relays in Luverne Saturday. Van Batavia placed second in the event to help the Patriot boys place third as a team in a seven-team field.

By John Rittenhouse
The Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth track teams mixed it up with some area competition at the Tri-State Relays in Luverne Saturday.

The cold, windy day challenged all athletes on hand, and the Patriots seemed to hold their own by winning a combined five meet championships.

H-BC-E's boys battled their way to a third-place finish in a seven-team field by scoring 100.5 points.

The Patriot girls tallied 47 counters to place fifth out of seven teams.

The boys' team picked up four of H-BC-E's five meet championships, and Chris Reid played a role in three of the wins.

Reid won the 100-meter dash in 11.57 and the long jump with a distance of 19-9 1/4.

Reid, Lee Jackson, Tyler Bush and Brad Haak teamed up to win the 1,600-meter relay with a time of 3:41.53.

Jackson, Bush, Greg Van Batavia and Haak won the 3,200-meter relay with a time of 8:54.49.

Haak, Van Batavia and Jesse Leuthold placed second in individual events for the Patriots.

Haak cleared 5-6 in the high jump, Van Batavia ran 800 meters in 2:18.24 and Leuthold sprinted 200 meters in 24.8.

The boys' 400-meter relay team of Tyson Metzger, Van Batavia, Jackson and Leuthold placed second in 50 seconds.

The Patriot girls received a meet title from the 3,200-meter relay team.

Cassi Tilstra, Mya Mann, Brittney Rozeboom and Bev Wurpts led the 3,200 field with a time of 10:56.68.

The girlsÕ 400-meter relay team of Melinda Feucht, Kelly Mulder, Rozeboom and Danielle Fransman placed second with a 57.97 effort.

The Patriot teams will compete in Sturgis, S.D., Saturday and at the Arrow Relays in Pipestone Tuesday.

Here is a look at the rest of H-BC-E's place-earners and the team standings from the Tri-State Relays:

Boys' standings: Luverne 220.5, Canby-Minneota 116.5, H-BC-E 100.5, Canton 68.5, Adrian 61, Southwest Star Concept-Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster 50, Edgerton 15.

Girls' standings: Luverne 212.5, SSC-SV-RL-B 131, Canton 97.5, C-M 95, H-BC-E 47, Adrian 46, Edgerton 43.

H-BC-E boys
Third place: Kale Wiertzema, 3,200, 11:47.84; 800 relay (Reid, Leuthold, Bush and Haak), 1:38.5.
Fifth place: Derek Haak, 3,200, 12:27.19.
Sixth place: Ryan Ranschau, discus, 100-4; Metzger, 200, 26.64.

H-BC-E girls
Third place: Mulder, high jump, 4-4.
Fourth place: 800 relay (Feucht, Tilstra, Fransman and Mann), 2:02.9; Wurpts, 1,600, 5:58.39.
Fifth place: Tilstra, 400, 1:06.55; Feucht, 300 hurdles, 58.33.
Sixth place: Tilstra, high jump, 4-2.

By Jolene Farley
The city of Beaver Creek is advertising to fill two open seats on the City Council for the remainder of 2002.

City Council members Arnold Brondsema and Julie Buysse resigned from the Beaver Creek city council.

Buysse has moved to Hills, according to council member Jeff Dysthe. In her letter of resignation she cited "personal reasons" as her motive for resigning her council seat, according to Beaver Creek Mayor Al Blank. She had two years left on her three-year term.

Blank, Dysthe and Brondsema's wife declined to comment on the reason for BrondsemaÕs resignation. His four-year term expires this year.

"We will be appointing two new council members April 30," said Blank.

Anyone interested in the seats must submit a letter of interest to the council by April 20.

In elections this fall, Beaver Creek voters will elect a mayor and three City Council members.

By Jolene Farley
During their Monday meeting the Hills-Beaver Creek School Board discontinued the varsity baseball program and decided to offer only a junior varsity program in 2003.

The number of students participating in track has increased while the number in baseball has dwindled. "Baseball has kind of taken a back seat right now," said Superintendent Dave Deragisch.

Hills-Beaver Creek and Ellsworth students were polled on their interest in the sport.

"We had only one student who, without a doubt, wants to play baseball," said Deragisch.

Deragisch presented two options to the board. Either drop to the junior varsity level or go ahead with scheduled games for the 2003 season and hope to fill the team.

"He (the coach) won't go around from classroom to classroom and ask kids to play the next game," said Deragisch.

The board hopes continuing baseball with a change to the JV level will keep the program alive until more students at the varsity level want to play. Students in Grades 7 through 12 will be allowed to play at the junior varsity level.

Schools with games scheduled against Hills-Beaver Creek will be contacted and asked if they are willing to play H-BC at the JV level.

In other school
business Monday,
Deragisch said he is enforcing the dress code at Hills-Beaver Creek. "I talked about it over the PA (public address) system, what I expected," he said. "I tell kids 'You never see my bellybutton; I don't want to see yours.'"

The board approved an eight-day student trip to Costa Rica, Central America, in June 2003. Students must complete either a Spanish or science course to be eligible for the trip.

The 22 students who have signed up are planning fund-raisers to pay for the trip. "Some of them may never have the opportunity to do that again," said board member Matt Larson.

On May 22 a speaker sponsored by the Rock County Collaborative will speak to seventh- through 11th-grade students on cliques, recognizing differences and the evils of alcohol, tobacco and drugs.

Sixth-grade orientation is planned for May 28. Sixth-graders will trade places with seventh-graders for a day. Students will meet all their teachers for the upcoming year and become familiar with the high school.

Part-time Orv's employee Ray Roning, Hills, (left) and David Smedsrud, Luverne, sit at picnic table beside Orv's Station in Hills enjoying the sunshine and mild temperatures Tuesday. They, like most area residents, hope spring is here to stay!

Turn off the TV, turn on creativity

Sunday's episode of the X-Files was about a little boy whose creative imagination got him into trouble.

X-File viewers won't find the plot odd, but the boy could cause dreadful things to happen to people he didn't like just by imagining them.

I didn't see the whole episode, but I caught the last scene, which showed the boy seated in a recliner in the middle of a large, dark room facing an entire wall of television screens, each airing their own broadcasts.

It was a logical way to prevent more ill from befalling other unsuspecting victims: simply stifle the boy's imagination with TV. Brilliant.

It's ironic a TV show would make the point that TV stifles imagination, but the point arrives just in time for National TV-Turnoff Week, which starts Monday, April 22.

If Jonathan misbehaves, our first choice of punishment is grounding him from TV, which he views in limited quantities as it is.

While it's an unpleasant for him to miss a few Cartoon Network shows, wonderful things happen in our house when the TV is off. Books open up, Crayola markers and crayons find their way to blank sheets of paper, and talks of kindergarten capers unfold.

Next week, local elementary students will join thousands of schools, libraries and community groups nationwide in a coordinated effort to encourage millions of families to turn off their TV sets for seven days.

TV-Turnoff Week focuses not only on the general poor quality of TV programmin, but on the excessiv quantity most Americans watch - an average of four hours a day according to Nielson Media Research. All that time adds up to lost opportunities for reading, conversing, participating, thinking and creating.

On Friday, students will come home from school with yellow tally cards to record the total number of minutes watched. There will be special prizes awarded for students who watch no TV or less then 60 minutes during TV-Turnoff Week. They're also asked to refrain from videos, movies, computer games, Game Boys, Nintendo or similar media for the week.

To help fill the "four-hour" per day void, school volunteers Carol Morgan and Barb Golla have contacted various businesses and organizations to participate in TV-Turnoff Week. Special events will be offered to families either free or at reduced rates.

Their List here.

Just looking at the community calendar in the Star Herald, I see plenty of additional opportunities:

Family Reading Night is from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday in the elementary school

The elementary school Spring Fever Dance will be from 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, April 26.

The Green Earth Players musical production of "Oliver!" is at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, April 25 and 26, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 28, in the High School Theater.

If you're not event-oriented, the Blue Mounds State Park is a great place to hang out - whether you make a camping trip out of it, or just take a walk along the cliffline or water front.

Regardless of how you spend your TV time, make sure it's quality time, because when and if the TV comes back on, those creative opportunities will again be gone.

Send Lori an e-mail

Vickerman and Winter announce re-election intentions
The current incumbents to the Minnesota House and Senate, Sen. Jim Vickerman and Rep. Ted Winter, both announced this week that they will seek re-election to their positions.

Vickerman
Vickerman was first elected to the Minnesota Senate in 1986 and re-elected in '90, '92, '96, and in 2000.

He currently chairs the State and Government Operations Committee, is Vice-Chair of the Legislative Commissioner on Minnesota Resources and serves on the Senate Tax, Agriculture and Environment and Natural Resource Committees.

Vickerman said that the rural economy and the quality and availability of health care in rural communities are his top priorities.

Vickerman was a farmer and former county commissioner before being elected to the Senate.

Winter
Rep. Ted Winter, who has served in the Minnesota House of Representatives since 1986, also announced his re-election plans.

Winter, a family farmer from the Fulda area, stated that he would continue working to help "Main Street" businesses and farms prosper and meet the education, transportation and health care needs of rural Minnesota.

Winter serves on the Rules and Legislative Administration, Taxes, property tax division and sales tax division.

Winter points to his efforts in the passage of the biodiesel legislation as a major accomplishment.

The measure would require the use of soy-based biodiesel oil in diesel fuel sold in Minnesota beginning in 2005.

Restoring cuts in nursing home funding and education would be priorities on WinterÕs agenda in the next session.

USDA to conduct farm identification survey
The USDA will begin its 2002 farm survey beginning this month.

The survey includes 500,000 potential farms and ranches in the US, including nearly 7,000 in Minnesota.

The surveys should come in the mail over the next two weekends.

According to the USDA, the intent of the survey is to identify agricultural operations for the 2002 Census of Agriculture.

In a recent announcement, the USDA emphasized that many people who do not consider themselves to be farmers or ranchers actually qualify as a farm and are important to the 2002 survey.

The survey consists of seven short questions, which help determine the status of agriculture in the country.

The farm identification survey takes less than five minutes to complete and comes with a self-addressed postage-paid envelope.

Responses to this survey and the 2002 Census of Agriculture are mandatory under the law, which also assures that the information will remain confidential.

The 2002 Census of Agriculture forms will be sent out in December to 2.75 million potential farms and ranches.

Inmates paying their own way?
Locking up criminals is an expensive proposition.

And with the current budget problems legislators are considering a bill aimed at the high cost of holding criminals and making them accountable for their actions.

A bill that would allow counties to collect room, board, clothing, medical, dental, and other correctional services for convicted offenders spending time in a county jail, workhouse, or correctional farm is now the law.

The law goes into effect Aug 1.

The payments can be made during the sentence or after it has been served.

If a court has ordered restitution to be paid, that obligation will take precedence over the paying for room and board.

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

Dean Jorgenson, 90, Mesa, Ariz., formerly from the Rock County area, died Monday, April 15, 2002, in his home.

Dean Raymond Jorgenson was born to Raimer and Minnie (Savold) Jorgenson on July 16, 1911, at his parentsÕ home in Hills. He was baptized in Hills by the Rev. J.H. Lunde. The family moved to a farm in Rock County near Jasper when he was a small child. He was confirmed at Rose Dell Lutheran Church, Jasper, by the Rev. L.P. Lund on July 5, 1925. He graduated from Jasper High School in 1928.

He married Alta Carlson on Jan. 23, 1935, at the parsonage in Luverne. The Rev. L.P. Lund officiated. He farmed near Jasper and Garretson, S.D., for 15 years. He then sold cars and machinery for Thone Implement and Johnson and Olson in Luverne. He was the field office manager of Production Credit Association, Rock County, from 1956 to 1976. He retired in August 1976 and moved to Fountain of the Sun in Mesa in 1977.

Mr. Jorgenson was a charter member of Bethany Lutheran Church in Luverne. He was a member of the Luverne Rotary Club until he moved. He also served on the Board of Regents of Bethany College in Mankato.

Survivors include his wife, Alta Jorgenson, Mesa; two sons, Dr. Dennis (Lois) Jorgenson, Norwood, and Dr. Bruce Jorgenson, Las Vegas, Nev.; one daughter, Mary (Arlen) Edmundson, Gilbert, Ariz.; 11 grandchildren; 15 great-grandchildren; one brother, Dale (Doris) Jorgenson, Chandler, Ariz., and one sister, June Nelson, Luverne.

Mr. Jorgenson was preceded in death by his parents and three brothers, Clayton, Robert and Wayne.