REQUEST FOR LETTERS OF INTENT TO BIDLetters of intent to bid will be received by the Minnesota River Area Agency on Aging (MnRAAA) for provision of congregate and home delivered nutrition services to persons age 60 and over in the Southwest Planning and Service Area (PSA) of Minnesota. The PSA includes the following counties: Blue Earth, Big Stone, Brown, Chippewa, Cottonwood, Faribault, Jackson, Kandiyohi, Lac qui Parle, Le Sueur, Lincoln, Lyon, Martin, McLeod, Meeker, Murray, Nicollet, Nobles, Pipestone, Redwood, Renville, Rock, Sibley, Swift, Waseca, Watonwan and Yellow Medicine. Nutrition services programs provide nutritionally sound and satisfying meals in a congregate (group) setting and home delivered meals to those homebound by reason of illness, disability or functional need, and unable to prepare their own meals. Nutrition services also include outreach, nutrition education, nutrition counseling and linkages to other supportive services. One or more contracts will be awarded for all or a portion of the PSA. Contract proposals will not be accepted for a service area smaller than the defined Economic Development Areas (EDA 6E, 6W, 8 or 9). The initial contract(s) will be for 1/1/07 – 12/31/07. MnRAAA has the option to renew contracts annually for up to two additional years. After three years, the procurement process must be completed again.Letters of intent to bid must be delivered on or before June 9, 2006, via certified mail, to the following address: Minnesota River Area Agency on Aging, c/o Rhonda Hiller Fjeldberg, P.O. Box 3367, Mankato, MN 56002-3367. Agencies and organizations responding with a letter of intent to bid will be provided with a Request for Proposal packet. Only those responding with a letter of intent to bid will be allowed to compete in the procurement process. Successful bidders must abide by Minnesota State EOE policies.(6-8)

By John RittenhouseAdrian’s bid to win a second consecutive Section 3A Baseball Tournament championship came to an end when the Dragons lost two of three games during the second week of the double-elimination event.Southwest United knocked the Dragons out of the winner’s bracket of the tournament by nipping AHS by two runs in Windom Wednesday, May 31.The Dragons beat Renville County West during an elimination game played in Marshall Saturday afternoon, but a two-run loss to Wabasso Saturday evening ended Adrian’s 15-10 campaign.Wabasso 8, Adrian 6The Dragons lost a pair of leads during Saturday’s season-ending loss to the Rabbits in Marshall.AHS led 3-0 in the first inning and 6-4 after Will Lutmer delivered a two-run single in the top of the sixth.Wabasso, however, countered with four runs in the bottom of the sixth before blanking the Dragons in the seventh inning to win by two.Adrian’s three-run first inning featured a sacrifice fly from Lutmer and a two-run single by Tyler Vaske, but the lead was erased when the Rabbits scored three times in the bottom of the first before gaining a 4-3 edge in the third inning.Alex Suedkamp singled and scored the tying run for Adrian when Jordan Kontz delivered an RBI double in the top of the fourth.Adrian 1, RCW 0A strong pitching effort from Lutmer carried the Dragons to victory during Saturday’s first elimination game in Marshall.Lutmer pitched a seven-inning shutout. He walked one batter, recorded two strikeouts and limited RWC to five hits.Adrian plated what proved to be the game-winning run in the bottom of the fifth inning.Jordan Kontz reached second base on a throwing error by RWC’s third baseman. Cody Kontz chased his brother home with a double to left-center field.SWU 5, Adrian 3The Dragons were pushed into the loser’s bracket of the tournament when they dropped a two-run decision to the Wildcats in Windom Wednesday, May 31.Adrian sported a 3-0 lead two and one-half innings into the game, but SWU outscored the Dragons 5-0 the rest of the way to win by two.The Dragons opened the scoring in the top of the second, when Tyler Vaske tripled with two outs before scoring on Joel Hoffman’s RBI single.Adrian added two more runs to their lead in the third inning as Jordan and Cody Kontz set the table with a double and a single respectively.Brandon Diekmann plated Jordan Kontz with a sacrifice fly, and Lutmer singled home Cody Kontz to make it 3-0.SWU scored two runs in the third and fourth innings to gain the lead at 4-3. The Wildcats plated one insurance run in the bottom of the sixth.Cody Kontz worked three-plus innings of six-hit ball on the mound and took the loss after being charged with four runs. Diekmann surrendered one run in two-plus innings of relief.

By John RittenhouseWhat has become a spring ritual didn’t happen this year during Thursday’s Section 3A Track and Field Championships in Pipestone.For the first time in three years and the third time in the past 22 years, no Luverne Cardinal girls qualified for the state meet.Athletes advance to state by placing first or second in individual events, winning a relay race or meeting state-qualifying standards that are in place for every event at the section level.Luverne, which has sent girls to the state classic every year except 1994 and 2003 since 1984, didn’t meet the criteria Thursday.The Cardinal girls did place in five events and scored 16 points to finish 16th in the team standings.However, the best efforts by LHS were fourth-place performances turned in by Lexi Heitkamp and the 1,600-meter relay team.Heitkamp, who placed second at the state meet in the 800-meter run last season, placed fourth at the section event with a time of 2:24.23 in Pipestone.She also ran a leg with the 1,600-meter relay, which finished fourth with a time of 4:13.22. Katlyn Sawtelle, Victoria Arends and Britton Dyer joined Heitkamp in the relay.Luverne’s 3,200-meter relay finished fifth with a time of 10:12.58.Sawtelle, Kayla Raddle, Kelsey Dooyema and Heitkamp ran the 3,200.The Cardinals received eighth-place efforts from Arends and the 800-meter relay.Arends recorded a time of 50.73 in the 300-meter hurdles. Stephanie Hendricks, Dyer, Brittany Mulder and Erin Hoiland turned in a 53.21 to place eighth in the 800 relay.

By John RittenhouseA member of the Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth-Edgerton track program qualified for the state track meet during the Section 3A Track and Field Championships staged in Pipestone Thursday.Mya Mann, an Ellsworth High School junior, placed second in the 400-meter dash to earn an individual berth into the state field.The top two finishers in individual events advance to state during section competition.Mann, who placed seventh in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:30.09, moves on with her second-place time of 2:30.09 in the 400.The Patriot will run 400 preliminaries at the Minnesota State Class A Track and Field Championships at Hamlin University in Roseville Friday evening. If she places ninth or better in the preliminaries, Mann will advance to the 400 finals set for 5:06 p.m. on Saturday.Along with placing in the 400 and 800, Mann ran a leg with H-BC-E-E’s place-earning 1,600-meter relay team in Pipestone.Mann, Amanda Connors and Jocelyn and Ashley Bucher finished eighth in the event with a time of 4:19.61.The H-BC-E-E girls, who scored 12 points and placed 19th in team competition at the section meet, also received an eighth-place effort from Rosie Lewis in the shot put. Lewis tossed the shot 35-0.No H-BC-E-E boys advanced to the state meet during section competition, but the Patriots did receive some strong efforts in individual and relay competition.The top effort came from the 400-meter relay team consisting of Kevin Vander Schaff, Cody Rozeboom, Pavel Matejski and Kerry Fink. The foursome placed second with a time of 45.36.Vander Schaff and Fink turned in fifth-place performances in the 100- and 400-meter dashes with respective 11.63 and 52.12 times.The 800-meter relay team consisting of Matejski, Rozeboom, Adam Finke and John Sandbulte finished fifth with a time of 1:37.05.Casey Van Midden Dorp and Dustin Verhey also placed in individual competition.Van Midden Dorp covered 19-4 1/2 to finish seventh in the long jump. Verhey ran 3,200 meters in 10:48.78 to finish eighth.The H-BC-E-E boys scored 23 points to tie for 13th place in the team standings.

By John RittenhouseA wild game in Pipestone Wednesday, May 31, proved to be the final time the Luverne High School baseball team would take the field in 2006.The Cardinals squared off against Jackson County Central for an elimination game during the Section 3AA Tournament that night.Luverne rallied from a 7-3 deficit to sport brief leads in the seventh and eighth innings of the game, but JCC answered the challenge in the bottom half of both innings to pull out a 10-9 victory."This game was the story of our entire season," said Cardinal coach Mike Wenninger."It was an up-and-down game, and it was an up-and-down season."The Cards had a positive start by turning a two-run double by Kelsey Petersen and an RBI single by Jake Clark in the second inning into a 3-1 lead.JCC countered with a six-run eruption in the bottom of the third to move in front 7-3, but the Cards answered with three runs in the top of the fourth to make it a one-run difference at 7-6.Marc Boelman and Micah Boomgaarden singled home runs and Chris Fitzer picked up an RBI with a fielder’s choice during Luverne’s rally in the fourth.The score remained the same until the top of the seventh inning, when Tyler Reisch and Andrew DeBoer provided run-scoring doubles to give the Cards an 8-7 edge.It looked like Luverne’s lead would stand when JCC had two outs with a runner on first base in the bottom of the seventh inning, but a pair of errors allowed the Huskies to score the tying run and force an eighth inning.Luverne gained the momentum again when back-to-back doubles by Fitzer and Reisch gave it a 9-8 edge in the top of the eighth, but JCC scored a pair of runs with one out in the bottom of the inning to settle the issue.Boelman was tagged with the loss after pitching one and one-third innings of three-run relief. One of the runs he surrendered was earned.DeBoer and Fitzer worked two and two-thirds innings each on the mound, while Nathan Boler logged two-thirds of one inning on the hill.Luverne ends the year with a 10-13 record.Box score AB R H BIClark 2 0 1 1Boomgaarden 5 2 3 1Fitzer 5 2 1 1Boelman 4 1 2 1Petersen 2 0 1 2Reisch 3 1 2 2Nath 4 0 0 0DeBoer 4 2 3 1Lundgren 2 1 0 0Goembel 1 0 0 0Elbers 2 0 0 0

By John RittenhouseThe Luverne boys’ track team members flexed their muscles at the Section 3A Track and Field Championships in Pipestone Thursday.One week after placing second to Southwest Christian in the team standings at the sub-section meet, the Cardinals collected a more impressive trophy by repeating as the section team champions.Cardinal athletes won six event titles during an 85-point effort at the meet.Along with winning the team title, seven LHS boys earned the right to compete in seven events at the Minnesota State Class A Track and Field Championships set for Friday and Saturday at Hamlin University in Roseville.Athletes advance to state by placing first or second in individual events, winning relay races and meeting state-qualifying standards that are in place for every event at the section meet.Luverne runners won three relays, three individual titles and one athlete finished second in an individual event to qualify for the state meet.Sophomore Chris Ashby and senior Jake Hendricks landed individual titles for the Cards.Ashby won the 110- and 300-meter hurdles with respective 15.13 and 39.77 efforts.Hendricks took top honors in the 400-meter dash with a time of 50.54.Luverne also won section championships in the 400-, 800- and 1,600-meter relays with respective 44.77, 1:32.54 and 3:28.82 performances.Seniors Hendricks, Tom Ward, Jordan Siebenahler and Mike Kunstle formed the 400- and 800-meter relays. Ashby, Ward, senior Tim Miller and junior Ben Uphoff formed the 1,600-meter team.Miller also qualified for the state meet individually by using a late push to finish second in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:03.86.All of Luverne’s state qualifiers will compete in preliminary events on Friday. Saturday’s finals begin at 3 p.m.The Cardinals received five more place-earning efforts to pad their team point total during the section meet.Thomas Christiansen made a bid to advance to state in the 3,200-meter run before placing third with a time of 10:27.09.Uphoff placed fifth in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 41.47, and Steve Schneiderman finished sixth in the 3,200 in 10:33.8.Siebenahler and Kunstle placed sixth and eighth with respective 23.75 and 23.87 efforts in the 200-meter dash.

10 years ago (1996)
On Friday Land O’Lakes company officials in St. Paul announced as of Aug. 1 the Luverne facility will no longer receive milk directly from member farms, and it will discontinue condensing operations. The company is laying off more than half its employees.
The Rock County Historical Society has taken new residence in the former Masonic Temple on Freeman Street.25 years ago (1981)
The city of Luverne is making a plea to vandals to stop destructing and stealing park equipment. The city has spent $50,000 over the past five years on park equipment. Last year 16 tables were taken, buildings were vandalized, and equipment was destroyed.
Rock County had considered implementing a gravel tax, but the motion, made by Stan Soutar, died for lack of a second.
Keith Oldre has finished his first tough year at West Point.
The Palace Theatre preservation campaign hopes to raise $90,000 for the building.50 years ago (1956)
A proposed super highway roughly following the path of Highway No. 16 through Luverne will become a reality within a few years if Congress passes the new Federal aid highway bill.According to press reports, the proposed bill is strongly supported by both houses of Congress in the major portions and should be enacted into law within a short time.The new freeway across the southern portion of Minnesota would roughly follow the course of Highway 16, including such cities as Albert Lea, Jackson and Luverne in its path.75 years ago (1931)
The Rock County male chorus is presenting an English and Norwegian program.
Seniors of Luverne High School will present their regular Senior night program Wednesday evening, May 27, at the school auditorium. Features of the entertainment will be the class history, by Prudence Sharpe; class poem, by Elizabeth Hinkly; class prophecy, by Hildegarde Dubbe; class will, by Vernon Osgood, and class yell and song, by Hazel Hoven.100 years ago (1906)
Grover Dodds, who had been taking a course in pharmacy in Minneapolis, is expected to arrive home this morning. He has completed his course and received his diploma, passing an excellent examination.
A contract for the erection of a handsome brick residence was awarded Wednesday morning by J.P. Coffey to PnN. Gillham, and work on the excavation of the basement was begun that afternoon.
The Luverne Automobile company had one of its machines on exhibition at Adrian last Friday for the purpose of demonstrating its good qualities to several of its citizens who are in the market for "skidoo" wagons.

By Sara QuamRock County Commissioners gave approval Tuesday to convey land to either Beaver Creek Township or the city of Beaver Creek in order to get a Midwest Wireless cell phone tower in the dead zone along Interstate 90.Midwest Wireless wants to construct a new tower, but was denied its first request because of zoning issues with the city of Beaver Creek.A different location, on land owned by the county, could help the problem. The city of Beaver Creek will still have to approve a conditional use permit for the tower before it can be erected.The county’s only stipulations in donating the land are that the land be used for the tower and that the tower include a repeater for law enforcement communications. Along with those conditions, Hills-Beaver Creek School wants to reserve space for telecommunication equipment. County Administrator Kyle Oldre said, "They’re trying to meet a number of needs."Representatives of the county, school, city and township met with Midwest Wireless last week.The county gave approval for donating the land to either the township or city, depending on which government body wants it and can work with Midwest Wireless. The county doesn’t want to retain ownership of the land because in order to allow a tower on it, any company could bid and Midwest Wireless has an established need. Disaster drillPublic Health is going through a pandemic flu vaccinating drill the afternoon of Thursday, June 15, at the Luverne Armory.The drill will involve vaccinating about 2,000 people, which is the number of "essential" personnel who need to be protected at the onset of a real outbreak.Kyle Oldre is the county emergency management director and acting director of Public Health until a new one is hired. He said, "There’s going to be snags; we’re going to find things we have to change. That’s why we do the drills."The formula has six tables set up to vaccinate 120 people per hour. The drill will help healthcare personnel see procedures that have to be followed or monitored. Others will watch for organizational methods that work well. Parking, for example, has to be directed.

By Lori EhdeRoadside littering – even dumping of furniture and large appliances – often goes unprosecuted.But thanks to a concerned citizen and responsive law enforcement, one local dumper was recently caught.21-year-old Brandon James Ganun, Luverne, was ordered to clean up his mess and pay a $100 littering fine.According to documents filed in Rock County District Court, charges date back to Feb. 23, when a concerned resident called the Sheriff’s Department to report suspicious activity on Darlene’s Bend (a minimum maintenance road northeast of Luverne).The resident reported two individuals in an older green Ford pickup who may be intoxicated or involved in questionable activities.The vehicle description matched an earlier report that two young males were loading a pickup with trash near the intersection of Main Street and Cedar Street in Luverne.The deputy specifically wanted it reported, in case the trash was found dumped in an area.At the time, Ganun lived in an apartment above Jensen Management, and the deputy suspected they were planning to dump the trash.After the resident’s report of suspicious activity on Darlene’s Bend, Deputy Bryan Bose met the green pickup heading west on Main Street.He pulled the vehicle over for having loud exhaust and no lighting on the rear plates. Inside the pickup were Ganun and his passenger, 20-year-old Kyle Wayne Bents.Bose informed them of the reports that they’d been dumping and said he already knew where it was. (Sheriff Mike Winkels had radioed from Darlene’s Bend that he found two recently dumped piles of garbage.)The dumped trash consisted of rancid household garbage, old pieces of furniture and a dried up Christmas tree. Also found was the pickup’s muffler, which had fallen off during the dumping.The two were ordered to put the garbage back in the pickup and take it to the landfill. They were ordered to provide the Sheriff’s Department with a receipt from the landfill. It came to $10.When asked if they had learned anything, Bents reportedly replied, "Yes. Don’t dump trash so close to town."In addition to the littering charge, Ganun was also charged with under 21 alcohol consumption (he didn’t turn 21 until last month). For that, he paid a $300 fine, spent two days in jail (May 27 and May 28), and is on probation for a year.