Spartz puts up second car washAnyone who has been involved in a construction process, know that things usually don’t come together in the time frame you had hoped. Al and Barb Spartz’s new car wash is no different.According to Al Spartz, he had origonally hoped to have the new car wash open by the end of this month, but now is looking to the middle of December as a more realistic time frame.The new facility will have one automatic car wash and, for a new twist in Luverne, a pet wash stall.The name of the new car wash will be A-B Wash, and will sit directly across the street from their current S-S Car Wash.Minnesota is No. 1 in votingSecretary of State Mary Kiffmeyer announced earlier this week that Minnesota’s 77 percent voter turnout in Tuesday’s general election was enough to garner the first place ranking among all of the states, according to the Washington, D.C., based Committee for the Study of the American Electorate.This is the third election in a row that Minnesota has earned that honor.For Minnesota, the turnout was the highest since 1960, when Kennedy and Nixon were on the ballot.Others making a good show of it were Wisconsin, at 74 percent; New Hampshire, at 72 percent; and in fourth place was South Dakota at 68 percent.As we reported in last weeks Star Herald, Rock County had a 95 percent turnout.This is Caring Rose WeekFlorist across Central America will gather more than 20 tons of food for those in need during Caring Rose week, Nov. 8 to 13.Store across the area are giving deep discounts for on dozen long-stemmed roses and accepting canned goods as partial payment.In Luverne, the participating local florist is Glen’s Food Center.In Rock County, Glen’s will distribute the donated items through the Rock County Emergency Food Shelf.HBO to host, "Last Letters HomeTonight, Nov. 11th, Veterans Day, HBO will air: Last Letter Home: Voices of American Troops from the battle field of Iraq.The one-hour documentary was co-produced by HBO and the New York Times, in association with Life Books.The special is based on the works of troops who were killed in Iraq, through their final letters sent home to wives, mothers, fathers, children and friends who received them.In a press release HBO said the program is "Full of Pride, idealism, wonder and regret, the letters by these troops stand as a lasting memorial to the spirit and humanity of the brave men and women who sacrifice their lives for our country."HBO is also opening up their signal to all cable and satellite household in order to make the special available to the largest possible audience. This will mean non-subscribers to HBO will still be able to receive the program via their cable or satellite provider.The program is endorsed by the National Headquarters of the District 2 American Legion, American Legion Auxiliary and the Sons of the American Legion.Publisher Roger Tollefson can be reached by e-mail at tolly@star-herald.com