Mildred Dohlmann, 80, Magnolia, died Saturday, Sept. 15 at the Parkview Manor Nursing Home, Ellsworth. Services will be Tuesday, Sept. 18 at 11 a.m. at the Magnolia Methodist Church with Rev. Chris Johnson officiating. Burial will be at Luverne Memorial Gardens. Visitation will be Monday, Sept. 17 from 2 to 8 p.m. with the family present from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Dingmann Funeral Home, Luverne.

Kathleen Johnson, 44, Hardwick, died Tuesday, Sept. 11 at Luverne Community Hospital. Funeral mass will be Saturday, Sept. 15 at 11 a.m. at St. Catherine Catholic Church, Luverne, with Rev. Andrew Beerman officiating. Burial will be at St. Catherine's Cemetery. Visitation will be Friday, Sept. 14 from 2 to 8 p.m. with the family present from 6 to 8 p.m. and parish prayers at 7:30 p.m. at Dingmann Funeral Home, Luverne.

Minnie J. Wood, 86, Truman, died Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2001, at Lutheran Retirement Home in Truman. She was the mother of Marge Noll of Luverne.

Services were Saturday, Sept. 8, at St. PaulÕs Lutheran Church in Truman. Burial was in Ridgelawn Memorial Park at Truman.

Minnie Johanna Themer was born to John and Minnie (Miller) Themer on Aug. 5, 1915, in Waverly Township, Martin County. She attended school in Truman and graduated from Truman High School in 1933 where she was class valedictorian. She then worked at WolfÕs Grocery and Huemoeller Hardware in Truman.

She married Harold Raymond Wood on June 27, 1937, in Waverly Township. They operated a feed grinding business in the Truman area. In 1948 she worked as a bookkeeper for Bosshart Construction in Truman until her retirement in 1979. They wintered in Mesa, Ariz., for many years. Mr. Wood died Jan. 18, 1987. In 1993 she entered Lakeview Methodist Health Care Center in Fairmont and in 1996 she moved to the Lutheran Retirement Home in Truman.

Mrs. Wood was a member of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Truman where she was active in the Ladies Aid. She was also a member of the Oles-Reader-Bosshart American Legion Post No. 115 Auxiliary and Martin County Veterans of Foreign Wars Post No. 36 Auxiliary. She was a past leader of Westford 4-H Club and a former member of Rose Lake Golf Club. She loved crossword puzzles, knitting, crocheting and golfing.

Survivors include two daughters and sons-in-law, Marge and Dale Knoll, Luverne, and Darla and Darryl Vilt, Waseca; six grandchildren, Timothy and Sharon Knoll, Brandon, S.D., Amy and Sidney Fitch, Spencer, Iowa, Beth and Joshua Fleming, Las Vegas, Nev., Thomas and Janet Knoll, Woodbury, Christopher and Kimberly Vilt, Plainfield, Ill., and Gregory and Stacy Vilt, Waseca; nine great-grandchildren; two brothers-in-law, Duane (Darlene) Kahler, Truman, and Lester (Lillian) Kahler, Austin; one sister-in-law, Ione Gray, Truman; many nieces and nephews; and other relatives and friends.

Mrs. Wood was preceded in death by her parents, her husband, Harold, one brother, Earl Themer, and one sister, Viola Barge.

Lakeview Funeral Home, Fairmont, was in charge of arrangements.

Adrian senior hitter Andrea Burzlaff slips the ball past a Jackson County Central blocker at the net during Tuesday's volleyball match in Adrian. The visiting Huskies swept a three-game match from the Dragons, who posted their first conference win since 1999 at home Thursday night.

By John Rittenhouse
The Adrian volleyball team experienced some ups and downs during the second week of the regular season.

The Dragons posted their first win of the season and first conference victory since 1999 when they nipped Red Rock Central in a five-game match played in Adrian Thursday.

Things went the other way for AHS when it went 0-5 during the Westbrook-Walnut Grove Tournament in Westbrook Saturday. The Dragons lost a three-game home match to Jackson County Central Tuesday.

Adrian, 1-8 overall, plays in Westbrook tonight before hosting Hills-Beaver Creek Tuesday.

JCC 3, Adrian 0
The Dragons couldn't keep the home momentum gained by beating RRC Thursday when they dropped a three-game match to the Huskies Tuesday.

JCC controlled play during the match by outscoring an uninspired AHS 45-14 in 15-2, 15-8 and 15-4 wins.

"The girls have to fire up, play with enthusiasm and communicate a little better on the floor," said Dragon coach Kim Hoff. "When we talk more on the floor, we play better. We also have to serve better than we did (AHS was 30 of 40 serving). Everyone missed at least one serve."

The Huskies raced to a 6-0 lead in Game 1 before Adrian's Becky Knips served an ace and another point to make it a 6-2 difference.

JCC, however, scored the next nine points to lock up a 13-point win.

The Huskies scored the first four points of Game 2, but the Dragons countered with a four-point run consisting of an ace tip and service point by Kelli Von Holtum, and service points by Andrea Burzlaff and Carmen Erlandson to knot the score at four.

JCC moved in front 6-4 moments later before Adrian used two ace serves and another point by Jenna Honermann to take its first lead of the match at 7-6.

Adrian's surge didn't last as JCC went on a 9-1 run the rest of the game to prevail by seven points.

Ace serves by Kylie Heronimus and Burzlaff gave AHS 1-0 and 4-3 cushions during the third game, but JCC scored the final 12 points to win by 11 counters.

Von Holtum and Heronimus led AHS with four and three kills respectively. Honermann was seven of eight serving and recorded 10 set assists. Erlandson was six of eight serving with five points.

W-WG tourney
The Dragons dropped five consecutive matches and placed fourth during Saturday's four-team tournament in Westbrook.

Taking on three Red Rock Conference foes, Adrian went 0-3 in round-robin action and dropped two more tests in the championship rounds.

The Dragons did force three-game matches in three of the five contests, but they couldn't break through and pick up a win.

"We played OK; we just didn't play well at the right times," said Dragon coach Hoff. "We need to become more of an offensive threat. We passed the ball pretty well, but we missed some important serves at crucial times. Our blocking is getting better. Defensively, we need to work on moving to the ball a little better."

Adrian took on W-WG to open the tournament and came up on the short end of 15-10 and 15-4 tallies.

After dropping 15-3 and 15-8 games to Murray County Central in the second round, the Dragons beat Fulda 15-4 in Game 1 of the third round before falling 15-11 and 15-9 in the final two tests.

Adrian was pitted against MCC in the semifinals of the championship round, and the Dragons opened the match with a 16-14 win. The Rebels, however, took the next two games by 15-2 and 15-9 tallies.

The Dragons beat Fulda 15-7 in the first game of the match for third and fourth place. The Raiders bounced back to win 15-13 and 15-11 in the final two games.

Kylie Heronimus had 26 kills and five ace blocks at the net, while Andrea Burzlaff recorded 12 blocks and 17 kills. Becky Knips had 13 kills and six blocks.

Jenna Honermann had 40 set assists for the Dragons, who could gain revenge against all three teams they faced Saturday.

"We battled hard and played each team pretty well. When we play them again in the regular season, the kids should feel good about their chances of beating them. We just have to make sure everyone is playing well," Hoff said.

Adrian 3, RRC 2
The Dragons accomplished something in their third outing that they were unable to do in the 2000 season.

Coming off a winless Red Rock Conference campaign last fall, the Dragons opened league play in style by nipping the defending RRC champion Falcons in a five-game match in Adrian Thursday.

The Dragons pulled out a tight 17-15 win in Game 1 before taking a 2-0 lead with a 15-9 victory in the second game.

RRC battled back to tie the match at two with 15-11 and 15-9 victories in Games 3 and 4, but Adrian prevailed 15-12 in the fifth game to win the match.

"It was very exciting," said Dragon coach Hoff. "We hung in there to win Game 1 and played well in Game 2, but the momentum switched, and we didn't play well in Games 3 and 4. In the fifth game, our passing was good and we played some scrappy defense."

Kylie Heronimus, who led AHS with 19 kills, put the ball away five times in the decisive fifth game. Becky Knips, who was credited with playing a consistent match, was 35 of 37 serving with 23 points.

Andrea Burzlaff served 14 points while going 23 of 26 at the line. She also had seven kills. Kelli Von Holtum, who contributed five kills to the cause, was 21 of 24 serving with 13 points. Jenna Honermann had 34 set assists for the Dragons.

The Luverne Middle School Band has been selected to perform at the 2002 Minnesota Music Educators State Convention in February.

Mary Goheen, director of the band, submitted a recording of last year's 7th and 8th grade band to the MMEA committee early last spring.

"I never expected to be accepted the first time we applied," Goheen said. "Last spring the middle school band attended the Brandon Band Festival and received a recording of their performance. When my husband heard our recording he was very impressed and suggested that I apply for the convention. I knew that the quality of this year's band would equal that of last year's, so I went ahead and sent in the tape. I received word in June that we had been accepted and tried to keep it quiet until I was able to tell all the band students the first week of school."

The acceptance letter stated that more than 60 bands had applied to play at the 2002 convention, and Luverne was selected to be one of the three middle school bands to perform. The concert will be on Feb. 14, 2002, in the Minneapolis Convention Center.

"I am hoping that most of our parents are there to hear and see what a great experience this is for the students," Goheen said. "Band, choir and orchestra directors from all over the state attend the concerts, and it would be wonderful to see parents, administrators and school board members sitting in the audience as well."

In preparation for the MMEA concert the middle school band will give a separate concert at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Feb. 11, in the Little Theater rather than with the high school band on Jan. 7.

By Sara Quam
The Rock County Board of Commissioners Tuesday set its preliminary levy at $2,850,692, or just more than 3 percent over last year's.

Although the levy is preliminarily set, the county still has a lot of budget work to do.

The public will get a chance to offer input at an Oct. 2 meeting. The county department heads will be on hand to answer questions at 7 p.m. in the Human Services community room.

The preliminary levy is the maximum the state allows and can be lowered. The board, except for Commissioner Ron Boyenga, voted to pass the preliminary levy at the highest permitted to allow for room to change.

The budget doesn't include salary increases yet because those contracts haven't been negotiated. Law enforcement costs could skyrocket due to the recent murder investigation.

Chairman Ken Hoime said, "This is only preliminary; we can adjust down. We're dealing with a lot of unknowns yet."

County Administrator Kyle Oldre said, "We have a number of costs that could be coming in."

Bookmobile signs
The county will purchase and erect signs at the three stops the Plum Creek Library System bookmobile makes in Rock County.

The signs cost $11 each and will be the dark blue with white lettering that similar landmark signs use. A schedule of stops will be attached below the blue sign on the same post.

Stops in Rock County are: Hardwick, on Main Street Wednesdays Oct. 10, Nov. 7 and Dec. 5 from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.; Hills, by the school Wednesdays Sept. 19, Oct. 17, Nov. 14 and Dec. 12 from 11:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m.; and Kanaranzi, by the school Wednesdays, Sept. 19, Oct. 17, Nov. 14 and Dec. 12 from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m..

By Lori Ehde
Under the threat of drastic price increases, local motorists lined up at the pumps Tuesday night to stock up on gasoline.

According to Rock County Co-op Oil Manager Jim Jellema, consumers overreacted to premature reports of shortages and price hikes.

He said it's true that prices in some parts of the country increased over the $5 mark, but that was where supplies had actually decreased due to panic buying.

"Everyone got excited thinking there was going to be a problem [as a result of the terrorism], so everyone started purchasing in fear of high prices," Jellema said.

"This created shortages at the pipelines, but that's about to be alleviated if they can just hang in there with us."

Regional media warned motorists that prices could be over $3 per gallon as early as Wednesday morning, so that's what prompted panic buying in Luverne Tuesday night.

In reality, local supplies were able to handle the extra business, so prices remained unchanged Wednesday.

Jellema said he purchased a load at 14 cents higher to handle the additional demand, so his pumps will reflect a slight increase for that load. The same may be true for other local gas stations if they were forced to buy at the increased price.

He said prices nationwide are likely to level off within a week once the pipelines have restored supplies.

By Sara Quam
Border city legislation applications were more clearly defined for the Luverne Economic Development Authority Tuesday.

Chris Hood, a lobbyist who helped Luverne get the legislation passed, explained some factors to the board.

He said it involves a few steps through the application and approval process and requires cooperation from the county assessor and even the state Department of Revenue before border cityÕs benefits start taking effect.

All of the particulars don't amount to much, however, if the city canÕt find a business in which to use the tax incentives.

Waiting for businesses to approach the city might take longer without the city trying to get the word out. "I think it's important for Luverne to advertise this new program," Hood said.

Sioux Falls and the state of Michigan are two big advertisers that highlight advantages of running businesses there, so Luverne could develop a similar campaign.

Mayor Glen Gust said, "I don't think we need to be dilly-dallying around. I think we need to get our marketing started and get this thing going."

Getting it going is just what the lobbyist said Luverne should do. Going to the Legislature next year with tangible results - more jobs and more residents moving to Luverne - could help increase the allocated money for the border cities initiative.

Hood suggested the city first set general guidelines on what business expansions and new businesses would qualify to dip into the fund of $175,000. He said the city would likely see better results if it invested the tax incentives in a few big projects rather than a dozen small ones.

The county as a whole and cities outside of Luverne could feel the impact of the new law, too.

If an existing business in Rock County wants to relocate to Luverne using this program, it would have to get permission from its current city or, if it isnÕt in a town, from the Rock County Board.

One of the specific aspects of the program that the city may or may not use under border city legislation is property tax exemption. This exemption covers county as well as city portions of property tax.

LEDA Director Tony Chladek said he would prefer to move cautiously if county exemptions would come into the picture. Or he would like the LEDA to consider reimbursing the county for their lost revenue with funds from the border city allocation, which is allowed for under the law.

"This is something we have to work with people on," he said.

Filling vacant buildings
The LEDA also looked at a draft of a new program designed to get vacant commercial buildings filled.

The LEDA would match 50 percent of advertising costs, up to $500, for up to a year in an effort to fill the space by lease or sale. After a lease or sale to a business that isn't already in existence in Luverne, the property owner would then get a "$500 kicker."

The program allows for only six applicants to receive the incentive concurrently. The application process and its specific requirements will be handled by the LEDA director.

By Sara Quam
Luverne City Council members got plenty of feedback on the recent parking ordinance draft and it wasn't favorable. Because council members felt they needed more research on the issue, they tabled the decision at their Tuesday meeting.

The parking ordinance proposal had parking banned on city streets November through April from 1 to 6 a.m. A special provision would have no overnight parking in the central business district year round.

The intent was to make it easier for city crews to remove snow and clean streets while making it clear enough for law enforcement to ticket offenders.

The communication the council got back, however, was that the city should still be able to clean streets without imposing on residents who donÕt have three-car garages.

Mayor Glen Gust said, "I think we need to tell the people exactly what needs to be done or why it needs to be done."

Council member David Hauge said he received calls from people in apartments or in homes with single or no garages. They told him that they didn't mind parking on their lawn when it snows to stay off the streets - but that to park there every night for half the year isn't fair.

Councilman Jim Kirchhofer said he roughly estimated the streets are plowed fewer than 30 nights a year, so it might be more fair to restrict parking on those days rather than outlaw it all season.

"It's an inconvenience, and it's just not being citizen-friendly," Kirchhofer said.

People were also concerned about winter holidays and the extra cars they have that need to park.

The council acknowledged that banning certain parking would make it easier on patrollers and city crews. But making patrollers and city workers happy isn't necessarily the goal of the council.

Councilman Keith Erickson said, "I lean toward being a little more user-friendly." He suggested that for the downtown area, designated days be scheduled for sweeping so parking is possible most nights of the week.

"I think we should soften parts of this," Erickson said.

All of the council members said they got calls on the issue that was first brought up about a month ago.

The city will look into amending the draft and bring it back to the council for a vote.

Fire relief
The council passed a pension increase for the Fire Relief Association. It is now a $1,900 annual pension contribution that can be cashed in at retirement.

It is retroactive and covers all current Luverne Fire Department members even if they started at a lower pension.

The townships contribute 25 percent of that, and although they don't like the effect it will have on their budgets, they didn't object to the $200 increase.

Louis Loger, Clinton Township Board member, said, "I don't think we have a problem with raising the relief, but it's an economic hardship for townships."

In other business Tuesday the council:
Decided to put one of its houses up for bid. It owns the Britz house on the southeast corner of Main Street and Highway 75. It will be advertised with a minimum bid amount set and people can make an offer. One stipulation is that the purchaser must agree to move the house to another location.

The decision comes after previous discussion that the city intended to sell it for a minimal price to someone who would move it to the former Fledgling Field.

Mayor Gust said that the new owner of Fledgling Field shouldn't get a break just because the city has houses - that citizens should be able to bid.

Hauge said he thought selling the home and other city surplus homes to low bidders who would move them onto the vacant lot would be in the best interest of the city, even if some citizens want to buy the homes for different locations.

"I'm thinking of the future of the city and not the best interest of individuals," Hauge said. He said putting homes on Fledgling Field would finish off the neighborhood and calm the controversy over the plot of land.

Hauge said he preferred to look at the "broader picture" and put "development over just one sale" as the city has outlined residential development in its long-term plans.

Another home the city may sell is the large Christensen home at the end of Blue Mound Avenue. The council members agreed it would fit in well on Fledgling Field, but no decision was made on that house because the Economic Development Authority owns that.

Met two new business owners. Mark Zimmer and Daniel Wedin attended the meeting as the council approved liquor license transfers from Meagher Inc. to the Howling Dog Saloon, the former Scotty's Bar and Grill.

Zimmer and Wedin own eight similar establishments in Minnesota. They plan to do some basic remodeling and sign changing and will then see what direction to take the business from there. They plan to visit Luverne about once a week.